The Father's Menu

The Father's Menu

Apostle Dr. Richard Udoh

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

A PROCLAIMED FAST

A proclaimed fast brings believers into a place of hearing from God. A major reason proclaimed fast brings results is because it directs people’s mind towards God. They drop all other things and center their attention on Him. This brings His manifest presence in their midst. Please read 2 Chronicles 20:1-6.

While the people were in one accord in prayer and fasting, God’s spirit moved and came upon a man that brought an answer. 2 Chron 20:15 “And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.” (ESV)

The Lord gives direction in a proclaimed fast and destinies are birth in this kind of fast. The great Apostle Paul would never have been one if the Prophets and Teachers weren’t in a fast. Acts 13:1-3 “Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” (ESV) Paul’s ministry was birth by this occasion and that assignment gave us two-third of the New Testament. Friends, destinies are formed and birth in the place of prayer and fasting. In that kind of atmosphere, God is given the opportunity to speak. A proclaimed fast is valuable and effective then because it causes unity and singleness of purpose. This kind of fast produces power and victory!

Confession: I declare I will lift the fallen, restore the broken, encourage the discouraged. I am full of compassion and kindness. I won’t just look for miracles, I will become someone’s miracle by showing God’s love and mercy everywhere I go in Jesus name!

Further Reading; Isaiah 58:8-14:

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.’

“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The ^[a]pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your ^[b]darkness shall be as the noonday.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
¹² Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of ^[c]Streets to Dwell In.

¹³ “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
¹⁴ Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Ezra 8:21-23:

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. ²² For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” ²³ So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.

Read through the Bible: Judges 4 & Acts 8