AS WE FAST (DAY 2)

Don’t ever embark on fasting or any spiritual exercise without expectation; don’t get into the routine of prayer without expecting an answer from God. This is a very common thing; it happened even among the disciples of Jesus in Acts 12. After the arrest of Apostle Peter, the other apostles gathered together to pray for God’s intervention but they were praying without expectation. When Peter appeared at the door after his supernatural release, they never believed that it was Peter. The Bible says that the expectation of the righteous shall not be cut off, Prov. 23:18. There are always enough blessings to go round and God has specially prepared blessings with your name tag on it. Expectation puts a demand on the anointing. Expectation is that alertness that Jesus was referring to when he asked us to watch and pray, so add watching (expectation) to your prayer because spiritual things are very slippery. It takes spiritual alertness to hold your blessing before it slips. Don’t get into the routine of fasting without defining your expectation.

As we fast, there are certain things that we trust God to establish in our lives; it is important for you to know these things about fasting because if you don’t, you will miss out; you can never really find what you have not defined.

1. Fasting intensifies prayer. There is a significant difference in the expression used by St Luke to describe Jesus before and after his fasting. At the beginning in Luke 4:1 we read, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness”. At the end of Luke 4:14 however, we read, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee …”. What is the difference? In the beginning, he was full of the Holy Spirit but at the end of the fast, he returned with power. I announce to you that at the end of this fast, all the near-success syndrome operating in your life will become successful ventures. The power of the Holy Ghost will swing every closed door against your blessings open nationally and internationally. The power of the Holy Ghost will flow through you and terminate generational curses; break every obstacle and roll away every satanic embargo, dislodge every evil altar and display the glory of God through you. Your blessings will come. From today, your spiritual atmosphere will begin to magnetize blessings. You will be sought after, no more rejection, no more disappointment, no more failure, no more labour without benefit in the name of Jesus.
2. Fasting was a regular practice of the early Church. Acts 13:1-3 “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul … them away”. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost spoke. There is something about the Holy Ghost that you need to discover as a result of seeking his face. One of the things that will happen as you participate in this fast is that the Holy Spirit will speak to you, He will give you direction and you will no longer miss the mark, you will begin to walk according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, he will guide you and show you where to cast the net. He will give you ‘Holy Ghost assisted performance’, He will assist you to succeed and give you an answer to that problem that mocked the image of God in your life in 2018. This has always been the regular pattern in all our previous operation 18/18. I am a beneficiary. There are people who need to be separated from you because until they separate, you will not fulfil your purpose. Until king Uzziah died, Isaiah could not see the glory of God, until Abraham was separated from Lot, he could not fulfil his destiny. To be sanctified means to be separated. Jesus died that we may be sanctified and become his ambassadors operating from the headquarters of light. The Holy Spirit is asking you to separate so that you may fulfil your destiny and the purpose for which God  has called you. That is the best you can be. If you want 2019 to be different from 2018, learn to do things differently; learn to tune to the frequency of the Holy Ghost. Remember, that it is the spirit that leads you on that will eventually lead you home. Take this spiritual assignment – list all the things that you need to separate from and begin to pray into them. When you separate, God will make the resources of heaven available to you. God wants to take you to a higher level. If God is asking you to drop something, it is because he has something better for you. Acts 14:21-23, “And when they had preached the gospel to that city … and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed”. Whenever you want to embark on any major assignment especially if it has to do with God, learn to add fasting to it. Fasting was a regular practice of the early Church. During the course of this fast, some of you will discover your ministry in the name of Jesus.
3. Fasting will help you receive direction and power of the Holy Spirit. When you are not properly guided, you are likely to put the wrong foot forward. Henceforth, the Holy Spirit will hold your hands and guide you, you will no longer put the wrong foot forward, your decisions will be accurate and Holy Ghost directed with accuracy in Jesus name. Decisions will determine your destination, wealth and make you prosper. The Holy Spirit not only gives direction but power – Holy Ghost empowerment for supernatural manifestations. Holy Ghost, empower me by your spirit for supernatural manifestations as I fast, in Jesus name. Eph. 3:20 “Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”. Holy Spirit is the power that works in us. Always remind yourself that you have received Holy Ghost empowerment for supernatural manifestations. Activate “the power that worketh in us”. Notice that the power that works in and through us is the Holy Spirit and by removing the carnal barriers, fasting makes a way for the Holy Spirit omnipotence to work exceeding abundantly above according to God’s promises. As we fast, every carnal barrier to the manifestation of the power of God in your life will be rolled away, every blockade and embargo shall be rolled away, every opposition will be crushed, in the name of Jesus. The power of God will flow through you to do exceedingly abundantly above in Jesus name. When the power of God flows and does that which is above the natural, it is called a miracle. Do you need a miracle? You will not only get a miracle, you will become a miracle worker through the power of the Holy Ghost that works in you. It is a flow. In the environment where you operate, it is not enough to carry fire, you must be spitting fire. After Jesus came back filled with the Holy Ghost, the devil came, after the dove comes the devil but the devil will not be able to mess you up because you are carrying so much power.
4. This fasting is going to produce multiple deliverance and victories. Jehoshaphat conquered without fighting; that is what I call ‘sweatless victory’. How did he do it? Read 2 Chro. 20:1-30, you will see how the power of the living God gave a direction and when they acted upon the divine signal, the impossible became possible and the enemies of Israel; the collaborative forces of darkness, began to fight against themselves. This is what this fasting will produce in your life.
5. All the anti-Christ forces fighting against us will be crushed. Ezra 8:21-23, “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava … so we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us”. Ezra obtained a divine endorsement from heaven. As we fast, heaven will endorse us. When the children of Israel fasted during the time of queen Esther, a national disaster was transformed to a national triumph. As we fast, every disaster that the enemy has scheduled to happen in our lives will become a point of victory. We will triumph over them and God’s name will be magnified, in the mighty name of Jesus. Every point of ridicule will become a point of miracle and every shame will bring fame in the name of Jesus. The desire of the wicked concerning us shall never materialize, the mighty hand of God will lift us and we shall be above only and we shall never be beneath.
6. This fasting will precipitate God’s latter rain. Joel 2:12, “Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning”. Verse 17 says, “Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God”? The heathen shall never rule over us. There shall be showers of blessings, beautiful things will spring forth and there will be fruits. You will no longer eat your fruit but you will schedule seasons of harvest in the name of Jesus.

• Lord, I thank you because your word is true. I expect (begin to call forth your expectations) wonders, miracles, supernatural manifestations, joy, celebration, favour, promotion, prosperity, divine elevation, divine empowerment. Thank you, mighty God, because I know you are able to do exceeding abundantly above my requests, in Jesus name.
• Begin to prophesy into your life. I will see the goodness of the Lord, anything the enemy has ever used to mock the image of God in my life will become a testimony. Every point of ridicule will become a testimony, every test will be turned to triumph and the name of the Lord will be magnified. From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, the Lord shall bless me and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. the Lord shall increase my greatness and comfort me on every side. The Lord shall crown this year for me with his goodness and my path shall drop supernatural abundance. My going out and my coming in shall be blessed in the name of Jesus. So shall it be, in Jesus name. Amen.