Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough: A Guide to Nine Biblical Fasts (26 page)

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When you overcome blindness, beware of attacks in other realms
. When you successfully study the Word and understand the will of God, you begin to grow in Christ. If Satan can’t blind you, he will then attack you in other realms. Sometimes if he can’t hold you back from knowing God’s will, he will make a fanatic out of you and you will run past the will of God. There is no better place than the center of God’s will.

•
Fast for a strategy of victory
. Even with the king’s permission, the Jews had to protect themselves. Esther appealed to the king for protection, but the king could not change his decree. The law of the Medes and Persians mandated that it could never be changed. All the king could do was to have another law written that was more powerful. This new law allowed Jews to defend themselves. God’s strategy was to counter one law by another law, “that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies” (Esther 8:13). As a result, the Jews smote all their enemies.

At times, the Esther Fast releases defense for you against the unseen world. God will send His angels to protect you. At other times, the fast will reveal strategies you must take for your own protection. You may discover anew the importance of getting enough sleep and eating properly so you will have physical strength. Remember, when you are physically weak you lose your initiative to fight and your inhibitions are low. Other strategies may involve study, programs and other initiatives.

Step 8: Fast with Common Sense, Not Recklessness

Notice that the immediate success of Esther’s fast didn’t end the problem. It gained her access to the king, but she and the other Jews then had to defend themselves. Too often we pray and enter into a fast, then sit in our rocking chairs waiting for God to solve our problems. The Esther Fast gives us power to attack our problems, so we leave the fast ready to become active in service. Note the things Esther had to do after she had fasted:

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Be in the right place
. Esther “stood in the inner court of the king’s palace” (Esther 5:1). After you have fasted in private, then you will have to follow the Lord’s leading, perhaps into a public place.

•
Wear the right clothing
. Esther didn’t just pray for God to change the
heart of the king. She put on the right apparel that would be attractive to him. She understood that while you are on your knees, you must pray as though everything depends on God; but when you arise, you must work as though everything depends on yourself. “Esther put on her royal robes” (v. 1).

Today we too must “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). The clothing for standing against Satan is like the armor of a soldier. Because we are in a warfare, we must possess a siege mentality. If we are not ready to fight, we will be defeated. Dressing properly for the fight is the best preparation for winning. The following list shows the prescribed attire:

A look at this battle dress tells us that defeating Satan takes the
total
resources of the
total
person against an enemy who will bring his
total
evil plans against us. There is not one inclusive method Christians can use to defeat the devil, such as quoting the Bible. Although quoting the Bible is imperative, it is not the only weapon needed in spiritual warfare. We must take truth with us not only in the spoken word, but we must also be clothed with truth as an attitude. We must not only have faith, but we must also know that God wants to help us and will defend us as certainly as we know that Satan is our enemy. Defeating Satan takes total preparation of our bodies, our inward lives and our relationships to God.

• Use good judgment and wisdom
. When Esther stood before the king and he held out his scepter to her, she did not rush into his presence and blurt out a request. Nor did she fall at the king’s feet and beg for protection. Every request to a king must be rightly framed. It must be preceded by proper preparation to build anticipation. So Esther prepared with wisdom and logic. She invited Haman and the king to a banquet she prepared (see Esther 5:5).

Before the banquet, circumstances occurred that turned the heart of the king toward Esther. He could not sleep that evening, so he had the royal diary brought in. The diary revealed the story of how Mordecai had discovered a plot against the king’s life—in essence saving the king. The next morning, the king asked Haman how he could honor a person who had done a great service for him. Haman, thinking the king wanted to honor him, thought of the most elaborate honor of all—that the person be allowed to ride throughout the city on the king’s horse wearing a royal robe. Then the king told Haman to honor Mordecai in just that way. Haman wound up leading his enemy on a horse throughout the kingdom.

Finally, at Esther’s banquet, she named Haman as the man who had issued the decree that she and her people should be annihilated. The king was aghast, and as though to control his wrath he stormed from the room. Meanwhile, Haman fell across the couch where Esther sat, begging for mercy. Just then the king returned and mistakenly thought Haman was trying to assault the queen. Immediately he issued orders to hang Haman on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (see Esther 7).

In the original Esther Fast, God had prepared the heart of the king to do the righteous thing in protecting the Jews. But by fasting, Esther had also gained the good judgment to devise a plan that resulted in the death of the wicked Haman.

Step 9: Pray for Spiritual Protection

God has angels who are spirits to help and protect us. “Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14). God has not called us to pray
to
angelic spirits for protection; however, we can pray
to God
for protection and God will send His ministering angels. “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Ps. 34:7). “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (91:11).

When Daniel was cast into the hungry lions’ den to be eaten alive, the king came and asked, “Has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” (Dan. 6:20). Daniel answered him, “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me” (v. 22).

The greater the spiritual attack, the more often or the longer you should fast
. The more severe the attack from Satan, the more intense should be your prayer and fasting. This means you will have to fast longer—perhaps a three-day fast—or you may have to fast one day on three different occasions. When faced with a severe problem, Jesus said, “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:21).

The greater the spiritual attack on you, the more people you must get to fast and pray for you
. Just as the prayer of one person is effective, the prayer of more than one intensifies the results. Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (18:19).

When you tell someone what you want God to do, your request becomes a statement of faith, and when you pray aloud, your prayers become a statement of faith. When you expect an answer, the anticipation is a statement of faith. These expressions of faith have the power to increase faith in others who agree together in your behalf.

The greater the spiritual attack, the more preparation you must make for your fast
. Correlate the time and place of your fast and the study tools you will use with the intensity of the attack. Look at the preparation outline at the end of this chapter to make sure you bring all the needed materials to your Esther Fast.

The Esther Fast is also for the spiritual protection of your pastor or other church leaders
. Satan knows that if he can destroy the credibility of church leadership, those following will lose their way. Therefore, there are intense attacks by Satan on leadership. The Esther Fast is not only for each Christian who feels a satanic attack or the need for protection in other situations, but it also has special application for spiritual leaders as protection from attacks upon them.

One of the best books for Christian leadership is
Prayer Shield
by C. Peter Wagner (Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books). Peter Wagner is my close friend, and I told him jokingly that this was not the best title for the book. He should have called it, “How a Pastor Can Get People to Be His Intercessors to Protect Him from the Evil One and Make His Ministry More Effective.” This book provides an outstanding study during the Esther Fast, especially for spiritual leaders and pastors.

B
Y
R
EX
R
USSELL
, M.D.
*

I
F
I
PUT UP THE SWING SET AND DISCOVER THAT TOO MANY PIECES ARE
left over, and that it’s not balanced right, I might want to look at the directions!

My investigation into fasting as a means of healing of diseases began in just that way. When I observed the lives of several people who are near and dear to me, it was clear that they were out of balance.

Sue, a bright, cute nine-year-old, had severe dyslexia. Her loving and interested family had the means to take her to the best medical facilities in the country for evaluation. She was being tutored by a teacher who was an expert in learning problems.

At one point, Sue became ill with the flu and couldn’t eat for several days. When the teacher returned, he found to his surprise that Sue could
read! He remarked to the parents, “I don’t know what you are doing but please don’t quit. She is reading above her expected reading level.”