11.28.07

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer. - Ezra 8:21-23.

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:5-7.

In 1996, we had only been at a church for about a year when we realized that our son, who has Down Syndrome and is mentally handicapped, was severely depressed. We were not sure what to do but felt that we would have to move to another church and another place so that Nick would be able to receive the help that he needed. We began to pray wanting to hear from God about this. I sent out some resumes and we continued to pray. It was then that my wife and I both felt that we should go to the Southern Baptist national convention that was at New Orleans.

Arriving there, we found that Dr. Ronnie Floyd the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springdale, Arkansas would be preaching a couple of the sermons. Both of the sermons were about prayer and fasting. Dr. Floyd shared how his entire church had been fasting and praying for many weeks for the sermons, he would be preaching. One sermon that was preached just before noon one day had a tremendous impact upon us. We left for lunch and I found myself driving in heavy traffic, which usually would have made me a little tense in an unfamiliar city. However, all I had was peace. Peace that was beyond anything that I had experienced since the time that I was saved. Through that sermon, the Holy Spirit touched our lives in a supernatural way.

We committed ourselves to fast and pray for a week about where God wanted us to go. On the seventh day of fasting on a Sunday afternoon, a search committee called and in a few weeks, I accepted the call to Trinity Baptist Church in Weatherford, Oklahoma. In Weatherford, my son Nick found the help that he needed and recovered from his depression.

On Friday, June 13, 1997, God did an amazing thing in my life. A couple of weeks before at a family gathering I heard my Uncle say that my great grandfather, George Richard Marical had been involved with a Pentecostal Holiness Church. Now I knew when I moved to Weatherford that my great grandfather had lived there and had owned a grocery store. I knew that he had died in 1929 but that was about all that I knew. I decided to dig into this a little deeper. We went to the county courthouse and found my great grandfather’s will and estate papers.

From the papers that we found we were able to locate where my great grandfather had lived. It was only about four blocks from where we were living. According to the papers we had found, my great grandfather had been a trustee of the Pentecostal Holiness church and when he died the estate paid off the remaining amount owed on the church building and land. I was intrigued to know where the church had been located. With the lot numbers and legal description in hand, I went to city hall to look at the plat of the city. The lots of the church were located at...! The church where my great grandfather had been a trustee and had attended was located at the very same location as the church that I then pastored!

I have told that story so that you will understand how powerful a tool fasting can be in your life. I will never make another major life changing decision without fasting and praying. Whatever the problem you should at least try fasting and praying. Because fasting is a way of humbling yourself before God and God “gives grace to the humble.”