When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Jesus taught about fasting, emphasizing the necessity of fulfilling God’s command. Since the disciples’ mission was to “preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:2), it was appropriate to explain that prayer and fasting were critical elements to ministry. “[Jesus] rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: ‘Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!’ Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.
…[Then] His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’” (Mark 9:25–26, 28–29). Again, the revealed will of God was being performed—and fasting contributed to their focus and ability to obey, not to persuading God.
To believe God when we ask, we must know that we are heard, and that we ask according to His Word and His revealed will. Jesus said: “Your heavenly Father [will] give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13), and “tarry…until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).
We should ask for healing; for spiritual gifts; for one another; for those in the assembly who sin; and for kings and governors. These are all subsidiary requests heading up the greatest purpose of God: the world’s redemption. Pray the Word to make your prayers effective.Taken from Daily Fire Devotional: 365 Days in God’s Word by Reinhard Bonnke. Copyright © 2015 by Reinhard Bonnke. Use by permission of Whitaker House. www.whitakerhouse.com
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