“I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting holy hands without wrath and doubting” – 1Timothy 2:8(KJV)
Prayer is a very important and integral part of the Christian race. It is so important that Christ himself had to emphasize it in Luke 18:1(KJV); “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not faint;”. Prayer is coming before God with our petition. When we come before God lifting up our holy hands we recognize his sovereignty and power. In our scripture of today, Paul was speaking on the common custom among the Jews to lift up hands in prayer. It was their way of making entreaty and request. It was also a sign of absolute and wholesome surrender to God’s supremacy and sovereignty. Praying was to be done without wrath or hatred toward any person; without an unforgiving spirit and without disputing within over what was being prayed for. Our prayer when accompanied with fasting becomes very potent and effective. The altar of prayer and fasting is a platform for divine intervention and release of power. Battles fought by our spiritual fathers were fought and won at the altar of fasting and prayer. Many outstanding testimonies were products of the altar of fasting and prayers. Fasting is a platform that facilitates the answer to our prayer. We enjoy the full redemption benefits as we engage in the altar of fasting and prayers. Isaiah 58: 8-14 enumerates the benefits that is accruable to a genuine prayer and fasting. Such benefits are as follows:-
- Then shall thy light break forth as the morning (verse 8). This signifies the outbreak of encounter with revelation which empowers the recipient to command supernatural breakthrough and dominion. (Isaiah 60: 1-3, 8,22)
- And thine health shall spring forth speedily (verse 8). Through prayer and fasting you receive divine health. You will have victory over sickness and disease. The redemption package will come true. 1 Peter 2:24b (KJV) “…..by whose stripes ye were healed.
- Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shall cry, and he shall say, here I am (verse 9). It is at the altar of fasting and prayer that you receive answer to your questions in life.
- Then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as noon day (verse 10): Through fasting and prayers we are released from obscurity to light. (see Isaiah 60:1)
- And the LORD shall guide thee continually (verse 11). We receive guidance through the medium of fasting and prayer. (Ezra 8:21, Psalm 23:6). We encounter divine direction from the altar of fasting and prayer
- And satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones (verse 11): Through the altar of prayer and fasting you encounter divine provision. When there is drought and dryness you will be living in abundance (Job 5: 20, 22).
- And thou shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not (verse 11): We tap into supernatural supply as we engage in genuine fasting and prayer. Our supply being divine shall never run dry. We encounter divine supply and unending provision at the altar of fasting and prayers.
- And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.(verse 12) We secure posterity through fasting and prayer. We become instrument of change and upliftment of humanity through the medium of fasting and prayer.
- And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth (verse 14). We encounter change of status at the altar of prayer and fasting.
The altar of fasting and prayer is our place for divine encounter, it is our retrieval point for power. It is our abode for divine enablement. A Christian that does not fast is a powerless Christian. Prayer without fasting at best ascend to the gates of heaven, while prayer with fasting penetrate straight to the throne of God in heaven.
Prayer: Father give me grace to stay in prayer and fasting.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo