February Fasting and Prayer Notes – Saturday Sessions
This is the third in a series of three posts about the February 2020 fasting and prayer weekend held at our church. During our fasting and prayer sessions, it is usual for the Holy Spirit to speak to us through Pastor Praveen. The first post in this series – “Who Is for the Lord" – is a summary of key points from the February sessions. The second contains my notes from the Friday sessions. This third post contains detailed notes from the two Saturday sessions and will benefit readers who want to delve deeper into what the Holy Spirit spoke. I did my best not add to or comment on what was said.
Saturday AM
Like the Israelites in the desert, move with the cloud of God. Go and stop when the cloud moves and stops (e.g., see Numbers 9:17). The cloud is moving now for us/the church/community. Pastor Praveen senses a change, an increased presence of the Spirit of God in the community.
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We must follow God and listen to Him to receive the fire of revival. Jesus appeared to 500 people after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:6). But in Acts 1:15 we see that the believers numbered about 120. Where were the other 380? Those who had left missed out on receiving the fire of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 1:15 and 2:1-4). We cannot do anything ourselves. We have to depend on God.
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Doubt is a liar/enemy. Cast doubt out of your heart.
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Pastor Praveen said that the love of Christ is our greatest weapon. Situations led people to their sinfulness. With the love of Christ, wrong thoughts melt. Wherever we set our feet, the darkness will flee and light will touch people’s hearts. Wherever you set your feet, it is yours.
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Pastor Praveen told the story about when he blessed a house in Houston at the request of the man who had just bought the house. When Pastor Praveen was blessing the house, an evil spirit in the appearance of a tall dark man was seen leaving the house. That evil spirit was ruling the house and God granted deliverance.
Saturday PM
The first time we hear the name of Joshua in the bible is in Exodus 17:9: “Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.’”
Joshua was a young man, maybe 16 or 17 years old. Why did Moses call on him? There were many older, more experienced men there. But God called the next generation. And remember – only the next generation reached the promised land – the others died in the wilderness (see Numbers 14:20-35). Why? They all saw the miracles, signs, and wonders of God. But in their minds, the parents and elders were always thinking about slavery even though God through Moses brought them out of Egypt with many miraculous signs. They had a slave mentality.
God revealed to Pastor Praveen a key difference in the next generation – they saw and were focused on only the miracles. When God performed a miracle, they would run with excitement to see it. They could see the miracles and deliverance and forget about slavery. For example, among all the spies sent into the promised land (see Numbers 13) only Joshua and Caleb didn’t forget God’s miracles (Numbers 14:6-8). They had seen with their own eyes when God took the wheels off the chariots of the Egyptians (see Exodus 14:25). When God performed miracles, the young would see it and clap. They knew God is a miracle working God, so they went close to God and to Moses who was doing God’s miracles. Moses chose Joshua to lead the battle against the Amalekites because he believed in God’s miracles. Egypt was not in Joshua’s mind now.
We must ask ourselves, how close are we willing to go to Jesus? Jesus is a miracle working God. How great is our need to be with God, believe His miracles, and walk closely with the Anointed One – Jesus! He will see the faith of those who draw near and will call those people for His purpose.