Month: January 2016

Fasting & Prayer

Readings / January 27, 2016

By Maria A. Lee

 

Of all the Christian disciplines, I believe fasting is the most powerful spiritual disciplines. The Holy Spirit can transform our life through fasting and prayer.

Jesus is our model for living a life of love, obedience and devotion to our Heavenly Father. John 14:21  “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Matthew 17:20-21 “So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief;[a] for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”[

Purpose of fasting

 

1.In obedience to Jesus’ teaching. (Matt. 6:16-18)
2. To demonstrate our dependence upon God. (James 4:10, 1Cor 9:24-27)
3. Repentance from sin (and to intercede for others who need to repent). (Jonah 3:5-10, Daniel 9, Nehemiah 1)
4. To receive God’s wisdom and direction. (Acts 13:1-3, 14:21-23)
5. To receive a breakthrough. (2Chronicles 20).

2 Chronicles 7:14

14 If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

In seeking God’s face and not His hand, with a broken, repentant, and contrite spirit, God will heal and change our lives, our churches, our communities, our nations. Fasting and prayer can bring about a revival that can change our world

The following reference is taken from Mahesh Chavda, “The Hidden Power of Prayer & Fasting”. God’s word gives us specific instruction why to fast and the benefits are listed in Isaiah 58:6-12.

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of the 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 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 rise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

This passage covers 12 specific benefits of “the fast that God has chosen”.

  • Revelation 2) Healing and wholeness 3) Righteousness 4)The presence of the shekinah glory of God 5) Answered prayers 6) Continual guidance 7) Contentment 8) Refreshing 9/)Strength 10) Work that endures (like an ever-flowing spring) 11) Raising up of future generations 12) Restoration.”

Fasting opens the way for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

There are different types of fasts and the most practiced are:

* A Regular Fast – Is refraining from eating all food. Most people still drink water or juice during a regular fast.

* A Partial Fast refers to omitting a specific meal from your diet or refraining from certain types of foods. Daniel 10:2-3 says, “At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.” In Daniel 1:12, they restricted their diet to vegetables and water: “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.”

During a time of fasting and prayer, the body’s appetite for food is suppressed so that our sensitivity to God and the leading of the Holy Spirit is heightened to receive clarity of direction, wisdom and instruction from God.

 

A fast should end with worship, praise and thanksgiving to God for the breakthrough expected to manifest.

 

Below is an outline by Bill Bright on how to end a fast and resume eating regularly.

By Bill Bright

When your designated time for fasting is finished, you will begin to eat again. But how.

Begin eating gradually. Do not eat solid foods immediately after your fast. Suddenly reintroducing solid food to your stomach and digestive tract will likely have negative, even dangerous, consequences. Try several smaller meals or snacks each day. If you end your fast gradually, the beneficial physical and spiritual effects will result in continued good health.

Here are some suggestions to help you end your fast properly:

  • Break an extended water fast with fruit such as watermelon.
  • While continuing to drink fruit or vegetable juices, add the following:
    First day:Add a raw salad.
    Second day: Add baked or boiled potato, no butter or seasoning.
    Third day: Add a steamed vegetable.
    Thereafter: Begin to reintroduce your normal diet.
  • Gradually return to regular eating with several small snacks during the first few days. Start with a little soup and fresh fruit such as watermelon and cantaloupe. Advance to a few tablespoons of solid foods such as raw fruits and vegetables or a raw salad and baked potato.

 

Join our Fasting Team, every Monday.  Click here to sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1D3FHbaW34nC1pp1Qse2KCRJWt2WWhXgZahtp5Oe3zEE/viewform

Miracles Still Exist

Readings / April 20, 2019

by Ross Abeles

 

When I hear the word miracle, it immediately makes me think of Jesus and biblical times. In the bible, we read about many miracles happening; Jesus healing the blind, feeding a huge group of people with just a few fish, manna falling from the sky, etc. There are many things throughout the bible that can be considered miracles. When we take a look at these examples, it is hard to imagine something even remotely like that happening today. There have been so many medical and scientific advances since then, so it is hard to imagine someone being healed any other way. Unfortunately the way the word miracle is used nowadays has changed drastically. When someone pulls through a tough stay in the hospital, people say, “What a miracle!” When a college student passes a test they weren’t sure they did well on they say, “It’s a miracle I passed that test”. I think that throughout the years the word has lost its true meaning. The definition of miracle is “A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency. At Martiele Swanko Ministries, the word miracle has been brought back to its true meaning. Martiele has shown proof that true miracles do still exist. Over the years she has helped to heal thousands of people.

 

When Martiele was 18 years of age, she attended a church that taught about praying for the sick and healing them through the Lord. She was told that God still heals the same way as he always has. Martiele was amazed and intrigued when she witnessed people being healed right in front of her very eyes. Martiele’s gift of healing was then activated. With this new divine gift, she began to seek out people, healing all kinds of people with many different ailments. Martiele would visit nursing homes and hospitals, healing the sick as she went along. Over the many years since, she has made quite the reputation for herself as a healer. She also teaches others to heal through the Lord. Teaching is another one of the divine gifts that Martiele has been blessed with.

 

While extremely skeptical at first, I can no longer deny the incredible power of the Lord and Martiele’s true calling as a teacher and a healer. I have spoken with many different people that have been healed by Martiele. I have talked with doctors, mothers, students, and even people who were raised Jewish. God does not discriminate and neither does Martiele. She has opened my eyes to a world that I thought had long since vanished; a world where people actually spoke with God and were able to channel his great power to carry out his plan on earth.

 

Martiele still runs her own ministry, which continues to grow each day. Through her ministry, she has been able to connect with people all over the globe who need her help.

 

Frank, now an active member of Martiele Swanko Ministries, and a Prayer Leader for the Prayerline is a wonderful example of Martiele’s gift of healing through the Lord. Frank is a surgeon who had developed a debilitating case of carpal tunnel syndrome. By the late 90’s it had progressed so bad, that he described the feeling as “intolerable”. He had surgery, went through physical therapy, but the symptoms would always return. As a surgeon, you and I can only imagine just how crippling that must have been for him and for his career. It wasn’t until he met Martiele, that he was to find the solution to his condition.

 

“I told her (Martiele) all about my condition and the limitations it had put on my daily life. She prayed over my hands. Afterward, she told me to go into the kitchen and open a jar (something that I had been unable to do for years). On my way into the kitchen, I had my doubts. I had always been skeptical of “healing” and of modern day “miracles”. The only miracles I have ever witnessed were performed on the operating table in a hospital. When I got into the kitchen I grabbed the jar and opened it. I was in amazement and in awe. I couldn’t understand it. I could barely believe it. I was given the strength I hadn’t had for years. I felt remarkably different.

 

Ever since that magical day, my carpal tunnel syndrome has never returned. I occasionally have pain in my left thumb, but nowhere near the extent of what I have felt in the past. Miracles do happen. Have faith and trust in the Lord. Thank you Martiele, and thank you Jesus.”

 

Sherry Seabolt, another active member of Martiele’s ministry as well as a constant participant of the Prayerline, had another triumphant tale to tell of the incredible power of prayer and healing through the Lord:

 

“I was in fact, healed by their prayers. I have always suffered from terrible migraines. Sometimes they were so bad that I would have to go to the emergency room. I asked them (Martiele and the members of the Prayerline) to pray for me, and the pain and the headaches have gradually subsided. I no longer have terrible migraines, and I believe that it is through the power of prayer and God that I have been healed.” 

 

I want to share with you one more testimony from a man named Bob Morgan. Bob met Martiele when he was at a ministry event in South Florida. Martiele was doing service at the event, and he says that he became very impressed to watch her work with such passion and incredible zeal. Shortly after, Bob experienced some medical problems with his stomach and abdomen. His doctor prescribed some antibiotics, but said the condition really just needed to run its course. At that time, he had started working on a project with Martiele. At the end of the day when they were about to say their goodbyes, Bob remembered that a friend had suggested that he should ask Martiele to pray for him. Here is Bob’s astonishing testimony:

 

“I stopped and said, “Martiele, I need to talk to you just a second. I have this thing going on and I don’t know exactly what it is. But I wondered…” Immediately she says, “Hang on for just a minute. Put your hand where it’s bothering you. Where the pain is.” As I put my hand down, she put her hand on mine. Then she placed her other hand on my back and started praying. There was such a power and anointing in what she was doing. I had heard powerful prayers before, and I’ve been in ministries that do incredible things. After it was done, Martiele took a few steps and got into her car. She said, “I have to go Rob, but I’ll talk to you later.” I waved at her, and while I was putting my helmet on before getting on my motorcycle, I pivoted and turned, taking my first step. I felt nothing, no change. As I lifted my other foot I felt a rush come over me and I was healed instantly. I turned around and looked where my feet were standing a few minutes ago. I knew that the infirmity was still there in that place. As I watched Martiele drive away, all I could do was to stand there in shock and amazement. I had been healed.”

 

As I said before, when I first met Martiele and was new to the ministry I was extremely skeptical. I truly thought that the idea of healing and “miracles” was absolutely absurd. I was raised in a Christian household and I was always a fairly active member of the congregation. Never once was I taught about healing. Sure the church would pray for people that were sick or struggling, but I was led to believe that such miracles I have come to learn about, were things long forgotten. Becoming a part of Martiele Swanko Ministries has been an extraordinarily enlightening experience. The power of the Lord goes so much further than we can ever begin to imagine. Miracles still exist, and I have no doubt in my mind about that anymore. I have been shown proof.

 

 

To receive prayer for your Health issues, submit a request for Prayer, by clicking here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AqvJM9ibGQMC9Ntm8snrdWTWovDf50c02_X9RDs4Jnk/viewform