Open Heavens 13 November 2017: Monday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye –Fasting prepares the ground

FASTING PREPARES THE GROUND– Monday November 13th 2017

Memorise: And when they had fasted and
prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. Acts 13:3

Read: Acts 13:1-3 (KJV)

13:1 Now there were in the church that was at
Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called
Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod
the tetrarch, and Saul.

13:2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy
Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called
them.

.

13:3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands
on them, they sent them away.

Bible in one year: Job 30:32, Amos
3:3-4:3, Hymn: Sing hymn 14

MESSAGE:

Just before He began His earthly ministry, our Lord
Jesus Christ embarked on a 40-day fast. According to Matthew 4:1-2, He was led by the Holy Spirit into this
exercise. Do you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you? Has He ever led you to do
some fasting before? If He has, did you simply obey Him, or did you make
excuses as to why you couldn’t fast? From the experience of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we can see that fasting is necessary to equip us for the work of the
ministry. When God commits a specific assignment into your hands, do you make
out time to seek His face through fasting and prayer, or do you just jump into
the assignment without necessarily seeking His direction, assistance, wisdom,
protection and grace to succeed on the assignment? If you seek Him for
assistance, it shows you realise your limitations and recognise that it is only
through His power you can succeed in the assignment. In any case, Jesus clearly
told us that we cannot do anything the way it should be done without Him (John 15:5). If we fail to seek His face, it
shows we have confidence in ourselves, believing that we do not need Him to
help us on the job. Beloved, you cannot do any divine assignment the way you
are expected to do it without the backing of the One who sent you. From today,
never embark on any assignment, be it spiritual or secular, without first
seeking God’s face in fasting and prayer!

In addition, when people are being prepared for the
work of ministry, prayer and fasting are needed to equip spiritually. This was
practiced in the early Church. Acts 13:3
says,

“And when they had fasted and prayed, and
laid their hands on them, they sent them away.”

When some prophets and teachers gathered themselves
together to minister to God, the Holy Spirit selected Paul and Barnabas from
their midst, to take the gospel to other nations. What did they do after this?
They took time to pray and fast with them before releasing them to go and do
the work.  Even today, fasting is still
needed to equip the various levels of the Church workforce. From the level of
foundational classes for young coverts and above, we should encourage praying
and fasting as a means of equipping the saints for the assignment ahead of
them.

.

READ  Open Heavens 7 October 2017: Saturday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Be Faithful

Action Point

Any good thing that you are to embark on
must first be subjected to prayer and fasting.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A.
Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of
the largest evangelical Church in the world and also the President of Christ
the Redeemer’s Ministries.
iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens
devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating
systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.

hymn 14

TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE

Verse 1:

Take my
life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;

Let them
flow in endless praise.

Verse 2:

Take my
hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for thee.

Verse 3:

Take my
voice and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Verse 4:

Take my
silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Verse 5:

Take my
will and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Verse 6:

Take my
love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.