Stand at the crossroads and look; ask about the ancient paths, ‘Which one is the good way?’ Take it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jer. 6 16
“After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, 'The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations...For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.'
As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, saying: 'O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens....
While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: 'We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law.' Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.” (Ezra 9:1-10:4)
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
When Ezra was told about the intermarriages, Ezra was deeply grieved by the sin of his people. Like Daniel prayed, he identified himself with the sin of the people. He humbled himself with fasting, weeping and pleaded with God for mercy. As he prayed, conviction fell on the people and they gathered before Ezra weeping bitterly over their sin and repenting.
Ezra was an example of someone who took praying and fasting seriously. When Ezra made the trip from Babylon to Jerusalem with many people and riches, rather than ask for an escort he declared a fast for protection. As a result, they came to Jerusalem safely.
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way; since we had told the king, 'The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him. So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.” (Ezra 8:21-23).
There are many examples in the Bible where prayer and fasting, both collectively and individually had a significant impact on the shaping of history to the purposes of God. Derek Prince writes in his book, “Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting,” that “we find a number of occasions where collective fasting and prayer brought forth dramatic and powerful intervention by God.” (1)
One of the examples he mentioned is 2 Chronicles 20. (2) When the Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites in a great multitude was coming against the people of Judah, Jehoshaphat sought the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah (v. 3). As the people of Judah came together and stood before the Lord, one of the prophets told the people and the king that they would not need to fight the battle, only stand firm, hold their position and see the salvation of the Lord (v13-17). The people sang and praised the Lord while the great army destroyed themselves in confusion.
Daniel and Anna were all examples of people who individually and consistently prayed and fasted, ushering in God's purposes. Anna prayed and fasted, seeking the Lord for redemption of His people. What overwhelming joy she must have experienced, after years of seeking the Lord, waiting and hoping, to see the hope of redemption with her very own eyes.
Daniel sought the Lord and prayed for the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. Daniel knew that the appointed period of 70 years was about over. “He therefore understood that the promised hour of deliverance and restoration was near at hand.” As Derik Prince notes about this, Daniel did not see the promise as a release from his obligation of intercession, but he sought the Lord with all the more intensity and fervency than every before. (4)
“Lord I give my life, a living sacrifice to reach a world in need” sings in the background.
Daniel's said about it, “I set my face unto the Lord God.” Derik Prince writes about this verse, “In the prayer life of each one of us, there comes a time when we have to set our faces. From that moment onward, no discouragement, no distraction, no opposition will be allowed to hold us back, until we have obtained the full assurance of an answer to which God's Word gives us title.
“I pray Lord break me, I pray Lord take me, I pray Lord make me all I've failed to be.”
As Derik Prince notes, “it was the prayer and fasting of Daniel that finally opened the way for the restoration of Israel to their own land. Over a period of nearly seventy years, the main successive changes in the destiny of God's people can be traced to the prayers of Daniel.” (5)
“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel -He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with bests, besides free will offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:1-4).
“If we will all work together we can make a difference if we try, to live a love that never fails, to love my neighbor as myself, and to give until there is nothing left to give... until all that lives through me is a message” sings.
There are also examples of ineffective prayer and fasting in the Bible. When prayer and fasting are used to manipulate God rather than bring forth His purposes or for religious practice rather than a humbling of oneself, it has resulted in rebuke and correction from God.
“Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, 'Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?' Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 'Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? … And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” (Zechariah 7:2-10)
“These are the things you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate declares the Lord.” And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.'” (Zechariah 8:16-19)
God cares greatly about ones heart condition when praying and fasting. Fasting can be a teeth gritting experience or it can be one of “joy and gladness and cheerful feasts.” John Piper writes, 'Doing right 'just because it is right' is not the Christian ideal. Doing right to enlarge our delight in God is.” As John Piper goes on to write, it is not God's gifts or hand that we are first or mainly seeking from God, but God Himself. (6)
When we have the right disposition in fasting, it tenderizes our heart, giving us a greater capacity to hold others up to God. I typically will know I am out of alignment with God in fasting when my heart is desensitized to the heart of God for others. A genuine fast involves not only a drawing towards God but a giving of oneself to others -especially in acts of charity for those who are most in need.
Fasting is meant to be a humbling of oneself, denying the soul common pleasures for the purpose of greater focus and union with God. It involves absence from food, sometimes water, and/or other indulgences of the soul (giving up hurrying, recognition, or watching television for a period of time as an example).
John Wesley writes about fasting that “every wise man will refrain his soul, and keep it low; will wean it more and more from all those indulgences of the inferior appetites, which naturally tend to chain it down to earth, and to pollute as well as debase it. Here is another perpetual reason for fasting; to remove the food of lust and sensuality, to withdraw the incentives of foolish and hurtful desires, of vile and vain affections.” (7)
In union with Christ, we long to see his kingdom purposes come forth and know that they can only be accomplished through His mercy and goodness. We don't fast and pray to be powerful or significant -but in powerlessness and dependence, knowing He is our only hope.
“How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God, that all will see how great, how great is our God! Name above names, worthy of all praise! My heart will sing how great is our God!”
John Piper writes, “The supremacy of God in all things is the great reward we long for in fasting. His supremacy in our own affections and in all our life choices. His supremacy in the purity of the church. His supremacy in the salvation of the lost. His supremacy in the establishing of righteousness and justice. And his supremacy for the joy of all peoples in the evangelization of the world.” (8)
Fasting is sometimes required in order to fully bring forth the purposes of God. Derik Prince writes, “there are occasions in which God requires the exercise of human faith and human will as an indispensable condition for the fulfillment of His counsels.” (9) God desires to partner with us in the accomplishing of His will, allowing us to participate in bringing forth His kingdom. Providing us with this privilege forms us more in Christlikeness.
Derik Prince writes, “God reveals to us the purposes that He is working out, not that we may be passive spectators on the sidelines of history, but that we may personally identify ourselves with His purposes, and thus become actively involved in their fulfillment. Revelation demands involvement.” (10)
Identifying ourselves with His purposes and becoming actively involved in their fulfillment is particularly applicable to the later-day outpouring of the Holy Spirit according to Derik Prince. He argues that the beginning of the last days started in Acts 2:16-17 with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:
He references Joel 2:23: “He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month” and makes the inference: “the former rain of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of the last days, while the latter rain of the Holy Spirit marks the close of the last days. God both begins and ends His dealings with the church on earth by a universal outpouring of His Holy Spirit.”(11)
And how will this outpouring come about? Derik Prince references Joel 2:15-17,
And he notes that it will take united prayer and fasting for all God's people, publicly called forth by leadership, to precipitate the final fullness of the latter day rain. (12)
“The fields are white and now the time has come, for there's a harvest, there is work left to be done. Lord her am I, I will be the one. I'm committed to the finish, until the setting of the sun” sings.
John Piper also notes that fasting precipitates the coming of the King and references Matthew 9:15, “The days will come when the Bridegroom is taken away from them, and they will fast.” He writes that by fasting, we “look to the future with an aching in our hearts saying: Yes, he came. And yes, what he did for us is glorious. But precisely because of what we have seen and what we have tasted, we feel keenly his absence as well as his presence... Fasting poses the question: do we miss him? How hungry are we for him to come?... The Bridegroom left on a journey just before the wedding, and the Bride cannot act as if things are normal. If she loves him, she will ache for his return.” (13)
John Piper goes on to write that fasting for the King to return is not a pacifistic discipline. He writes that an awakening of desire for the Bridegroom “would produce a radical, new commitment to complete the task of world evangelization, no matter what the cost. And fasting would not become a pacifistic discipline for private hopes, but a fearsome missionary weapon in the fight of faith.” (14)
Both John Piper and Derik Prince note that world evangelism plays a key role in the end. As stated in Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.” John Piper writes that there is a direct correlation between loving the Lord's appearing and laboring for the cause of world evangelization. He writes, “For the Bridegroom will not come until the gospel is preached to the nations, and the nations are reached through spiritual breakthroughs that come by fasting and prayer... “ (15)
“Fasting is the exclamation point at the end of 'Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus!' according to John Piper. He says, “ it is the modest, voluntary embracing of what it will cost to finish the Great Commission: pain.” (16)
And why is fasting a 'fearsome missionary weapon in the fight of faith? Derik Prince notes several reasons out of Isaiah 58. He says about verse 6, “Is not this the fast the I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” that it is a heart attitude. And he states about it, “Scripture and experience alike confirm that there are many bands that cannot be loosed, many burdens that cannot be undone, many yokes that cannot be broken and many oppressed who will never go free until God's people -and especially their leaders- obey God's call to fasting and prayer.” (17)
Derik Prince goes on to summarize the blessings of fasting (18).
Blessing of health and righteousness:
Malachi 4:2-3 says, “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of host.
Derik Prince writes that against a worldwide background of darkness, distress, and confusion, Isaiah portrays the end-time church emerging in glory and power through Isaiah 59:19-60:5:
As Derik Prince noted, the final action is the accomplishment of the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom by the church of Jesus Christ. As in Acts 1:8, Jesus said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me... unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (21)
“Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls...” (Zechariah 2:4)
Lord, as I read the words, “Surely I am coming soon.” My heart now fully says, “Come, Lord Jesus!” I long to see your kingdom come in full measure upon the earth. It is the deepest desire of my heart to see Your bride fully dressed and ready for Your coming, Your Holy Spirit poured out, and Your kingdom purposes fully coming forth. Come, Lord Jesus!!
Prince, Derek. Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting. Derek Prince Ministries. Charlotte, NC. 2002. (References 1-5, 9-12, 17-21)
Piper, John. A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer. Good News Publishers. Wheaton, IL. 1997. (References 6-8, 13-16)
As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, saying: 'O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens....
While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: 'We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law.' Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.” (Ezra 9:1-10:4)
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
When Ezra was told about the intermarriages, Ezra was deeply grieved by the sin of his people. Like Daniel prayed, he identified himself with the sin of the people. He humbled himself with fasting, weeping and pleaded with God for mercy. As he prayed, conviction fell on the people and they gathered before Ezra weeping bitterly over their sin and repenting.
Ezra was an example of someone who took praying and fasting seriously. When Ezra made the trip from Babylon to Jerusalem with many people and riches, rather than ask for an escort he declared a fast for protection. As a result, they came to Jerusalem safely.
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way; since we had told the king, 'The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him. So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.” (Ezra 8:21-23).
There are many examples in the Bible where prayer and fasting, both collectively and individually had a significant impact on the shaping of history to the purposes of God. Derek Prince writes in his book, “Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting,” that “we find a number of occasions where collective fasting and prayer brought forth dramatic and powerful intervention by God.” (1)
One of the examples he mentioned is 2 Chronicles 20. (2) When the Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites in a great multitude was coming against the people of Judah, Jehoshaphat sought the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah (v. 3). As the people of Judah came together and stood before the Lord, one of the prophets told the people and the king that they would not need to fight the battle, only stand firm, hold their position and see the salvation of the Lord (v13-17). The people sang and praised the Lord while the great army destroyed themselves in confusion.
“When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold there were dead bodies lying on ground, none had escaped.”Other examples of corporate fasting that resulted in dramatic changes in history were Esther with the destruction of the Jewish people and the people of Nineveh who were spared destruction as they all fasted and repented of their sin. (3)
(v.24)
Daniel and Anna were all examples of people who individually and consistently prayed and fasted, ushering in God's purposes. Anna prayed and fasted, seeking the Lord for redemption of His people. What overwhelming joy she must have experienced, after years of seeking the Lord, waiting and hoping, to see the hope of redemption with her very own eyes.
Daniel sought the Lord and prayed for the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. Daniel knew that the appointed period of 70 years was about over. “He therefore understood that the promised hour of deliverance and restoration was near at hand.” As Derik Prince notes about this, Daniel did not see the promise as a release from his obligation of intercession, but he sought the Lord with all the more intensity and fervency than every before. (4)
“Lord I give my life, a living sacrifice to reach a world in need” sings in the background.
Daniel's said about it, “I set my face unto the Lord God.” Derik Prince writes about this verse, “In the prayer life of each one of us, there comes a time when we have to set our faces. From that moment onward, no discouragement, no distraction, no opposition will be allowed to hold us back, until we have obtained the full assurance of an answer to which God's Word gives us title.
“I pray Lord break me, I pray Lord take me, I pray Lord make me all I've failed to be.”
As Derik Prince notes, “it was the prayer and fasting of Daniel that finally opened the way for the restoration of Israel to their own land. Over a period of nearly seventy years, the main successive changes in the destiny of God's people can be traced to the prayers of Daniel.” (5)
“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel -He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with bests, besides free will offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:1-4).
“If we will all work together we can make a difference if we try, to live a love that never fails, to love my neighbor as myself, and to give until there is nothing left to give... until all that lives through me is a message” sings.
There are also examples of ineffective prayer and fasting in the Bible. When prayer and fasting are used to manipulate God rather than bring forth His purposes or for religious practice rather than a humbling of oneself, it has resulted in rebuke and correction from God.
“Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, 'Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?' Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 'Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? … And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” (Zechariah 7:2-10)
“These are the things you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate declares the Lord.” And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.'” (Zechariah 8:16-19)
God cares greatly about ones heart condition when praying and fasting. Fasting can be a teeth gritting experience or it can be one of “joy and gladness and cheerful feasts.” John Piper writes, 'Doing right 'just because it is right' is not the Christian ideal. Doing right to enlarge our delight in God is.” As John Piper goes on to write, it is not God's gifts or hand that we are first or mainly seeking from God, but God Himself. (6)
When we have the right disposition in fasting, it tenderizes our heart, giving us a greater capacity to hold others up to God. I typically will know I am out of alignment with God in fasting when my heart is desensitized to the heart of God for others. A genuine fast involves not only a drawing towards God but a giving of oneself to others -especially in acts of charity for those who are most in need.
Fasting is meant to be a humbling of oneself, denying the soul common pleasures for the purpose of greater focus and union with God. It involves absence from food, sometimes water, and/or other indulgences of the soul (giving up hurrying, recognition, or watching television for a period of time as an example).
John Wesley writes about fasting that “every wise man will refrain his soul, and keep it low; will wean it more and more from all those indulgences of the inferior appetites, which naturally tend to chain it down to earth, and to pollute as well as debase it. Here is another perpetual reason for fasting; to remove the food of lust and sensuality, to withdraw the incentives of foolish and hurtful desires, of vile and vain affections.” (7)
In union with Christ, we long to see his kingdom purposes come forth and know that they can only be accomplished through His mercy and goodness. We don't fast and pray to be powerful or significant -but in powerlessness and dependence, knowing He is our only hope.
“How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God, that all will see how great, how great is our God! Name above names, worthy of all praise! My heart will sing how great is our God!”
John Piper writes, “The supremacy of God in all things is the great reward we long for in fasting. His supremacy in our own affections and in all our life choices. His supremacy in the purity of the church. His supremacy in the salvation of the lost. His supremacy in the establishing of righteousness and justice. And his supremacy for the joy of all peoples in the evangelization of the world.” (8)
Fasting is sometimes required in order to fully bring forth the purposes of God. Derik Prince writes, “there are occasions in which God requires the exercise of human faith and human will as an indispensable condition for the fulfillment of His counsels.” (9) God desires to partner with us in the accomplishing of His will, allowing us to participate in bringing forth His kingdom. Providing us with this privilege forms us more in Christlikeness.
Derik Prince writes, “God reveals to us the purposes that He is working out, not that we may be passive spectators on the sidelines of history, but that we may personally identify ourselves with His purposes, and thus become actively involved in their fulfillment. Revelation demands involvement.” (10)
Identifying ourselves with His purposes and becoming actively involved in their fulfillment is particularly applicable to the later-day outpouring of the Holy Spirit according to Derik Prince. He argues that the beginning of the last days started in Acts 2:16-17 with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:
“But this is that which was spoken by by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass jn the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”
He references Joel 2:23: “He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month” and makes the inference: “the former rain of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of the last days, while the latter rain of the Holy Spirit marks the close of the last days. God both begins and ends His dealings with the church on earth by a universal outpouring of His Holy Spirit.”(11)
And how will this outpouring come about? Derik Prince references Joel 2:15-17,
"Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'”
And he notes that it will take united prayer and fasting for all God's people, publicly called forth by leadership, to precipitate the final fullness of the latter day rain. (12)
“The fields are white and now the time has come, for there's a harvest, there is work left to be done. Lord her am I, I will be the one. I'm committed to the finish, until the setting of the sun” sings.
John Piper also notes that fasting precipitates the coming of the King and references Matthew 9:15, “The days will come when the Bridegroom is taken away from them, and they will fast.” He writes that by fasting, we “look to the future with an aching in our hearts saying: Yes, he came. And yes, what he did for us is glorious. But precisely because of what we have seen and what we have tasted, we feel keenly his absence as well as his presence... Fasting poses the question: do we miss him? How hungry are we for him to come?... The Bridegroom left on a journey just before the wedding, and the Bride cannot act as if things are normal. If she loves him, she will ache for his return.” (13)
John Piper goes on to write that fasting for the King to return is not a pacifistic discipline. He writes that an awakening of desire for the Bridegroom “would produce a radical, new commitment to complete the task of world evangelization, no matter what the cost. And fasting would not become a pacifistic discipline for private hopes, but a fearsome missionary weapon in the fight of faith.” (14)
Both John Piper and Derik Prince note that world evangelism plays a key role in the end. As stated in Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.” John Piper writes that there is a direct correlation between loving the Lord's appearing and laboring for the cause of world evangelization. He writes, “For the Bridegroom will not come until the gospel is preached to the nations, and the nations are reached through spiritual breakthroughs that come by fasting and prayer... “ (15)
“Fasting is the exclamation point at the end of 'Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus!' according to John Piper. He says, “ it is the modest, voluntary embracing of what it will cost to finish the Great Commission: pain.” (16)
And why is fasting a 'fearsome missionary weapon in the fight of faith? Derik Prince notes several reasons out of Isaiah 58. He says about verse 6, “Is not this the fast the I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” that it is a heart attitude. And he states about it, “Scripture and experience alike confirm that there are many bands that cannot be loosed, many burdens that cannot be undone, many yokes that cannot be broken and many oppressed who will never go free until God's people -and especially their leaders- obey God's call to fasting and prayer.” (17)
Derik Prince goes on to summarize the blessings of fasting (18).
Blessing of health and righteousness:
“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and they righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.”Blessing of guidance and fruitfulness:
“Then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and they darkness be as the noon day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”Finally, blessings of restoration:
“And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”And what is the final outcome? Derik Prince notes that it is the united, glorified church which will be Christ's witness to the whole world (19).
Malachi 4:2-3 says, “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of host.
Derik Prince writes that against a worldwide background of darkness, distress, and confusion, Isaiah portrays the end-time church emerging in glory and power through Isaiah 59:19-60:5:
He writes that there “is to be a worldwide demonstration of God's glory that will cause awe and wonder among all nations.” Upon God's people, “the light and glory of His presence will shine forth all the more brightly in the surrounding darkness. The impact, is that whole nations and people will turn to Christ. Derik prince writes that there will be a particular emphasis upon the young people coming in, “thy sons” and “thy daughters”. He goes on to note, “from every historical background and from every section of Christendom, the streams of revival will flow, finally uniting themselves into a single irresistible river.” (20)“So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. 'The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,' says the LORD. 'As for Me,' says the LORD, 'this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,' says the LORD, 'from this time and forevermore.'
Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 'Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles [nations] shall come to you.”
As Derik Prince noted, the final action is the accomplishment of the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom by the church of Jesus Christ. As in Acts 1:8, Jesus said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me... unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (21)
“Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls...” (Zechariah 2:4)
Lord, as I read the words, “Surely I am coming soon.” My heart now fully says, “Come, Lord Jesus!” I long to see your kingdom come in full measure upon the earth. It is the deepest desire of my heart to see Your bride fully dressed and ready for Your coming, Your Holy Spirit poured out, and Your kingdom purposes fully coming forth. Come, Lord Jesus!!
Prince, Derek. Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting. Derek Prince Ministries. Charlotte, NC. 2002. (References 1-5, 9-12, 17-21)
Piper, John. A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer. Good News Publishers. Wheaton, IL. 1997. (References 6-8, 13-16)
Comments