The Importance Of True Christian Fasting

Dear Brethren, I was myself recently reminded by God to never neglect the importance of true fasting which brings about deliverance and breaks strongholds. Therefore, this message serves as an encouragement to you to reach out to the Lord in devotional fasting and prayer to receive your or your family's deliverance, blessings, and breakthrough in your walk with the Lord.

Throughout the world, there are countless Christians who are needy, afflicted, and suffering, yet disobedient; the Lord has instituted fasting as a way of helping us to express our deepest need and faith in Him (Isaiah 58:1-12). If we have an earnest desire for His will and attention, the Lord will faithfully hear us (Psalm 10:17; 34:17; 18:6; 116:1; Jeremiah 33:3). Fasting is an essential Christian way of living, and true fasting should never be done to please man, but God. In addition, we should not pursue fasting merely as a religious duty without a godly motive. When we fast, some of the reasons might be:

• To express remorse for our sins and for repentance (Jonah 3:6-10; Nehemiah 1:4-11).
• To seek help and express our dependence on God (Esther 4:3, 16; Nehemiah 1:4-11).
• To plead with the Lord to delay or reverse a pending judgement and plead for His mercy (2 Samuel 12:16-18).
• To seek deliverance from demons and strongholds in our lives (Isaiah 58:6-7; Matthew 17:21).

From the Scriptures referenced above, we learn that fasting in the Old Testament was done corporately, involving the entire community, while others fasted individually for mercy and repentance. In the New Testament, fasting is mainly done as a personal commitment (Mark 2:20; Acts 14:23), and this will be our focus in this chapter.

Fasting That Pleases God

For Christians, fasting should always be preceded by repentance. During fasting, we confess our shortcomings and reliance on the Lord (Daniel 9:4-19). In his fasting, the prophet Daniel was not self-seeking. Instead, he was seeking the will and the blessing of the Lord for his fellow Israelite brethren. Consequently, his fasting was accepted, his prayers were heard, and God answered him (Daniel 9:20-27).

Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed and fasted 40 days and nights for the work He was sent to do (Matthew 4:2), “…and was heard because of His godly fear…” (Hebrews 5:7 NKJV). As it is, when fasting, we should not place a demand on God to meet our requests. Instead, His will, purpose and glory must be evident (Proverbs 25:2; Judges 20:26-36). In other words, our fasting must not be merely for selfish gain but for things that are important to God (Isaiah 58:1-12). When our Lord Jesus Christ fasted and prayed for those 40 days with loud cries and tears, He was armed with God’s will ready to serve in order to please the Father (John 6:38; Hebrews 5:7; 10:7). His commitment in fasting was not casual, but He fasted to preach the gospel, set the captives free, heal the sick, and open the eyes of the spiritually blind (Luke 4:18-19). As we know, the Lord’s fasting was out of obedience and submission to the Father (Hebrews 5:8-10).

There is not a single Scripture verse in the Bible that suggests we do fasting without prayer; these two are inseparable! I know of many people who said they were on a fast, but without praying. That is neither effective fasting nor purpose-driven; our fasting must be for something specific (Esther 4:16; Daniel 9:2-3). I have also observed some people following a call for fasting and simply joining in without seriously committing their hearts in prayer for a specific cause. Fasting is a personal matter (Matthew 6:16) that should never be forced onto believers. When doing group fasting, as in Esther’s case, we fast about things that affect all of us, and as individuals, we fast for things that we need, including the needs of our families and communities. I would like to emphasize that fasting cannot cleanse us from sin, so it is not for self-purification. Biblically, we may fast for deliverance from demonic oppression and strongholds (habitual sins that control and corrupt our behavior) (Matthew 17:21). We are cleansed from sin and purified through confession and through the blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 1:7-9; Romans 10:9-10). This is our purification, the blood through the CROSS! Praise the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Next, I will share brief testimonies on fasting and how the Lord blessed and delivered us. When the Lord gave us these visions and testimonies, He did so purposely so that we may share with you for your edification and serve as examples to help you grow in His grace.

Fasting as a Test of Obedience

On July 12, 2013, the Lord commanded Charis that she and three members of her fellowship group fast for one day and do four prayers for that day. The Lord did not say what they should fast about, so they worked out prayer requests to place before the Lord. After their fasting the following day, the Lord congratulated them for being faithful in fasting and that He was going to bless them and that this fasting was a test of their obedience to Him. Without being aware, they were tempted by the devil, to eat. In the vision, the Lord showed Charis how the devil strategically placed food to cause them to eat and disobey, but their obedience proved stronger and this was very pleasing to the Lord. He made the four of stand next to each other and He said: “I am really going to bless you all for being obedient.” As the Lord uttered these words, she saw how these words turned into a sound wave and entered both their ears. The vision changed and the Lord made them feel a hot sensation on their cheeks as an indication that they each had received a kiss from the Lord for being obedient. I can, therefore, witness that the Lord did bless all of them generously on their birthdays with some money which He instructed us to give ‘from His money’ (the ministry funds), as well other blessings which you will read further below.

As I shared previously (in Book 1 and in an articles titled “Prayer is the Key to Solving All Problems – Part I and Part II”), the Lord told us as a family (Charis, my wife and I) to fast for just one day when we were on the verge of having our house repossessed by the bank. After the one day of fasting, the Lord again commanded us to pray for a whole month. Like the prophet Daniel, the Lord heard our prayers, and we did not lose the house – at the end of the one month of prayer, the Lord concluded the matter and said that this house was now in His hands and He commanded us to “DO NOTHING” more. We obeyed, and today we have a testimony to share with you from the same house. HALLELUYAH! As it turned out, the Lord blessed me with a job and the bank called us, having withdrawn a court notice to foreclose, and negotiated a new and better deal with us without any input from us. The bank was acting on the Lord’s instructions.

Additionally, a few years ago when I was in bondage to smoking, I fasted a full seven days for deliverance from this habit, and in Jesus’ Name I received my deliverance that same week. Since smoking is a self-inflicted habit, I needed faith and obedience to work together with the Lord to deliver me, and He did. Those who are cigarette smokers or former smokers know what a troubling, traumatizing and tormenting habit this can be. I bless the Lord for the victory! In a message to a faithful brother and friend to this family and ministry who desperately needed a breakthrough and something from the Lord, the Lord once encouraged him saying, "My son Roy (not real name) must fast and pray if he needs something, and I love My son Roy".

Fasting to Receive Gifts for Ministry Service

Without being aware that the Lord was calling us into the ministry, He commanded us saying, “You, and your mother and father must go on a fast and I will tell you tonight about the fast”. When the Lord visited us that night, He said that He was going to bless us with gifts for ministry work, but we needed to fast for one day so that He could reveal the kind of gifts He had for us. Now brethren, it was necessary for us to fast and know the gifts from God so that we could add our faith to the gifts. No gift from God operates without faith (Romans 12:6); the fasting commanded from the Lord was to draw our faith to the gift. However, I will not draw attention to what gifts we received here, except to say that we are using some of those gifts to serving in this ministry. We will also add that when the Lord was about to deliver the gift for Charis, He said, “I am going to give you the biggest and best gift you ever had”. She received the gift of hearing mighty words and visions from the Lord, with a spirit of wisdom from Him.

As we shared in Book 1 on how this ministry started, the Lord commanded me to find five people to pray with, and as a reward for their obedience, He directed us to go on a three day fast. After the fast, He granted each person their request. Those who were unemployed received jobs, others received the gift of speaking in tongues, and some received healing and deliverance. The Lord is not pleased when we disobey Him or ask for something when we are not serious. We had three young men who came to our home church asking us to pray for them for jobs and deliverance. We took their requests to the Lord in prayer, and He commanded that they pray and fast for one day. One did not obey in fasting, so he did not receive anything. One gentleman fasted, but he did not have faith in the Lord, so he could not receive anything from the Lord. However, one brother received a full package of God’s blessing due to his faith and obedience and the Lord was very pleased with him. This same brother is still serving the Lord very faithfully today, praise the Lord!

Vision of an Answer to Fasting

On July 15, 2013, the Lord commanded Charis and the three other children in her age range to fast for one day. Well, they obeyed, and the Lord answered what some of them received for their obedience.

Vision Given to Charis on July 26, 2013

“I had a vision this morning of a woman, who introduced herself to me as Celeste (an Angel), who was being sent by the Lord. We were in a white room, and she had a white dress on with long, natural brown hair. This was the second time the Lord sent her to me. She said, “Hi! Do you remember me”? I answered and said, “Yes, I do!” I saw myself and the three other children in this white room and she turned to the one girl to my right and said, “You prayed and did not want to go to a certain school next year (2014). Your request has been granted; that was your blessing.” (We can confirm that her application for acceptance for 2014 was unsuccessful, and the Lord granted her request, as this was against her and her mother’s will.)

She then turned to the other girl and said, “Your blessing is that you act obediently and receive less spanking; you also received a blessing for your birthday” (this girl was personally blessed by the Lord with money, which was used for a birthday party and a gift she needed).

Thereafter, she turned to the boy and said, “Your blessing has been coming on slowly because you are not working faithfully on your salvation.” The boy insisted that the angel tells him what blessing he got and she said, “You failed the previous quarter, but your blessing was you passed the last quarter” (this young boy had been afflicted with every kind of disobedience in not doing school work, including neglecting to read his Bible and praying faithfully).

It was my turn, so she said, “Your blessing is still coming and it is going to be a very big blessing.” (While the Lord did not reveal exactly in this vision what Charis's blessing was going to be, she was thoroughly blessed on her birthday with a soul-moving message from the Lord and He also commanded my wife and I to give her a generous amount of money from our ministry funds). With that, she waved at us greeting us goodbye and the door closed behind her.” This was the end of the vision!

The Lord bless you as you seek Him and obey His Word. If you would like to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please start by praying this Prayer of Sincere Repentance. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

Grace and peace to you,
Brother Glenn

God Should Be Our ONLY TRUST

Human's fail without the guidance of the Holy Spirit

Brief note: This week, we would like to share a testimony with you and we allowed our Brother Thom Hale to share with us exactly what he went through after he received a 'prophetic' word from a sister. Our Brother Thom is a very humble person with a giving spirit. In fact, we made an appeal for a job to our American readers on this blog on two occasions (our appeal in the “The Eternal Benefit of Godly Correction” article) with no success.  Now, before our Brother Thom's departure to South America, he did share with us that he was leaving home for a few months. After receiving a word from the Lord for him and our hearts troubled by his decision, we released him while we pledged to pray for them and to keep in touch. To us as a family and ministry, our Brother Thom and his dear wife is like family and we were privileged to share their joy and pain throughout this trying journey. Therefore, this Brothers faith, humility, love and dependence on the Lord served as a strong encouragement to us personally. We sincerely pray that you be blessed by his testimony, without undermining what he and his dear wife went through. The Lord has tests for all of us, the thing is, would you be able to survive it? They did and are moving on strongly in the Lord.

I hope this article will serve both as warning and encouraging to our readers, my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Briefly, I met Brother Glenn in 2011, shortly prior to learning of another ministry where the Lord was using two sisters to deliver his messages through visions and letters.

We all see that the world is getting darker and darker every passing moment of the day. Without a doubt, we are living in a time that has been spoken by the Lord thousands of years ago. We are seeing the bible being fulfilled during our life time. This, however, stirs up a desire within us to know more, to know what the future holds, to know the heart of God. At the same time, this opens us up to false visions, dreams, and teachings. My brothers and sisters, we are living in a time of high deception. Please heed my voice and test all things with the written word of God.

Furthermore, let me be transparent here. I am not speaking against this ministry or any other ministry I may have connected with. Being that no ministry is without issues as a result of the flesh, I can say with confidence that mistakes are made sometimes. We are all imperfect people and what unifies us is love and respect for one another. As we know, we all have flaws and the enemy knows this and he will use this to his advantage.

God's Will Never Fails, Human Will Fails

Please allow me to briefly share our (my wife and my) experience. Before I do that, I want it to be known that I am not labeling anyone as a false prophet, only the word given to us (my wife and I)
as being false. In 2012, I received word from a dear sister (name withheld) that the Lord would have me included with a group to do missions in South America. I had recently retired from my IT job two years prior to the time of receiving this word through this sister. My wife was not working and we
were living from my pension.

When I made this prophetic word known to my wife, needless to say, she was greatly troubled. I, on the other hand, knew this had to be from the Lord. You see, I had accepted this as a true word from the Lord and we had no choice but to obey. I failed to hear the counsel and wisdom of my wife. Most of all, I failed to test this through the word of God. There was much doubt and fear associated with this word. Well, brothers and sisters, can you imagine another sister giving your husband such a word and he acting on it without your full consent? Thank God for grace and a loving spouse who has proven to be a real treasure to me. I must say, this decision to act on this word almost dismantled our marriage. We spent three months in South America, no mission work, no real plan, cold and miserable.

This word came with many red flags but I refused to heed them. One thing said in particular was that those going on this mission trip were to remain silent. Disclosing this to family and friends could jeopardize the Lord's work, we were told. Nonetheless, we let it be known to a few family members that we were leaving but we did not say how long we would be gone. To make a long story short, this mission trip was spawned from a vision and false word that negatively impacted many lives. How can anyone fall for something like this, you ask?

Having a zeal for God but not according to knowledge is very dangerous. Seeking visions and a word from the Lord via third party rather than personally exercising ones own faith can also be dangerous. I am not condemning this because I am a recipient of a word of encouragement from the Lord through Charis and this has since improved my relationship with the Lord.

What I am saying is it's essential we all seek a personal relationship with the Lord through prayer and daily bible reading. We are all susceptible to being deceived by the enemy. Trust me, the word I received back in 2012 from this particular sister marked a very painful chapter in our lives. By the grace of the Lord, we left South America with our lives intact, but at an unnecessary financial lose.

The Financial Hardship we Endured

While the struggles are continuing as a result of the decision I took, we are continuing in prayer knowing that the Lord will rescue us out of these struggles.

Like I mentioned earlier, I retired from my IT job after 24 years of service. Even though my wife was not working, I reached a point in my career where I simply wanted change. With my daily tasks becoming mundane, work became stressful and less challenging, work morale was low and the work environment tense at times. This exhaustion made it easy for me to take an early retirement. We (You and your wife or company...please clarify) mutually agreed that I would opt for early retirement even though it would mean paying higher taxes on all monies withdrawn. My pension funded our trip to South America and sustained us for a few years.

Additionally,prior to seeing my pension totally dwindle from the bank, we launched an online business and the income generated from the business was not enough to keep us afloat. Nevertheless, we eventually found ourselves at the mercy of a few family and friends whom we greatly praise the Lord for.

Particularly, I will say, through an act of kindness and brotherly care Helping: A Christian Way of Life we've been blessed by the prayers and support of this ministry and other brethren who serves in this ministry. Their love and fear for the Lord is evident through their works and caring attitudes, and this is fondly treasured and remembered by my wife and I.

If there is any of you who can relate with what we are saying about having to rely on others then you know how stressful and humbling it is to depend on others for financial support, humbling as it maybe such moments are scripturally provided for (Hebrews 13:16). The spiritual benefit we reap through this experience build our trust and faith in the Lord as well as ridding us of any pride (Proverbs 16:5).

Job Hunting Stress

Moreover, I spent almost the last 2 years (2014 -2016) seeking employment and this time of testing would further prove my faith in Christ. Prior to my quest for job hunting, I was radiating with confidence that I would not struggle to find a job given the bachelor's degree I hold from a highly esteemed university in the area of IT, which is a much needed profession. However, as I started my job searching and noticing that I received no telephone calls nor any interviews, my confidence changed to fear and depression.

Seeing my plight, the Lord moved on the heart of a dear sister who took the time to update my resume and give it a very professional appeal. Praise God for sending us help when we needed it. About a year into my job search, I decided to obtain an unarmed security license. After obtaining the license I was blessed with a job working security at an upscaled residential community. This job proved to test my humility as well as patience. After about six months working as a security I decided to drive Uber and Lyft. Both these jobs merely made it possible to cover basic utilities. Since we were unable to make mortgage payments our home eventually resulted to being in foreclosure.

Job Breakthrough

Now, there is a silver lining to this story, Praise the Lord Almighty! After months of persistent  prayers in August 2016, the Lord opened a door for me to return to my place of employment, the same company I took early retirement from, WOW, God is awesome! Having a full time and steady income is a wonderful feeling.

Furthermore, brothers and sister, I truly believe that our financial position is a result of me receiving prophetic words and visions but failing to test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21). There's no doubt in my mind that the Lord still gives visions, dreams and words of prophecy to guide the body of believers (1 Thessalonians 5:20). "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" (Joel 2:28 NIV).

Concluding Exhortation

The Lord says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anu man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20 NIV).

Warning! There are many voices in the land, therefore discern the Lord's voice. Read His word and do not to be swayed by every wind of doctrine, my brothers and sisters (Ephesians 4:14). This article does not reveal the complete hurt and damage caused to my family and others like me whose good intentions were taken advantage of thinking that we were showing obedience to what was thought to be the Lord's words. If this article should convince even one person from veering off in the wrong direction then it has served its purpose, that is to encourage every believer to test all things and believe the written word of God.

I'd like to thank God for Brother Glenn, his wife Desiree and family along with members of this ministry, their experiences and obedience to the Lord serves as a great faith booster.

I am confident that the Lord has been using Charis and this family whom I regard as humble and precious souls. My prayer is that He will continue to use this family to prepare his people for his soon return.

We would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or of you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this link Prayer of Sincere Repentance
by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.

God Bless and trust him in all things,

Thom Hale

Despising God's Correction

The Rebellion Of Our Times

 

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord Nor detest His correction; for whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:11-12 NKJV).

Warning: We are sharing a warning vision below from the Lord and our youth better take note of it.

It is a fact, our times have seen widespread rebellion against the Ways of the Lord (2 Timothy 3:2). Children has lost their respect and fear for their parents and this happen even in the most godly homes.

As a ministry, we have received messages from concerned parents who tearfully shared the abuse they suffer as a result of their children’s disobedience, disrespectfulness and wayward living. Of course there are various factors that contribute to the destruction of godly centred family values.

Instruments That Hinders Family Values

To mention but a few, there is the influence of the demonic world, and also parents have been left powerless by the laws that our governments has enacted and this is done as UN member States to conform to the United Nation’s conventions on children’s rights. While some of these laws are aimed at promoting the well-being of children in a just way against the abuse of some parents. In many instances, the interpretation given by some in society leads to the breakdown of family values which does not help in the building of a truly godly family live.

Additionally, the influence of peer pressure and the boundary less long arm of social media plays a pivotal role in spreading rebelliousness and changing perceptions. Now, as powerful as these forces are the Christian message of correction should be even louder in our homes, churches and in the streets (2 Timothy 4:2) because “...because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16 NIV). In times past, the Lord’s disciples preached the gospel amidst threats against their own lives and not even those threats discouraged them from preaching the word, healing the sick and saving the lost (Acts 21:13, 4:19-20). From their boldness and the spirit of Christ in them which is also in us so neither should we stand back but we should press on to proclaim the gospel of peace (Philippians 2:1-13).

The Lost Opportunity Of A Young Man Who Hated Correction

Brethren, as you might remember on the 29/10/2018 we shared in an article ‘The Courage to Endurance’ with you about the passing of a young man Bradwin van Rooyen who tragically died in a car accident. Brethren as painful as this is to us to share the love of Christ for people compels us to share this to encourage the youth to repent and forsake their rebellious ways.

About December 2018, I received a dream from the Lord regarding Bradwin in which I was shown that he was going to die (not a good word to convey) but I did inform him and without squirming or feeling uncomfortable he calmly replied saying, ‘if I die, I die’. Well, just over two weeks ago the Lord revealed to me Brother Glenn and our six (6) year old daughter Cailin that this young man did not make it to Heaven. In her vision he spoke to her pleading that no one be making a mockery of him for dying without Christ, and in my vision he was presented as a young wild goat (Matthew 25:33) who despised being corrected in the Ways of the Lord. I could see the expression on his face and feel his anger in my vision how he rebelled against the Word of God when he was being corrected. As it is, this vision is proved true because the day we discovered he forsook the Lord we spoke to him and his responses lacked appreciation for correction and he just displayed an attitude of ‘just leave me alone’.

Therefore, we encourage the youth and adults alike to embrace the correction of God’s Word through His servants with humility and the Father who is gracious will save our lives from the pit (Psalm 40:2). Furthermore, it is a common practice people despise the messengers who carry God’s message for their salvation (Deuteronomy 1:13; Jeremiah 44:16) and sadly, this has led many not to receive the gift of salvation (Acts 18:6; Jeremiah 7:27).

In conclusion, we still have an opportunity today to heed the gospel call to repentance, accepting correction, obeying the Lord Jesus Christ and being prepared for Heaven. We urge you everyone, heed the warning of our nephew not to be mocked for dying without Christ.

If you would like to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and learn to persevere unto eternal life, please get started by praying this Prayer of Sincere Repentance. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

Blessed Grace and Peace

Brother Glenn