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Benefits of Fasting in Isaiah 58

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Our Prayers for Wisdom in Developing a House of Prayer

Isaiah 58:6-14 gives us eighteen benefits of fasting. Let’s look at these benefits.

Benefits of Fasting in Isaiah 58:6-14

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear…”

  • Your light will break forth like the dawn (verse 8).
  • Your healing will quickly appear (verse 8).
  • Your righteousness will go before you (verse 8).
  • The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard (verse 8).
  • You will call and the Lord will answer (verse 9).
  • You will cry for help, and he will say, “Here am I” (verse 9).
  • Your light will arise in the darkness (verse 10).
  • Your night will become like the noonday (verse 10).
  • The Lord will guide you always (verse 11).
  • The Lord will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land (verse 11).
  • The Lord will strengthen your frame (verse 11).
  • You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail (verse 11).
  • Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations (verse 12).
  • You will be called repairer of broken walls (verse 12).
  • You will be a restorer of streets with dwellings (verse 12).
  • You will find your joy in the Lord (verse 14).
  • You will rise on the heights of the land (verse 14).
  • You will feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob (verse 14).

There are some spiritually difficult circumstances where we will only see the breakthrough when prayer is combined with fasting. You may be praying for a lost son or daughter or someone trapped in drugs and alcohol. You may be praying for a breakthrough in a needy nation.

Prayer with fasting multiplies your effectiveness.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

The Benefits of Praying God’s Word

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10399447_964513906945050_1606014413027492981_n-2Everyone who is interested in taking part in a House of Prayer should begin to pray the Word of God in his/her own personal times with God. Remember that a House of Prayer often involves praying the Word along with worship. Bible prayers are easy to find. There are many types of prayers in the Bible. For example, there are the Psalms, the prayers of Wisdom such as the book of Proverbs, the Song of Songs, the prayers of the Prophets, the prayers of Jesus, the apostolic prayers, and the hymns of Revelation.

Praying the Bible can and will have a dramatic effect in our prayer lives and prayer meetings. It is definitely a key to the success of day and night prayer and worship. It’s advantageous in our walk with God. There are so many reasons why it takes us to such a higher level in our relationship with Him. God is able to bring our prayer lives into an entirely new focus.

The following are the benefits of praying the Bible:

  • You receive an authority from God that you don’t have in yourself – You have more boldness in your prayers because you know that you are praying God’s Word.
  • Your faith increases – Faith comes by the Word of God. Your faith rises to a new place in authoritative strength where you haven’t been before. Through faith in God’s Word, you are able to picture the answer to your prayers. You believe God will answer. See Romans 10:17.
  • You are led to places in God that you would have never discovered before – You begin to see things in an entirely new dimension. You are brought outside your realm of understanding and into the very thoughts of God. See Isaiah 55:9.
  • You learn the language of repentance – We find words in Scripture that help to express repentance without condemnation such as Psalm 51.
  • You align yourself spiritually with God – You see things from a Biblical standpoint and not the vantage point of the world. The “spirit” man within you is better able to receive from God as you pray His Word back to Him. You understand Him better as you pray His Word. You learn about His character, power, and ability to do everything.
  • You become more passionate – The Holy Spirit reveals the Son of God through the Words of the Bible in a way that creates more passion for Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s activity in your heart through the Word produces passionate faith that releases the power of God.
  • You pray the will of God – When you pray God’s will, then you see answers to your prayers. You know that He hears you and that you have what you asked of Him. See 1 John 5:14-15.
  • You become more obedient – You become fixed on God with a greater determination to please Jesus in all that you do and say. You learn about His priorities and are better able to adapt your life to what He wants. You submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit in every area of your life.
  • You become a better student of the Bible – I find that praying Scripture helps me to grow in my Biblical knowledge, and I actually become a better student of the Bible.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

House of Prayer Benefits for the Church

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11701226_990322364364204_1884118167031320414_nLook at more ways that Houses of Prayer will benefit the Church. Take time to think about these benefits. Evaluate your own church as well as the corporate Church in your city in light of these benefits. Where does your church need to improve? Begin to pray these qualities into the Church in your city or nation.

  • Houses of Prayer will help the Church to passionately pursue God – David is our Biblical example of a man after God’s own heart. He burned with God’s desires. He was moved with what moved the heart of God. He was a man of prayer and worship who passionately pursued God. Just as David hungered after God, the Church will grow in its passionate pursuit of Him as members of the body of Christ get involved in Houses of Prayer. There will be a rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David (Matthew 29:18-20; Acts 1:8; 15:15-17; Ephesians 4:11-16; Revelation 19:7-10).
  • Houses of Prayer will help the Church to pray God’s purposes and plans over a city – In the prayer room God will show His Church how He feels about a city. It is there in His presence where He will reveal His plans, purposes, and heart for the city.“David studied the emotions of God’s heart. He was a man going after what was burning in God’s heart. He wanted to know what God was feeling and what He was thinking. He wanted to know, not just what God did, but why He did it. He wanted to be intimately acquainted with the passion and affection of God.” Mike Bickle
  • Houses of Prayer will help change and mature the Church in the city – When you and I know the emotions and feelings in God’s heart through prayer and intimacy, we can better obey Him. We can walk obediently in His Word and live radically for Him because His love sustains us. We then are able to obey God long-term because we are linked to His power rather than our own weakness.“When you know what God’s heart looks like, then you know what you look like to God. This is what motivates us to change our lifestyles. You’ll never get anybody to change their actions long term until they change the way they view themselves before God.” Mike Bickle
  • Houses of Prayer will help the Church to know the love of God and who she really is in Christ – We know in a deeper dimension His great love for us even when we make mistakes. Most of us have little grasp of the overwhelming love of God for us personally and the deep pleasure He has in our fellowship with Him. When we spend time in an atmosphere of prayer and worship, we begin to feel loved by God and we begin to feel that we are lovers of God. We begin to feel that God enjoys us even when we make mistakes. We begin to move into a higher realm of God’s love.
  • Houses of Prayer will help bring the Church into lavish devotion and concentration on God – A place of continual worship and prayer will cause members of the Church to live undistracted lives, with a greater ability to live focused on God and hearing his heartbeat. It is the Church, as she is increasingly in love with God and His cause, who will make the difference in the world. We are the ones who will see and be part of this wonderful end-time harvest.
  • Houses of Prayer will bring in the Kingdom of God and touch the lost in a city – Reaching a city for God is going to take dedicated prayer warriors in order to dismantle the ruling powers of darkness in a city. Houses of Prayer will help the Church focus on bringing in the harvest. So many of the lost people in a city are searching for love to fill the empty void in their soul. Houses of Prayer will help the Church focus on bringing in the harvest with God’s love.
  • Houses of Prayer will help to unite the Church, breaking down the barriers that divide – People of various denominations and backgrounds, who are praying and worshipping together, bring a unity in the Spirit that breaks down the age-old barriers that have divided us for so long. It is the united Church that will be empowered to reach a dying world. The world will know we are Christians because of our unity and love.
  • Houses of Prayer will help the Church stand as watchmen for the Church worldwide – Churches will take responsibility to stand in prayer for cities and nations. They will pray not only for their own needs, but also for the needs of their community. God will expand His Church to become a House of Prayer with perpetual prayer and perpetual encounters with God
    (2 Chronicles 7:14-15; Luke 18:1-8; Acts 2; 4:4, 6; 9:31; 12:24; 19:20; John 5:39; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation 1-3, 4-5).

Understanding these benefits should give us a desire to see the Church throughout the world arise. It’s time for the Bride of Christ to arise in beauty, knowing who she is and why she is here. Let’s realize that the House of Prayer is our eternal identity (Isaiah 56:7). We are God’s House. We are His family. Our identity is being in His house with His family. What a joyful realization and comforting truth this is to so many who feel completely alone and homeless deep in their heart. And being in God’s family, He graciously rises to show us compassion and blesses us through our prayers (Isaiah 30:18-19).

It’s so exciting to realize that we are in an intimate partnership with Jesus’ heavenly intercession when we pray. We grow in intimacy-based intercession in the House of Prayer. We are created to interact deeply with God’s heart.

When we do, God’s resources are released into the earthly realm—His favor, wisdom, finances, and righteousness as we pray. His resources are not released until we pray and move His heart (James 4:2). Just to realize that Jesus will return to earth in answer to the global prayer movement is amazing (Isaiah 42:10-13).

Do you realize that, like Daniel, you can actually move angels and demons by your prayers to God? (Daniel 10:12).

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Eighteen Benefits of Fasting in Isaiah 58:6-14

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11150790_961648353898272_2235412994775239405_n“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear…”

  • Your light will break forth like the dawn (verse 8).
  • Your healing will quickly appear (verse 8).
  • Your righteousness will go before you (verse 8).
  • The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard (verse 8).
  • You will call and the Lord will answer (verse 9).
  • You will cry for help, and he will say, “Here am I” (verse 9).
  • Your light will arise in the darkness (verse 10).
  • Your night will become like the noonday (verse 10).
  • The Lord will guide you always (verse 11).
  • The Lord will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land (verse 11).
  • The Lord will strengthen your frame (verse 11).
  • You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail (verse 11).
  • Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations (verse 12).
  • You will be called repairer of broken walls (verse 12).
  • You will be a restorer of streets with dwellings (verse 12).
  • You will find your joy in the Lord (verse 14).
  • You will rise on the heights of the land (verse 14).
  • You will feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob (verse 14).

There are some spiritually difficult circumstances where we will only see the breakthrough when prayer is combined with fasting. You may be praying for a lost son or daughter or someone trapped in drugs and alcohol. You may be praying for a breakthrough in a needy nation. Prayer with fasting multiplies your effectiveness.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Benefits in Seeking God’s Face

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10399447_964513906945050_1606014413027492981_n-2There are several benefits in seeking God’s face and His presence in the prayer room:

  • We experience personal transformation – We become more and more fascinated with God rather than with the things of this world. We grow in intimacy with Jesus and develop a deep inner life with God.
  • We establish a lifestyle of encountering God in the place of prayer – Our heart connection with Jesus becomes stronger and stronger. We learn what it means to keep our lamp burning like the wise virgins at the midnight hour (Matthew 25:1-13).
  • We find corporate unity – When we are preoccupied with seeking God, our divisions disappear. Our unity empowers our prayers.
  • We find victory in spiritual warfare – The atmosphere is changed in a city through 24/7 prayer. The powers of darkness are forced to retreat, and they lose their hold because the presence of God dwells in the prayer room and over the city.
  • We are trained in the Word as we pray and sing it – Because there is such a focus on singing and praying the Bible, everyone begins to learn God’s truth in a deeper way.
  • We are prepared to reach the lost – There is an ability to receive the heart of God in the prayer room. His passion is for the lost, and he imparts that same passion and ability to reach out to the lost as we leave the prayer room.
  • We realize God’s personal love for us – In the prayer room we can receive the Father’s embrace. We are empowered by God’s love and receive His sufficiency for any battle. Our lives become empowered with God.
  • We become more alive and can work harder for God – When we abide in His love, we work harder than we do when we are just being workers (Romans 6:13). His love gives us strength to work with great zeal.
  • We experience confidence in God – We find that we are not condemned because of sin, but we are righteous in Christ. We realize our spiritual identity based on the finished work of Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). We realize that we are pleasing to God (John 15:9).

“My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, LORD, I will seek… I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (Psalm27:8, 13-14).

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOP-KC

The Power of Fasting and Prayer

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11692554_990318764364564_5003763167195494253_n“Faith needs a life of prayer in which to pray and keep strong. Prayer needs fasting for its full and perfect development. It is only in a life of moderation and temperance and self-denial that there will be the heat or the strength to pray much. We are creatures of the senses: fasting helps to express, to depend and to confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, to sacrifice ourselves, to attain what we seek for the Kingdom of God.”

There is definitely power in prayer. But there is an added blessing in seeking God when we combine prayer with fasting. God’s people in many nations are involved in prayer and fasting on a regular basis. People like to fast for various lengths of time and in all sorts of different ways. Individuals fast meals, sweets, TV, and anything else that is a personal form of self-denial and sacrifice for God’s Kingdom purposes. Forty-day fasts are even becoming more popular. God leads each one differently.

But there is one important key that adds to its blessing. When fasting it is good to slow down and spend more time in the prayer room, more time on our faces before God, and more time in silence and stillness. Prayer rooms are excellent places to gain the most out of seasons of fasting. An atmosphere of prayer will keep you still before the Lord and away from the distractions of the world. You may be thinking:

“I’m not so sure—Is there really any benefits to fasting? If I fast from food when I’m very hungry, I want to know that it really does accomplish something.”

Fasting is actually a form of voluntary weakness. When we fast we are submitting our strength into God’s hands. Fasting is choosing voluntary weakness (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). It may appear foolish in man’s eyes, but there is lasting strength and empowerment from God through fasting. Let me assure you, fasting has powerful, long-term results in your life and in the life of others. It’s an empowering grace with God’s divine ability and perfect sufficiency (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). It is a way of getting hold of God’s infinite resources.

When we fast, our hearts are enlarged to receive more from God at a deeper level. We become weak but God becomes strong, and we experience more of His power. We can fast in many ways—energy, money, words, giving, serving, praying, time, and so on. We submit our strength into God’s hands and trust him to answer in His way, in His time, and with His power.

When we look at the life of Jesus, we see that He overcame the temptation of the devil in the wilderness while fasting and praying
(Luke 4:1-14).

He overcame the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It was an opportunity to manifest the strength of His inner man. And after that forty-day fast, he came forth in the power of the Holy Spirit for ministry. He was able to perform great signs and wonders from that point on (Luke 4:14). You can imagine the intensity of the battle in that wilderness position, but Jesus knew that the power of fasting and prayer was necessary to overcome the devil. He embraced this period of voluntary weakness and everything that went with it—loneliness, lack of strength and activity, lack of convenience, and so much more. Jesus embraced a life of weakness while on earth (Isaiah 49:3-4).

When we fast and pray we are developing a deep history with God just as Jesus did. We are learning to fix our gaze on Jesus and are discovering how to be victorious in spiritual warfare. We are learning to turn these wilderness experiences into an oasis with God where we grow strong in the Spirit. There are many benefits and long-term results from practicing this great spiritual discipline. Have you ever wondered which way to go when you needed spiritual discernment? Have you ever found it hard to hear God’s voice?

Fasting will sharpen your ability to discern good from evil and will help you to see God’s perspective (Hebrews 5:14). It will give you an increased ability to hear God’s voice clearly and receive divine revelation (Acts 13:2). It will increase your perception of the unseen world because fasting removes distractions. We see with spiritual eyes and are able to focus more on the eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).

I know in my life that there are times when the future looks difficult, and I need more faith and more spiritual power. Fasting increases faith and helps us to militantly hold on to that which looks absolutely impossible (Hebrews 11:1). I have experienced greater spiritual power after times of fasting.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC