Goodbye 2020: Fasting and praying our way into the New Year!

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I don’t think I know anyone that isn’t elated to say, “Goodbye 2020!” To say it has been different, difficult and even depressing is an understatement. We never saw it coming and we sure are not sad to see it go. What will the New Year bring? Of that we are not certain but we can be sure of our place in it and our reaction to it by beginning 2021 with fasting and prayer.

A New Year brings new possibilities and fresh starts and the hope of finally getting it right this time. So we make resolutions that usually are forgotten before the month is over. We determine we are going to read more, especially our Bible. We are going to be intentional when it comes to our walk with God. But life gets in the way and before we know it we are right back in 2020.

It doesn’t have to be that way this year! If you are reading this (and you are), you have likely decided to fast in January. Maybe your church is doing a corporate fast, which just means they are doing it together. Maybe you are doing it alone but the key to victory is that you are doing it. Fasting doesn’t change God, it changes you! Fasting for the right reasons will reset your focus and desires and get you on the path to getting it right.

For the month of January, Hope in the Healing is committed to helping YOU as you fast and pray unto the Lord. Some are beginning The Daniel Fast today or next week, we will be talking about that too. Others are fasting social media or things that are a vital part of the way they spend their time. All of them are good!

Anything that is a sacrifice to you is a sacrifice unto the Lord.

For those that are choosing The Daniel Fast, it is typically a 21 day fast. Very few actually begin on New Year’s Day so we will start with the first three days explaining the need for fasting, different types of fasts and more details about The Daniel Fast in particular.

The Daniel Fast Devotional

To help you even further on your journey, I encourage you to get my book, The Daniel Fast Devotional! It is a great tool for ANY TYPE OF FAST. Twenty one days of devotions, examples of others who fasted in the Bible, why they fasted and what we can learn from it. It’s available at Amazon.com here. I also offer discounts for multiple purchases, email me at ynannette@gmail.com for pricing!

Even the early Church fasted and prayed regularly after they received the Holy Ghost. We have a continual war going on between the carnal and the spiritual that will not end until after the Lord comes back for His people, the final battle is fought and Satan has been put in his place. Forever.

In order to be overcomers while we are living in this world, we must have a relationship with Jesus Christ and we must learn how to pray and fast to keep our bodies, our flesh, under subjection.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up.” James 4:10 KJV.

Fasting will kill that inner man. You will be filled with the power of God so you may be able to overcome.

The most important thing is that you take that time that you would normally be eating and spend it PRAYING!

Fasting without prayer is called a diet!

Fasting together in January Series!

When the Church is fasting, the enemy is intimidated. Satan isn’t worried one bit when we are content with the status quo. But if the Church ever realizes the power it possesses through prayer and fasting, the devil would be on the run.

His Word says some things only come about by prayer and fasting. “And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast him out? So he said to them, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:28, 29 NKJV

Fasting puts Satan in his place! And through fasting, you can take back your God-given spiritual authority over your life.

Fasting can literally change you from the inside out. It will draw you closer to God, help you see things about yourself that you need to change, allow God to dig out the ugly and replace it with His grace, and lift those heavy burdens from you that you just don’t need to carry or worry about any longer.

Let’s do this together! Join me for the next three weeks and encourage one another in fasting and prayer. Unity in the Body is necessary for the revival we want to see happen in our families and communities. Blessings to you as you fast unto the Lord.

Questions? Don’t hesitate to either comment here or message me at ynannette@gmail.com. I would be happy to help. See you here tomorrow!

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Away in a Manger: History and a Mystery

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Away in a Manger is another one of our most popular and most sung Christmas Carols. Many have claimed, down through the years, that it was written by Martin Luther, the German religious reformer, but research may tell us differently and it may have originated in America.

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,

The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.

The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,

But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.

I love thee, Lord Jesus! look down from the sky,

And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay

Close by me forever, and love me I pray.

Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,

And take us to heaven to live with thee there.

James R. Murray titled the tune as Luther’s Cradle Hymn in 1887. Murray declared that Martin Luther had written the song AND he even sang it to his children every night before they went to sleep. Naturally, the story caught on and Luther’s popularity helped the song become even more beloved. 

This all came as quite a surprise to German families of that time period who did not sing Away in a Manger to their children at bedtime. They had never even heard of the song until it arrived in Europe….from the United States.

In reality the song was most likely written in the mid 1800’s in america but we have no one to legally attribute it to. The tune was actually composed by J. E Clark and Charles Hutchinson Gabriel, the music director for Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, and he then presented a new version that added the third verse..

Who truly wrote the song may always remain a mystery but millions have been forever blessed by the words that take us back to the birth of the Savior. God became flesh and dwelt among us, a humble beginning for the King of Kings. He came and He gave that we might know Him and with that relationship, He will “take us to Heaven” to reign with Him throughout all eternity.

Get my Daniel Fast Devotional here!

No Room – When the hustle and bustle replace the joy

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Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because it was decreed by Caesar, but when they arrived, there was no room for them in the inn, so Mary delivered her firstborn son in a stable filled with animals, basically, the barn.

Or did she?

The picture I have had most of my life is of the two of them standing at an ancient bed and breakfast and a kindly elder gentlemen shaking his head telling them he was sorry he could not accommodate them. Everything was full because of the census. Even though Mary was with child they still could not find a place to stay, but this innkeeper did offer his stable and a clean bed of hay where she could give birth. Yikes!

But a little deeper look at the Greek wording might give us some insight and a better understanding of that holy night.

The Greek term translated inn (kataluma) had more than one meaning. It could be a small inn, or a group of people traveling together, a caravansary. This word is used only one other time in the New Testament… “And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.” Luke 22:11.

This is the place where Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples! What kind of room does Luke say this was? “A large furnished upper room…” 

So the last night of Jesus’ ministry on this earth was spent in an upper room in an inn or kataluma. Sort of a guest room.

Now let us look at His entrance into this world…when they discovered the inn was full, it was no doubt filled with others, possibly even relatives, who had also traveled to the city for the same reasons. Older members of the family would be accommodated first so they could have possibly taken the rooms.

In this culture and time period, the animals were brought inside at night for several reasons. Mangers (animal feeding troughs) were also found inside the house, tools were stored and the animals were safe from harm. Their being inside also added warmth with their body heat, milk supply and dung for fuel.

So when it is said that Joseph and Mary could find no room in the inn and Jesus was born in the manger, in reality they were likely in a house of humble stature. The stable was on the ground floor, where they brought the animals in at night, the sleeping quarters were on the second floor.

True, it was never the best of conditions; it was still a very humble birth! And if all the rooms in the sleeping quarters were full, and they were, then Mary and Joseph did sleep with the animals on the first floor…the sounds, the smells, the shedding! Everyone was busy getting to the city of their birth to pay their taxes and be counted. There was plenty of hustle and bustle and no one had room for the King of Kings.

No fanfare, nothing flashy or royal by the world’s standards. But all of heaven took notice that day and the heavenly hosts sang, “Glory to God in the highest!”

Hustle and Bustle

Sadly, ever since then, our world has never had room for Jesus. Isaiah prophesied it would be so, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Isaiah 53:3.

We  have continued to push Him out of our government and our schools. Many now call it Winter Break instead of Christmas Break. It is no longer politically correct to say, Merry Christmas; that has been replaced with Happy Holidays, which they says covers everything and makes everyone happy.

I have even heard of a school on the east coast that gave a performance where the 5th grade sang Silent Night and the teacher had removed all of the references to Jesus in the presentation. What would be the point?!

There was a song back in the 1970’s that we used in a Christmas play titled No Room. The lyrics went like this:

No room,–no room for Him.
No room to let Him in.–
No room for Jesus in the world He made, no room.
No room for the King of Kings;
Room for others, and for other things.
No room for Jesus in the world He made, no room

No room,–no room for Him.
No room to let Him in.–
No room for Jesus in the heart He made just for Him.
No room–for the King of Kings
Room for others, and for other things.
No room for Jesus in the heart He made, no room.

Room for houses, lands and pleasures,
Room for things that pass away;
But for the One who reigns forever,
There’s no room today. 

Have you made room for Him? Are you taking time to remember the Reason for the Season? Is the hustle and bustle distracting you from the meaning and purpose of that first Christmas?

Take time each day this week to pause, pray and thank God for His entrance into this world. His birth made all the difference in our lives and is the Hope that will take us to be with Him forever one day soon.

When we make room for Jesus, our silent nights become holy nights. Let Him in today…make plenty of room!