Opened Doors
Born and raised in a Christian church there was a scripture that was paraphrased quite often: some things come only by fasting and praying. For two decades I heard this paraphrased scripture come across the pulpit. As a child and even early in my adulthood the scripture never really struck home. Many preachers gave their spin on the passage, but all in all, they all seem to tied it back to the same theme, that something needs to happen before something else happens. That all made sense to me, there wasn’t a misunderstanding of the passage. Yet for some reason I never applied the passage of scripture to my life, until a few months ago.
Sitting with my wife doing some life planning I said to her it’s about time for us to stretch our faith. It’s time for us to experience more out of life. It’s time for us to use our faith to challenge God, the Universe, the Divine, etc. I said to her let’s apply the scripture that I heard so much about growing up as a child.
Domonique is a praying woman. When I met her, during our first date she did not shy away from the power of pray. She let me know from the beginning that prayer was an integral part of her life. So there was very little convincing I had to do. A few months ago when we began to apply this principle to our lives, we did so as a married couple. So we were quite excited to see what would manifest in our lives because of fasting and praying.
What manifested in our lives were pretty astounding and mind blowing, to say the least. Some events I will share but many are too personal for the internet and frankly, you wouldn’t believe me if I did share them. When I sit back and go through the (17) pages of favour, blessings and manifestations that my wife and I, and at times the entire family, experienced over the course of our fasting and praying months I find it hard to believe that those things actually happened. When it comes to favour, blessings and manifestations there isn’t a comparison chart; there isn’t a small vs. big. All favour, blessings and manifestations are big no matter how small in value it may seem.
Here are a few things that took place during our F&P months:
1) There was a particular person that was very nasty to my wife several times one year ago. This person talked down to her, demeaned her and made her feel bad about herself. Three hundred and sixty-five days later the same person, to our surprise, complimented her, gave her praises and gave her large amounts of credit for being the woman and mother she is today.
Fasting and praying will turn a person’s attitude around. The same person that sought out to harm you, will, through fasting and praying, be the same person that seeks out to help you and lift you higher.
2) We were having issues with our truck. Nothing major, but it needed to be looked into. At the dealership, the maintenance department informed us that they were running three to four days behind and that it may take longer than expected to get our truck back. With a family our size, and the busyness of our klan, that time frame wasn’t going to cut it and neither was the type of loaner that they were willing to give us. Staring off in space trying to gather my thoughts, I was interrupted by a gentleman that said “sir you’re in luck we’ve located a vehicle that will work for your family size. It’s a 2017 Cadillac Escalade ESV”. Not only did he find a suitable truck for my family, the turnaround time was shortened by a day. Here’s the interesting part about the loaner truck, it is very rare that the dealership has SUV loaners on hand. It was one left tucked away, all the way in the back of the dealership blending in.
Fasting and praying will reveal things to you and people in your favour that were previously tucked away.
3) Dining out with our family one night, enjoying the atmosphere; I’m having fun; Domonique is having fun; the kids are having fun. It’s time to request the bill and go home. In the midst of requesting for the bill, the manager walked over and said don’t worry about the bill, it’s on us tonight. Stunned and shocked Domonique and I looked at each other and just smiled.
Fasting and praying will compel others to pick up the tab.
4) Our oldest son was featured in our county school’s student handbook. His picture will be the picture along with two other students from the entire school of 1,500 students that will be featured in the 2016-2017 school year student handbook, where 120,000 students, not including parents will see his face as a role model for the county. Our next son was selected to be an inaugural charter student of the first ever STEAM Program specializing in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math.
Fasting and praying will open up exclusive opportunities for your children.
There were many other accounts of favour, blessings and manifestations that not only Domonique and I experienced but the entire family. We all need help. We all need assistance from time to time. Many times when you want to enter into a new chapter of your life you must be willing to pull on something that is bigger than you whether you call it God, the Universe, the Divine, etc. Why not pull on a Being that has the tools, that is more than capable of bringing your desires to life.
Keep in mind, when fasting and praying, be intentional. Be direct. Have a purpose for your fasting and praying. For us it was to experience more favour in our life and in the life of our family. Fasting doesn’t have to be hard. However, you must be willing to give up something that means a lot to you. For some, it’s food, but it could be technology, tv, a social life, social media, certain beverages, etc. The list really can go on and on – only you know what truly means a lot to you. Also the number of days is up to you, too. Maybe every other day, or five days straight. The variations are endless. However, whatever variation you decide on, stick with it until you experience what you’ve asked for. Don’t forget to pray while you’re fasting. The two go hand and hand. Pray for what you want, while fasting for what you desire. Lastly, always remember in order for things in your life to change, you must first change.
I would love to hear your stories about your favour, blessings and manifestations. Shoot me an email at kashaun.cooper@gmail.com to share your stories.
