From the Forty-Day Fasting Challenge devotional
Day One = Starting the Routine
Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the House of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord (Joel 1:14).
God calls us to come together in dedicated times of corporate fasting. It is in these times that the power of God comes upon the hungry seekers. We are promised that when we seek Him, we will find Him (see Deut. 4:29). This promise is spoken of by Moses who in fact fasted forty days on three different occasions.
Amazing things happen when God’s people begin to seek His face with specified times of fasting. At a time when annihilation of the Jews seemed imminent, Esther called her people to a fast (see Esther 4:16). Subsequently, they were redeemed from death with the demise of their enemies following. Years later, when all of Israel assembled at the rebuilt Temple after exile, they agreed to a fast for the Glory of the Lord to once again fill the House of God. As Haggai prophesied the ‘latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former’ (Hag. 2:9). Even the early church fathers knew that empowerment in ministry is preceded with fasting (see Acts 13:3).
This forty day challenge is more than just a new church initiative. It is a dare. God promises to those who will please Him with fasting that “Then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Is. 58:14)
So go on give it a try. I dare you to see what greatness God will reveal to you, what mysteries He will unfold to you, and what triumphs he will bestow upon you as you fast.
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