Tag Archives: standing in the gap

I am going to do it even if I have Screaming Eagles in my Stomach!

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Thankfulness - sunsetFew Christians have seriously pressed into the realm of prayer and fasting. The church has nonchalantly looked the other way and has stopped talking about this biblical principle. Denying ourselves isn’t convenient or enjoyable to our flesh. I know when I fast it seems as if there are screaming eagles in my stomach!

God is awakening courageous believers to the understanding of the empowerment of a fasted lifestyle. Unfortunately, that will never happen until we crucify our flesh and combine fasting with our prayers. They go hand-in-hand. Hunger is one of the body’s strongest cravings. When the believer seeks God and His

I am going to Fast even if it gives me Screaming Eagles in my Stomach! –

kingdom by going without food it demonstrates self-humbling and a sacrifice of personal pleasure. (Ps.35:13)  It is a dynamic principle that every believer needs to practice throughout his or her lives. It can’t be just a quick fix button that we use when we are in a jam or a medal we wear to proclaim our self-righteousness.

In Isaiah 58:6 we read, “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke”? The scriptures openly tell us that God has chosen the fast as a way to loose bondages and release those who are oppressed. We see today many renowned ministers and ministries promoting fasting and prayer such as, Jentzen Franklin, Mike Bickle as well as, the late Dr. Bill Bright and his ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ International, have stirred churches, pastors and their congregations around the world to pray and fast for godly change. These men also live a fasted lifestyle and have seen the power and impact of it. Dr. Bright said, “Fasting is the most powerful spiritual discipline of all the Christian disciplines. Through fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit can transform your life.” Joel 2:12 says, “’Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’” Fasting is in the same category as wholeheartedly turning toward Him. Derek Prince said, “Fasting breaks down the barriers in man’s

Fasting can’t be just a quick fix button or a medal we wear to proclaim our self- righteousness.

carnal nature that stand in the way of the Holy Spirit’s omnipotence. With these barriers removed, the Holy Spirit can work unhindered in His fullness through our
prayers”.

Fasting gets the believer serious about God’s will. In the book of Acts, we see the early church practiced and was vigilant in fasting. Acts 13:2-3, “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away.” Matthew Henry says about this passage, “We see here a divine warrant and commission to Barnabas and Saul to go and preach the gospel among the Gentiles, and their ordination to that service by the imposition of hands, with fasting and prayer.” The early church understood the seriousness of fulfilling God’s will and His calling; therefore, they denied themselves and fasted.

There is a moving of God’s Spirit upon the community of believers all across the world to live a life of prayer and fasting. Humbling ourselves before the Lord will bring a desire to hear His heartbeat and know His will. Isn’t it time for every believer to return to Biblical truth and practice this lifestyle? Getting serious in prayer and fasting will bring the powerful results that we so desperately need in our culture. Are you ready to get back to the Biblical principles of fasting?

   Thoughts to Ponder:  

  1. What do you think of when you hear the word fasting? Maybe going in for a medical procedure, or a hunger strike? In your own words define what you and your friends think about fasting

 

  1. What do you think the biblical principle of fasting’s part is in the church today. Is it a thing of the past ? Does it bend God’s arm to answer us?
  1. Other than the scriptures mentioned above do you know of any other Biblical stories of fasting? Explain the Story?

 Quotes to Tweet:    

  • I am going to Fast even if it gives me Screaming Eagles in my Stomach! – billvirgin.com
  • Fasting can’t be just a quick fix button or a medal we wear to proclaim our self-   righteousness. – billvirgin.com
  • Getting serious in prayer and fasting will bring the powerful results that we so desperately need in our culture.   – billvirgin.com

#FastingGivesMeScreamingEaglesInMyStomach     #JoinTheFastingMovement

 

Praying Prayers that Shake Things

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108220532We get a snap shot of the disciples praying in Acts 4:29–30. Peter and John had gone to their own Because of the threats from the Sanhedrin. Then all of them began asking the Lord to move in their behalf with power from on high, praying that they might see signs and wonders, enabling them to speak the Word with boldness. When they had finished, the place began to shake, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Resulting with them going forth in power.

When was the last time the place where we were praying began to shake from the power of God? Maybe we haven’t been touching God in prayer like we should. Lord Tennyson said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”

Prayer is to revival and God’s outpouring as evaporation is to a cloudburst of fresh rain. You can’t have the one without the other. As we pray, it’s like the evaporated water, ascending to the heavens. The clouds of heavens fill full of the prayers of saints. Then the clouds move to a dry and thirsty place, to pour down the

What we sow is what we shall reap. So then, let me ask, what are we sowing? (tweet)

rains of revival on the cracked desert soil of humanity. Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” It is through prayer that we sow, cultivate the hard soil and reap a plentiful harvest. What we sow is what we shall reap. So then, let me ask, what are we sowing?

When the church begins to press in, laying hold of the promises of God, then we will finally come to the place of reaping God’s best. D.L. Moody once said, “The world has not yet seen what God can do through a person completely dedicated to Him.”

Will we stand in the gap before the Lord? Well, it is time that we answer that question with a thundering yes! This country is in need of a militant, praying church, possessing the land that the Lord has given us through tenacious prayer. Let me end with an inspiring story in history from David Shibleys’ book, A Force in the Earth.

“In 1806 a group of students at Williams College in Massachusetts sought refuge from a sudden rainstorm in a haystack. As the rain beat down, they turned their retreat into a prayer meeting. They asked God to use their lives. As they prayed, their

When the church begins to press in and lays hold of God’s promises, then we will reap God’s best.       (tweet)

faith rose to believe God could use them significantly to fulfill Christ’s great commission. When the rain subsided, they left with the rallying cry, “We can do it if we will!” This unobtrusive meeting went down in history as the Haystack Prayer Meeting. Today, this spontaneous prayer time is seen as the beginning of the mission Continue reading →

I am So Tired that I can’t Keep Watch!

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I recall a story of Alexander the Great that I had heard sometime back, whether true or folklore. It went something like this. He was walking through his military encampment and came across a sleeping soldier who was supposed to be on guard. With total disgust and rebuke Alexander awoke him and demanded to know his name. The trembling soldier muttered that his name was also Alexander. In a tone of dismay, Alexander the Great replied, “Either change your name or live up to your name.”

How many believers or children of the most high have fallen asleep because they are naive of who they are in Christ. If they understood that they had the name of Christ and were His ambassador. They wouldn’t be falling asleep and slacking in their responsibilities.

The Bible and history itself confirm that God uses those called by His name to stand watch in prayer for His purposes. The Spirit will prompt us in intercession, yet we will probably never know the entirety of the impact our prayers have, until we are in Heaven.

In the garden the night before our Savior, Jesus Christ, went to the cross to carry all of humanity’s sin, He stood in the gap for us. He denied His own flesh and pursued the will of the Father for the entire world. The scripture reveals His passion for us in Luke 22:44-46, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, ‘Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.’”

              As Christians we either need to change who we’re representing or start living up to His name!     (tweet)

In the most crucial time of church history, we find Jesus standing in prayer and intense intercession. It was so intense that He sweat great drops of blood (Luke 22:44-46). Jesus was so focused on what lay before Him, and the purposes of God, that He agonized in prayer for the Church and its redemption. Yet, the disciples, in the most important time, were sleeping and unwilling to stand in watch with Him.

Moses was also an intercessor that spiritually stood guard and watched for the people of God. In Exodus 32:1-12, we see the children of Israel straying from God and worshipping a golden calf. They had been delivered from bondage through a mighty show of God’s power but quickly slid
back into Egyptian idolatry when left to themselves. God’s anger was stirred toward the people so that He wanted to get rid of them. But Moses quickly stepped into the place of intercession and pleaded that God would spare them (Ex. 32:13).

Because Moses stood in the gap all were spared except for the instigators and the rebellious. Moses later came down from the presence of the almighty God and radiated His glory in such a dimension that the children of Israel couldn’t look upon him (Ex. 34:29-30). There is a reward for intercessors that watch and stand in the gap for God’s people. I believe in reply to Moses asking, that God showed Him enough of His goodness and glory that it changed him forever (Ex. 33:18).

There is a reward that the intercessor receives from God that can only be obtained through a relationship of intimacy in intercession. Therefore, either we need to change who we’re representing or start living up to His name!