chapter forty two: finding purpose in life through fasting and prayer

Another goal for fasting and prayer is to find purpose in life. An average person would not be satisfied with living from day to day knowing that one day all men must die and leave this earth without knowing why he had come to this life in the first place. One can find out about others’ life purpose by reading, studying and watching others. We can watch others growing up, being gainfully occupied with career, family, friends and may be hobbies, social work and religions etc. We tend to follow too and do about the same thing. However, is that all? What is our real purpose for living? This is a tough question for Jack.


One way to find out is to fast and pray. By giving up our physical comfort and deliberately focus on a higher level of existence one becomes aware of higher goal and the real reason of one’s existence. Not everyone has the same goals even though there are seemingly limited numbers of the usual goals. To sum up, most people want health, happiness and comfort in life. Security and relationship rank high in the happiness category. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid, once a human being get hold of the lower basic needs (physiological, security, love and belonging), he/she aims for meeting the higher level needs like esteem needs, experience purpose and meaning, and self-actualization.

Whilst the concept is the same, individuals vary in the contents that make up the ideals. Of course, people tend to follow each other (keeping up with the neighbours). But they will soon find the void in their hearts unfilled. For example, we tend to think of others’ kids being so lovely and fun to be with. When we have our own we know life is not all lovely and fun. At times we think the opposite had happened and prevailed. We also tend to admire others’ garden and wish we too have one. When we have our own garden we lament at the compulsory hours of regular hard labours required. The same imperfect reality happens to owning cars, houses, high earning jobs, prestigious positions and interesting hobbies.

One pertinent question remains, “For what higher purposes are we created?” Fasting and prayer helps a Christian to find out.


The focus of Christian fasting and prayer is God. The more one focuses on the presence of God, the more one is able to receive clear messages about God and His purpose for our life. The content and focus of our prayers change. The mind changes its priority. The spirit (which has been slumbering previously) wakes up and switches to the God channel with clearer reception. This opens a door into a wider sphere of existence, way beyond our tiny little world.



But does God not care about our usual life in our little world? Oh, He does care. The difference is that He will open our eyes to see further sights and dream greater dreams.

There is a greater purpose for your existence and a higher goal for your life. No one can afford to linger on below that purpose. Start and find out now!

Yes, fasting and praying helps you to find the map.


2009-09-30

CHAPTER FORTY ONE: FASTING, PRAYER, WARFARE AND BREAKTHROUGHS

Trying to fast seriously has brought spiritual breakthrough. Setting the right goals for fasting is essential. When confronted with a life threatening crisis, people are more willing and sincere in fasting and prayer. On the other hand, when one’s goal is to get close to God and obeying His command (as in the Bible), to be more spiritually discerning (so as to obey His command/will), to breakthrough in applying Biblical living, the fasting is just as effective. These are some of Jack’s recent findings through readings and personal experience.


After fasting partially he felt his body lighter and not as cumbersome. He found that he could concentrate more on spiritual matters (matters pertaining God). He was more focused in worship and prayer. He renewed his enthusiasm for intercession for others, and even the big issues like the salvation of the world. When interceding for smaller things, like for families, he was more discerning and was able to be led by the Holy Spirit.


Unlike what he had feared previously, there was not much bodily discomfort other than the usual mild hunger pang at certain intervals (possibly more induced by psychology and habits). Even the slowing down of life did not bother him much. He felt more relaxed as he no longer needed to worry about what he should eat for the next meal.


He had more quality time on hand and could do more work and more Bible reading (in addition to prayer). He had less strife when dealing with people and situations. Somehow, his world seemed changed for the better. Reading the Bible is another big gain. He had never been able to read so much in the same time frame before. This time he had no agenda and read at ease, as led by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, as he read, he received the messages that God was speaking to him. So he prayed in response as he read.


Prayer-wise there were breakthroughs too. He interceded as led by the Holy Spirit. For example, one morning he thought he had finished praying as he woke early and had almost two hours with the Lord. However, when he returned from an assignment, he was led to intercede further and spent another two hours! He was not even aware of the time.

This morning he wanted to pray for a relative urgently so he woke early and spent time before the Lord. However, when he thought he needed to intercede more, the Holy Spirit led him to pray for one particular big nation/one big religious group) on an urgent matter. So he obeyed. At the end of that prayer, he was shown a vision about the relative whom he had wanted to pray for. The vision was positive and answered his earlier concern.


He learned from this experience that we cannot limit God. When we put ourselves in the flow of the Holy Spirit, life becomes effortless and the spiritual reality becomes clearer and discernable. This is part of Kingdom of God living and living in the Spirit as instructed in the Bible.


It is like heaven come down and life has such a clarity as he has never seen before. It is indeed wonderful!

CHAPTER FORTY: A NOVICE IN FASTING

Jack continued to fast two further days at a stretch, with mainly water and some warm drinks or vegetable soup. He recorded his diet and experience as follows.

Day two: one cup of cocoa in the late morning, one bowl of sweet potato soup in the late afternoon with 2 thin slices of steam carrot mashed in rice paste, a bowl of vegetable soup in the evening, and a small bowl of red bean soup at night.

Day three: one slice of whole meal bread (as he thought he heard the wife say to take it in his dream), one hard-boil egg, and one cup of cocoa for breakfast, one cup of warm drink in the afternoon, one bowl of vegetable soup with a small slice of fish in the evening. For supper he took one cookie and one cup of soymilk.

Difficulties encountered: 1. His mind was on food all the time. He felt tired and sleepy. He slept early and long hours. 2. By the third day morning he dreamed that his wife asked him to take breakfast so he got up and went to take one slice of bread thereby breaking the fast. 3. For the first time of his life he felt cold in normal temperature. So he was tempted to take warm sweet drink. The proper fasting advice is that he should avoid taking sweet drink. 4. He tried to stretch his cocoa drink to last two hours by taking small sips and it became quite horrible to drink after the first half hour.

Lessons learned and benefits gained:

1. He learned to feel how a starving man felt (so he thought) as he wanted to stretch the cup of cocoa.

2. Prayer has improved: instead of praying the usual repeated parochial issues (family, own church, own city etc), he was led by the Holy Spirit to see the whole earth as a tiny globe, and it looked so pitiful heading towards destruction without knowing its true direction and destiny. So he interceded from his new vision, seeing how big and vast God is and acknowledging how insignificant humans are and how ridiculous the things that we spend so much time worrying and bickering about.

3. He also acknowledged more readily his biggest sin, that is, “unbelief” in many areas of his life, not wanting to trust God fully, like the nine disciples who could not handle the epileptic boy with a mute demon.

4. He learned from reading more about fasting prayer. The following are excerpts of his reading of Ezra 8:21-23 from the New Spirit Filled Life Bible on “fasting for spiritual breakthrough”

a. For guidance: they petitioned God to lead them in a right way. b. For assistance: they petitioned God for protecting their little ones. c. For substance: petitioned God to guard their possessions (for God’s temple).


“Fasting is a sacrificial form of prayer warfare that produces results available in no other way.” (especially in demonic deliverance). “It is a sacrificial denial of necessary nourishment which turns one’s attention to seeking God during that denial.”

5. He also learned from a teaching that when he fasts his body will manifest symptoms of sickness and discomfort. He is not to panic. Headaches and other bodily pains may be signs of his being delivered and cleansed.

6. He experienced the assurance that the presence of the Lord (Jesus) actually refreshes the believer. (Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”)

7. During worship service at night, he was more focused and not distracted like before. He spent most of the time praying in the spirit. When he asked the Holy Spirit to show him something to intercede for he suddenly saw in his mind a vast country covered by muddy flood water. People were bobbing up and down in the water. So he interceded fervently for that country.

Overall: He learned that he was not really fasting the way he should be. There was hardly any sacrificial denial of the body. He was not fully seeking God and spending time in God’s presence. So he decided to start again the three days fast in the coming weekend. Meanwhile he continued to fast one-two meals a day and taking light meals or liquid and praying daily.

There was one other breakthrough. Today he was woken at 4am and he got up without hesitation as he felt a terrible feeling inside and knew that he had to intercede as instructed. He obeyed the call (something which he had stopped doing for a long time). After this experience he is again looking forward to such daily encounter in future.
23-9-09

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: FASTING TO SHARPEN THE ULTIMATE SPIRITUAL WEAPON

There is no easy path to spiritual wellness. There is no option either. In his current quest to live Biblically and in the spirit, Jack has embarked on the fasting and praying journey seriously.

He has been on two meals or less for more than six months on and off, not really on a fixed schedule. He usually took breakfast (one slice of thick wholemeal toast/bread with cheese and a cup of warm milk/chocolate), and lunch (a small portion of carbohydrate, protein and a larger portion of vegetables). He took tea in the late afternoon (a cup of warm drink and a biscuit). He skipped dinner but took a drink (a glass of fruit and vegetable juice with milk). He skipped supper too, unless he went to the Prayer House and had a warn drink (or dessert) after the service.

Yesterday he started to fast after a light lunch and took nothing except water and one cup of cocoa and one biscuit for about 13 hours. He felt alright and was able to carry on his usual physical activities. He took part in a late evening worship and prayer meeting for three hours (11pm to 2am). After that he took a tiny bowl of grain dessert. The only discomfort he felt was he felt cold for the first time. He slept about 5-6 hours and woke up feeling fresh and well.

Today he started the first of his three days of fasting and prayer with nothing but water/liquid only. He had no breakfast, only one cup of hot drink and had a small portion of plain yogurt in the morning. Around noon he took another cup of warm cocoa. He took water when thirsty.

In the morning he did about one hour of light physical activities. Then he spent sometime praying and reading. The day seemed not as long as he had earlier expected. During lunch time he thought of food and went to the kitchen to look at the fridge but he took nothing. He felt fit and well up to this point.

The guide book advised him not to do too much physical activity. He was advised to pray and read the Bible too.

The Morning Prayer session went well as clearly the Holy Spirit was leading. His mind became focused and clear. He was able to pray for a number of issues for distant people who had never crossed his mind before. He could sense the need to repent and renounce a number of his own sins and areas which needed correction and renewal. The words flowed smoothly without efforts. He was led in the spirit to sing three hymns too. This had not happened for a long time and he was pleasantly surprised what the fasting could do to his spirit!

In the afternoon, he was tired and sleepy. His mind was on food. So he decided to read the Bible and pray. He started reading 2 Corinthians for no particular reason. He struggled for awhile and soon gave up. He dozed off for about 30 minutes.

When he woke he felt that he was fresher. So he went back to reading the Bible. This time he was led to read about the Levites in the Old Testament, how they were chosen by God to minister to Him. He read how they were assigned the responsibilities to take charge of the things pertaining to worshipping God. a group was assigned to sing day and night to God and had no other duties!

Suddenly he decided to sing in the spirit and he sang. As he sang, his spirit lifted and he felt energy surging up within him. He went on for sometime until he was led to pray and intercede. He interceded as led by the Holy Spirit. He realized that there was a breakthrough in his prayer and spiritual songs. He walked around and sang without effort. This went on for a long time. After that he asked the Holy Spirit to show him how to sing as the Levites did. Immediately he started singing new tunes as tunes sung by the Israelites!

It was indeed a wonderful experience for Jack.
2009-09-19

chapter thirty-eight: to fast or not to fast?

It had not been easy for Jack as he tried to fast and pray. Often he found himself feeling hungry at the wrong time. As he intended to fast dinner (drinking water only), he tried to eat a proper meal during lunch. But his appetite refused to cooperate. By the time he finished eating all the vegetables and protein he was not hungry enough to eat the carbohydrate. He had to force himself to swallow at least a few spoons as he knew he needed the energy in the evening when he fasted and prayed. It was a battle between the will and the body.

By the time the evening came he felt quite weak and hungry. Prior to that, he had to carry out his usual chores that deprived him of energy. So he ended up taking a tea break just to replenish some energy.

Does tea break count as a meal? He wasn’t sure. Anyway he skipped the dinner and prayed.

He had discovered some more interesting and useful teachings on fasting and praying. He read testimonies of those who had fasted and prayed and encountered God. They were very encouraging. He himself had no other agenda except to follow the Bible’s teachings on this important aspect of kingdom life as a child of God.

Lately he saw some visions during praying or worship. For example he had been puzzling over an old man’s non-stop shouting despite having no medical indications of its causes. One night he prayed fervently for the Holy Spirit to guide him to pray for that poor man. After praying in the spirit (in tongues) and in understanding for sometime, he saw the poor man and also toad (or toads) appearing in that man’s mouth. He could not understand its implication. However he bound that thing (interpreting it as being linked to witchcraft) and cast it out of that man using the authority of the Lord Jesus’ name. The next day while driving, he suddenly realized that in some oriental culture people worshipped toad as they linked it to money.

Subsequently he asked a senior and his second interpretation was confirmed. Indeed the man’s problem was linked to possibly his undelivered greed for money (which was idolatry according to the Bible). He could not be healed completely as he was still worshipping the money idol and not Jesus Christ. Unless he was set free from the idol’s clutch on him, he could not receive the perfect healing from Jesus on the cross. Now the intercessors know what exactly to pray for him to be set free completely.

This was a breakthrough in intercession. An enquiry from the man’s relatives confirmed that the man now slept better and there was less shouting.

In the natural, no one understands any of such stuff. It takes time to learn and faith to believe. Faith and belief come together. In fact, fasting or not to fast takes faith and belief to accomplish.

During the times Jack managed to fast and pray, he found that his faith grew and words came out of his mouth without effort. The presence of the Holy Spirit could be perceived and faith grew.

Christians are encouraged to follow the Bible and take this challenge. You will be blessed!

CHPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO LIVE BY THE SPIRIT

For those who want to live a victorious Christian life, a life as the son of God, in the kingdom of God, you have no choice but to live by the Holy Spirit. When you ignore the Holy Spirit and His work, you end up living a substandard Christian life.

This is what Jack has discovered in his quest to live Biblically an in the Spirit. He struggled all the way and tried to be good when Jesus Himself has clearly declared that no one is good (except God). Not living the Kingdom life means not living as sons of God. Instead of being guided by the Holy Spirit, a Christian chooses to continue patterning his lifestyle after the world, compromising with ungodly standards and living lives of no eternal value.

If you want to live by the Holy Spirit, please join Jack in this prayer:

“Dear Lord God and Heavenly Father: Thank you that I can come before You and repent of our failing to live by the Spirit as sons of God. On behalf of myself and Your people, I repent for living in rebellion and disobedience to Your word. Please forgive us for not allowing the Holy Spirit to take charge and rule over us (the church).

Please forgive us for trying to do Your work in our own strength when Your word clearly proclaims that it is not by might, nor by power but by Your Holy Spirit alone. We now repent for living by the flesh and not living by the Spirit. We call ourselves sons of God but we live like the world, when Your word clearly states that living according to the flesh (the world) will die. Please forgive us of all our sins of rebellion and disobedience, of living in the flesh and not living in the Spirit, and for taking You for granted.

Please forgive us for our ignorance of Your word. We pray that You will help us to go back to Your word, learn to live by the Spirit and no longer live by the flesh.

Thank you Father God that we can be sons of God led by the Spirit of God, no longer patterning our lives after the world but after our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for hearing our prayer. In Jesus’ awesome name we pray. Amen.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: YOU TOO CAN FAST!

The minute anyone suggested fasting to Jack, he would have an automatic reaction that it could not be for him as he did not have the stomach for it. It seemed to him that food was so important. Many people like him could come up with a lot of reasons why they could not fast, e.g. Feeling weak and dizzy and even fainting, having gastritis, love for food etc.

When he read the second chapter of the Book on fasting, it definitely assured him and gave him hope. Yes, he could fast too! Now he could go deeper into Biblical living and living in the Spirit. The followings are excerpts from the Book.

_______________________________________
Chapter two: You too can fast

The enemy will use all tactics and suggest all excuses to prevent you from fasting. He knows what fasting can do for you. Isaiah 58:6 “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?”

It is not whether you can or cannot fast. It is whether you want to or not, a matter of choice. Will you still allow the flesh to dictate to you, or will you learn to subdue the flesh, allow your spirit man to rise and eventually, learn to live by the spirit?

(In the same chapter, the Pastor described how she set a condition for her Bible College student to fast three days before they are awarded with distinctions. A number made the usual excuses but they went through the fast and came out in top forms. There were testimonies of gastritis, backache, arthritis and migraine healed! )

No one can give any excuse. Nehemiah could have made a good excuse for not fasting. His job demanded that he taste the king’s food and wine to test if they were poisoned. Moreover he was expected to be cheerful before the king. But Nehemiah took the burden of the Lord upon himself. He wept and mourned, fasted and prayed for many days for Jerusalem. (Neh. 1:4) God intervened and moved the king’s heart to release Nehemiah from his post as cupbearer and made him governor of Judah for 12 years! Despite opposition, conspiracy and great difficulties, Nehemiah completed rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem within 52 days.

Some people are afraid to fast because they are afraid their bodies would be affected. Little do they realize that the body can actually go without food and water for three days. It can go for 40 days without food but not without water unless divinely led of the Holy Spirit. Moses neither ate nor drank for 40 days twice, in the presence of God and God is life. we can do without food but cannot do without God.
Fasting appears difficult because eating is a natural habit. Some people eat to live but others live to eat. In fact, the first sin against God involved eating. Esau lost his birthright because of eating. The Israelites were fed angels’ food from heaven yet they craved for food from Egypt than for God’s divine supply.

Every Christian must learn how to discipline the body through fasting. Start by fasting one meal, then two meals, then the whole day. This will give you more time to spend with God. You can then subdue your flesh and begin to feed your spirit man. Read the Bible, pray and worship God. Listen to worship and sermon tapes. Begin to tune yourself to God. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Cor. 2:14) Jesus redeemed us and made our spirit alive unto God. Man could once again resume relationship with God. By the power of God man is once again to live by the Spirit, filled, empowered and led by Him. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”(I Cor. 15:50) Fasting sets us free from our past bondage.

When Jack first started to fast he tried to skip one main meal a day on alternate day. However, he drank liquid (water, fruit and vegetable juice, milk) as substitute. He also limited his fast to a number of hours, e.g. from 4pm to midnight or from 10am to 6pm. There was no hard and fast rule. On this current fasting and prayer drive, he was allowed to choose from a long list of choices:

1. the number of days (7, 14, 21, 40)
2. the number of meals (1, 2, all )
3. vegetables/fruits
4. water/liquid

Jack chose to fast 14 days, one meal (1pm to next morning 7am) a day on alternate day. He knew his limit. Unless led by the Holy Spirit he would not attempt more than the level he committed to do. He hoped to progress to whole day fasting (on food), drinking water only during the weekend, i.e. from 6am Saturday to 6am Sunday.

In the Pastor’s testimony, the best fast was three days at a stretch without food and water. A lot of great things happened when such fasts were carried out in the Bible. Jack will account this in the next post.

AAA Jack
2009-09-08

CHAPTER THIRTY: HOW NOT TO LOVE YOUR LIVES TO THE DEATH?

When Jesus began to preach, He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) He told the disciples His mission on earth, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” He taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come” (which was followed by “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt.6:10) He proclaimed His mission on earth was to do His Father’s will. Jesus’ famous teaching about blessings was centered on the characteristics of the kingdom of heaven citizenship. (Matt.5:3-12) When He commissioned His disciples to go out to preach He instructed them, “And as you go, preach saying, ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ His disciples asked Him what will be the sign of Him coming and of the end of the age. Jesus answered, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt.24:14)

Since Jesus had focused His ministry on earth on preaching the good news about the kingdom of heaven/God, it makes sense for us to know and live this kingdom life, Jack reckoned. Recently when he received a notice of seminar on “Thy kingdom come” training, he enrolled immediately.

It was a four days intensive course daily seventeen hours stretching from morning to night and early morning with three hours dinner and bathroom break in the evening and another four hours sleep and breakfast break in the morning. They fasted lunch. He drove for about three hours on a Sunday afternoon, had a hasty light dinner and joined the marathon kingdom training at 8pm. The course went on until 4am in the morning. By then his mind was saturated. So he gave up and drove back to the hotel to take his sleep. The second day started at 9am. He missed the hotel breakfast and had his own snacks in the room. It was tough going as he went along. But he was prepared to sit out the whole course.

This time he found that he could be part of the worship, as he had trained hard in the prayer house during the last six months. He had no back ache or body sore whatsoever (unlike six months ago when he first attended the same seminar). He also managed not to fall asleep although he did feel sleepy once or twice.

The worship in the Spirit was powerful. On one night he was worshipping in the Spirit through singing spiritual songs. On occasions when he was led to sing in words like, “hallelujah”, “worthy”, “mighty God”, he found the song leader (a Spirit-filled elderly pastor) similarly burst forth in singing such words too in her spiritual songs. He was amazed and knew that the Holy Spirit indeed was leading them as he was not singing loudly and many people were singing or praying aloud in tongues so the noise would have drowned his own utterance.

On the last day when they were worshipping Jack prayed in his heart for the Holy Spirit to come and burn off whatever chaff he still had in him that was hindering him from God, and he also pledged that his life would not be the same again. Immediately after he prayed, the songs that followed were all about the Holy Spirit, like fire, coming to burn off the chaff in people, and their lives would never be the same again!

It was a confirmation from the Holy Spirit to Jack that he could hear the Holy Spirit more clearly now.

The course was taught by two senior lady pastors (in their 60s?) who live practically on divine health and divine stamina. They teach on how to prepare for the coming of Christ and how we ought to live as kingdom citizens. At the end of the seminar they imparted and anointed the students in two areas of spiritual zeal: the zeal to pursue God and the zeal to pray and intercede for all nations.

They were given three charges: to re-structure their prayer lives; to pray as a family (at home); and to pray for all nations.

What Jack was urged to commit up to this point was not difficult to follow. However, he was troubled by the definition of a overcomer. In Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

The first two verses are alright for him but the third verse was not for a coward. He knew he had to go home after this course and think hard on this matter.
The key question is: why does he love his life on earth?

Why do you love your present life so much? Don’t you know no one can be an immortal on earth? In fact these are the questions he had been asking himself during his quest to live Biblically and in the Holy Spirit.

Now that he knows the kingdom of heaven is real and that he can hear the Holy Spirit (God Himself), he is not so worried about life on earth. On the other hand he still needs to find out the key purpose of his present life and make sure he has lived that purpose before he can move on.

During the seminar he saw a vision of Jesus carrying two items: a sword in one hand and a jar (of incense?) in another hand. He had the perception that they meant the word of God and prayers. Are these meant to be his key purpose in life? Was this why he had been thus far led to seek God and an answer for his existence?

AAA Jack
9-5-09