Day 15

Seeking the Known about the Unknown

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. —Psalm 139:23 NIV

Our motivation for entering a fast can often mislead us. We are often tempted to enter a fast so that we can resolve some difficulty or obtain what we do not possess. Our true motivation for fasting should be one that leads us to greater intimacy with God. One definition of true intimacy is to know, to be known, so that he can be caringly involved. When we are motivated to fast for the purpose of knowing God, to be known by God so that we can be caringly involved with God, our fasting will be productive.

Several years ago, I was led by the Holy Spirit to fast for twenty-one days. As this leading came to me, I had no other reason to fast except to be obedient to the Lord. I have come to believe that when the Holy Spirit leads you to fast, he is preparing you for what is ahead. You will not know at the onset of the fast what it is that he is preparing you to face, go through, or accomplish. You may find in retrospect that the fasting period is an actual time of planting spiritual seed for a time of
harvest that comes well beyond the fast.

As I began to fast in obedience to the Holy Spirit, the journey began to unfold. I had been fasting for four days when I received a call to be a replacement speaker at a convention. The scheduled speaker had fallen ill and they needed a speaker to fill his assignment. The request came two weeks before the assignment. I asked for a day to pray and check my calendar before answering. I felt the release from the Lord to accept the assignment. My time of fasting would carry into the beginning days of the meeting. I stayed faithful to the full twenty-one- day fast from meals, taking only liquids. I felt energized as we entered the meeting, and it was quickly evident that the Spirit of God was upon this meeting.

We experienced a tremendous move of God on the fourth night of the meeting. I began to deliver my message when there was a great disturbance in the auditorium. The disturbance was quieted only to occur again about ten minutes later. Then, as we regained the attention of the audience, my microphone went dead. A second microphone was handed to me and it went dead.

Finally, we again restored sound. As I continued my message, a man came walking across the front of the auditorium and fell weeping on the altar. I paused, and in my spirit I asked God, "What is taking place?" The immediate impression to my mind from God was, "I don't need your sermon." I believe because of the fasting and intimacy with God, I quickly responded to him. I shared with the audience what I felt the Lord had shared with me and said, "God has already spoken to you, just be obedient. The altars are open for you to respond to the Lord." Immediately, the altars were flooded with people responding.

During the next hour and fifteen minutes, wave after wave of people were coming to God. There were miracle healings and deliverances that took place in front of our eyes. There were three men all above the age of sixty who came to receive Christ as their personal Savior that evening. Other signs and wonders too numerous to mention occurred. From that day to now, I have been firmly convinced God only needs individuals who are willing to set themselves aside to be a conduit of the Holy Spirit. I know of no other way to so effectively become a surrendered conduit for the Holy Spirit than by fasting.

Lord, may I so desire to know you and be known by you that I will lay aside every weight that would beset me. May my desire for knowing you intensify to the level that I could lay aside anything in order to spend time in your presence. Father, I want to be caringly involved in what you are doing. Lord, I seek you so that you may reveal the unknown to me. Amen.

Pastor Claude Robold, New Covenant Church, Middletown, Ohio