A Hunger for God Post 6 of 7 | Fasting and the Course of History
This is a special City Notes for Emmaus City Church in relation to fasting from the book, A Hunger for God. Here are some previous reflections:
Post 1 of 7 | A Homesickness for God
Post 2 of 7 | New Fasting for New Wine
Post 3 of 7 | The Desert Feast of Fasting
Post 4 of 7 | Fasting for the Reward of the Father
Post 5 of 7 | Fasting for the King's Coming
5-Minute Reflection
– pg. 98, Acts 13:1-3
"The state of the times extremely requires a fullness of the divine Spirit in ministers, and we ought to give ourselves no rest til we have obtained it. And in order to (do) this, I should think ministers, above all persons, ought to be much in secret prayer and fasting, and also much in praying and fasting one with another. It seems to me it would be becoming the circumstances of the present day, if ministers in a neighborhood would often meet together and spend days in fasting and fervent prayer among themselves, earnestly seeking for those extraordinary supplies of divine grace from heaven, that we need at this day." – pg. 98, Jonathan Edwards, Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival
God was pleased to make worship and prayer and fasting the launching pad for a mission that would change the course of world history.
" ... the course of history has been changed repeatedly through fasting and prayer. ... In the latter years of the twentieth century, fasting and prayer have almost become synonymous with the churches of South Korea. And there is good reason. The first Protestant church was planted in Korea in 1884. One hundred years later there were 30,000 churches. That's an average of 300 new churches a year for 100 years. At the end of the twentieth century, evangelicals comprise about 30% of the population. God has used many means to do this great work. One of them is a recovery not just of dynamic prayer, but of fasting-prayer. For example, in the OMS (Overseas Missionary Society) churches alone more than 20,000 people have completed a forty-day fast – usually at one of their 'prayer houses' in the mountains." – pg. 103
"One of the clearest biblical encouragements to consider fasting as a history-shaping act is found in Acts 13:1-4: Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ... the burden that they had as a leadership team in the church was this: 'Where do we go from here as a church?' They were fasting to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit in the direction of their mission. The upshot was more magnificent than any master planning effort the church has ever undertaken. They were hungry enough for God's leading that they wanted to say it with the hunger of their bodies and not just the hunger of their hearts. ' We want you and we want your leading, O God! O Holy Spirit, what is your will for the mission of this church? We want to see you and follow you more than we want to eat." – pg. 104
"(In Acts 13) Luke clearly wants us to see a connection between the worship, prayer, and fasting on the one hand and the decisive guidance of the Holy Spirit on the other: 'While they were fasting, the Holy Spirit said.' This is a significant biblical precedent for engaging in worship-fasting-prayer in the earnest pursuit of God's will for our lives and the life of our church. ... the fasting in Acts 13 changed the course of history. It is almost impossible to overstate the historical importance of that moment in the history of the world. Before this word from the Holy Spirit, there seems to have been no organized mission of the church beyond the eastern seacoast of the Mediterranean. Before this, Paul had no missionary journeys westward to Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, or Spain. Before this Paul had not written any of his letters, which were all a result of his missionary travels, which began here. This moment of prayer and fasting resulted in a missions movement that would catapult Christianity from obscurity into begin the dominant religion of the Roman Empire within two and half centuries, and would yield 1.3 billion adherents of the Christian religion today, with a Christian witness in virtually every country of the world. And thirteen out of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament (Paul's letters) were a result of the ministry that was launched in this historic moment of prayer and fasting. ... God was pleased to make worship and prayer and fasting the launching pad for a mission that would change the course of world history." – pg. 107
" ... in 2 Chronicles 20 the Moabites and Ammonites and Meunites came against Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah. It was a terrifying horde of violent people coming against the people of the Lord. What could the people do? What direction should they turn? Verses 3-4 say, 'Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord; and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.' So there was a great nationwide fast for divine guidance and deliverance. In the midst of that fasting assembly, according to verses 14-15, 'the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel (the priest) ... and he said, 'Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's'' The next day when the people of Judah went out, they found that the people of Moab and Ammon had destroyed one another, and it took Judah three days to gather the spoil. The course of history was changed by the fasting of God's people. The stories of God's mighty grace through fasting are many. We could tell the story of Moses on Mount Sinai fasting forty days as he received the Law of God that would not only guide Israel for more than 3,000 years, but would become the foundation of Western culture as we know it (Exodus 24:18; 34:28). Or we could tell the story of how the Jews fasted for Esther as she risked her life before King Ahasuerus and turned the plot against Israel back on Haman's head (Esther 4:16). Or we could tell the story of Nehemiah's fasting for the sake of his people and the city of God in ruins, so that King Artaxerxes granted him all the help he needed to return and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:4)." – pgs. 107-108
" ... it is also possible to do extraordinary fasting and yet not humble ourselves, pray, seek God, and turn from wickedness. This is plain from numerous texts. For example:
When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence. – Jeremiah 14:12
Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? – Zechariah 7:5
'Why have we fasted and Thou dost not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and Thou dost not notice' Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers. – Isaiah 58:3
... public fasting and other rigors had gone on for a long time, yet were full of pretense and deadness. The people were not 'turning from their wicked ways' while they fasted. They were not 'seeking God's face' from the heart as they fasted. ... revival is 'an instance of the glorious triumph of free and sovereign grace.' That is what it was then, and that is what it will be when and if it comes today. And may God grant that it come!" – pgs. 116-118
"May the Lord grant that our passion for God's supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples not weaken, but only grow and intensify through fasting and prayer. And may God indeed raise up millions who are so hungry for him that they cannot by cry out from body and soul: 'This much, O God, this much, we long for your fullness in the church and your glory in the world!'" – pg. 122
Next post: Fasting | Finding God in the Garden of Pain
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