Chapter 91
Keys To Fasting, Prayer, And Knowing The Voice Of God!
Jim shares…
To fast or not to fast! Without any argument, I am firmly convinced that fasting is one of the most important elements enabling us to commune with the Holy spirit of god. It is not that god needs us to fast, but that we need to fast in order to be open to what god has for us and wants to communicate to us. Fasting is good, and I highly suggest letting the Holy spirit direct in the type and length of fast. We have to be sensitive to the directions of the Lord as we read scriptures and meditate upon His Word. In order for the Holy spirit to lead us into fasting, we have to be open to his leading in such areas. Years ago, I was introducing a friend of mine to fasting on a special type of bread known as ezekiel Bread.1 its recipe resembles the one outlined in the Book of ezekiel, in the Bible. It consists of such an array of ingredients that it is a meal within itself and is excellent for the purpose of fasting. My friend tried it and within a short period of time returned the ingredients to me and exclaimed that, fasting was not for him. At the time, I said nothing in response, but today I would say boldly, fasting is for every Christian that truly wants to know the intimate things of god and the leading of His Holy spirit.
There are many types of fasts depicted in the scriptures, and the Holy spirit will direct in others. The most common fast is the fasting of food, and there are many types. A few of these types of food fasts include the following:
A specific food fast may be revealed during a time of prayer and meditation, or there are also other types of fasts in the scriptures. “Be open, be sensitive to the Lord, because as we humble ourselves before His mighty hands, He will open the heavens to us and show us things we do not yet know.”2
A second type of fasting is fasting sleep. Yes, fasting sleep! This is a demanding type of fast. Years ago I entered into a vow with the lord, which I felt He was directing, relating to the fasting of sleep. Upon catching the clock on the hour, quarter hour, or half hour, three times during the last few hours before retiring for the evening, then I stay up to pray and read my Bible until daybreak (presently, as I write this, I am in the second night of an all night fast). Also, if I awake in the middle of the night and catch the clock in the same manner, I stay up for the rest of the night until daybreak. I must say that god has used this method of fasting to an unbelievable degree in my life. At times I have stayed up for three nights in a row, all the while still pulling my eight-to-five day at the office. A gentleman said to me once, “When god has your sleep, then He has you!” sleep is the hardest commodity to give up.
So, why all the fasting, what does it truly accomplish? King David said, “I humbled my soul with fasting.”3 Humility is the clearest channel to enhance our ability to hear god and discern His leading. In humility exists the qualities of a right relationship with god. The Bible says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”4 grace is god allowing us to perceive the right thing to do, and then He releasing to us the power to do the right thing in a desperate situation. Pride is the sin that cast Lucifer out of heaven and destroyed forever his position of power. Pride will bring man low, but humility will lift the same man to safety. Yahushua said in acclamation to His heavenly Father, “I thank thee O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them unto babes.”5 He also said, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”6 it is not uncommon for a man to want to take the reigns in a desperate situation, and exclude god, wife, children, and strangers from any advice, in an attempt to show everyone that he is in complete control. However, humility is the better way, because if we resist god through prideful arrogance, we are certain to fall on the worst of times.
There is no way to peg god on how He chooses to communicate to any of us. He is not limited to our ways, thoughts, or means of deliverance and accommodation. He created us. He knows our personality, and all of our behaviors, and knows just how to move upon our humble spirit to direct us correctly. I have found that most of the time god loves to wait until the last minute before He reveals His hand or direction to us. He knows that if He were to reveal something too soon, chances are we would mess it up before it actually arrives. Secondly, He wants us to develop a true faith and trust in Him and His ability to direct us in perilous times. 
Humility and Patience are two of the greatest keys to possess when desiring to know the will of God!
God is always working ahead of us. He even knows when we are going to miss a door or a necessary timing for events to unfold properly. Even our mistakes will be lessons and teachings that God will use throughout our life. He is a Master, and we are His students and His workmanship, but it is necessary that we start paying attention to our teacher and to the things that He is directing in our lives!
Everything teaches when we truly become a follower of yahushua (Jesus); nothing is wasted. This entire life on earth is a school, and our lord is our Master teacher. He is all wise and all knowing. He is not sitting on His throne biting His fingernails, wondering how to deliver us from a difficult situation. Even when things go horribly wrong, god is still in control. We cannot blame god for our dilemmas, and we must fully realize that the sins of our nation and our personal sins have been the true reasons for many of our circumstances and the judgments that are coming on our land. It is mankind that has corrupted itself, and we are part of that mankind. We quickly want to blame god when things go wrong, but instead, we need to step back and view the whole picture and all of the tentacles involved in each occurrence. Attempting to lay the blame on god when things go bad further blinds us to the truth. The Book of Proverbs in the Bible says, “There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.”7
Prayer is a most important building block in learning how to discern the Voice of the Lord. Prayer is our communion with God on a daily basis. it is essential for life, especially if someone finds himself/herself homeless. People have often told me that they do not know how to pray, but I say, everyone knows how to pray. If you know how to speak, you know how to pray. We must press into god and our only means of doing that is through prayer. The Bible says, “to pray without ceasing.”8 There is a quip that says, “the squeaky hinge gets the oil,” and when we pray, we need to keep praying and keep praying until god, our Father, gets tired of listening to us and shoots down an answer. However, we must remember that our Father is not our caddie and does not jump at our command. We must reverence Him and come before Him with a pure heart and sincere requests. He hears all of our prayers, but He will also see if we are going to persevere and not give up concerning our requests. Remember, god is complete; we are the ones that need to learn His ways and His timing.
One of the most powerful forms of prayer is speaking the Word of god to Him concerning our situation. The Word of god says, “You (God) have magnified your Word above all your name.”9 When we begin to quote to God His Word, we will find our answers in time of need. I cannot stress enough the importance of prayer. When you find yourself in need, find yourself on your knees! We should first come to god with praise and thanksgiving, and then put forth our petitions. We should never be afraid or hesitant to petition god for our needs. He is and will always be intimately involved in our lives, therefore, let your requests be made known unto god.
In embracing all of this, however, realize that learning to receive communication from the Holy spirit is a growth process. In a living walk with the lord Yahushua (Jesus), we must be flexible, patient, and humble. God is interested in the very finest details of a believer’s life and will work continually with us day-by-day, minuteby-minute. His love for us is infinite. Scripture says, “His thoughts of us are more numerous than the sand on the sea shore.” 10 I grew up on the shoreline of the gulf Coast of Mississippi, and there is a twenty six-mile sand beach; that’s a lot of thoughts!
Fasting, prayer, Bible reading, and keeping a journal or notebook are so important. All of these aspects working together help us to be accountable to god and help us be responsible for souls in our care. If we will minister for god, I suggest we examine yahushua’s life closely and imitate His private life of sleepless nights, fasting, prayer, and solitude. If He being god incarnate did these things continually, how do we expect to do less and gain more? yahushua is our template of how we are to conduct our spiritual journey through life.
If things do not radically change in this country, I am convinced that we will have to go through some extremely difficult times. They may come wrapped differently than what we think, but the end will be the same. One day some of us may be presented with the choice to flee our homes with the possibility that staying could mean perishing. Do not be deceived; be prepared to make some difficult decisions for your family’s survival. When that day comes, you will be glad if you are a discerner of god’s directions for your family. This will come through fasting, prayer, and learning to discern and perceive the voice of our god.