Fast and Pray I Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Why do I need to pray? Why do I need to fast? These are questions that you are probably asking yourself.
God knows everything; He knows our needs, why do I need to tell Him what He already knows?
One misunderstanding about prayer is that we think the purpose of prayer is to give God information. “Lord I need this”, “Do that”…
The purpose of prayer is not to inform God about our needs, but the purpose of prayer is to know God so He can conform us into His will and into His likeness. Prayer brings us into fellowship with God.
The word fellowship is the Greek word koinonia, it depicts communion, sharing, to have in common, communication or a partnership, and it is a mutual participation in some project or event.
God’s choice is to use you to change the world He wants you to partner with him in this great event. But how can we know Gods will, desire, or methods if we don’t spend time getting to know His heart?
Daniel was a man of prayer he spent many hours every day seeking God and when God begin to use him and give him visions of what was to come he knew what he needed to do and he set aside a time of 21 days to fast and to seek the Lord.
Food for the flesh was not important what was important was to get in the presence of God. “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes”
Daniel knew fasting and prayer were the two most important factors in seeking God, the people had sinned, judgment was coming and Daniel must intercede.
What is fasting? Fasting is about food it means to cover the mouth or to abstain from food for a period of time for a specific purpose.
What is our purpose in this 21 day fast? To put aside some things and spend time getting to know our God a God who is so in love with us and wants us to know Him and to partner with Him and like Daniel to intercede for our great nation.
Are you ready? Have you set your purpose for this fast? I believe the next 20 days are going to be faith filled, growing in love days. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10)
Blessings,
Sister Francine
Additional scripture reading
Psalm 46:10
Ephesians 3:19
Philippians 3:8 -10