WHY WOULD I FAST?
by Bob Kuebler on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 11:57am
Today is Thursday June 23, 2011 and I have started a 3 day fast at 9am. My fast will end sometime on Sunday afternoon. It is possible that you may read this and think that I am a religious fanatic. That's okay with me. If you would just bear with me for a few moments, I will do my best to explain why I fast. Thank you in advance for your time.
My hunger and thirst for God causes me to ignore the hunger and thirst in my body. I'm basically saying that I don't need anything but God for my sustenance. Yes, you eventually do need to eat. Our bodies are not meant to do without fuel for extended periods of time. But to take time out, and focus on God is spiritually nourishing. I want the full measure of God within my spirit. For everything there is a season;
A time for loss and a time for gain
A time to eat and a time to refrain.
A time for pleasure and a time to abstain.
A time for drought and a time for spiritual rain.
I find that fasting brings me into a closer relationship with a Creator who is spiritual in nature. We are physical creatures with a spiritual foundation. Fasting is like spiritual weightlifting, you will grow into a stronger relationship with God. Our physical nature may fail at any moment. We will die and return to dust. Our spiritual nature lives on forever. God has given us a garden in which to sow our eternal destiny. He wants us to grow closer to Him.
Giving glory to God should always be the primary reason I do anything. I do have specific needs in my life and even though God knows what they are, He desires that I communicate those needs through prayer and fasting. It's similar to a professional athletic event; the players know the game but they look to the coach for instruction. I can read a Bible and understand what the words mean but through prayer I receive a much greater revelation. He teaches me and guides me in how I should live my life.
I am fasting for 3 specific reasons:
- For a breakthrough regarding the spiritual imbalance in Buffalo, New York. Buffalo has been one of the poorest cities in America for way too long and the cause is spiritual in nature. Picture a tightrope walker over Niagara Falls, his balancing pole is weighted to one side by negative forces. He is leaning perilously to one side. Buffalo is negatively weighted by the forces of poverty, gang violence, failing schools, absentee parents and divided churches. God I pray for Your just scales to weigh the solutions and create in us a new spirit.
- For spiritual provisions that will create life giving employment to a dead city. Buffalo needs business creation that carries a spiritual impact. We were made to be Marketplace Kings and it is time we honored the role that God has given us. We were born with gifts and abilities that we were designed to use and demonstrate God's glory. It's time to stretch out those gifts and abilities and part the Red Sea of poverty and oppression in Buffalo. God I pray for You to open up the windows of heaven and pour out Your blessings over Buffalo and cause them to flow to the ends of the earth. Make Buffalo into a City of Givers who receive Your blessings and then give those blessings out all over the world.
- For communion and unity amongst the churches of Buffalo. For too long the people who are supposed to be shepherds have been divided. True revival is a time when there is One People united in One Spirit. It is starting to happen in Buffalo but the remainder of the spiritual walls needs to come tumbling down. God I ask for your angels to blow the trumpets to sound the marching call that will weaken and crumble all strongholds that are barriers to unity.
JESUS LOVES YOU AND SO DO I.
"Windows of Heaven"
Bob Kuebler
716-830-8240
