The Power Of Fasting

The Power of Fasting

Ministered by Pastor Harold F. Weitsz – Sunday 14 January 2007

Gen 3:1-10 NKJV

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ’You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?"

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ’You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’" 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."

Did you ever realize that it was food that caused the fall of man?

Fasting therefore involves abstaining from food that caused our fall and the receiving of a sinful nature. It involves yielding to God in consecration and prayer devotion. It involves the restoration of our relationship with God and humbling ourselves to perform His will for our personal lives. The blessing of God is far greater than the desire for food.

Psychologists teach that the strongest of all drives in man is that for survival, which in turn is connected to food that sustains life.

Second to that is the drive of procreation (to produce offspring by reproduction).

If you cannot control your diet, you also will not have enough strength to fight other weakness caused by drives connected to the works of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16-23 NLT So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. 18 But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law. 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, 20 idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self control. Here there is no conflict with the law.

Once a person has gained victory over his diet intake, he has the absolute positive chance of gaining victory of any other of the areas of the works of the flesh in his life. Weak willpower is powerfully overcome by fasting.

Therefore fasting is seen as a major way to liberty or freedom from captivity or slavery!

Fasting is also the major key for gaining Spiritual Power to break the yoke of numerous problems and sicknesses.

Fasting with constant prayers, based upon the word of God causes us to rise to high levels of faith.

Also, fasting is the starting block for getting into a brand new close relationship with God and a new anointing over your life.

All the great men and woman of God in the Bible, and of the New Testament church history were fasters as Paul once said in

2 Corinthians 11:27, “in fastings often”.