actually tempted during the entire forty days and not just at the conclusion, as it is written,“ And being forty days tempted of the devil …”( Luke 4:2). Satan was there the entire forty days to mentally harass Christ. We are uncertain of the types of mental pressure placed on Christ during this forty days – or 960 hours – in the wilderness. I have fasted at times and experienced mental thoughts saying,“ You will get too weak to preach so you’ d better eat,” or,“ You have gone long enough, so go ahead and stop now,” or even,“ This actually does no good except making you feel miserable, so you need to eat.” Thus, I am certain during the forty days various discouraging words and thoughts were continually being shot like arrows into Christ’ s mind.
Recently, during an OCI fast which was called by Pastor Mark Casto, I began to observe something commonly occurring among some who were fasting. It seemed there was an increase in misunderstanding, lack of communication and even offense that would begin to arise among some of the strongest believers. From an outside view, some of these distractions seemed totally ridiculous and made no sense whatsoever. People would misread the comments and the actions of others. I addressed this issue during the fast.
I informed our prayer team that there were two things not commonly taught about that occur during a fast. First, we have the misconception that while we are fasting we are enjoying some type of invisible force field surrounding us that Satan is unable to pierce during the fast. This is totally untrue. In fact, you may encounter more spiritual powers of darkness during a fast, as they know that your consecration will break yokes, bring deliverance and draw you closer to the presence of God. Thus, these attacks of misunderstanding and lack of communication are part of the enemy’ s plan to discourage individuals from following through with their commitment to fervently seek God. Fasting is a discipline that brings carnal desires under subjection to the Spirit of the Lord.
The second aspect of fasting that is commonly understated is that during a fast the areas where you privately struggle can begin to surface. I have watched fasting men and women suddenly lose their temper, become confrontational and verbally offend others. This used to puzzle me until I realized that God is bringing these hidden weaknesses to the surface so the individual can see“ the real junk” hindering them and deal with these issues before they become a major stronghold in their life! In Hebrew, the word fast is tsuwm( pronounced tsoom) and means,“ to cover the mouth.” While there are
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