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.
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted "by the devil.2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."21
16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
2 where for forty days he was tempted "by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
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.
28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant —the Ten Commandments.
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth "on the ground.
5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
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.
3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."
12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."
14 Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
A igreja primitiva
Os apóstolos jejuavam antes de decisões importantes. O jejum acompanhava a consagração de líderes e o envio de missionários.
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders "for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
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.
37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. "She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
33 They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking."34 Jesus answered, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast."
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer. ""
29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer. ""
27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered,