"When you pray, pray first for the Holy Spirit because when you have the Holy Spirit, you have everything."        - Medjugorje April 4, 1985

"You have forgotten that through prayer and fasting you can avert wars and suspend the laws of nature."       - Medjugorje Dec. 2, 1982

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Those of us devoted to fasting are familiar with many stories in the Bible in which fasting plays a pivotal role. We understand how fasting is often the key to gaining God’s favor. Fasting demonstrates humbling oneself by subjugating one’s own will to God, and God responds. There is however, one story which I had never seen before, and I would dare say never appears in any Children’s Bible for good reason. It reads like the worst of humanity, which of course, appears in all times and in all places.

            The story takes place in the last chapters of the book of Judges. An unnamed man and his concubine were returning home, stopping in the village of Gibeah in the region of the  tribe of Benjamin to rest for the night. At first, no one offered them a place to stay, but at last one villager did. The story then begins to sound like that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Men of the town surround the house and demand to have their sexual will with the guest. A horribly tense scene ensues, and the result is that the man’s concubine is thrust out of the door and sacrificed to the hideous mob. She is defiled all night by the men and released, battered, to drag herself to the doorstep where she takes her last breath. The man, finding her there,  hoists her dead body onto a donkey and takes it the rest of his journey home. 

            To avenge this heinous crime, the man unbelievably cuts the body up into twelve pieces and sends each piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel to incite war. The eleven tribes respond in a unified way demanding punishment of the men of the offending village. The tribe of Benjamin refuses to give them up, however, and the battle lines are drawn. Two battles inexplicably result in huge losses for the larger army. The war strategy shifts though in verse 26 of the 20th Chapter of Judges:

So the entire Israelite army went up to Bethel, were they wept and remained fasting until evening that day, besides offering holocausts and peace offerings to the Lord.  

This pause and reevaluation of strategy led the Israelites to turn their attention once again to the One who is in charge. Despite their size, they had been losing. Fasting and weeping, they asked, “What is it, dear God?? What is it??”

God then led the unified forces by giving them brilliant strategy. At first, the Benjaminite army believed they were again winning; however, the trap was set. The Israelite army drew back as if in retreat away from the city, drawing the Benjaminites to follow them. Meanwhile, an Israeli group was hidden in order to be able to ambush Gibeah, the wicked city, and set fire to it. As soon as the Benjaminites saw the fires set, they wheeled about, and you know what happened next. The Israelites turned around as well and were now the pursuers, trapping the Benjaminites between them and their forces which had taken Gibeah.  The rout was devastating to the tribe of Benjamin, so much so that the other tribes had to figure out how to find them enough wives so they wouldn’t die out. 

            So often, we find, God is waiting for us to pray and fast and seek His face instead of setting out with our own plans. He sees all and knows every weakness of the enemy. Lest we think, “What a horrible story to have in the Bible!” we need not look too far to find our own current day examples of human trafficking of women and children, abominable crimes which cry out for vengeance. We also know of the wholesale dismemberment of the innocent through abortion. Though these crimes are unspeakable and pervasive, and they seem to occur with impunity, they are not outside of God’s purview. We must never forget the power we are given when we add fasting to our prayers.

Friends, we ask everyone who is able to fast with us to fast as usual today – the easy bread and water fast Christians are called to live each Wednesday and Friday.

As discussed recently, let us intensify our fast however beginning tomorrow leading into Pentecost.

To reiterate we will endeavor to pursue the Esther Fast beginning tomorrow, Thursday, and through Friday and Saturday – For those three days we will call out to heaven as Esther and St Paul did in scriptures:

Nothing to eat and nothing to drink for the three days.

As best you can, plan and prepare to join us. If you cant make it in an Esther Fast, fast as intensely as you can with us.  These are holy days leading into Sunday, Pentecost. We are fasting for the restoration of America in every regard and believing that it may eclipse its former greatness… that the Holy Spirit would cause the scales that blind us to fall from our eyes so that we may see truth as God sees it, that we will hunger for His will, His law, and His order in our nation… for blessings upon our military, police, firefighters and their families … and that our Mighty Lord will protect, and bless us and our families who turn to Him in fasting in every way.

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Why We Fast – Our Core Fasting Intentions

1) For the Holy Spirit to reign down upon America renewing our land as the Christian, capitalist meritocracy we were founded to be.

2) For the protection of our police, firefighters, military and their families from harm and that the Lord bless their courageous generosity on our behalf one hundredfold.

3) For the protection of the families who fast with us, and for God’s blessings of abundance upon them and that true to His word, we will be able to witness that He prospered us in famine.

Would you like to learn more about fasting?

We maintain a repository of ideas and information we have learned over the last decade while fasting weekly for America. From scientific studies on the benefits of fasting, to the differences between intermittent dieting vs intermittent fasting, to scriptural references regarding the power of fasting to the history of first century Christians who stated believers are obligated to fast weekly, we hope you will find numerous insights with our free resource located here.

Together let us also implore Heaven while fasting for intentions you have highlighted:

4) For Mike Lindell who is putting himself on the front lines suing over the election fraud that has taken place and for all of the warriors who are stepping up around the nation to fight for the gospel – May The Father cover them in the blood of our savior,  protect them and their families from evil and bring victory to their endeavors.

5) For priests, ministers and all who aspire to lead others to the Lord, that the Holy Spirit will reign down upon them as at Pentecost filling them to overflowing with an understanding of what the Lord wants, courage and the desire to preach what He would have them preach and protection and strength from all evil that comes against them. 

6) For the Americans jailed after January 6th who were admitted to the Capitol building by the police, and who were not found to have destroyed any property at the capitol yet who have been held captive ever since on our own soil - That God's Spirit will move quickly to bring justice back to this land by freeing them while enlightening Americans how to bring God's justice back to our nation.

7) For young Megan who has an incurable liver condition @ Duke Hospital - Asking the Divine Physician for a complete healing.

Who We Are

St. Joseph Partners is a for-profit business that has funded Fast for America for over ten years. To the extent you support our work to renew America and if you understand why gold and silver protect believers' wealth in this world, please consider us or recommend us when you or someone you know buys or sells gold and silver. From our website www.StJosephPartners.com you can buy and sell dozens of types of precious metals. We close on Sundays to honor the Sabbath. Click here for a link where you can view a brief video about our firm and a brief video about why all investors and families should have some gold and silver in their portfolios.