Wonderful friends of Faith and Fasting, we will fast again 24 hours for America this weekend, beginning Saturday evening around 5:00 PM and concluding Sunday (October 1) evening at the same time. Remember, every believer participating has the freedom and grace to choose the 24 hours that work best. Go in grace.
This Fall in 2023, our fasts are aimed at preparation, leading up to 2024 when we will fast and pray more specifically for America. Among other goals in 2024, in alignment with the Spirit, we will actually target the dark spiritual principalities growing perverse and destructive kingdoms in our land. But, we must be ready for this battle.
Focus in these months on repentance, purification, and pray for protection for your home and loved ones. Rally your church and prayer teams to join us, and cover each other in these months of spiritual war. Before I share some amazing content to encourage our fasting journey, let me pray for us now:
Father in Heaven, we praise and adore You. Forgive and cleanse us now from all that has separated us from Your ways and wisdom. Fill us with Your Spirit and renew our minds, bodies and souls. Make us ready to fight in spirit for our homes, families and nation. Gather more of Your people to join this precious, spiritual army. Please hide us and our loved ones under the shelter of Your wings as we train for battle. We trust You to lead, guide and deliver us. In Jesus name, Amen!
Thank you to every devoted believer and prayer warrior who loves this country and knows the power of prayer and fasting WILL move mountains. With this in mind, I want to share some excerpts with you below from John Eckhardt’s wonderful and powerful book, Prayers That Move Mountains. Clicking the link will take you to Amazon where a copy can be purchased for your library. I can’t recommend Mr. Eckhardt’s prayer books enough. The following content [excepting that in brackets, which is ours] is from chapter 7:
Prayer and Fasting
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast him out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” MATTHEW 17:19–21
Fasting, coupled with prayer, is one of the most powerful weapons to receiving a breakthrough and overcoming unbelief. When you are challenged with unbelief in any situation, I encourage you to fast and pray for breakthrough.
FASTING RELEASES THE BREAKER ANOINTING
What are your mountains? Maybe you’ve been praying for a long time and have not seen breakthrough.
In Micah 2:13 the prophet prophesied, “The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it; their king will pass before them, with the LORD at their head.”
[This prophecy was about Jesus breaking His people out of the old law, out of the old land, becoming King to all who would love Him, leading God’s family to and through Himself, the gate, open now to the entire world. The remnant – the Jewish disciples, apostles, and believers who transitioned with Him – followed, and things were never the same after this breakout moment!]
The Lord is the breaker. He is able to break through any obstacle, opposition, or mountain on behalf of His people. There is a breaker anointing arising upon the church.
Fasting will cause breakthroughs in families, cities, nations, finances, church growth, salvation, healing, and deliverance. Fasting will help you to break through all opposition of the enemy.
There are stubborn spirits that will respond only to fasting and prayer. These tend to be generational strongholds that tenaciously hold on to families and nations for years. Fasting will break these strongholds, including poverty, sickness, witchcraft, sexual impurity, pride, fear, confusion, and marital problems.
But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. MATTHEW 6:17–18
Fasting breaks the mountain of the spirit of poverty (Joel 2:15, 18–19).
Fasting breaks the mountain of fear and releases great things (Joel 2:21).
Fasting causes us to become more fruitful (Joel 2:22).
Fasting increases the fruit of a believer’s life. This includes the fruit of the Spirit. God desires His people to be more fruitful. Fasting helps our ministries become more fruitful.
Fasting releases the rain (Joel 2:23).
Rain represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Rain also represents blessing and refreshing.
Fasting moistens the ground (the heart) for the planting of the seed (the Word of God). Fasting causes the rain to fall in dry places. Nations and cities that have not experienced revival can receive rain through fasting.
Fasting releases the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28).
Fasting breaks the mountain of sexual impurity (Judges 19:22-20:5).
Fasting brings enlargement and deliverance (Esther 4:14-16).
Fasting breaks the mountain of sickness and infirmity and releases healing (Isa. 58:5-6, 8).
Fasting releases God’s glory for our protection (Isa. 58:8).
Divine protection is another promise from Isaiah 58. God promises to protect us with His glory. Fasting releases the glory of the Lord that covers us. God has promised to cover the church with glory as a defense (Isa. 4:5). The enemy cannot penetrate or overcome this glory.
Fasting results in answered prayer (Isa. 58:9).
Demonic interference causes many prayers to be hindered. Daniel fasted twenty-one days to break through demonic resistance and receive answers to his prayers. Daniel’s fast helped an angel to break through and bring answers. Fasting will cause many answers to be accelerated.
Fasting causes you to have great victory against overwhelming odds (2 Chron 20:3).
Fasting prepares the way for you and your children and delivers you from enemies that lie in wait (Ezra 8:21, 31).
Fasting breaks the mountain of pride, rebellion, and witchcraft (Psalms 35:13; Job 33:17-20).
Fasting causes the joy and presence of the Lord to return (Mark 2:20).
Fasting releases the power of the Holy Spirit for the miraculous (Luke 4:14, 18).
Source: Eckhardt, John. Prayers that Move Mountains: Power Prayers that Bring Answers from Heaven. Chapter 7. Charisma House. Kindle Edition.
FAITH AND FASTING 