TOPIC:“The Christian Discipline of Fasting”
“Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly, Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the Lord into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord” (1:14, NKJV).
In recent days I have received many urgent appeals calling upon churches to hold a time of fasting among their people for spiritual revival to come to America. I thought today would be a good time to prayerfully discuss the Christian discipline of fasting as taught in the Word of God. It seems that fasting has fallen upon hard times and severe neglect in most evangelical churches across this country.
I ask: When was the last time you heard a message on fasting? When was the last time this church called for a fast among all of its members? It seems to me there is a need for such action not only in this church, but in churches throughout America. Now I realize there are many reasons for this neglect, but whatever the reasons, I believe it's time for God's people in this church like it was in Joel's day, to announce a solemn time of fasting by calling God's people together in order to cry out to the Lord.
Here in the verses before us we read how the people of Judah had become prosperous and complacent. They left God out of their lives and they turned to sin and idolatry. In verses 2 through 20 in chapter 1 Joel the prophet describes the massive devastation God was about to bring upon them by a locust plague and a ravaging drought unless they repented of their sins and turned back to Him.
Now it was under these conditions that the prophet Joel called upon the priests to take action so that the entire nation could repent and petition the Lord to forgive their sins and restore them back into fellowship with Himself. Listen again to the prophet's words: “Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to him there.”
Let us now come to grips with the subject of fasting and find out how it can be helpful to us collectively as a church and individually as a child of God.
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