Beloved brothers and sisters,
Tomorrow (05/01) marks the beginning of our 21 days of Annual Fasting! A period which I believe will be transformative for each one of us! Honestly, I am extremely excited about what God will accomplish during these 21 days! I have the profound conviction that He will do something powerful and remarkable in your life!
But why fasting? In a world where we are invited to satisfy our desires, this discipline seems to go against the tide! However, fasting is a hidden source of power that transforms us, heals, sets us free, and opens the floodgates of Heaven over your life!
This is my first message to help you prepare for our 2026 Fasting period. Today I want to share with you: The Secret Power of Fasting.
Fasting is a hidden source of power. If you incorporate fasting into your routine, your spiritual life, your health, and your emotional life will be transformed.
Do you long for more of God? Are you hungry for His presence? Do you desire to experience God’s supernatural power? Are you in need of a significant miracle in your life? Are you feeling “spiritually dry” or lukewarm in your faith? Do you have any vices or bad habits in your life that you need to conquer?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then join us in this fasting period. We are calling the entire church to join in this collective fast over these 21 days!
It is essential that you pray and decide how you will fast! Please take some time today to write down your fasting plan! And please don’t forget to read the guidelines I sent you!
The discipline of fasting releases God’s anointing, favour, and blessings over a Christian’s life. When you abstain from natural food and dedicate some time to fast for the Lord, your spirit becomes unburdened by worldly distractions and and becomes incredibly more sensitive to the things of God.
The Bible shows us that fasting is a spiritual discipline practised by Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Daniel, Anna, Paul, Jesus, His disciples, and His followers as a source of power, strength, and growth. Jesus fasted for 40 days. After He was baptised, He was filled with the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit to fast and pray for 40 days. If fasting were not necessary, Jesus, our example and model, would not have done it!
Through fasting, we learn to master our bodies and our desires, rather than being mastered by them. When we say “no” to what the flesh desires, we say “yes” to God’s unlimited power.
Fasting attacks and destroys the power of the first two sins that arose in Heaven and on Earth.
Do you know what the first sin recorded in the Bible was? It was pride! Pride turned an angel into a devil! What was the second sin? It was food! God told Adam and Eve to fast (not to eat from a certain tree), but they ate!
These two sins have destroyed the emotional, physical, and spiritual lives of humanity. And, unfortunately, these two sins are also present within Jesus’ Church.
Fasting was given by God to destroy and uproot these two sins from our lives. (Today, we will only speak about pride).
Satan, has done a “great job” leading men and women who have been baptised, who are in churches, but who still carry proud hearts.
Do you know why, often, we argue with people, have disagreements, find it difficult to love, cannot have fellowship with our siblings in Christ, or sometimes even stop speaking to them? All this is because of the “pride” that resides in our hearts.
There are Christians within churches with “spiritual pride,” who believe that their biblical knowledge, years in church, or because they have a spiritual practice, makes them better than others, and they dislike having fellowship or being together.
Pride produces a lack of mercy, difficulties in forgiving, or in extending grace to those who have failed.
Pride produces theological arrogance!
It leads to not listening to your leaders or pastors, because the person thinks they know more than others. Pride leads to not listening to suggestions or constructive criticism, and always sees them as an “attack.”
Arguments, discussions, and relationship problems frequently arise because of pride.
This is where the power of fasting comes in! Fasting and prayer will break these “demonic chains” of pride in your life!
The Word of God calls us to humility, to consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). The Word of God teaches us to serve one another in love (James 1:7). Jesus, our greatest example, washed His disciples’ feet, showing that true greatness lies in serving!
True fasting, done with a desire to be transformed, will destroy pride in your life! Fasting is a way for us to humble ourselves!
Scripture says in the book of James: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10
When you humble yourself, you are opening the doors for God to exalt you! When God sees what is done in secret, He will reward you and lift you up!
The Bible says in the book of Proverbs that pride goes before destruction! “Pride goes before destruction” Proverbs 16:18
Many people start their walk with God well. Perhaps you started your Christian life with a humble heart, like King Saul in the Old Testament. He was anointed by Samuel as the first king of Israel. When he started, he was extremely humble, he began meekly, but he transformed into another man, and God had to replace him with David!
God spoke these words about Saul: “Samuel said: ‘Although you were small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.'” 1 Samuel 15:17
What lesson does this leave us with? When you become great in your own eyes, pride is what will cause your downfall! Pride precedes the fall and the destruction of your life!
Never reach the point of feeling that you can do everything on your own, that your talent, your gift, or your education are enough! You need the anointing, you need the presence of God!
The more He lifts you up, the more you need to seek Him! The more He blesses you, the more you need to seek Him!
It is dangerous for us to be growing spiritually and in the church, but become so busy that we don’t have time to pray, read the Bible, fast, and go to meetings! It is dangerous to have a growing ministry and see your passion for Jesus diminish.
Furthermore, some of you, in the past, were unemployed, without money, without documents, without Irish citizenship, without a health card, and were fervently seeking God, going to all church meetings, praying, and seeking Him intensely.
But now you are so busy – working, studying, taking care of your own things, shopping, working more and more because you need more money – that you don’t have time for God! No time for meetings because you are taking care of family, career, education, etc.
Please, do not let your passion for Jesus diminish! Saul was born in humility and died in pride! This cost him everything: it cost him his family, it cost him his children, and it cost him his kingdom!
The power of fasting lies in the fact that, while you fast, you humble yourself before God! You are saying: “God, use me again! God, fill me again! God, bless me again!”
Our church is growing, but we need God more now than ever before — and that is the right spirit! I am more desperate for Jesus now than ever before.
Many people don’t understand why we do these 21 days of fasting annually. They ask: “Why are you doing this?” I am sure you have been called crazy. I myself have been criticised even by believers and leaders because of my fasting! But it is a way to humble oneself!
Fasting is a way of saying: “I don’t want pride in my life!”
Some people are proud and don’t know it. I often say: Pride is like bad breath. Everyone knows you have it, except you!
Those close to you know and can “smell” your pride! Sometimes we label pride as ‘my temperament!’ (Saying things like, ‘That’s just how I am,’ ‘I’m explosive,’ or ‘I’m a fiery personality’). No, this is pride.
If you want to know if you have pride, ask the people around you: your parents, leaders, pastor… because they know!
Remember that the first sin in creation was pride! Pride turned an angel into a devil! For Lucifer, according to the Scriptures, was an archangel who was in a holy place, in heaven.
“You said in your heart: ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain;'” (Isaiah 14:13)
“Lucifer said in his heart” — Be careful what you think in your heart!
Note that Lucifer’s problem started in his heart… He had a problem with authority, with his boss, but he didn’t resolve it! If you have a problem with someone – a brother, sister, relative, or your leader – please, go, confess, and resolve that situation before you fall!
Because of the unresolved problem, Lucifer began to say:
“I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain;” “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13,14)
I, I, I… it’s all about me! That is pride! When you think only of yourself, you don’t help others, you don’t serve others, you don’t love your neighbour, you don’t invest in people, etc. This is pride and needs to be destroyed from your life. And he was cast out of heaven!
Think about it: Pride can turn an angel into a devil! Pride can prevent many people from entering the Kingdom of God!
I don’t want pride to dominate me! That’s why I fast and humble myself!
If we were honest, we would all have to admit that there are times when we start to become self-sufficient! That is why fasting is so powerful!
That’s why, at the beginning of the year, we are saying: “Holy Spirit, I need You, Holy Spirit, fill me again, and I humble myself!”
You know you have a choice: God said: “Humble yourselves before God’s mighty hand” — or He will humble you. So, you can humble yourself or God will humble you!
By undertaking these 21 days of fasting, one of the greatest things God will do is to humble you! You will look back and say: “I can’t believe I was acting that way,” “I can’t believe I was thinking that way,” “I can’t believe I spoke to that person like that,” because pride can blind you!
When you fast, God will show you those areas of your life where pride is operating within you.
There’s nothing wrong with being successful, nothing wrong with achieving, but give glory to God and do not let good things – God’s blessings, the job you have, your family – take you away from God’s house and God’s plan!
Humility is not putting yourself down; humility is exalting Jesus in your life!
Lord, I give You the glory! God, You deserve the honour! God, You deserve the praise for every achievement, for every success in my life. To God be the glory for the things He has done! God, You deserve my best!
Fast, and you will see the secret power of fasting in your life!