Thoughts on “Spiritual Warfare” Part 5
God’s grace is on you!
Okay family, in this last installment concerning spiritual warfare and how to wage it effectively, I want to look at fasting. Yes, going without food, not for health purposes which is fine, but for spiritual reasons. Again, this will not be as in-depth as you would like but there is nothing stopping you from doing a study for yourself, is there? If you check your Bible concordance you will find scriptural references on fasts and fasting. Study these out and you’ll see some amazing results were accomplished. The main reason we don’t enjoy fasting is because we enjoy food even more. That may not seem like a real deep revelation but think about it.
Food is flesh driven and the devil, as I’ve stated before, comes at us through our flesh and our thoughts (body and soul). Flesh is flesh and always will be, but thoughts can be either carnal or spiritual depending on where our head and heart has been lately. What happens when you overeat? You turn into a slug and pass out, usually in front of the tv with crumbs or sauce on your chest. Food coma. Then you wake up heavier than you were before you ate, and mad at yourself. And the cycle of keeping you under “the spell” has gained strength. “I know I haven’t prayed this month, but I’m too tired. I think I trundle on into bed. Oh look! There’s a Burger King commercial right there on women’s mud wrestling! Perfect timing! And thank you Lord, the Whopper’s on sale! Honey, I’ll be right back!” Oh brother…
Back to serious Kingdom business; again, I’m going to see if I can muster Denise to address this issue because she has studied fasting in depth over the years. Fasting is a very powerful asset in spiritual warfare because it takes the enemy’s #1 gate of entry out of the equation: the flesh. The Greek word for fasting is “nesteuo” and simply means abstaining from food. Again, that’s why we don’t like it. When your flesh shuts down, which could take up to 3 days or more, the spirit realm opens up, becomes more clear, and you become increasingly sensitive to God’s voice. Let’s look into Acts 13. In verse 1 through 3 we see that some, we don’t know how many, prophets and teachers set themselves apart for the purpose of fasting and ministering to the Lord. In other words, they wanted to hear from God. They sought out His direction and will, and decided to shut the voice of the world out so they could “tune in”, if you will. The scriptures do not tell us how long this went on, but in verse 2 the Lord began to speak: “Now separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work to which I have called them”. Sweet. When is the last time you witnessed anything like this in your prayer meetings? Hearing true prophetic instructions has a much better opportunity to occur when we take the time, which I know is precious these days, to sanctify ourselves to the Lord through prayer and fasting. I know it’s not easy and takes a tremendous amount of discipline, but look at the results it reaps. In verse 3 we see where they laid hands on them and sent them out into the world. It only took five verses for them to recognize the enemy and strike a sorcerer blind. When the sorcerer’s buddy (the Procounsel) saw this he decided it would be a good idea to ditch the sorcerer and stick with his faith in Jesus. The sorcerer was trying to proselyte the guy into witchcraft. Paul and Barnabas put a quick end to that nonsense. But notice in verse 9 that it says Paul was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” That means his faith was activated, released. Because of their fasting and prayer they possessed “now faith” (Hebrews 11:1). “Now faith” gets results. Yesterday’s faith is like stale bread; it doesn’t go down so well. When the prophets and teachers were in prayer and fasting it is hard to imagine they weren’t praying in the Spirit as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians that he “spoke in tongues more than” anybody else he met. Imagine what we could accomplish if we regularly scheduled in times of setting ourselves apart, not to ask Him for any material or financial gain, but just to hear from heaven. A specific time of fasting, praying in the Spirit and waiting on the Lord to speak. Wow, think of the possibilities! The Acts of the Apostles once again could sweep through our nations! Or, we could just sit back and think “No, it’s too hard. And seems a bit radical to me” I’m not into that kind of thing.” Jesus is the biggest radical to E-V-E-R walk the earth! He set the bar and challenged us to raise it. And what is the majority, not everyone certainly but the majority, of the church doing? You tell me.
I don’t expect every believer to suddenly say they are going to heed what I’m saying and develop a desire to become a factor in the lives of others. As strange as it may seem they just don’t have the “want-to.” They just seem to be content to go to church, give occasionally and then go home. I know I’m not the brightest light bulb in God’s house, but it makes no sense to me. Denise has told me over the years “Honey, it’s just not in every man” to be what I want to be. To do what I want to do. To take wild chances in order to further the influence of God’s Good News. To try things that have never been tried before. To say things that people don’t always want to hear, but need to anyway. Looking back over the past 25+ years I can see why, at least in my own opinion, I could have been a much better pastor. Most people can’t handle being challenged every week so they look for something more comfortable, but I can’t change. It’s just who I am. It’s the way I’ve been wired. And I can’t believe I was the only one God wired this way. I won’t. Call me crazy, but I believe everything Jesus said.
If you have an inward call to become one of God’s dependable prayer warriors then purpose to live a Godly, pure, sanctified life. Keep the influence of the world to a bare minimum. Meditate His Word. Therein the power lies to release your faith! Couple in fasting and praying in the Spirit with waiting in His Presence, patiently waiting to hear His voice. Who knows what He will say to you? Who knows what He will do through you? Only He knows for sure, but I’ll bet He’s willing to share that information with you. But you, like the prophets and teachers in Acts 13, must do whatever is necessary to get yourself into a position to allow Him access through your spirit and into you soul (mind-will-emotions).
To my dear sister who asked me to address “Spiritual Warfare”, it’s certainly not complete but I hope this helps. Thanks for asking. Now, let’s do whatever it takes to get out there and make a difference, For Him. Until next time…
Godspeed!
Rich Glenn
Truth From The Hip
