As a child I had hiding places, where I would go and spend time alone: floor of my closet, a dry bank of a pond in a swamp, up in a crab apple tree obscured from view by leaves and fruit. In these places I spent time thinking and imagining, contemplating, and once in a while throwing down a crab apple near a pedestrian walking by!

Lord Jesus took time to go up to mountain tops alone, or to a place in the wilderness to pray alone. There He spoke to God the Father and received instructions. (Luke 6:12; Luke 5:15)

Today I do this. I walk early in the morning, praying as I go, talking to The Lord about many things, covering others in prayer, and giving thanks.

During my college years I went to Japan as a missionary. One long weekend, the members of Hallelujah Community Church and I drove up into the mountains for a spiritual getaway. There I went and sat alone on a boulder as big as a golf cart overlooking the valleys and clouds below. God and I met together there.

Another time while in college, I attended a spiritual life retreat at a campground in Southern Michigan. During a hike into a pine forest, we stopped and rested, laying down upon a carpet of dried brownish pine needles, soft as a feather-bed. God and I met together there.

Elijah met with God upon a mountaintop. He received instructions about where to go and who to anoint as king. (1Kings 19)

Paul met with God while in prison. His written letters became a main source of Biblical knowledge. (Bill Bright/CRU.org)

Corrie ten Boom met with God in a Nazi concentration camp. She received a promise of freedom and instructions for the future.

Elizabeth Elliot met with God in the jungles of South America after her husband was murdered. She was able to continue her husband’s missionary work as a single mother of a young child, alone.

Gracia Burnham met with God in terrorist Philippine encampments. Learning endurance, she saw her husband killed, but survived.

Bernadette Todd still meets with God daily from her wheelchair. She has told her story, her testimony to thousands.

God comes to us where we are, no matter the place, condition, or situation. Call to Him from your place of prayer. He will lift up your spirits, give you strength, provide help, provision and positioning. He is the Protector and Healer. There is no other to call to.

"NEW NORMAL" A LIE, A COUNTERFEIT

Japan is a nation of one people, but in their hearts they are divided. Some are atheists, others Shinto (a traditional religion in which a variety of false gods are worshiped) and an equal number of Buddhists. Most Japanese practice both Shintoism and Buddhism. Only about 1.5% are Christians.

When I traveled to Japan as a missionary in 1983, the percentage of Japanese Christians was lower at only .5%.

I worshiped and taught English classes at Hallelujah Community Church in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, just outside of Nagoya, a major city. The church was full of youth, single adults, young men studying to become pastors and the fellowship was quickly growing.

Their lives centered around God as they lived believers’ lives in the midst of darkness. They clung closely to each other, believing, “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

What I remember most about these believers was their dedication. Three times a week they regularly fasted as a church body both breakfast and lunch. Before the fast broke, a time was set for prayer. They came together and on their knees loudly called on God to help them.

This church was open everyday. There was constant ministry happening.

Nearly 40 years later, we see the work of God and His ways reach fruition. Hallelujah Community Church is still in existence today and has grown to 13 Japanese branch churches, and plantings of international churches in Brazil, the Philippines and even in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This kind of work can only be accomplished with proper leadership, men and women, who are after God’s own heart and follow His ways. In this situation, Pastor Sakakiyama has led his church, with his wife, devotedly for decades as God directed.

Why fasting and prayer?

In Esther 4:16, the queen called for a fast of all the Jews in Persia. She too would fast three days, in preparation for her entrance to the king’s court. which was against the law, knowing very well that she herself could die at his command. In this case, the body of believers in God were called to act as one, for the sake of their queen, their representative at court.

Ezra and the Jewish people stood on the bank of the Ahava River. They needed God’s protection while traveling and invoked it with prayer, petition and fasting. (Ezra:8:21-23)

In Acts 13:2, the body of New Testament believers in Antioch were worshiping and fasting. During this time, Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Fasting and prayer are very powerful ways of God. They are His ways. Lord Jesus Himself fasted and prayed in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:1-11)

Church, have you humbled yourselves to God’s ways, praying and fasting together as a body on a consistent basis?

Pastors, elders and deacons, are you leading your church body in God’s ways?

Regular fasting and prayer directs us by Holy Spirit, in the way we should go, as seen in Acts 13:2, under the mighty arm of protection of God in an ever darkening world.

LOOK UP!

"NEW NORMAL" A LIE, A COUNTERFEIT