When we introduced The Joel 2 Fast on Feb. 19, we sensed that the Lord wanted us to feed on 8 specific portions of His Word over the 40 days, chewing on each passage for a period of five days.

He also gave us these Six Steps to follow:

1. Read the passage out aloud once and in silence once.

2. Take a minimum of 10 minutes to seek God’s revelation.

3. Journal your revelations.

4. Pray according to the revelations. e.g. Confess sin, Praise God for victory, Pray for someone else, etc.

5. Thank God for every one of the 7 results. E.g. “I thank you God for bringing prosperity, removing my enemies, etc…”

6. Share your experience with an Accountability Partner.

True Confession Time.

Yours truly has been stopping with Step #4 over the past three days.

With good reason.

At the end of the 4^th step, it would seem as though we had completed the assignment. Praying according to the revelations is a fitting conclusion, isn’t it?

In a sense we cannot argue against it. If all we did was finish with Step 4, that would still be a very rewarding experience.

However, that would be incomplete.

Because, you see, every time God calls for a fast, He always promises at least one reward.

In the Joel 2 Fast, He actually offers seven that I can count.

1. Bring Prosperity (v. 19, 22, 24, 26)
2. Remove enemies (v. 20)
3. Bring the “rain” in season (v. 22, 23)
4. Restore what was lost (v. 25)
5. Pour out His Spirit on all flesh (v. 28, 29)
6. Work wonders (v. 30, 31)
7. Grant salvation and deliverance (v. 32)

In the DWOD for Dec. 13, we discovered that the call to fast in Isaiah 58 was followed by the promise of, count them, 10 different rewards!

As much as it may be difficult to swallow the idea of fasting with the expectation of a reward, this is exactly what Jesus promises in Matthew 6:18:

“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Yes, the same Jesus who wants His followers to keep fasting in the Secret Place makes it very clear that there will be nothing secretive about the rewards that follow.

The Fifth Step is a reminder to keep these rewards in front of us when we fast.

But it is more than that.

In praising and thanking God in advance, we are actually receiving those rewards in the spirit realm.

Very soon they will start manifesting themselves in the physical.

The people of Judah realized the truth of this fact in II Chronicles 20:20-22.

They started singing: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”

They were praising before anything praiseworthy had happened.

“Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.” (v. 22)

Wow!

This is why The Fifth Step of the Joel 2 Fast is so critical for us as well.

I, for one, am following up Step 4 with this declaration:

“I praise you, Father, for bringing prosperity, removing enemies, bringing the “rain” in season, restoring what was lost, pouring out Your Spirit on all flesh, working wonders and granting salvation and deliverance. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

How about you?