"And it shall
come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your
young men shall see visions." Joel 2:28
I recently read the
following excerpt by Dr. Derek Prince, which must certainly be of great value at
this time. I trust it is a blessing to you who read it also.............
Excerpt from
"Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting" by Dr. Derek Prince,
p.107-110:
"If we turn back to the beginning of
Joel's prophecy, we are confronted with a scene of unrelieved and total
desolation. Every part of the inheritance of God's people is affected. All is
blighted; nothing is fruitful. There is no ray of hope, no human solution. What
does God tell His people to do? The remedy which God prescribes is united
fasting.
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn
assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house
of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord. Joel 1:14
To sanctify here means to set
apart. God's call to fasting must have absolute pre-eminence. Every other
activity, religious or secular, must take second place. There is particular
emphasis upon the elders. The leaders of God's people have a special
responsibility in this respect. However, all the inhabitants of the land
are included. There must be no exceptions. God's people are required to unite in
facing their need. They are called to gather together in fasting, just as
they did in the days of Jehoshaphat, of Ezra, and of Esther.
In Joel 2:12 the call is repeated:
"Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and
with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning." In hours of crisis such
as this, prayer alone will not suffice. Prayer must be accompanied by fasting,
and weeping, and mourning. (We notice again the close connection between
fasting and mourning.)
In Joel 2:15 the call to fasting comes
the third time: "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn
assembly." Zion is the assembly of God's people. "Blowing the trumpet" is the
most public form of proclamation that is possible. There is nothing private or
secret about a fast that is proclaimed in this way. The Bible makes it plain
that there are times when fasting is to be publicly proclaimed for all God's
people.
The passage continues:
Gather the people, sanctify the
congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the
breasts.... Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch
and the altar. vs. 16-17.
Once again, although all the people are
involved, there is special emphasis upon the leadership; the priests. the
ministers, and the elders. In chapter 6 of this book we saw that the
responsibility of leaders to set an example in fasting is carried over into the
New Testament church.
Three times in these verses of Joel,
God calls His people to fasting. Then there follows the promise; "Afterward
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh." After what? After God's
people have obeyed His call to fasting and prayer. Today God's Spirit is being
poured out in a measure. There is ample evidence that the time has come for
God's "latter rain". But as yet we see only a small fraction of the total
outpouring which the Bible clearly predicts. God is waiting for us to meet
His requirements. It will take united prayer and fasting to precipitate the
final fullness of the latter rain. (emphasis mine)
In this respect our position today is
closely parallel to that of Daniel at the beginning of the reign of Darius. He
saw God's hand moving in the political situation. He saw from the Scriptures
that God's time had come for the restoration of his people. Prompted by this
double witness, he gave himself to prayer and fasting. Only in this way could
God's promises be brought to their appointed fulfillment.
The central purpose of God in Daniel's
day was restoration. God was moving to bring His people back into the
inheritance which they had lost through disobedience. The same is true today.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is God's appointed means of restoration. God
Himself declares this in Joel 2:25; " I will restore to you the years
that the locust hath eaten."
Three-and-a-half centuries ago the
church experienced reformation. Today God is no longer concerned with
reformation. His purpose is restoration. (emphasis mine) God is
moving to restore every area of His people's inheritance to its original
condition. The "former rain" brought into being a church that satisfied the
divine standards of purity, power, and order. The "latter rain" will restore the
church to the same standards. Then - and only then - will the church be able to
fulfill its destiny in the world. This is the end toward which God is now
working. " (end quote) (Excerpt with permission Derek Prince
Ministries.)
"Shaping History
Through Prayer and Fasting" by Dr. Derek Prince
available from;