We have trained ourselves to respond to our five natural senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch – but there are times when we are unable to adequately respond to what we are receiving from our natural senses. Those are the times we need to move beyond what we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel.
There is a reality that goes beyond what our five natural senses can detect. It is the realm of Spirit. Jesus tells us in John 4:24,
“God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
When we fast, we begin to value the importance of the spiritual reality over the physical. Fasting trains us to respond to the unseen by disciplining the body and its senses. Fasting brings our bodies and our natural senses under subjection to our spirits, it influences our perception and we become responsive to God’s supernatural ministering.
However, fasting must be accompanied by prayer. Fasting and prayer create a powerful combination. Communication with God while fasting gives us the strength and grace to endure.
Denying our bodies of food and focusing on God through prayer enables us to recognize that God is our Sustainer and our Source. Our appetites are no longer for physical food but for the solid food of the Word of God: spiritual food and nourishment (Hebrews 5:14). Jesus, during His forty day fast, in response to the tempter said,
“Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” – Matthew 4:4 (AMP)
God’s Word strengthens us in our weakness.
If you make time to fast and pray and meditate on the Word of God, the dominance of your natural senses over your spirit will be broken; your body will no longer rebel against what it cannot perceive through its natural sense; you will begin to discern spiritual truth; and you will become hardened toward unbelief.
Amen †
A Time of fasting ©2013 Shelley Johnson 14-Feb-13
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