Fasting In Trying Times
Thursday, March 7, 2024Key Verse
“Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).
Text — Esther 4:10-17
Message
It was Wesley L. Duewel who said, “Fasting in the biblical sense is choosing not to partake of food because your spiritual hunger is so deep, your determination in intercession so intense, or your spiritual warfare so demanding that you have temporarily set aside even fleshly needs to give yourself to prayer and meditation.” In the days of Mordecai, a death decree was signed by the king, Esther`s husband, against the exiled Jews in his kingdom. It was Haman’s scheme. Added to this, was a protocol attracting a capital punishment on anyone that approached unto the king except he was invited. The only means to break the protocol was to cry to the living God who holds the hearts of all men in His hands.
Esther, her maidens and the Jews fasted and prayed and God was moved and delivered the Jews from mass slaughter (Esther 5:2, 3; 8:7-11). Acceptable fasting and prayer is for the saints (Psalm 66:18). Youths who have challenges that defy ordinary prayer should examine themselves and pray with fasting. However, do not indulge in a long fasting unadvisedly.
Quote
Pray with fasting
Challenge
Challenge your challenges with prayer and fasting.
Prayer for today
Lord, teach me to fast aright in Jesus’ name.
About Author - Pastor W.F. Kumuyi
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
