WILL YOU FAST & PRAY FOR YOUR SPOUSE?
"Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself ? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?†Isaiah 58:5-6
Do you feel you are at a dead end or at a standstill with all your marriage problems? Is your spouse speaking or threatening separation or divorce? What could you do right now to change your circumstances? Is your spouse involved with another person? What could you do to break up this relationship? Are you not hearing or seeing your spouse for weeks or months at a time? What can you do to open up positive communication or change your spouse's hardened heart? You may be already divorced and your spouse has just married the other person in their life. They legalized their adultery. Cry out to the Lord and ask Him, “What do you want me to do now?†Is your spouse at home, but they do not want anything to do with church or God? In fact, they do not want you talking about your Lord at all! What can you do for them to receive Jesus Christ as Savior? Are you facing financial problems? Do you have a child that is being rebellious?
The answer to every one of these questions listed above is to use the spiritual weapon that God has given us by “fasting†for your spouse. The reason you will want to fast is to break the chains of wickedness, to undo or loose the chains of bondages of sin, for your spouse or other loved ones to be set free. Your husband or wife may be tied up or is a captive to sin, such as adultery, anger, abuse, alcohol, drugs, pornography or pride which are just a few examples. There is power in fasting and remarkable results can be accomplished in the lives of others. There are many powerful men and women who fasted in the Bible seeking the Lord for many different reasons. Let me share one of my favorite scriptures in 2 Chronicles 20. Jehoshaphat asked the Lord what to do regarding his problem and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from God! This week read 2 Chronicles 20:1-20, to see how God answered his prayer.
After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar†(that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. 2 Chronicles 20:1-4
Fasting is a very important spiritual weapon if you want a spiritual breakthrough in your marriage, as you pray for your spouse’s and loved ones’ salvations. I pray you will consider starting a fast for your spouse to be set free from the slavery of sin that they are living in. Fasting is used for many different spiritual reasons, but let me share one story about our Lord and fasting:
And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.†Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.†And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?†So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; 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.†Matthew 17:14-21 (NKJV)
That is quite a statement that Jesus said to His disciples. There are things in life that will not happen except by prayer and fasting. Jesus was telling His disciples that you need to be prepared in prayer and fasting before you minister to the many people seeking healings and miracles. I believe if you have a loved one who is sick, that maybe two or three family members should consider some type of fast for the other person to be healed by our Jehovah-Rophe.
The first purpose to fast is to draw you closer to your Lord God, personally. You need to ask your Lord to cleanse your own heart from any and all impurities, so that you will be acceptable to God. You can read Psalm 51 as a prayer for yourself and for your spouse. Are you only hearing silence from God right now? Seek your Lord through fasting. God does speak to His children. As you fast, you will hear the Holy Spirit more clearly.
I know from personal experience that your life will be changed when you seek the Lord, as you pray and fast a meal or whatever period of time the Lord may suggest to you personally. I have fasted a full day, sometimes one meal a day or one meal a week. There are many different kinds of fasts such as a Daniel Fast. You need to ask the Lord what kind of fast you are to do. If you have never fasted before, may I suggest you start slowly, a meal a week or one meal a day working yourself into longer fasts. I have done fasts for a certain period of time and I have done meal fasts for an unspecified period until there is a definite spiritual breakthrough for my marriage or for my children or if I need a specific answer due to a specific problem. You can become an overcomer and live a victorious Christian life.
If you cannot fast food due to your health condition, you can fast something else. In fact, pray and ask the Lord. I have sometimes fasted something special that I really liked for a period of time such as TV, salty snacks, or you can fast soft drinks, tea or coffee. When you are fasting, you are dying to your flesh, choosing to pray more and pray different prayers. Here is one example:
“Lord I want _______ (name) to be set free from the bondages of sin. Lord, I am praying for my spouse's salvation and for our marriage to be resurrected, healed and rebuilt by Your mighty power. Lord, I am also praying for _______’s salvation as You died on the cross for their sins and You can touch and change their hardened heart, also. Lord, I know that nothing is too hard for You. I have faith and am trusting You to open _______ (name(s) eyes and ears to see and hear Your truths to set them free in the Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.â€
At our Rejoice Pompano Bible study, I taught about God’s amazing love and about the importance of prayer. We were blessed to have Luz and Fabian’s daughter, Ericka, share her story about praying for her father. I believe that we need to pray for our teenagers and young adults to become mighty men and women of God. I pray that you will listen to Ericka’s personal testimony, you will be encouraged and blessed! Click here to listen.
Have a blessed day,
Charlyne Steinkamp
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
"Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself ? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?†Isaiah 58:5-6
Do you feel you are at a dead end or at a standstill with all your marriage problems? Is your spouse speaking or threatening separation or divorce? What could you do right now to change your circumstances? Is your spouse involved with another person? What could you do to break up this relationship? Are you not hearing or seeing your spouse for weeks or months at a time? What can you do to open up positive communication or change your spouse's hardened heart? You may be already divorced and your spouse has just married the other person in their life. They legalized their adultery. Cry out to the Lord and ask Him, “What do you want me to do now?†Is your spouse at home, but they do not want anything to do with church or God? In fact, they do not want you talking about your Lord at all! What can you do for them to receive Jesus Christ as Savior? Are you facing financial problems? Do you have a child that is being rebellious?
The answer to every one of these questions listed above is to use the spiritual weapon that God has given us by “fasting†for your spouse. The reason you will want to fast is to break the chains of wickedness, to undo or loose the chains of bondages of sin, for your spouse or other loved ones to be set free. Your husband or wife may be tied up or is a captive to sin, such as adultery, anger, abuse, alcohol, drugs, pornography or pride which are just a few examples. There is power in fasting and remarkable results can be accomplished in the lives of others. There are many powerful men and women who fasted in the Bible seeking the Lord for many different reasons. Let me share one of my favorite scriptures in 2 Chronicles 20. Jehoshaphat asked the Lord what to do regarding his problem and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from God! This week read 2 Chronicles 20:1-20, to see how God answered his prayer.
After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar†(that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. 2 Chronicles 20:1-4
Fasting is a very important spiritual weapon if you want a spiritual breakthrough in your marriage, as you pray for your spouse’s and loved ones’ salvations. I pray you will consider starting a fast for your spouse to be set free from the slavery of sin that they are living in. Fasting is used for many different spiritual reasons, but let me share one story about our Lord and fasting:
And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.†Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.†And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?†So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; 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.†Matthew 17:14-21 (NKJV)
That is quite a statement that Jesus said to His disciples. There are things in life that will not happen except by prayer and fasting. Jesus was telling His disciples that you need to be prepared in prayer and fasting before you minister to the many people seeking healings and miracles. I believe if you have a loved one who is sick, that maybe two or three family members should consider some type of fast for the other person to be healed by our Jehovah-Rophe.
The first purpose to fast is to draw you closer to your Lord God, personally. You need to ask your Lord to cleanse your own heart from any and all impurities, so that you will be acceptable to God. You can read Psalm 51 as a prayer for yourself and for your spouse. Are you only hearing silence from God right now? Seek your Lord through fasting. God does speak to His children. As you fast, you will hear the Holy Spirit more clearly.
I know from personal experience that your life will be changed when you seek the Lord, as you pray and fast a meal or whatever period of time the Lord may suggest to you personally. I have fasted a full day, sometimes one meal a day or one meal a week. There are many different kinds of fasts such as a Daniel Fast. You need to ask the Lord what kind of fast you are to do. If you have never fasted before, may I suggest you start slowly, a meal a week or one meal a day working yourself into longer fasts. I have done fasts for a certain period of time and I have done meal fasts for an unspecified period until there is a definite spiritual breakthrough for my marriage or for my children or if I need a specific answer due to a specific problem. You can become an overcomer and live a victorious Christian life.
If you cannot fast food due to your health condition, you can fast something else. In fact, pray and ask the Lord. I have sometimes fasted something special that I really liked for a period of time such as TV, salty snacks, or you can fast soft drinks, tea or coffee. When you are fasting, you are dying to your flesh, choosing to pray more and pray different prayers. Here is one example:
“Lord I want _______ (name) to be set free from the bondages of sin. Lord, I am praying for my spouse's salvation and for our marriage to be resurrected, healed and rebuilt by Your mighty power. Lord, I am also praying for _______’s salvation as You died on the cross for their sins and You can touch and change their hardened heart, also. Lord, I know that nothing is too hard for You. I have faith and am trusting You to open _______ (name(s) eyes and ears to see and hear Your truths to set them free in the Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.â€
At our Rejoice Pompano Bible study, I taught about God’s amazing love and about the importance of prayer. We were blessed to have Luz and Fabian’s daughter, Ericka, share her story about praying for her father. I believe that we need to pray for our teenagers and young adults to become mighty men and women of God. I pray that you will listen to Ericka’s personal testimony, you will be encouraged and blessed! Click here to listen.
Have a blessed day,
Charlyne Steinkamp
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
