Prayer and So Forth...

[Edward]

Just for some background information on prayers...
There were four types of prayers:

Simple Prayers,
"Thank you God of the Universe for this food", is the translation of the prayer Jesus said after breaking the matza at every meal. It's a basic simple prayer, memorized and repeated by everyone.

Petitions,
These prayers (memorized or not) made a request to God for something. When Zachariah was putting the incense on the altar with the Temple cleared out he had a specific prayer he said for the people of Israel. Part of which was a request for God to send the Messiah. When Gabriel told him his prayers were going to be answered his mind was blown away. Zachariah only asked for the Messiah...not for a son at this specific time although previously he probably did.

Loud Cries,
Might be a memorized prayer but probably not. But people believed that they needed their prayers to be heard by God inside of the Holy of Holies. (Where God's mercy seat was) The emotions and needs were rather urgent for people when they did this. The Widow who gave the mite whom Jesus applauded obviously gave her last coins just so she could pray to God and be heard. Jesus actually sat and watched and waited for her to show up instead of his usual relentless schedule.

Tears,
Prayers, obviously petitioning, accompanied with emotions running so high that they cause tears cut through every barrier. There's not a mother or father out there that can't hear their child's cry out of the din of a crowded room. God obviously pays attention to these prayers as well.

Now then, let's look at the prayer Jesus said for us to pray. The very first word in "Our Father..." Is "our". As in one voice speaking collectively for a group...as in we aren't supposed to do it alone.


Then,
One last thing I want to show is how God answers prayers. This lesson comes from Genesis when Abraham is talking to God about Lot and Sodom. Genesis 18:20-21
God hears the outcry,
God sees the sins because He looks our way
God investigates and considers the situation,
God then acts.
This one section in Genesis delineates how God answers prayers more clearly than most others and is repeated often throughout scriptures at least partially.

Prayer is powerful... something to be very careful with. Something not to be disrespectful with in any shape.

Good post Brother! Right in line with what I have been learning lately. Your last line...Prayer is powerful something to be careful with...is something He showed me yesterday. That most times, prayers of fewer words with heartfelt intensity are much more effective than prayers of many words.

 

[Edward]

On the subject of fasting, not trying to take this off topic but do you think fasting is something the Lord requires of us today or was it something required of the Israelites?

I think fasting can be a spiritual weapon of warfare for us. The world is in turmoil right now and the start of the last days. It's been suggested to me to pray for our President Trump's safety and to fast for Him, that the Lord protect him.

From what I understand, the enemy, satanists and so forth pray and fast to satan and if so...how much more us children of God should to our Lord?

 

[Truthfrees]

Fasting does work. The longest I have ever fasted was 7 days. It's actually pretty easy. The hunger goes away after 3 days or so and I was amazed at how much energy that I had. I'm kinda scared to do a 21 day or a 40 day fast, but the Lord showed me through teachings that, anything that we deny ourselves of that is of this world is an acceptable fast. Even entertainment! It is a sacrifice that we make unto the Lord.

That was an eye opener for me.

I notice in scripture, Daniels 21 day fast...it was not a no food at all only water fast, but a no delicacies fast where he ate only vegetables and so forth. That encourages me!

that is true - there are many types of fasts in the bible -

to tell the truth when i did the 40 day fasts i had complications after - one time i had heart palpitations after a 40 day fast - they did a cardiogram or EKG or something and said the 40 day fast weakened my heart - God healed that so i am fine

another time after the fast was over i lost 1/2 my hair - i have really thick curly hair - a year later it all came back

so if you are afraid to do 21-40 days there are grounds to be concerned

now i do 21-40 day fasts with one protein smoothie per day to make sure my body has nutrients to sustain my muscles hair heart

you are so right that after 3 days the hunger vanishes

the only caution with a 21-40 day fast is that AS SOON AS the hunger comes back the fast is OVER because you have depleted all your fat and nutrient stores in your body - and now if you continue fasting your body will start cannibalizing your muscles and your heart for fuel to keep your brain functioning so that your brain can keep your body functioning properly

 

[Edward]

that is true - there are many types of fasts in the bible -

to tell the truth when i did the 40 day fasts i had complications after - one time i had heart palpitations after a 40 day fast - they did a cardiogram or EKG or something and said the 40 day fast weakened my heart - God healed that so i am fine

another time after the fast was over i lost 1/2 my hair - i have really thick curly hair - a year later it all came back

so if you are afraid to do 21-40 days there are grounds to be concerned

now i do 21-40 day fasts with one protein smoothie per day to make sure my body has nutrients to sustain my muscles hair heart

you are so right that after 3 days the hunger vanishes

the only caution with a 21-40 day fast is that AS SOON AS the hunger comes back the fast is OVER because you have depleted all your fat and nutrient stores in your body - and now if you continue fasting your body will start cannibalizing your muscles and your heart for fuel to keep your brain functioning so that your brain can keep your body functioning properly

Wow Brother, just wow. I bet those fasts you did were powerful in the spiritual realm and allowed the Lord to do...something great for someone.

I *think* Jesus's 40 day fast was without food and maybe even water, but He walked with the Father...and still! It says that afterwards Angels came and ministered unto Him, so uh, yeah. caution and clinging to the Lord when taking on a long fast like that.

 

[Truthfrees]

Wow Brother, just wow. I bet those fasts you did were powerful in the spiritual realm and allowed the Lord to do...something great for someone.

I *think* Jesus's 40 day fast was without food and maybe even water, but He walked with the Father...and still! It says that afterwards Angels came and ministered unto Him, so uh, yeah. caution and clinging to the Lord when taking on a long fast like that.

amen to everything you said -

 

[Not_Now.Soon]

How often do you think we should fast? Prayer is easy and costs us nothing. So to pray constantly is actually do-able. But fasting. That's a weak point that I have, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Like Edward said that many Christians just don't do it.

How to fast, when to fast, and why to fast are all things that I think could be taught more in churches or in Christian communities in general. For me, fasting is a blind spot in faith. wish I had more direction on it growing up. Instead of being so clueless about it as an adult.

 

[Truthfrees]

How often do you think we should fast? Prayer is easy and costs us nothing. So to pray constantly is actually do-able. But fasting. That's a weak point that I have, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Like Edward said that many Christians just don't do it.

How to fast, when to fast, and why to fast are all things that I think could be taught more in churches or in Christian communities in general. For me, fasting is a blind spot in faith. wish I had more direction on it growing up. Instead of being so clueless about it as an adult.

fasting can be done as an obligation or it can be done as a joy/passion

 

[Edward]

How often do you think we should fast? Prayer is easy and costs us nothing. So to pray constantly is actually do-able. But fasting. That's a weak point that I have, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Like Edward said that many Christians just don't do it.

How to fast, when to fast, and why to fast are all things that I think could be taught more in churches or in Christian communities in general. For me, fasting is a blind spot in faith. wish I had more direction on it growing up. Instead of being so clueless about it as an adult.

I think many believe that it is not a commandment so to speak, but I think it is sorta. Here in the NT...

Mark 2:18-20
18 And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days..../

...and then shall they fast in those days.
That's Jesus talking and it sounds like He is issuing an edict. It's very plain. Not, if they desire to but they shall.

Back in the OT God would have them declare a fast unto all of the people of the land, a corporate fast. Isn't that interesting?! So we have individual fasting and corporate fasting.

 

[Edward]

fasting can be done as an obligation or it can be done as a joy/passion

it is probably good that people don't know the obligation version of fasting - in fact some people criticized Jesus' disciples because they didn't have an obligatory practice of fasting and Jesus had an answer to defend his disciple's lack of obligatory fasting

i wasn't taught fasting by anyone - i read it in the bible and got inspired by God as to when and how to do it - so it happened with God and through God's power

imo fasting silences the flesh as per Isaiah 58 - and as a result when a person prays their spirit can be more in tune with the Holy Spirit and pray more accurately as the Holy Spirit leads - and this strong connection with the Holy Spirit further helps silence the flesh - as a result spiritual breakthroughs happen faster and easier in a more permanently powerful way

i also learned something else that seems to work just as well as fasting - and that is praising God by the power of the Holy Spirit - praising with abandon - at the high praises of God the enemy stumbles back and falls and is no more - Psalms 149:6 - Psalms 9:3 - 1 Kings 8:11 - 2 Chronicles 5:13 - 2 Chronicles 20:22 - Psalms 37:20 - Psalms 68:1 - Psalms 22:3

so whether it is fasting or praising God with extreme abandon (called high praise) - it causes our spirits to connect with God and override our flesh - and this causes us to be more easily led by the Holy Spirit

the more consistently we can facilitate being led by the Holy Spirit the better results we have in all areas of our lives - and the more powerful our prayers are simply because we more easily/often pray as the Holy Spirit leads

imo fasting and or worshiping with abandon (called high praise) is something that helps us extract the most out of our time with God

for me my time with God consists of thanking Him - talking to Him (prayer) - listening for Him (seeking waiting hearing) - letting Him lead me to what He has to say in the bible

but the key is to enjoy whatever you are doing with God - when something becomes an obligation it gets too serious and the joy drains out of the activity - God wants us to become like little children to enter into all the good things He has for us - children learn best through play - God loves it when we play and enjoy ourselves with Him - so fasting and high praise and bible reading and prayer needs to be done with playful passion - play hard - have fun - enjoy God - learn about God - turn to Him for everything - even when we sin - even when we don't do well - because His unconditional love for us will revive us and draw us toward Him - His delight in us will cause us to delight in Him -

Good points Brother! Fasting does indeed silence the flesh. It is a renouncing of the natural, and invoking of the the spiritual and there is very few ways for it to fail. Like maybe not spending the extra time that the fast creates for us, with the Lord. It takes time to eat if you add it up. 1/2 hr or an hour to go buy the food, maybe an hour to cut it up and cook it, preparing the table and eating another hour perhaps? There's 3 extra hours there in that day for that meal. Then another meal or two also for the same day. So even conservatively there's a free 5 to 7 hours of time each day to focus on the Lord and His word. The spiritual bread of the word rather than the natural food of the world.

That will bring the presence of the Lord. You made a very interesting point about praising the Lord will bring His presence also. It will indeed, for the Lord inhabits His people who are praise. That is scripture.

 

[WIP]

that is true - there are many types of fasts in the bible -

to tell the truth when i did the 40 day fasts i had complications after - one time i had heart palpitations after a 40 day fast - they did a cardiogram or EKG or something and said the 40 day fast weakened my heart - God healed that so i am fine

another time after the fast was over i lost 1/2 my hair - i have really thick curly hair - a year later it all came back

so if you are afraid to do 21-40 days there are grounds to be concerned

now i do 21-40 day fasts with one protein smoothie per day to make sure my body has nutrients to sustain my muscles hair heart

you are so right that after 3 days the hunger vanishes

the only caution with a 21-40 day fast is that AS SOON AS the hunger comes back the fast is OVER because you have depleted all your fat and nutrient stores in your body - and now if you continue fasting your body will start cannibalizing your muscles and your heart for fuel to keep your brain functioning so that your brain can keep your body functioning properly

Are you saying that you went totally without any food or liquids containing food or nutrient value for 40 days or more?

 

[Truthfrees]

Are you saying that you went totally without any food or liquids containing food or nutrient value for 40 days or more?

nope - no food for 40 days - only water for 40 days

no water is really hard to do - imo it requires God's help

 

[Edward]

Are you saying that you went totally without any food or liquids containing food or nutrient value for 40 days or more?

I'm kind of guessing here, but I *think* that 40 days of fasting is probably the longest that anyone can fast. I think we enter into starvation at that point. Even when Jesus fasted for 40 days, it says afterward He was hungry...

I know the human body can go a lot longer without food than it can water, but I am not sure of the limits to it.

 

[WIP]

I'm kind of guessing here, but I *think* that 40 days of fasting is probably the longest that anyone can fast. I think we enter into starvation at that point. Even when Jesus fasted for 40 days, it says afterward He was hungry...

I know the human body can go a lot longer without food than it can water, but I am not sure of the limits to it.

I found this information.

https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s...ived-without-air-food-water-sunshine-or-sleep

 

[Truthfrees]

I'm kind of guessing here, but I *think* that 40 days of fasting is probably the longest that anyone can fast. I think we enter into starvation at that point. Even when Jesus fasted for 40 days, it says afterward He was hungry...

I know the human body can go a lot longer without food than it can water, but I am not sure of the limits to it.

the limits of fasting food are different for each person depending on how much nutrient-laden fat is stored in the body - i think the longest safe fast i heard of was 83 days - and that was a 350 lb person doing that fast - people who are very thin probably would never be able to do a 40 day water-only fast -

the body needs water in the cells and blood to do all the micro and macro functions - as far as i know 3 days is the average limit of how long a body can naturally go without taking in water - after that it starts irreversibly shutting down like an engine without oil would seize up and die

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-days-can-you-survive-without-water-2014-5

anorexics can also push the water-only fast too far and their bodies will eventually reach the point of no return where the body shuts down and refuses to function any longer

 

[for_his_glory]

Praying is humbling ourselves before the Lord and making a petition before him in simplicity of words for whatever our need is. Jesus, as our mediator, sits at the right hand of God making intercession for the saints of God as he presents our petitions before the Father. You do not need eloquent elaborate words or long prayers that use vain repetitions like the Pharisees used as God called them hypocrites because they were arrogant in their ways loving to have others see them in such formality who made the outside of themselves look good, but were nothing more than full of iniquity. (Romans 8:34; 1 Timothy 2:5; Matthew 6:5-8; Matthew 23:27, 28)

Jesus is our mediator to the Father and just wants us to sit and talk with him like we would sit and talk with our best friend. Our prayer language needs to be in this same way. When you have a need just talk to him and speak from your heart. We do not have to be repetitious in our prayers as Jesus already heard you the first time. Pray once and then stand strong in faith to know God has heard your prayer and then just keep praising him and thanking him for his answer to your prayer even though you might not see an answer yet, but know that God in his timing will answer you. Gods answer may not be what we want to hear at times and his answer can be no at times, but God knows what is better for us then we do and we need to trust in this.

 

[Edward]

Sometimes it is easier than other times to hear the voice of the Lord. I have heard Him very clear the past couple days and it's like a normal conversation! He has been teching me about fasting. I have learned some things!

He called me to fast for my country and said that this is a critical time for our country and He needs more prayer and fasting from His people to be able to counter the moves of the enemy. He told me to not do any outrageous fasts, and explained that any little thing that we deny ourselves can be offered to Him as an acceptable fast. Like no treats for instance, or not ordering that pizza and eating plain food like meat and potatoes. He said that any inconvenience we have is a suffering and can be offered to Him in prayer as an offering and will help the Kingdom very much. He said even skipping one meal is a fast that is acceptable. or eating plain food instead of rich food or delicacies is also an acceptable fast that will help when offered to Him.

He told me to not attempt a fast without at least water, that it can be dangerous and do not do that. Huh! I learn something new every day! I had been thinking about doing a 21 day fast with only water and he has pretty much told me not to do that. The way He explained it, makes me question my own motives for such a fast. He said if one fasts an outrageous fast longer than they are used to or can reasonably do without becoming weak from it, that it is better to not do such a fast, and if one is doing such a fast in order to...be more spiritual or something like that, then it would make the fast of no account to the kingdom. So perhaps that was a sub-conscious motive of mine?

The fast should be of a pure motive and intent to help the Kingdom and others of our nation and world. And that just a short while back, our nation was on it's knees praying and in repentance. SO many people were praying that the cries of the people were heard in Heaven and heaven responded. things got better! We can all see that. Then He went on to say that now complacency has set in and serious prayer and fasting has dropped off, and this should not be! People are of the mind that everything is covered now so have dropped out of serious prayer.

He suggested to pray more and to fast more and that almost anything is an acceptable offering or fast. Like not playing a video game and going to help a neighbor with something instead with that time, or a 24 hour fast instead of a longer one which may be too hard or of the wrong motive. To skip one candy bar or ice cream and eat nothing or some plain food is very helpful. People do not realize these things so do not do them. If you skip something for the Lord, offer it to Him in prayer as you do it or quickly thereafter.

I thought these things should be shared. There is a little more, but I just got home and am hungry, lol.
Oh He did make a point of saying to make sure to do any fast in secret and do not tell anyone or make it obvious what you are doing. He said if you are fasting and someone offers you something...do not admit the fast but rather accept what they offer but only take a little bit so that they see you eat what they offered but you didn't say you were fasting but didn't eat a lot either and was just being polite to accept their hospitality to you...
(I found that very interesting!)

 

[JLB]

From what I can tell, almost all Christians pray. In Matthew 6:5-6 it talks about Praying.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.../(KJV)

It tells us how not to pray, and how to pray. Interesting that it says, when you pray, not if you pray. I believe that phrase,'when you pray' clearly tells us that the Lord expects us to pray. Like it's almost a commandment or duty for being a follower of Him. Would you agree with that?

Yes.

Praying for our family, which includes our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Praying for our leaders in government.

Praying for our Pastors and Church leaders.

Praying for the lost.

Praying about direction in our lives.


Paul said it this way -

Pray without ceasing!



Then there is praying in the Spirit, which is with our prayer language. (Won’t go into that)


Then there is private worship.


That’s worshiping the Lord in my home.

Bowing down before Him in solemn worship, and praising Him privately for a while till His presence comes upon me. From there I begin to intercede.


For me, I have a prayer room where I go.


I dedicate my home and the life of my family to the Lord, weekly, that as the head of my household, I freely invite Him to have His way in my life and our home. To establish His kingdom in our lives, that His will be done in our home and lives as it is in heaven.



Prayer is an important part of our walk with the Lord.





JLB

 

[Edward]

Good that you mention interceding. Intercessory prayer is what we Christians do for the most part. The intercessors are the ones in the trenches so to speak and it is very important is what I have learned!