Matthew 17:21 “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
In my post from October 27th I wrote about the power of faith the size of a mustard seed from Matthew 17:19-20. Yet, I stopped short of using the next verse that describes how to develop such powerful faith. The importance of prayer has been a mainstay of the PLUS ministry, but I have never written about the other precursor to mountain-moving faith – fasting.
Through the encouragement of a couple of good Christian friends, I spent a day fasting for my country last week. Frankly, fasting had been a glaring omission in my personal life of faith. I had seen the mention of fasting countless times throughout the Bible and had ignorantly skipped over it, failing to put it into practice. I had even breezed by the passages that assume that fasting is a part of an average believer’s life. Matthew 6:16 doesn’t say ‘if ye fast’ or ‘when you consider fasting.’ God’s word says “Moreover when ye fast.” With that in mind, I spent a day fasting and the Lord impressed upon me that fasting should become a regular part of my prayer life for our nation.
We should pray and fast that the Lord gives us the wisdom to make an impact on our community and our country. We should pray and fast that Christians in this land would stand up for Bible-based principles. We should pray and fast that our leaders would get saved. We should pray and fast that a widespread revival would sweep across the United States that would redirect our path back towards the Lord. PLEASE PRAY AND FAST FOR OUR NATION.
We should never ignore fasting as a component of our worship, especially because it is a precursor to unleashing faith that can move mountains.