Spiritual Tools of Success

…Then Jesus, like the others, was baptized, from there he went into the wilderness to fast and pray. John 1:29

After baptism, few of us are exhorted to fast, but all of us are encouraged to pray. A life without prayer is a life devoid of spiritual strength and intimacy with God. Fruit is matured in the atmosphere of God’s presence. Just as a natural garden flourishes and produces good fruit when the sun is present, so does spiritual fruit; without a daily dose of the Son, there will be no spiritual growth. Without the hovering presence of God through the act of intimacy, one can’t bear fruit that will remain.

Jesus demonstrated the power that comes from a relationship with the Father through prayer. Faith pops when we delight ourselves in God through the avenue of prayer and worship. This intimacy causes us to come away from our prayer closet with the residue of God still on us. We perceive life from a different realm than other people, for we can see from the realm of the Spirit. Many can talk about the spiritual realm, but few can produce the weight of the glory from being with Him. Neither Satan, nor man can produce the holiness of God’s glory; they can imitate it, but the glory is discerned by others who walk in this realm. This glory realm is only attainable through intimacy with God. So, He beckons us higher in Him…He is calling to the deep; deep calling deep.

Fasting causes us to hear His beckoning and calling clearer. It strengthens us to bring our bodies under submission and subjection to God. We become disciplined to bring our will under God’s will.

After Jesus prayed and fasted 40 days in the wilderness, He was then ready to have a faceoff with Satan or anything else that rolled down the road. Although His physical body was weak from fasting; His spiritual body was strong because of His intimacy with the Father through prayer. Although Satan challenged His identity, Jesus wasn't moved for He knew who He was and His place with Father. Satan questioned His authority and twisted the Word, but Jesus was the living Word, who had become flesh and lived among man. Jesus clearly knew who He was and we should be just as sure of our standing and relationship with Father. We ARE the righteousness in Christ Jesus. We are a royal nation and we will only remember this truth through our relationship with God.

Jesus was victorious at a time that Satan thought He would be His weakest. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit after baptism, but He knew that He needed to fast and pray. This qualified Him to defeat the enemy and to begin His ministry in the very first public gathering after His baptism. At the wedding, He produced wine from water…obviously, the finest wine the host had ever had. Your greatest work is ahead of you as you submit to a disciplined life of prayer, worship and fasting. Greater works will flow from you as you walk in a surrendered life in Christ.

Shut your door man/woman of God and lock it, cut off your phone, computer, iPod, iPad, and numerous games or television and shut in with God. Cut off all and every distraction to be with the Lord. This is the time for you to truly learn who you are and your identity in Christ. This is the time to know your God intimately and to receive His power and glory, as you grow from glory to glory. This will be the greatest season of your spiritual and natural life. I speak the blessings of God over your life as you get ready to soar in Him.