2024 Daniel Fast - Flipbook - Page 7
Why Do We Fast?
John 4:23-24 (NKJV) states, “But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Jesus offers the Samaritan woman at the well, living water, and everlasting life. She
confesses her sin, acknowledges Jesus is a prophet, and accepts His invitation (salvation).
She says, “Mount Gerizim was where our fathers worshiped, but Jews say Jerusalem is the
place to worship. Jesus imparts the hour is coming when the place to worship will not
matter, as true worshipers will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
B. What is Healing?
GOD declares in Jeremiah 17:14, “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be
saved, for you are the one I praise.”
And healing is further described by GOD in Jeremiah 30:17, ‘“But I will restore you to health
and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord.” In addition, Psalm 34:18 proclaims, “The LORD is
close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
The Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling states, “Healing is the process of being
restored to bodily wholeness, emotional well-being, mental functioning, and spiritual
aliveness. Healing also refers to the process of reconciling broken human relationships and
to the development of a just social and political order among races and nations” (Hunter,
1990, p. 497).
C. What is Obedience?
Scripturally, the Bible shares with us what obedience is not when Jesus shares a story with
the people where He states, “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the
older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but
later, he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and
he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. “Which of the two obeyed his father?” (Matthew
21:28-31a, NLT).
Of course, the son who did go was obedient to the father. The Dictionary of Pastoral Care
and Counseling defines obedience by stating that it “signifies oneness with Christ in obeying
the Father’s will as a selfless expression of faith. It embodies Christ’s response to the
‘Father, from his baptism, in his life of teaching, preaching, and healing, and in his death on
the cross. In this sense, obedience must be freely given on the individual’s part in seeking a
closer identification with the life of Christ’” (Hunter, 1990, p. 796).
D. What is Love?
1 John 4:19, 21 provides us with the essence of love, unconditional love, where we love Him
because He first loved us… 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God
must love his brother also,” (NKJV). The Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling defines,
“Christian Love is possible only when, through grace, human beings become channels for
divine love. The “love of God” is
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One Church Advancing the Kingdom of God
