____________________________________________________________________________________________

ACTS 29 TODAY

coming to the knowledge of the TRUTH

____________________________________________________________________________________________

WAYS TO FAST

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

We just looked at a forty-day fast that Jesus went on to

prepare to confront the devil’s temptations. But there

are several ways to fast. The one I have found to be the

most practical and effective for the person carrying on

in today’s busy society is the common three-day

fast.This can be done in one of two ways.

If you can’t get away somewhere and just pray because

of your schedule, I recommend that you go on a juice

fast using mild juices such as grape or apple juice.

During that time, pray as much as you can. But if you

can get away, I suggest you go on a total consecrated

fast of just water (filtered or distilled, available at most

supermarkets).

If you aren’t familiar with fasting and want to go on

more than a three-day fast, I recommend a series of

shorter periods of fasting. For example, you could fast

three days a week for three weeks straight. For that

time period, stick to fresh vegetables, fruits, and salads,

staying away from heavy meats and breads. Then when

your time of fasting is over, you can go back to those

foods if you desire.

Eventually you may want to go on a more extended fast,

especially if you are dealing with some kind of

stronghold in your flesh realm (mind, emotions, or

body) that you want to shutdown or mortify for good.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

The Fast God Chooses

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

To understand the kind of fast God chooses, let’s take

this subject one step further and go to Isaiah 58. Is not

this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of

wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the

oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou HIDE NOT THYSELF FROM THINE OWN FLESH?—

Isaiah 58:6,7

That last phrase of this passage of Scripture was the

part I got stuck on. I thought, Lord,what do You mean

when You say the fast You have chosen is that I hide not

myself from my own flesh? I wondered if God was

talking about the same thing Jesus spoke of in

Matthew6:17,18:

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and

wash thy face;

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy

Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in

secret, shall reward thee openly.

Or was God making the same point in Isaiah 58:7 as

Paul made in First Corinthians 7:5 when he addressed

husbands and wives?

Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent

for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and

prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you

not for your incontinence.

Jesus taught about a fast in which we are to wash our

faces and go about our daily business, not appearing

unto men that we are fasting. Then Paul taught about a

fast in which we could lock ourselves away on the

“mountain,” so to speak, giving ourselves completely to

fasting and prayer. Both types of fast are taught in the

Bible.

But I still wondered what the Lord meant when He said

I am not to hide myself from my own flesh. It took me

about three years of study and meditation to

understand what He was talking about.

The day you decide to fast is the day you decide to quit

hiding from your own flesh — from whatever it is in

you that just doesn’t care about the lost, the poor, the

naked, or those who are cast out of God’s house. It’s the

day you decide to quit hiding from whatever ceiling is

in your life stopping you from operating in God’s

power. The day you decide to fast is the day you decide

to quit running from yourself.

Jesus said, “That demon didn’t come out because of

your unbelief.” He also said, “That kind only comes out

by prayer and fasting.” And what does fasting have to

do with your unbelief? It executes the position of the

flesh that God has declared: It has no right to dominate

you. It has no right to rule over you.

When you live a lifestyle of fasting and prayer, there is

no operation of the flesh that the devil can lay hold of

to destroy your life with. This is what Jesus meant when

He said, “The prince of this world comes, and he has

nothing in me” (John 14:30).

Why is that? Because fasting and praying in the Holy

Ghost destroys those fleshly works and releases God’s

power in you. And the moment the operation of the

flesh drops below the level of the operation of the

Spirit, you receive a new anointing in your life and

ministry.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Prepare for Satan’s Tactics

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

As we pray and fast, hiding not from our flesh, we set

captives free. Let’s look at Isaiah 58:6again:

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the

bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to

let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Often the first captive that needs to be set free is

ourselves. As the flesh is dealt a deathblow through

fasting, we rise in freedom to walk more fully in the

Spirit. Once we grow to a place of greater spiritual

maturity, we begin to set others free.

Remember, it is at this point that we will draw the

devil’s attention. He doesn’t want anyone to be free,

and we have become a major threat to his kingdom of

darkness!

You may ask, “Aren’t you inviting trouble?” No, I’m not

inviting trouble; I’m anticipating the strategies of

Satan. The Bible tells us that when the Word is planted

in any way, shape, or form, the devil comes to steal it so

that it will not produce fruit (Luke 8:11-15).

If we aren’t spiritually aware of the devil’s tactics, we

will have a rude awakening. We will be caught

unprepared, and the devil will have a better

opportunity to steal from us or from those we love.

We aren’t in Heaven yet. We are living on a planet that

has had war declared on it. The devil was thrown out of

Heaven, and now he is active here on the earth. He

cannot cause trouble in Heaven, so he does his best to

cause trouble here.

As long as the devil is active here on earth, the storms

will continue to beat down upon our homes. But just as

surely as Jesus revealed that the storms would come,

He also guaranteed that if our house is built on the rock

of hearing and doing His sayings, the devil can do noth-

ing to tear that house down (Matt. 7:24-27). The enemy

isn’t powerful enough. He doesn’t have the equipment

to force our house off the Rock of Jesus Christ.

The more that we get a revelation of the entire plan of

God, the more victory we are going to have here on

earth. The more quickly we come to a place of

esteeming the glories of Heaven as a greater prize than

the temporary shortsighted goals of this earthly

existence, the more power we will have operating in

our lives for the victories in the battles here on this

earth.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

until next time

servant Larry