I was taken aback when the Lord told me I have little faith and much unbelief. I am saying so because I have always thought otherwise.
One day I was fasting for something important and the devil was now tormenting me through hunger. If you are like me, we all know that Christians are encouraged by Jesus to pray (in the closet), fast and give, but to be honest, fasting for me is the hardest of the three.
Fortunately, on the day I was fasting, I thought of how Jesus endured the Cross so that you and I might be saved, and so I managed to persevere. When I did, God honoured me by the end of the day with a breakthrough I wanted. My fasting on that day was a real sacrifice.
A week later, while still pondering about the question of fasting, the Lord took me to the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue in his home town where the local people who knew him did not believe in Him:
"And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.' Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. "
Matthew 13:57-58 [NIV]
Without fasting, I did not experience the breakthrough I wanted, but when I started fasting things changed. Why? Yes, I was praying and giving but again I couldn’t quite get the connection of fasting and breakthroughs that come from believing God. Then the Lord led me again to an incident when the disciples were failing to cast out a demon from a little boy and when they asked them why, Jesus gave them this explanation:
"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 17:14-21 [NIV]
I had read this passage many times before and believed that they failed to cast out the demon because this type comes out by prayer and fasting. True? Maybe! But on the day I was reading this passage, the Holy Spirit revealed that Jesus was referring to the unbelief that caused the disciples to fail to cast out the demon. He said the kind of unbelief the disciples had could only be overcome by fasting and prayer. I can understand that. Here the disciples had seen Jesus in Person – they had heard Him pray and receive answers, sometimes audibly through the voice of God. They had seen all the miracles and yet they still couldn’t believe.
We too we have no excuse. We have read the bible, heard and seen all that Jesus did and yet we don’t believe. Furthermore we have all been given the Holy Spirit and we know God also now lives in our hearts and yet we still don’t believe.
But again thanks be to God. He has given us the solution. Unbelief is destroyed by prayer and fasting. Friends, today lets fast and pray that our unbelief in the word of God is overcome. Then miracles shall follow.
Farai Mutsambiwa
No comments:
Post a Comment