Mensa Otabil - Promised Provision
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This is day number three of our 40 days of power. We begin our third day of our time of consecration, prayer, and fasting, and I trust that you are partaking. We’re still focusing on the book of Joel, so we go back to Joel chapter 2, verse 19. The Lord will answer and say to His people, «Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied by them. I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.» Even before the people started fasting, Joel tells them what God was going to do. He says God will answer and speak to His people. So, before we fast, God has already determined what He wants to do for you and for me.
Waiting on the Lord comes with its rewards. Once we set our hearts to seek the face of the Lord, once we sanctify ourselves to seek the Lord, God steps into our condition and brings us favor and blessings. What we learn from this is that God knows our needs before we even start fasting and praying. Your fasting and prayer are not going to tell God a new thing He didn’t know. He knows your issues.
In fact, it’s because He knows your issues that He tells you to fast and pray. He knew the issues of Israel, and He told them to fast and pray. They were not the ones going to make Him aware of their situations. When we pray, we acknowledge that we are going through it, and we also acknowledge that God is the one who can solve it. God knows what we are going through; do we know what we are going through? So, our fasting and prayer say, «Lord, we also know what we are going through, and we trust You to step into our situation.»
Even before they started praying, the answer had been provided, and I believe that the answer has already been provided. There is a divine provision that has been made for you before you turned your heart; before you prayed, God heard you, and God answers you. God assures us of what is going to happen before it happens. He promises before we see the reality. He says to them, «I will send you grain.» This is the promise that God gave to His people. Why did He say, «I’ll send you grain»? Because if you read the book of Joel, before this fast, a lot of havoc had happened, as several forms of locusts had come on the land and eaten all their food. The food was lost; the grains were wasted, and there’s scarcity. There is a threatening famine, and God says, «I will restore your grain,» or «I will give you grain.»
God made them fast so that He could do what He wanted to do for them. There are things that God wants to do for you; He has already planned to do it, and He has already set you in line for a breakthrough, a miracle, a turnaround. He wants to do it, but He wants you to acknowledge it and bring Him on the scene. And so, when we fast and pray, we are not making God do what He didn’t want to do; we are making God do what He already wanted to do. He wants to bless you, and He will bless you. He wants to provide for you, and He will provide for you. He wants to heal you, and He will heal you. He wants to lift you up, and He will lift you up.
So, our fasting simply brings us in line with what God has already purposed to do in our lives, and that’s why when we don’t fast, we don’t bring ourselves into alignment with God. We don’t receive what He’s already purposed. Our fasting brings us into agreement with the Lord, and I believe this season is going to be an extraordinary one for you in Jesus' name. Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, thank You for the assurance of Your provision. I receive fresh supplies from You. In Jesus'