Live to Proclaim

Throughout my entire life, I've always had vivid dreams. I usually enjoy waking up and remembering what I dreamt about unless I've had a nightmare. Nightmares are one way I've been attacked by the enemy.  When I first became a Christian, I was plagued with the same recurring nightmare of me going to hell or of my children being attacked or harmed by demons. It was the scariest thing and I hated going to sleep. And although I would pray right before bed, I would continue having the same dream! I learned later, thanks to my pastor, that I was being attacked.  But as I've gotten older and grown in my faith, I've been able to recognize these attacks quicker.  A few weeks ago, I woke up from a nightmare where I was actually alert and knew what was going on! This dream felt almost like a test. I can remember thinking in my dream "This is not real!" and calling on Jesus! I also proclaimed the power of the Holy Spirit to all the bad things in my dream

If you've ever read even bits and pieces of the Bible, you've probably noticed that the act of fasting is mentioned MANY times throughout. Jesus fasted. Daniel fasted. Esther fasted. There are many more people in the Bible who did just that. When I first became a Christian and started going to church, I had heard about people fasting, but I really didn't know the significance of it. I realized throughout the years why it is so important to pray and fast. Our church does a corporate fast for 21 days...meaning the whole church fasts in some way or another (by choice of course). The whole purpose of fasting is to deny our physical needs for our spiritual needs. It's kind of like a sacrifice we make to our Heavenly Father. We give up the pleasure of food, to find greater pleasure in the Lord.  The key to a meaningful fast is to develop a more intimate relationship with God through prayer.  While we are in our quiet time with Him, pay attention to what he is wh