13 October, 2020
💞 Dear Royal Praying Priests, shalom!
💎 “And Yeshua said to them, ‘The guests of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.” (Mak 2:19-20)
This week we continue to review the key points from The Days of Blowing the Shofar — Prepare Yourself for Prayer and Fasting by Rev. Peter Yang.
Yeshua instructs His disciples to fast when the bridegroom is taken away from them. However, He doesn’t tell them the reason. According to the Bible, we find the key messages are keep watching and praying so that we will not enter into temptation (Mat 26:41), do not be foolish, and understand what the Lord’s will is. (Eph 5:16-17) Prayer and fasting is to set our time apart for seeking God, and to keep vigilant in prayer to understand His will.
1. Set Our Time Apart to Seek God
Managing time is to manage lives. During prayer and fasting, we ought to learn what God wants us to do with godly time management. In this world, we tend to be pushed to do many tasks when under stress, yet we have to stop to pray and ask God about making the right decisions in His timing (Kairos in Greek). In Ecclesiastes 9:11, God teaches us that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty, nor does bread come to the wise, or wealth to the discerning, or favour to the skilful. It is about the time and the chance. Time is in His hands, and chance is also in His hands. Through prayer and fasting, we humble ourselves to know Him including His time and chances.
2. Keep Vigilant in Prayer to Understand His Will
During prayer and fasting, let us focus on dealing with our negative emotions including fear, anger, anxiety or depression. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the root problems that trigger all our emotions. Could it be your inner vows, illegal soul ties, lies or false judgement on yourselves or others? When we are emotionally unstable, retreat into the presence of God and ask Him to do a heart surgery on us! During fasting and prayer, we continue to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, and be transformed by the renewing of our mind! (Rom 12:1-2)
🙏 Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for speaking to us and keeping us safe in the first 12 days of Prayer and Fasting season. Please teach us to manage our time wisely and keep us away from doing any unnecessary or unproductive matters. We do not want to sweat on small stuff! Please help us to keep watching and praying, until we understand Your perfect will for us and grant us Your strength to do Your will. In the Name of Yeshua we pray and bless you, Amen.