Jejum e oração
Jejum e oração são disciplinas espirituais que andam juntas. Jesus jejuou, os apóstolos jejuaram, e a Bíblia ensina que o jejum fortalece a oração e nos aproxima do coração de Deus.
O exemplo de Jesus
Jesus jejuou quarenta dias no deserto antes de iniciar seu ministério. Ele ensinou que certas coisas só acontecem com oração e jejum.
Then Jesus was led up to the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil, and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He hungered.
And Jesus said to them, "Through your want of faith; for truly I say to you, if you may have faith as a grain of mustard, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible to you, [[and this kind does not go forth except in prayer and fasting."]]
And when you may fast, do not be as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; truly I say to you that they have their reward. But you, fasting, anoint your head, and wash your face, that you may not appear to men fasting, but to your Father who [is] in secret, and your Father, who is seeing in secret, will reward you.
And when you may fast, do not be as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; truly I say to you that they have their reward.
But you, fasting, anoint your head, and wash your face, that you may not appear to men fasting, but to your Father who [is] in secret, and your Father, who is seeing in secret, will reward you.
being tempted by the Devil forty days, and He did not eat anything in those days, and they having been ended, He afterward hungered,
O jejum nas Escrituras
Ao longo da Bíblia, grandes homens e mulheres de fé jejuaram em momentos decisivos — buscando a Deus com urgência e devoção.
And he is there with YHWH forty days and forty nights; he has not eaten bread, and he has not drunk water; and he writes on the tablets the matters of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
and I set my face toward the Lord God, to seek [by] prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
I have not eaten desirable bread, and no flesh and wine came into my mouth, and I have not anointed myself at all, until the completion of three weeks of days.
I have not eaten desirable bread, and no flesh and wine came into my mouth, and I have not anointed myself at all, until the completion of three weeks of days.
"Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women fast likewise, and so I go in to the king, that [is] not according to law, and when I have perished—I have perished."
And it comes to pass, at my hearing these words, I have sat down, and I weep and mourn [for] days, and I am fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.
And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance,
And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He accepts our plea.
And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He accepts our plea.
and David seeks God for the youth, and David keeps a fast, and has gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth.
And the men of Nineveh believe in God, and proclaim a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least, seeing the word comes to the king of Nineveh, and he rises from his throne, and removes his honorable robe from off him, and spreads out sackcloth, and sits on the ashes, and he cries and says in Nineveh by a decree of the king and his great ones, saying, "Man and beast, herd and flock—do not let them taste anything, do not let them feed, do not even let them drink water; and let man and beast cover themselves [with] sackcloth, and let them call to God mightily, and let them each turn back from his evil way, and from the violence that [is] in their hands. Who knows? He turns back, and God has relented, and has turned back from the heat of His anger, and we do not perish." And God sees their works, that they have turned back from their evil way, and God relents of the evil that He spoke of doing to them, and He has not done [it].
O jejum que Deus escolheu
Isaías revela o jejum que agrada a Deus: soltar as cadeias da injustiça, libertar os oprimidos e repartir o pão com o faminto.
Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and You do not know. Behold, you find pleasure in the day of your fast, || And exact all your laborers. Behold, you fast for strife and debate, || And to strike with the fist of wickedness, || You do not fast as [this] day, || To sound your voice in the high place. Is this like the fast that I choose? The day of a man’s afflicting his soul? To bow his head as a reed, || And spread out sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, || And a desirable day—to YHWH? Is this not the fast that I chose—To loose the bands of wickedness, || To shake off the burdens of the yoke, || And to send out the oppressed free, || And draw off every yoke?
Is this not the fast that I chose—To loose the bands of wickedness, || To shake off the burdens of the yoke, || And to send out the oppressed free, || And draw off every yoke?
"And also now," a declaration of YHWH, || "Turn back to Me with all your heart, || And with fasting, and with weeping, || And with lamentation."
"And also now," a declaration of YHWH, || "Turn back to Me with all your heart, || And with fasting, and with weeping, || And with lamentation."
Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, || Gather [the] elderly [and] all those inhabiting the land, || [Into the] house of your God YHWH,
A igreja primitiva
Os apóstolos jejuavam antes de decisões importantes. O jejum acompanhava a consagração de líderes e o envio de missionários.
and in their ministering to the LORD and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate to Me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,"
and in their ministering to the LORD and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate to Me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,"
and in their ministering to the LORD and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate to Me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them," then having fasted, and having prayed, and having laid the hands on them, they sent [them] away.
then having fasted, and having prayed, and having laid the hands on them, they sent [them] away.
then having fasted, and having prayed, and having laid the hands on them, they sent [them] away.
and having appointed to them elders in every assembly by vote, having prayed with fastings, they commended them to the LORD in whom they had believed.
Praticando o jejum
Quando jejuares, unge a cabeça e lava o rosto. O jejum é entre você e Deus — não para impressionar os homens, mas para buscar ao Senhor.
and she [is] a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, serving with fasts and supplications, night and day,
And they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make supplications—in like manner also those of the Pharisees—but Yours eat and drink?" And He said to them, "Are you able to make the sons of the bride-chamber—in the Bridegroom being with them—to fast? But days will come, and when the Bridegroom may be taken away from them, then they will fast in those days."
And He having come into the house, His disciples were questioning Him by Himself, "Why were we not able to cast it forth?" And He said to them, "This kind is able to come forth with nothing except with prayer and fasting."
And He said to them, "This kind is able to come forth with nothing except with prayer and fasting."
in laboriousness and painfulness, many times in watchings, in hunger and thirst, many times in fastings, in cold and nakedness;
And I—in their sickness my clothing [is] sackcloth, || I have humbled my soul with fastings, || And my prayer returns to my bosom.