Turning the world upside down - pt. 10

[PreacherE]

They fasted and prayed

Acts 13:3

'And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.'

The church by this time has been in existence for over a decade. Paul himself has been a Christian for almost a decade having spent three years in Arabia, five years in Tarsus, and a short amount of time in Jerusalem. We see that after the scattering of the church the focus now begins to shift from Jerusalem to Antioch as the center of Christendom.

In verse one we see five men of importance in the church of Antioch gathered together serving the Lord. In verse two we see that as they were ministering they were also fasting. During this time the Holy Ghost speaks to the men telling them to separate Barnabas and Saul for the the Lord's work. In our text verse we see these men doing two things which are seriously lacking in many church members' lives today - fasting and praying. Very few Christians really pray in such a way as to get a hold of God. However, even fewer spend time fasting as they pray.

Fasted and Prayed:

We have already spent time in this series on the subject of prayer, however, as I have said before prayer is something that can never be overemphasized. Through the use of prayer we can communicate with God Almighty, Creator of the Universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords. We have access to the very throne of Heaven and the One who sits on that throne, yet so few Christians ever take the time to enter into His presence. They try to go through life without God playing an active role in their lives. It is no wonder that so many Christians are out of the will of God and are not living their lives for Him. A Christian will not grow spiritually as they should without learning to have a effective prayer life. Prayer is such an important part of the Christian's life that it is the one thing the disciples asked Christ to teach them how to do. Every Christian needs to have an active prayer life; sadly, there are few who do.

In our text verse we see that they were fasting along with their praying. Fasting has nearly become extinct within Christian churches today. This is to be expected though when only a handful of Christians practice or even teach on the subject. Out of those things which should be practiced in a Christian's life it is one of the least talked about. We can clearly see where it was practiced within the early church and we can also see its practice by our Lord and Saviour during His earthly ministry.

When we spend time in prayer and fasting then we are showing God just how serious we are in wanting to get a hold of Him. We are showing Him our willingness to do without our most essential physical need so that we can focus on our spiritual needs. We are in essence telling Him and proving to ourselves that the current spiritual need is of a greater necessity than our most basic physical need. This is why the large majority of Christians never get a touch of the power of God on their lives. They never once make their spiritual needs the number one priority in their lives. We can not expect God to take us seriously in wanting to serve Him if we are spending more time in pursuit of physical pleasure or entertainment then we do in talking to Him. The biggest reason Christians today will not even pray, let alone pray and fast, is because their spiritual needs are not very high on their list of priorities. They would rather put their own personal gratification ahead of living a life pleasing to the Saviour.

Throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, we can see where people spent time in prayer and fasting. Some did so seeking God's guidance, some for God's power on their lives, and others when they needed some form of divine intervention in their lives. There may be times in our life where the only way we can get the help we need is through both prayer and fasting. A perfect example of this can be found in Matthew 17:14-21 [Mark 9:17-29]. A man had brought his possessed son before the disciples but they could not cast the demon out. When they asked Jesus why they could not cast it out of the boy He told them, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

The early church had a touch of God on their lives and their ministry because they understood the importance of prayer and fasting. If we want to have the touch of God on our lives then we need to implement prayer and fasting in our own lives.

In Christ,

PreacherE