Category: Fasting

The Holy Spirit Spoke in Response To Their Dedication

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Dedication, Fasting, Needs, Praise, Prayer, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Sunday, 2022-02-06
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Acts 13:1-3
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT:  1 Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. 2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.

APPLICATION: Often, while at local restaurants or, perhaps at town parties, we will see Pastor’s and church leaders entertaining, what appears to be, the rich and important people of the town. At times we might also see local pastors enjoying a meal together, and it overjoys our heart to see stressed out pastors take time to enjoy fellowship with their peers. Church leaders are often asked to join in partnership with other church leaders to stand firm against local and national leaders on certain controversial matters, and we are so happy to see that our leaders could actually sit at the table with other church leaders and talk things over. So which of the aforementioned scenarios remind you of what was taking place in the meeting of the Antioch leadership? As I meditated on this scripture, I was overcome with thoughts as I recalled the number of times church leaders questioned their pastor about his minimal time in the office; or his lack of administrative time and qualities; or the large budget that he asks for each year; or demanded to know what was he doing to save their dying church. Friends, we demand so much from our pastors that has so very little to do with the quality, and quantity, of time they spend seeking God’s face for His church. What if our mission was to see them imitate the teachers and prophets mentioned in today’s Scripture? What might we aim to point our pastors and church leaders towards? How might we pray for them and encourage them? I have always said that the results of what we see in our pulpits, come from the extent of our prayers for our pastors. We might criticize them in the pulpit, but how well are they really doing in response to our prayers for Almighty God to fill them; bless them; and use them for His glory? To our pastors, teachers and church leaders: please don’t think for a moment that it’s all the fault of your congregation. If you were to break down your day into quadrants of time, which quadrant might receive the most time? Might it be prayer? Meditation on the Word of God? Ministering to a church member? Encouraging, praying for and blessing another worker of the Gospel? Don’t you know that Satan will send many distractions your way, especially when you don’t have a dedicated and committed schedule for your day? Are you really spending sufficient uninterrupted; quiet; prayerful time together with God that He might minister to, and through, you with a feeling like: He is interfering in your worldly schedule for the day? Let me assure pastors, teachers, church leaders and most of all, myself, that our God’s not dead; nor does He sleep; nor is He blind to the needs in our lives and the life of His bride (the church). He is still looking for workers, because the fields are still white, and the harvest is still great, if only He could find the dedicated leaders and followers who want more of Him and all that He has to offer through us. For every friend that you might speak with today, know that there are hundreds of other lost and uncommitted friends who are looking for answers to this world’s dilemmas and overwhelming challenges in their life. God, working through His powerful Holy Spirit in you, can have such an awesome impact on these individuals for the Kingdom of God, if only we will submit, and commit to His cause. Will you let go, and let God have His way in you today dear pastor, teacher, church leader, and/or child of God? Are you truly ready, and willing, to accept the next BIG project that He has planned for you? Most leaders in our society not only work hard each day, but they are responsible for extracurricular things like: attending conferences; networking with peers who handle very similar issues that they are faced with daily. these things keep their minds fresh, active and reaching for new and/or innovative ways that might add to the success of their job. They don’t just sit and wait for gold to drop into their laps. So it is with Christian ministry. We must be willing to reach out to others so that together we might not only seek God and His righteousness, but also be encouraged to continue pressing for the mark with full faith and trust in the God who can do all things through His servants that are willing to let Him.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: The results of Paul and Barnabas being chosen, became extraordinary as God completed His work through His servants. He is still God, and can do the same for us today!

PRAYER: Dearest Lord Jesus, we can all see the need for Jesus in our world today, as everything seems totally out of man’s control. Please humble our hearts to standby and be willing to accept Your blessing and Your challenge, knowing that nothing is too difficult for You. Please keep us humble and always praying for our church leaders, knowing that You will complete a good work in them, and also in us as we commit to Your service. Thank You Father for Your Word. May we always choose to live according to Your plan, so that Your Kingdom might increase, and friends will no longer avoid Your call on their life. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog might indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Honor God In Prayer and Fasting – He Will Reward You

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Fasting, Needs, Praise, Prayer, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2021-01-16
WRITTEN AT: Paul B Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg, MS

BIBLE REFERENCE: Matthew 6:6; 17-18;
TRANSLATION: The Passion Translation (TPT)

BIBLE TEXT: 6 But whenever you pray, go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God,[f] praying to him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly.
17–18 When you fast, don’t let it be obvious, but instead, wash your face[p] and groom yourself and realize that your Father in the secret place is the one who is watching all that you do in secret and will continue to reward you openly.”

OBSERVATION: Most people will go an extra mile if they know that a reward awaits them! I was traveling extra miles to receive the rewards of a gas card, until I realized it was only pennies that I was saving per gallon of gas! But many institutions offer a rewards credit card, because they know that the customer will use the card more than any other card in their wallet. Jesus told the disciples what they needed to do to receive the attention of their Master and be rewarded by Him. This is important to us today, because He will also see us and reward us appropriately.

APPLICATION: Although rewards come in different forms, I believe that the idea is still inviting to saints today. Imagine: If you accept Jesus as Lord, He will care for you and watch over you until you meet Him in heaven one day with the Father; If you call on the name of Jesus, He will heal you and make you whole again; If you obey His commands and live according to His will, He will bless you; etc, etc. However, I believe that our Scripture today reveals that God has some specific ways that we might best follow His commands:
1. Pray – When you pray, know that it’s not for the purpose of impressing the pastor, the Sunday School teacher nor anyone else. I don’t believe that God is trying to discourage corporate prayer, but instead He is teaching us to keep our minds focused on the One to whom we are praying. Avoid the distractions of who’s sitting next to you, or the honor of who else is in the room where you are praying, and instead focus on the God of the universe, the One who made heaven and earth and every living creature – the only One who is capable of answering your prayer. Worship Him with the honor He deserves, and respectful ask Him for the desires of your heart and as they might fit into His perfect will;
2. Fasting – I believe it is appropriate to first say that I believe the idea of fasting is to better enable you to concentrate solely on the purpose of your prayer, without having to worry about the one thing we feel is so necessary – food. In other words, you are taking a specific need to God while saying to Him that there is nothing more important in your life at that time. To do this in all sincerity, Jesus taught that it would be an agreement strictly between you and God. Your neighbor wouldn’t hear you whining about the lack of food, nor would they see you frowning over the want for something you committed to God to do without. You would not be looking for praise from anyone about your decision to Fast, so you would be strictly confidential about it. You will have no need to think how good you are to make such a sacrifice, because you will quickly realize that you are but a particle of dirt when you stand before the Great I Am.
Friends, God said that these are two important aspects of our Christian journey, and when we seek Him through our private prayer, and through our confidential fasting, He will see it and He will reward us openly. Not sure why Jesus thought to tell us that God will reward us ‘OPENLY’, but I could only assume that God will want others to see that we are blessed by Him because of the relationship we have with Him. Often this will cause someone to look on, learn and try to duplicate whatever it is that we are doing. I believe that God would quickly affirm – mission accomplished!

PRAYER: It all seems simple enough that these are things we should do as children of the Most High God. But seeing that You had the need to teach Your closest companions/helpers these basic principles, I believe that You also knew that even after we learned from You and the disciples, we too would struggle to achieve Your ideals in these areas. The distractions seem to have gotten worse for us Lord, for there are now electronic devices, Social Media, incurable diseases, etc. So Lord, we need You more today than ever before to help us stay focused on You, Your work, Your Word and our time alone with You. I am humbly asking for You to soften our hardened hearts and draw us into a deeper personal relationship with You. Oh that we might come to You more often in ways described in today’s Scripture. Perhaps we might then be more serious about our prayer life and our relationship with You. Have Your will and way in our lives dear Lord, so that You may be glorified on earth, as You are in Heaven. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

True Fasting

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Fasting, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Friday, 2020-07-24
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Isaiah 58:3-4; 6-9;
TRANSLATION: Good News Translation (GNT)

BIBLE TEXT: 3 The people ask, “Why should we fast if the Lord never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?”
The Lord says to them, “The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers. 4 Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?…..
6 “The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. 7 Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives. 8 “Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed. I will always be with you to save you; my presence will protect you on every side. 9 When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond….

OBSERVATION: Some of you will have fasted for various personal reasons, and some may have participated in a corporate fast by your church. Some may have studied the Bible to determine the meaning, and the purpose of, a fast, while others may have simply took the word of a pastor and agreed to join a group fast at church for a worthwhile purpose. Whatever your stance is on fasting, I want to share with you something that God really spoke to my heart on today about the subject. You see, He made it clear through the prophet Isaiah that He could see right through individuals who pretend, or enter into a serious matter like fasting. But best of all, He then explains what really pleases Him when we fast. Join me as we meditate on what ‘True Fasting’ is, according to God Himself.

APPLICATION: Many of you might be similar to me, where we probably learn a lot about fasting from our doctor when they want a fasting blood test! Some may have practiced fasting during a time that you wanted to purge your body of certain impurities and refill it with good healthy foods that diet fanatics always bug you about!! However, some of you may have been so burdened about a need that you found it challenging to develop an appetite for food, until you could see a resolution. But what did you do to fill your time that would have ordinarily been filled with meal times? Ever remember a time that you were so burdened about something or someone that you spent an unbelievable amount of time in the presence of God, praying about those burdens or concerns? In fact, you may have been so deep in communion with God that you never even noticed that a regular mealtime had come and gone. Let me encourage you to use my Scripture link to look at the whole chapter of Isaiah 58, for I merely chose a few verses to try and share a small portion of what God really had to say in that chapter. You see, the Israelites were no different to us at times when we go to a prayer meeting and pour our hearts out to the God of this universe, while knowing full well that we didn’t treat our coworkers well today, we left home in a sour and mean attitude with our spouse while also shouting at the kids. Do I need to remind you that our God knows all about our selfish, mean, spirit that shows itself way too often? Notice in the first few verses that God wanted the Israelites to know that they can’t pull anything off on Him, for He knows full well what they are really like. BUT, I really want you to look very closely at verses 6 & 7, for God explains what He is looking for in our fasting. Friends, I believe that for the child of God that is constantly giving to others in need, our God will gladly hear their cry for more of something, and He will be touched by their fasting for what they truly feel a need from God for. It is also clear that God is more apt to listen to His children that try every day to honor His Word, obey His commands and love others like He taught us to. This all boils down to being the child that God expects, and not just one who is willing to give up food in order to beg something of God. From a pure heart, the cry of an honest and sincere person will be heard by God and acted on by a God who knows if we need it, when we need it, and for whose pleasure it will be used. We may fool ourselves into thinking that we look good in the eyes of the pastor, or other leaders in the church, but God looks at the heart and determines how well we are doing with Him when we come before him. We can then rest assured in verse 9: ‘Then He will answer our prayers’! Praise be to God for His wisdom, love and all-powerful hand!

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, how ashamed we should be at times when we bow before You and plead for things, knowing that our hearts are so tainted by the sin that has overwhelmed us over recent hours and days. Please forgive us Lord. We can’t fool You. We often beg you for things thought impossible by man, yet we feel like we could hide things from You. Whether in normal conversation with You or in deep times of fasting, please help us to always look inward first. Take care of everything that separates us from You, before asking You to favor us with answered prayer. You are most holy, and we are not. Please help us to seek Your cleansing before anything else. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Fasting and Prayer

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Fasting, Fasting, Rewards, TrustLeave a comment

Thursday, 2019-01-17

Bible Reference: Matthew 6:16-18
Translation: The Passion Translation (TPT)

Bible Text: 16 “When you fast, don’t look like those who pretend to be spiritual. They want everyone to know they’re fasting, so they appear in public looking miserable, gloomy, and disheveled.[o]Believe me, they’ve already received their reward in full.17–18 When you fast, don’t let it be obvious, but instead, wash your face[p]and groom yourself and realize that your Father in the secret place is the one who is watching all that you do in secret and will continue to reward you openly.”

OBSERVATION: The Word of God is clear that if we publicize that we are fasting, our reward will be nothing more than what we hear back from our audience. That defeats the whole purpose of fasting, for we are dedicating ourselves to petition God for a specific need that we have personally, or corporately. Today, let us consider why we should fast, how should we fast, and what do we expect from a fast.

APPLICATION: I believe that when you look at an entrepreneur starting out in business – one that is pictured in their mind as a unique opportunity to fulfill a specific need for consumers, or industry, or intense profitability, you will hardly see them in their usual places of worship, at events with their family, or just having casual fun. For they are 100% engrossed in making that business succeed, and to be all that they pictured in their minds. So what about the Christian who is desperately seeking God to intervene in their lives personally, or in their family unit, or in their church, or even in their workplace? Does it seem natural to just ask someone else to pray, or casually commit those specific needs in corporate prayer, or even in your personal prayer time, when you tend to cover a wide spectrum of things, and of life itself, before God? I would say yes in all cases, but I would go a step further by sharing what I believe the Bible teaches on fasting and praying. You see, the businessperson spoken of above, will skip meals, miss family events, and more, just to totally dedicate themselves to their new business opportunity. In the life of a Christian, we might casually pray about the weather, or our child in school, etc, but consider how much more intense our prayers become when a loved one is barely hanging on to life, and the doctors are uncertain if they will possibly survive the medical issues they are having. The latter is more of the mindset of a believer when they fast, and dedicate time in prayer over a specific request. For they are willing to forego one or more meals, or perhaps give up caffeine or Facebook, or something that they feel could be sacrificed for dedicated time to plead in prayer before their Maker on a matter of prime importance to them. Think about if friend, what is the most important thing in your life right now? What do you feel is the most critical need in your life, or in the lives of those you care about, and for which you would be willing to do ANYTHING, in order to turn things around in those circumstances? Would you be willing to give up something important to you, just so that you could spend intimate and intense time talking to God about that? The Scripture tells us today that should you consider a fast, it is something that you decide together with God. There is no need to send a note to the local newspapers, or your pastor, or anyone else. For the pat-on-the-back you receive from those around you is the only reward you could expect. A one-on-one, intimate and private relationship with the Creator of the universe, the Savior of the world, our soon coming King, a commitment to commune with Him alone, and a mindset that you are willing to do anything as you seek God about a specific need, is the key to fasting and praying. It’s between you and God – no one else need be involved. Do you have a need of that importance to you today? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to dedicate the time in prayer before God Almighty over that need? What takes place in privacy between you and God, will be rewarded publicly by the King of all kings, according to His promises in His Word!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, it just rolls off our lips without effort or thought, that we will pray for someone. Oh that we may become a people of sincerity, especially in the matters of prayer. When asked to complete chores at home, we don’t look for excuses or distractions, but we seek to serve one another faithfully as we try to please each other in actions and words. The privilege of spending time with You, Almighty God, is beyond our wildest imagination, for who are we that our Creator, who put us together for His glory, should look on us in tender mercy and listen to our petitions. Please forgive us for our littleness, and our insincerity, and our lack of commitment. Lord, we need You every hour of every day, and often a lot more frequently. Please teach us to pray, and help us to see the urgency of prayer before the only One who could make a difference in our lives. May we be willing to give up the world to meet with You, Heavenly Father. You are the only one who could answer our prayers. May we commit to pray, and in times of our deepest need, may we never hesitate to fast and pray. AMEN!