Breaking the bonds of wickedness over America’s declining culture!
1. Prayer Path
Revelations (A Journey to the Word)
Scripture:
By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path. — Psalm 119:105 (MSG)
I proclaimed a fast there beside the Ahava Canal, a fast to humble ourselves before our God and pray for wise guidance for our journey—all our people and possessions. I was embarrassed to ask the king for a cavalry bodyguard to protect us from bandits on the road. We had just told the king, “Our God lovingly looks after all those who seek him, but turns away in disgust from those who leave him.” So we fasted and prayed about these concerns. And he listened. — Ezra 8:21-23 (MSG)
“Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins… Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” — Isaiah 58:1, 6-12 (NKJV)
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. — Psalm 37:4-5 (NKJV)
One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. — Acts 13:2-3 (NLT)
2. Prayer Path
Reflections (A Journey to the Past)
Scripture:
Now you’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way. — Psalm 16:11 (MSG)
Personal Life-Lessons: Cutting-Edge Prayer
Adventures in “Fasting Down Strongholds” to “Loose the Bonds of Wickedness!”
3. Prayer Path
Realities (A Journey to Understanding)
Scripture:
Take me by the hand; Lead me down the path of truth. You are my Savior, aren’t you? — Psalm 25:5 (MSG)
Four Biblical Distinctives of Fasting
A. Distinctive One: ________________
Fasting is a personal, voluntary ______________ of the __________ before God that increases spiritual ________________.
Scripture:
When I wept and humbled myself with fasting, I was jeered at and humiliated. — Psalm 69:10 (AMPC)
The New English Bible reads….“I have broken my spirit with fasting…”
B. Distinctive Two: ______________
Fasting is a commitment to self-control that ____________ a believer to ______ to __________.
Scripture:
But as for me, when [my enemies] were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting, and I prayed with head bowed on my breast. — Psalm 35:13 (AMPC)
The New English Bible reads… “I mortified myself with fasting…” (i.e., I put myself to death through fasting)
C. Distinctive Three: ______________
Fasting is a ___________ activity that increases spiritual receptivity by creating a ___________ for the Holy Spirit to __________.
Scripture:
One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” — Acts 13:2a (NLT)
D. Distinctive Four: ____________
Fasting is a specialized service __________ that increases spiritual _____________ for the totally ______________ believer.
Scripture:
Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel… of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. — Luke 2:36-37 (NKJV)
Note: The Bible lists _____ characters (names) but only one Anna!
