Hey, I'd like to share some things about prayer and fasting, because I have experienced the power of it in the last weeks and days.
First a short testimony:
Yesterday night I was out with a friend. We talked with a young guy who said he had no pain anywhere. So I asked him what he thought about God, whether He ever experienced anything of Him and what his thoughts were when I said I see people get healed by prayer every day. He didn't walk away, so I kept telling him about the gospel; faith in Jesus, repentance, baptism and the Holy Spirit.
When I told him I'd just seen someone get healed 10 minutes before, he was all of a sudden more interested. I guess he started to believe that I believed what I was telling him. I asked him if he really didn't have anything. No. I got the idea to set him down on a chair and check if his legs were the same length. He had a small difference, which was quickly healed. Then he didn't say much anymore. So I told him some more about the Kingdom of God and that Jesus took his sins in the same way He took his sickness. Then just before he had to go he told me: "you know, I'm a bit overwhelmed by all this, cause I didn't tell you I had pain in my back when we started talking.. It has been gone since you prayed.." Haha, nice :)
Battle of the mind
In order to be led by the Holy Spirit, we need to be able to hear His voice. In order to hear His voice our minds must be clear and we must know the voice of the Shepherd. Furthermore, in case to be led by feelings that God can give us, we need to know the difference between natural feelings, deceiving feelings and God's feelings.
The enemy knows that we need a clear mind and no distractions in order to function in the Spirit, so what he does is attacking us with ideas and feelings that are not true. We need to discern between these things, or else we can easily be overcome. For a long time I was overcome and it's terrible, because it felt hopeless. I wanted to serve God, but didn't know where to start; I prayed sometimes, but was easily discouraged and distracted.
So I want to say some things about this battle and the weapons we have; fasting and praying.
Fasting & praying
Fasting is the most powerful of the two. Essentially, what you do, is denying the flesh. This is everything you yourself want, think and feel. You take back control over your body, rather than your body having control over what you do in a day. At some point, (after a week the first time you do it), your body shuts up complaining about hunger and emptiness and you can think much clearer as a result.
Discerning between the things of God and the things of the devil is now much easier. You can then destroy all fortresses and every lofty idea raised up against the knowledge of Christ, and take all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Additionally it is important that you are filled with the good stuff, so you dwell on the things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good reputation, excellent and praiseworthy. This is the type of prayer that is a weapon in this battle of the mind.
Praying
Praying without fasting is harder, because our body is not quiet. Satan can much easier distract us, by just making us think we need to eat something, or by making us feel tired. So it takes some more effort to ignore the distractions and continue praying before we break through the dark forces that are against us.
Freedom
Since I'm here the Holy Spirit leads me to fast very often, I think a bit less than half of the time. Maybe it's a sign of stubbornness :p, but I also recognize that I'm growing as a result of it. But the last two days have been a revelation for me when it comes to prayer. I felt down yesterday morning, but after we prayed 2 hours I was so free in my mind and spirit and was full of joy. We have prayed more that day and also today and I just feel free all the time. It is good!
If you are confused or if it's like you have a cloud in your mind that keeps you from focusing on God, it's probably time to fast and pray. A good way to start is also to ask others to pray for you, (speak truth and expose lies), because the hardest part of this is probably to get started.
First a short testimony:
Yesterday night I was out with a friend. We talked with a young guy who said he had no pain anywhere. So I asked him what he thought about God, whether He ever experienced anything of Him and what his thoughts were when I said I see people get healed by prayer every day. He didn't walk away, so I kept telling him about the gospel; faith in Jesus, repentance, baptism and the Holy Spirit.
When I told him I'd just seen someone get healed 10 minutes before, he was all of a sudden more interested. I guess he started to believe that I believed what I was telling him. I asked him if he really didn't have anything. No. I got the idea to set him down on a chair and check if his legs were the same length. He had a small difference, which was quickly healed. Then he didn't say much anymore. So I told him some more about the Kingdom of God and that Jesus took his sins in the same way He took his sickness. Then just before he had to go he told me: "you know, I'm a bit overwhelmed by all this, cause I didn't tell you I had pain in my back when we started talking.. It has been gone since you prayed.." Haha, nice :)
Battle of the mind
In order to be led by the Holy Spirit, we need to be able to hear His voice. In order to hear His voice our minds must be clear and we must know the voice of the Shepherd. Furthermore, in case to be led by feelings that God can give us, we need to know the difference between natural feelings, deceiving feelings and God's feelings.
The enemy knows that we need a clear mind and no distractions in order to function in the Spirit, so what he does is attacking us with ideas and feelings that are not true. We need to discern between these things, or else we can easily be overcome. For a long time I was overcome and it's terrible, because it felt hopeless. I wanted to serve God, but didn't know where to start; I prayed sometimes, but was easily discouraged and distracted.
So I want to say some things about this battle and the weapons we have; fasting and praying.
Fasting & praying
Fasting is the most powerful of the two. Essentially, what you do, is denying the flesh. This is everything you yourself want, think and feel. You take back control over your body, rather than your body having control over what you do in a day. At some point, (after a week the first time you do it), your body shuts up complaining about hunger and emptiness and you can think much clearer as a result.
Discerning between the things of God and the things of the devil is now much easier. You can then destroy all fortresses and every lofty idea raised up against the knowledge of Christ, and take all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Additionally it is important that you are filled with the good stuff, so you dwell on the things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good reputation, excellent and praiseworthy. This is the type of prayer that is a weapon in this battle of the mind.
Praying
Praying without fasting is harder, because our body is not quiet. Satan can much easier distract us, by just making us think we need to eat something, or by making us feel tired. So it takes some more effort to ignore the distractions and continue praying before we break through the dark forces that are against us.
Freedom
Since I'm here the Holy Spirit leads me to fast very often, I think a bit less than half of the time. Maybe it's a sign of stubbornness :p, but I also recognize that I'm growing as a result of it. But the last two days have been a revelation for me when it comes to prayer. I felt down yesterday morning, but after we prayed 2 hours I was so free in my mind and spirit and was full of joy. We have prayed more that day and also today and I just feel free all the time. It is good!
If you are confused or if it's like you have a cloud in your mind that keeps you from focusing on God, it's probably time to fast and pray. A good way to start is also to ask others to pray for you, (speak truth and expose lies), because the hardest part of this is probably to get started.
