First of all, sometimes I talk about the pastor from the first church I was part of here in Illinois, he is a man of God, I deeply admire him, God used him to bless me in many ways, I learned a lot with him, and above all, when I need an example in Meekness, Perseverance and Patience, he is the best example (I'm not worshiping him, but, as the Bible says: "To whom honor, honor". I'm honoring him). That was just an intro. I always thought that FASTING was intrinsically tied to AFFLICTING OUR SOULS, PENANCE, etc. But, I was dead wrong! Well, one day God taught me about FASTING. I was praying one early morning, when the Holy Spirit spoke to me: “I will teach you about Fasting. Start Fasting until I tell you to stop”. Man, was it strange or what? What did I have to learn about Fasting? Wasn’t Fasting just abstaining from food and afflicting my soul in order to have my prayers answered? Apparently not! I got home, after having my devotional time with God and also delivering some papers and open my Bible to meditate a little (I used to do that almost everyday), then I opened it, the passage was Isaiah 58 where God speaks about FASTING. Listen, I’m not saying that you should always open the Bible randomly to read it! Did you ever hear that “Christian” joke? A man used to open his Bible and demand God to speak to him. One day he opens in Matthew 27:5 …and he (Judas) went and hanged himself. Not good, he thought, but he tried again and opens in Colossians 3:13 …so you also must do. Then in desperation he tries again and opens in John 13:27 … What you have to do, do quickly. That was just a joke, relax! Let’s go back to my testimony. Read Isaiah 58 entirely. Than God showed me what Fasting really means, 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? That day, God changed my understanding about Fasting. Well, I kept Fasting (water only), one day, two days… in the seventh day; it was Thursday night at church in the prayer meeting, I was still trying to figure it out what God was trying to accomplish. The pastor was leading the prayer, than he said: “Brothers and sisters, if you see a dove or a tongue of fire in your neighbor’s head, don’t be scared, it is the Holy Spirit. Well, is it possible to happen again? I believe it is, if God wants to. He can do it again. Well, everything was nice, so far, but then, the Holy Spirit said to me: “Start praying for the lady in front of you”. She was about 10 feet in front of me, she was kneeling down, I was seated, then I stood up and started praying, then the Holy Spirit said to me: “Tell the demon to leave”. That happened four or five times and everytime was like a demon was leaving her, then the lady asked for water, when she got the water, she threw in her head, I prayed again, at this time I realized that she had many demons (cast) in her, suddenly, a man (the same who said publicly that I was in rebellion against the pastor) took her to another room, I was completely clueless about why he did it. After the prayer meeting, I went home, still trying to understand what was going on, but I couldn’t. Next day, in my devotional time (also called job), I was crying before God, asking Him to tell me what happened, then I got home, open my Bible, this time was Matthew 17:21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. That was a marvelous teaching; I never heard it before. Well, few years later, we went to Florida on vacation, then we were going to my brother’s house in Georgia, they had a prayer meeting at his house, I planned to be there by 6:00pm the latest, but, we got a horrible traffic, I was driving slow because I was tired, at the end, we got there about 10:30pm or later, we enter and my sister-in-law grabbed my arm and took me straight to the pastor who preached and was praying for the people, when he saw me, he started saying (this is the actual prophecy): “God is giving you a double Ministry, Preaching and Evangelism, the two mixed, to be a Preacher and Evangelist at the same time. God wants to use you very much to heal people and also you are a very lovely man, God is giving you His own heart. You are also a thinker, a dreamer, a planner, I’m here to tell you that your plans that never worked for you before, because you started to dream something wonderful and started to work and it crunched, but at this time as you put your trust in God, those plans that you’re dreaming of, that are burning in your heart, they will come to pass, the dreams that seemed to be so impossible, they will come to pass, because they were given to you by God, they are come to pass this time, you know why, because now you have decided to concentrate on God, in the past you was fluctuating like a yo-yo, but now God will bless and use you, and another thing, you are a generous man, you are not a stringed man, God is giving you a generous heart, He’s going to give you plenty, so you can bless others. In the future God is going to release you to go to the nations, you’re also going to empower people to go, because you are a very practical man, a hands-on man and God will use you in that area, specially in Healing and the Gift of Faith. Believe what God has spoken will come to pass, because He is God, He is not a man, so He cannot lie. Your hand will bring healing to sick bodies and also to sick business, God will use you as a Consultant, people will come to you seeking for wisdom and asking for direction and knowledge, even business people will come to you, and whatever you say to them in the form of counseling, will be not just an ordinary counseling, but will be prophetic and things will come to pass. The power is coming into you to Heal. The ability to fast, to go for long periods of time so that your body will be clean and your dreams will come to pass”. As you can see, God confirmed that He will give me the ability to fast; it’s not something natural, but a God given ability. I will later speak about the things this pastor said, like, the Gift of Faith and the Gift of Healing.
Conclusion: It is ok to fast about something we expect since it is aligned with the will of God, otherwise it will only be penance or starvation. Fasting should be done to accomplish God's will and dreams for our lives. If you really seek God, He will reveal His will for you and will help you to accomplish what He dreamed for you. There’s nothing better than to be in the center of God’s will for your life. If you seek Him wholeheartedly, you will find Him. Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
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