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Welcome to the Special Fasting Edition of the Prayer Motivator Devotional Broadcast #118
This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International. It is good to be with you today.
We praise the Lord for all of you who have fasted and who are fasting in various ways throughout this time. Please be reminded of the 24 hour fast today, Wednesday, September 12th. As you fast, please continue to pray for the following among other things:
1. For God to heal Christian families
2. For God to revive the church
3. For God to heal the nation
4. For 3 million or more people to come to Christ
5. And if the Lord is going to tarry His coming, for God to give us the godly leadership that this nation needs going forward.
Our Scripture reading for today is Jonah 3 from the King James Version which reads:
1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Allow me to share with you some important insights regarding this passage from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
In verse two, we see that Jonah shall be trusted, in token of God’s favour to him. God might justly have said concerning Jonah, as we should concerning one that had cheated us and dealt treacherously with us, that though we would not proceed to the rigour of the law against him, nor ruin him, yet we would never again repose a confidence in him; justly might the Spirit of prophecy, which Jonah had resisted and rebelled against, depart from him, with a resolution never to return to him any more. One would have expected that though his life was spared, yet he would be laid under a disability and incapacity ever to serve the government again in the character of a prophet. But, behold! the word of the Lord comes to him again, to show that when God forgives he forgets, and whom he forgives he gives a new heart and a new spirit to; he receives those into his family again, and restores them to their former estate, that had been prodigal children and disobedient servants.
We will discuss this passage further in the next broadcast.
Our fasting quote of encouragement today is from Thomas a` Kempis. He said: “Jesus has many lovers of His kingdom of heaven, but he has few bearers of His Cross. Many desire His consolation, but few desire His tribulation. He finds many comrades in eating and drinking, but He finds few hands who will be with Him in His abstinence and fasting…But those who love Jesus purely for Himself, and not for their own profit or convenience, bless Him as heartily in temptation and tribulation and in all other adversities as they do in time of consolation. And if He never sent them consolation, they would still bless and praise Him.”
Our fasting devotional today is titled “FIVE STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL DANIEL FAST” (PART 6) from Susan Gregory, author of the bestselling book “The Daniel Fast”.
Today, we will begin looking at each of these five steps in greater detail:
Step One is PRAY.
You are entering this experience to draw closer to the Lord and to hear His direction for your life or the lives of others. Even now, begin praying to your Father and ask Him to bless you. Open your heart to Him so that He will show you truths that He wants you to know. Dedicate yourself and the fast to Him. And listen for His words as you purpose to position yourself humbly before your Lord. This is the most important step as you prepare for your fast.
Several years ago, I heard a Bible teacher talk about making a quality decision to study God’s Word every day. The term quality decision captured my attention. Just what is a quality decision? I wondered. What I have learned since then has helped me immeasurably, and I believe these lessons over the next several broadcasts can make a big difference for you as continue on the Daniel Fast.
Now, let’s take this time to break up the fallow ground in our lives. Hosea 10:12 states, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”
Today we are going to deal with the 114th sin of Not Being Compassionate Toward the Poor.
Psalm 10:8-9 reads, “He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.” The Bible is filled with God showing compassion to the poor and His desire for us as Christians to do the same. In many cases, however, the poor are overlooked by Christians who cannot see beyond themselves and the things that they care about. God wants us to be thankful for His blessings upon us, but at the same time be humble and compassionate to those who are not as fortunate as we are. Do you overlook the poor, take advantage of them, or treat them as second class people? Are you opposed to helping those whom God us commanded us to help? God wants us to be concerned about the poor, to help the poor when and where we can and to protect them from those who seek to take advantage of them.
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer right now and confess our sins before God.
GENERAL PRAYER
Dear friend, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, please allow me to show you how you can get to know him today.
All you have to do is believe “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” and you will be saved. And, like millions of others, you can come to know the risen Lord Jesus Christ for yourself.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me the following simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! I want to congratulate you on doing the most important thing in life and that is receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”.
Until next time, continue to fast and pray for the salvation of the nation and the world. God Bless You!
