{"id":1221,"date":"2023-06-07T07:00:21","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbaralardinais:8888\/prayer-tree5\/"},"modified":"2023-05-31T11:54:41","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T15:54:41","slug":"prayer-tree5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hannahscupboard.com\/prayer-tree5\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer With Fasting: Clearing The Fog"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>You are in London on one of their famous fog days. Excited about a full day of sight-seeing, you bounce out the front door of the hotel with directions to your first attraction in hand from the concierge. Pea soup. You tentatively proceed left as your directions indicate. The place where you are supposed to catch your bus is only three blocks from the hotel. How hard can it be? You should be able to make it that far, shouldn’t you?<\/p>\n

Watch for a used book shop right across from the bus stop. How are you supposed to see a book store sign when you can’t see your hand at your side? Oh, here’s a bus stop but is this the right one? He said be careful that you don’t take the wrong bus; there are two stops close together and the wrong one lands you on the opposite side of the city. In this fog how would you find your way back? What you really need, you keep thinking, is for this fog to clear!<\/p>\n

In this introduction to fasting, I’m going to use the idea of fog to help you understand some simple things. Fasting is a great big topic but we are only going to explore a few of the basics at this point. Fasting is withholding food on purpose for a period of time. Many people fast for dietary or other reasons but we are just going to discuss fasting for spiritual reasons. If you have never fasted, now is a good time to add this prayer type to your tool box.<\/p>\n

Why in the world does God call us to fasting? The Lord assumes we will fast on a regular basis. In Matthew 6:16, Jesus says; “And WHENEVER you fast\u2026” He does not say “if you fast” but “whenever.” He takes for granted that everyone who has a relationship with the Father is going to fast at times. In the paragraph above I said that fasting is withholding food “on purpose” for a period of time. “Purpose” can be compared to the sight-seeing destination in our London story above. We want to get somewhere; we are headed to a particular place. We are choosing to withhold food for a reason, and we are doing it intentionally.<\/p>\n

We have our directions in hand which is God’s Word. We know the directions are correct because they were given to us by one who really knows his stuff. In London that may be the concierge of our hotel but in our life that is God Almighty. But now we have this fog to contend with. Part of the reason God calls us to fasting is to clear the fog. There is more to it than that but for today that is the reason we will explore.<\/p>\n

A period of fasting can clear the spiritual atmosphere around us and help us see many things more clearly.<\/p>\n