Welcome to the Special Fasting Edition of the Prayer Motivator Devotional Broadcast #35
This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International. It is good to be with you today.
We praise the Lord for all of you who fasted for 24 hours on yesterday, Wednesday, June 20, 2012, and for those who are currently fasting for 40 days and nights with pastors and Christian leaders across America. As you fast, please continue to pray for the following among other things:
1. For God to heal Christian families
2. For God to revive the church
3. For God to heal the nation
4. For 3 million or more people to come to Christ
5. And if the Lord is going to tarry His coming, for God to give us the godly leadership that this nation needs going forward.
Our Scripture reading for today is Isaiah 58:1-14 from the King James Version which reads:
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 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?
7 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?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this passage from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
In this passage, we see that they [the Israelites] and their families shall be public blessings. It is a good reward to those that are fruitful and useful to be rendered more so, and especially to have those who descend from them to be so too. This is here promised: “Those that now are of thee, thy princes, and nobles, and great men, shall have such authority and influence as they never had;’’ or, “Those that hereafter shall be of thee, thy posterity, shall be serviceable to their generation, as thou art to thine.’’ It completes the satisfaction of a good man, as to this world, to think that those that come after him shall be doing good when he is gone.
We will continue discussing this passage in our next broadcast.
Our fasting quote of encouragement today is from an Unknown Author. He said: “Fasting is a way to demonstrate to God, and to yourself, that you are serious about your relationship with Him. Fasting helps you to gain a new perspective and a renewed reliance upon God.”
Our fasting devotional today is part 3 of our series titled “THE NINE FASTS GOD CAN USE” from Elmer L. Towns in his book “Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough”.
The fourth fast we will discuss is the Elijah fast.
The purpose of this fast is “to break every yoke” — conquering the mental and emotional problems that would control our lives, and returning the control to the Lord.
The key verse of this fast is 1 Kings 19:4 & 8, “He himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness…He arose and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights.”
Here is a short overview: Although Scripture does not call this a formal “fast”, Elijah deliberately went without food when he fled from Queen Jezebel’s threat to kill him. After this self-imposed deprivation, God sent an angel to minister to Elijah in the wilderness.
The fifth fast we will discuss is the Widow’s fast.
The purpose of this fast is “to share [our] bread with the hungry” and to care for the poor — to meet the humanitarian needs of others.
The key verse of this fast is 1 Kings 17:16, “The jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.”
Here is a short overview: God sent the prophet Elijah to a poor, starving widow — ironically, so the widow could provide food for Elijah. Just as Elijah’s presence resulted in food for the widow of Zarephath, so presenting ourselves before God in prayer and fasting can relieve hunger today.
Now, let’s take this moment to break up the fallow ground in our lives. Hosea 10:12 states, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”
The great evangelist Charles G. Finney preached a message titled “Breaking Up the Fallow Ground – It Is Time to Seek the Lord”. In this sermon, he listed 27 sins that we as Christians should confess and repent of. We have gone through each of those sins in the previous broadcasts (plus we added the 28th sins of lust, perversion, and pornography, the 29th sins of fornication and adultery, the 30th sin of gluttony, the 31st sin of disobedience to parents, and the 32nd sin of wives not being in subjection to their husbands) and so today, we are going to deal with the sin of: Husbands Not Loving Their Wives
Ephesians 5:25-29 states, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church…” From this passage of Scripture, we see that God wants husbands to love their wives just as Jesus Christ loves His “bride” – the church. This love is unconditional, selfless, and compassionate; it shows forth a spirit of forgiveness, mercy, and respect. Unfortunately, on one hand, some husbands do not show this kind of love to their wives by not being the responsible head of household, and not guiding the family as a man should. On the other hand, some husbands love their wives too much to the point of putting them ahead of God. Are you a husband who is living in disobedience to God by not loving your wife? Are you being the leader of your family that God wants you to be? No matter what your wife is doing in your marriage, or whether she is saved or lost, God wants you to love your wife the same way He loves the church.
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer right now and confess our sins before God.
GENERAL PRAYER
Dear friend, if you are listening to this broadcast and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how. Please understand that you are a sinner and that you have broken God’s laws. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Please understand that because of your sins, you deserve punishment in hell. Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death…” This is both physical death and spiritual death in hell. But here is the good news. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The Bible also says in Romans 10:9 and 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today and forever. Amen.
Congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! We’re here to help you, feel free to contact us at GospelLightSociety.com
Until next time, continue to fast and pray. God Bless You!
The Prayer Motivator Devotional 