PRAYER & FASTING (25)

(Message by Tanny Keng)

0. Introduction

a) Prayer & Fasting for Deliverance (Matthew 17:14-21)

i) ¹⁴ And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰ So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. ²¹ However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:14-21 NKJV)

b) Why do you pray and fast?

i) The answer is obvious. Perhaps, there may be other reason(s) that you want to see, a breakthrough in your life or the lives of those you dearly loved. Perhaps, there are other bigger reasons to this like your communities, nation and the world. 

c) How may you approach it?

i) There are 40 topics selected specially for the Prayer & Fasting Guide. You may choose and select the topics best suited for your 1-day, or 7-day, or 14-day, or 21-day, or 28-day (or 30 days) , or 40 days of Prayer & Fasting season. To ensure uniformity, each topic has been outlined as follows:

#1) Specific Scripture.

#2) Suggestions for Prayer.

#3) Questions for Reflection (thinking about yourself / your family / your church).

#4) Special Prayer for Family Members.

A. Topic 25: Sexual Issues

1. Specific Scripture: Proverbs 5:3-21; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 6:13-19

a) ³ For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; ⁴ But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. ⁶ Lest you ponder her path of life—Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.

⁷ Therefore hear me now, my children,

And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸ Remove your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,
⁹ Lest you give your honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
¹⁰ Lest aliens be filled with your wealth,
And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
¹¹ And you mourn at last,
When your flesh and your body are consumed,
¹² And say: “How I have hated instruction,
And my heart despised correction!
¹³ I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
¹⁴ I was on the verge of total ruin,
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,

And running water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
¹⁷ Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
¹⁹ As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be enraptured with her love.
²⁰ For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

²¹ For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ponders all his paths. (Proverbs 5:3-21 NKJV)

b) ⁴ Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4 NKJV)

c) ¹³ Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:13-19 NKJV)

2. Suggestions for Prayer:

a) For people to recognize the gift of sex and to live by the guidelines that God has given.

b) For those addicted to pornography and against its spread.

c) For those involved in prostitution, that they may find grace and hope and escape from the streets.

d) Against the distorted views of sex, sexuality and beauty encouraged by culture.

e) For those trapped in the sin of homosexuality and against our culture condoning it as an acceptable alternative.

3. Questions for Reflection (thinking about your family):

a) Are there areas of your family's life where God is calling your family to repentance?

b) Are there areas of your family's life where you see God at work and need to celebrate?

c) What do you hear the Spirit of God is saying to your family?

4. Special Prayer for Family Members:

a) Pray for repentance (mention their names) that they may come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

b) Pray for mercy (mention their names) that they may return to God with repentance and forgive those who hurt them.

The End ...