Episode 5, "H is for The Holy Spirit, Our Helper" Series: "Stay in His Presence"

Join me as I go on an excursion for 40 days and nights with Jesus in the desert. 

Hello and welcome to our series “Stay in His Presence.” Today, we will see how the Holy Spirit helps us turn things around in our lives, others’ lives, and this world by looking at Jesus and His 40-day-and-night fast in the desert. My name is Stephanie Wright. This is Episode 4, “The Holy Spirit, Our Helper.”

Thank you for joining us today. We continue studying the attributes of the Holy Spirit from A-to-Z. Today’s letter is “H” for Helper.

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Transcript

Join me as I go on an excursion for 40 days and nights with Jesus in the desert. 
Hello and welcome to our series “Stay in His Presence.” Today, we will see how the Holy Spirit helps us turn things around in our lives, others’ lives, and this world by looking at Jesus and His 40-day-and-night fast in the desert. My name is Stephanie Wright. This is Episode 4, “The Holy Spirit, Our Helper.”

Thank you for joining us today. We continue studying the attributes of the Holy Spirit from A-to-Z. Today’s letter is “H” for Helper.

Do you want to turn your life around, others’ lives, and this world?
March 5 begins what is known as the Lenton season or Pre-Resurrection season, which happens 40 to 45 days before resurrection Sunday or Easter. It is a time to commemorate how Jesus fasted and prayed 40 days and nights in the desert. After he was baptized, the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the desert for the 40-day fast and prayer; when he emerged, he came out in the power of the Holy Spirit and began to do many great works. He turned lives around, and he turned the 
then-known world upside down.

Like Jesus, we, too, can turn things around when we fast, pray, and consecrate ourselves. However, it is essential to be realistic about what you can give up when you fast and for how long. Caveat: You should follow your healthcare provider's directions when you are fast. Jesus, Moses, and others were on supernatural fasts, which required supernatural endowment. We will discuss these in the addendum to this podcast, which will immediately follow. You don’t have to fast for 40 days, but whatever part you do fast or consecrate, it should be to God‘s glory and be led by the Holy Spirit. It is your heart and your sincerity that God is looking at.

When you go on a fast or consecration, give up something you really enjoy—otherwise, you may not feel you are making much of a sacrifice. Fasting is fuel for your faith that helps you believe the turnaround will be manifested. And it goes without saying that you pray while fasting or consecrating yourself.

Just like Jesus was alone in the desert, we should have some alone time with the Holy Spirit and ask him to help us stay focused on those things we want to see change. Now, let’s have a more in-depth discussion on fasting and prayer. We will see how lives and nations were saved through three people on three different occasions because they fasted and prayed.

When you were little, did you have a superhero or want to be one? For many of us, depending on our age, it was Superman. Then, as the years went by, it was Wonder Woman. Like any other kid, I loved superheroes too. But do you realize you are a supernatural hero who can make a difference on the small or world stage? Yes, you make a difference through prayer and fasting. Fasting and prayer can change your life and people's lives anywhere. I believe this because of the supernatural superheroes in God’s Word who fasted, prayed, and changed the outcome of history for nations. But I have also heard modern-day accounts of how prayer warriors changed things through fasting and prayer and delivered a nation. 
Years ago, I read a book entitled “God’s Chosen Fast” by Arthur Wallis. I cannot cite the exact page in the book, but somewhere, he tells of a modern-day case where a person went on a fast prayer for the deliverance of an entire nation. The nation was delivered from whatever oppression was the focus of the person’s prayer. That modern-day account of deliverance for a nation through one person’s prayer has stayed with me all these years. Why am I talking about this? We need to know that we have the same power through prayer and fasting to change our life situations and the world. Perhaps fasting and praying to change the world is not on your list of supernatural superhero things, but you should know that you do have the power to do so if that is what God tells you to fast and pray about. But, for now, let’s visit and revisit a Bible hero, a shero, and a king who changed the world through prayer and fasting with the help of the Holy Spirit. These are Old Testament accounts, but the Holy Spirit moved then as powerfully as He did in the New Testament.

 
We will start with one of the most famous Bible heroes known by almost everyone – Moses. Moses loved his people, the Israelites. He murdered an Egyptian he saw striking an Israelite, which led to him fleeing from Egypt into the wilderness. 

But this is the part we want to discuss—Moses's 40-day fasts. Now, I always thought Moses fasted two forty-day fasts. My most recent research shows he fasted three forty-day fasts. Before I break this down, let me say these were supernatural fasts. It was a supernatural fast because it took God to sustain a person through this kind of fast; otherwise, they would die. I reiterate, always remember to fast wisely with direction from your healthcare provider.

Here briefly is how Moses’ fasts transpired according to my resource. Deuteronomy 9:9 and Exodus 24:18 chronicle the first forty-day fast where Moses received the Ten Commandments, specifically stating he neither ate bread nor drank water. And then, at the end of these forty days, he was told by God the people had started worshipping a golden idol, and God said he was going to “destroy” them. Moses descended to find this was true and broke the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy 9:12-17. He then ascended back to Mt. Sinai and began his second 40-day fast (no food nor water) to atone for the sins of the people. Exodus 32:30, 31 and Deuteronomy 9:18. Moses descended from Mt. Sinai after his second forty-day fast to cut another set of two stone tablets for the second set of Ten Commandments. Then he returned to the mountain's top and started his third forty-day fast. Deuteronomy 10:1-5, Exodus 34:1,2, and Exodus 34:28. Clearly, this was a supernatural fast because, after this third fast, Moses had to cover his face because it shone so brightly the people “were afraid to come near him.” Exodus 34:29, 30.

So, we have one man, Moses, who fasted and prayed for the people of Israel that God would not destroy them. It only took one man. So, do not ever feel that your fasting and prayer are in vain because you may be the one person who can make a difference in your world or in the world.

And lest we think that God only acknowledged the fastings and prayers of those living righteously, let me point out a king who was a heathen, yet because he called for a fast and repentance, he saved his nation. This was the King of Nineveh. Yes, I reluctantly point to someone who was not a Godlover to make a point. Anyway, you know the story; if not, read the Book of Jonah. It is a very short Book. Briefly, Jonah was told by God to go to Nineveh to warn them of their destruction; only he tried to get out of it because he hated the Ninevites and didn’t want them to be delivered. So, Jonah got on a ship going in an entirely different direction.

God ended up having Jonah thrown overboard, and after his three days in-the-belly-of-a-whale experience, he relented and went to Nineveh to warn them of their destruction. First, the people who heard Jonah believed, fasted, and put on sackcloth from the least to the greatest. Jonah 3:5. Then, the king of Nineveh, who was no fool–he was a heathen–but he was no fool, also believed. (The fool has said in his heart there is no God. Psalm 14:1.) He pulled off his kingly apparel and put the people and the animals on a no food, no water fast. This heathen king also said man and beast were to be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to God, turn from their evil way, and from the violence that was in their hands. God heard, saw, and repented of the destruction he would do to them. Jonah 3:610. There are other biblical accounts of wicked people who fasted and got what they wanted, but I’ll save that for another podcast.

Again, one man, a king, turned around the imminent destruction and saved his nation.

Finally, we will briefly revisit Queen Esther. We have a podcast series on Queen Esther. This queen put all 127 provinces that extended from India to Ethiopia, a distance of 2,700 miles in Persia, on a three-day, no food, no water fast. Esther 4:16. Consequently, the Jews of Persia were delivered from annihilation by a wicked man named Haman. As I always remind my listeners, the first fast was initiated by Queen Esther’s cousin and surrogate father, Mordecai. Esther 4:13. So, everyone fasted before Queen Esther called for the three-day fast. Nevertheless, the queen’s three-day fast was the proverbial nail in the devil’s coffin. The devil is manifested in the form of an evil man named Haman, who was hung on the same gallows he built to kill Mordecai, Esther’s cousin who adopted her as his daughter. Esther 7:710. Again, one person, a queen, in this case, saved a nation.

Of course, there is Elijah, one man who fasted 40 days and nights, and that fast eventually led to the destruction of an evil king and queen, Ahab and Jezebel. I Kings 20 and 21.

We reviewed these Bible accounts so you can know that you have the power to fast and pray to change your world and THE world. There was a time when I remember consistent fasting in the church and shut-ins. A shut-in is where the entire church comes together for days, usually one to three but sometimes longer, and fasts and prays. The results of these shut-ins with prayer and fasting are spiritually overwhelming. The move of God on the Sunday after a shut-in is beyond description; you have to experience it yourself.

We close by remembering how Jesus fasted and prayed for us after the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness (Matthew 4). He fasted and prayed so others could be delivered from sin, sickness, and spiritual death and to destroy the works of the devil. He fasted and prayed so we would know that we, through the Holy Ghost, have the same power to continue His work on earth.

Jesus prayed for us. For whom are we praying? Are we praying for the world? Closer to home. What about that person who is suffering a debilitating physical condition? That family member, elderly church mother, deacon, or pastor who prayed for you? Listen, when you see others suffering, and God has told you to fast and pray for them, and you don’t do it, that’s disobedience. And disobedience is not a good thing because, second of all, do you really think that if the devil afflicted that precious soul, he isn’t coming for you? It’s time to stand up and be the superhero Jesus, through the power of the Holy Ghost, called you to be.
You may feel that your prayers and fasting are like dropping a teaspoon of water in an ocean. But remember, Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever. He is no respecter of persons, so you are no less important than the Bible personalities we discussed today who saved a nation. So, Superheroes and Sheroes, put your capes on, and let’s get to work with “Our Helper, the Holy Spirit.”

Now, let’s listen as Apostle Charles tells us how you can reach us and access other podcasts on the Holy Spirit.