Chosen, Commissioned. So glad you are joining us for 31 Days of Fasting Together in January! You can catch up on posts you have missed here.
Prayer and fasting is not just for emergencies. It isn’t only to see fire rain down from heaven, or for God to deliver men from a den of lions. Sometimes, as we are going to see in the Book of Acts, men fasted and prayed asking God’s blessing on something they were about to do.
We still practice that today, and we should always seek the Lord for His direction in the big and the small things in our lives.
Barnabas wanted to take Saul (Paul) to Antioch. This elder in the Church saw something in the new convert that the others were not aware of quite yet. Barnabas was Paul’s teacher, his mentor, and he knew God had big plans in store for this former persecutor of the Church.
“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, ‘Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.’ And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” Acts 13:2-3 KJV.
Chosen, committed and commissioned. Barnabas and Paul were sent out as the very first missionaries. They did exactly what Jesus had commanded before He ascended, “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15 KJV.
Are you committed? Are you sold out to the cause of Christ? If you have been on the Daniel Fast, or ANY FAST, for any amount of time at all you must be committed to something. You have a desire to live for God and have a longing to draw closer to Him in the New Year. You surely have a yearning to see your loved ones saved, financial needs met, and to get things in your life turned around to so Jesus can use you to make an impact in your world.
You are on the right track! Regular prayer and fasting, daily prayer and digging in the Word of God will help you to move in the right direction.
If you want a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you must spend time with Him. If you never communicate, you cannot know Him. If you never talk to your husband or wife and there is rarely any communication, that relationship is not going to last very long. If it is a new relationship, it will not even get off of the ground.
Fasting cleanses your heart of things that shouldn’t be there and illuminates others that you didn’t realize had moved in.
“Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them….” is what the Holy Ghost said.
Strive to be separated, through regular prayer and fasting, and see what God will do through you.
Blessings to you on your journey while denying your flesh and drawing closer to God. You will see revival in your church, your family and your world!
It’s never too late to purchase The Daniel Fast Devotional! It is such a help to you during ANY FAST. Twenty one devotions and three days of preparation devotions, you will be encouraged and learn about nearly every fast that took place in the Bible. The good and the bad! Yes, there were those whose fasting was NOT unto the Lord. You can click on any of these links and order from Amazon on the Kindle or paperback.