Fasting Day 21: Returning in Power, Part 6- Shades of Grace | Natalie Nichols
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Fasting Day 21: Returning in Power, Part 6

Fasting Day 21: Returning in Power, Part 6

Do you desire to establish a godly heritage for your family? Do you have family relationships that need to be restored? Are you praying for a lost loved one?  Isaiah 58:12 contains powerful promises for you:

6 “ Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.
12 Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations”
Isaiah 58:6,9,12

When we enter God’s chosen fast, He promises:

You shall raise up the foundations of many generations

Ezra called a fast for the sake of “little ones:”

I proclaimed a fast there…that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones (Ezra 8:21).

Do you have children who have walked away from the Lord? Are you concerned about the future of your grandchildren? Are you praying for the salvation of family members? Claim this promise!

Fasting and prayer is a way to lay a spiritual foundation for you and your family for generations to come.

You shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations (Isaiah
58:12).

Build the old waste places means, in this case, to build relationships that have been desolate and seemingly ruined. It means the restoration of relationships taken captive and destroyed.

In the original language, it means:

  • “establish” [build something new]
  • “cause to continue” [through generation]
  • “to build a house” [i.e. establish a family]
  • “established” [made permanent]

Did you notice the applications? (Meanings are in bold; my applications in brackets.) God can establish a new foundation where there isn’t one. He can build such a spiritual foundation for your family, that it will last for generations. He can make your divided house a united home. And what He builds will remain.

I know of many families who have fasted for family relationships to be restored and they have received their answer – within the year. And I know of people fasting this year for the restoration and healing of family relationships.

I believe Isaiah 58:8 also applies in this instance, for it isn’t just physical bodies that need healing. Relationships need healing too.

Your healing shall spring forth speedily (Is. 58:8).

You shall raise “up” the foundations of many generations.

The word “up” means:

  • become powerful” [spiritually]
  • “come on the scene” [spiritually – if lost children and grandchildren, spouses]
  • “to be established
  • “to endure
  • “to be fixed” [immovable, permanent]
  • “to be proven”
  • “set up, erect, build”
  • “bring on the scene”
  • to make binding

Beloved, this promise to those who fast and pray is loaded with meaning! God will make you and your children powerful in the spirit. If you have lost children, grandchildren or spouses, they will be “brought on the scene” spiritually – they will be saved.

The Lord will establish a foundation that will endure, immovable and fixed. It may be tried, but will be proven to be His foundation, build on the cornerstone. It will not fail.

The word “foundation” in the original language means, “the idea of fixing something firmly, establish, to found, to be settled,ordain.”

God is going to fix firmly and ordain your foundation for generations!

I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation… (Is 28:16)

Salvation of Loved Ones

Establishing a spiritual foundation necessitates the salvation of unconverted loved ones.

6 “ Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? (Is. 58:6).

Those who are not saved are under bondage to sin (see Romans 6:15-23). God promises to loose and set free those who are under the bonds of wickedness.

God did this for a fellow faster named Cornelius.

Cornelius was a religious man in the New Testament who fasted and prayed. He was “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2).

In spite of his religious involvement, prayer and seeking, Cornelius was still unaware of a vital element of God’s truth. He had not yet heard the Good News.

One day, as Cornelius was fasting, an angel appeared to him and gave him specific instructions to send for a man named Peter in Joppa (Acts 10:5-8). “When he comes,” the angel said, “he will speak to you.”

In expectation of the news Peter would bring, Cornelius gathered his family and friends. “We are all here,” Cornelius told Peter when he arrived, “waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.”

What was this revolutionary word that Peter brought? Cornelius was a very religious, devout man. He was good. He was generous. He seemed to have his spiritual path all mapped out. What could he possibly have been missing?

Peter told Cornelius, his family and friends about the good news of Jesus Christ. He preached the Gospel.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. (Acts 10:44)

Cornelius, his family and friends all placed their faith in Jesus Christ and were soon baptized as a step of obedience following their salvation.

Cornelius fasted, and a spiritual foundation was established for many generations.

Larry Boan

Larry Boan, associate pastor of Central Assembly of God in Vero Beach, Florida, tells of a time he fasted for his dad’s salvation.

In January (1995) I was helping my wife around the house, and just thinking about my dad. We had just seen him and found out he had cancer. My dad was not a believer and had never attended church on a regular basis all of my life. Only occasionally did he attend church, such as a funeral or when I was visiting would he go to church. As I was helping my wife . . . I felt the Lord speaking to me, asking, “Are you willing to fast for your dad?”

I said, “Yes, Sir, I am.”

At that point I felt the Lord wanted me to fast for 40 days for my dad’s salvation. So I began a 40-day fast. The twentieth day of the fast, I was visiting him in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he lives. That day, when we were visiting and talking, I felt a little shifting in his attitude toward Christ. Later that evening, I asked Dad if I could pray for him.

He said, “Son, come back in about an hour and I will let you pray for me.” He was pretty much bedridden, confined to his bed area.

Larry Boan’s dad had cancer, which was terminal. When questioned about his dad’s response, Larry said:

He had never said before that I could pray for him. He used to say, “Quit praying for me. Every time you pray for me, I get worse.” This time he said, “Come back in an hour and I will let you pray for me.” I was ecstatic about his answer. So I walked out to tell my wife and my mom.

I walked around the block, praying, “God, let me tell him about salvation, and let him respond. Give me Your favor in this regard.”

When I went back and asked him if I could pray for him, he said, “Yes.” I began to pray for him and I just asked the Lord to touch him and be with him. At that moment, I felt the Lord tell me that my father had already prayed.

When I finished praying, I asked Dad, “Have you already prayed?”

He said, “Yes.”

I asked, “When did you pray?”

He responded, “A little while ago.”

I said, “What did you pray?”

He said, “I asked God to accept me.”

At that point he gave his heart to the Lord. Two weeks and four days later, my dad died. On the fortieth day of my fast, we had his funeral. I was still fasting. I wanted to honor my commitment to fast for 40 days. The timing was something profound that the Lord did in my life.[1]

When we enter God’s chosen fast, He promises:

“You will call and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I” (Isaiah 58:9).

Message Audio

Audio Segment from the message Returning in Power

 

Questions: How have these promises and scriptural precedents given you hope for your family?

FROM THIS SERIES:


  1. Elmer Towns and Jerry Falwell, eds., Fasting Can Change Your Life (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1998), 69-71


 

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