We are now on our 21 days Annual Fasting period. How many of you are fasting?
Why do we fast in the beginning of every year?
Because when we give God the first part, the first days of our year, we are sanctifying and blessing the rest of your year.
We need to understand this principle of giving Him the first and the best part.
When you begin your morning with God, the rest is blessed.
When we begin our week with God, the rest of it is blessed.
When you give the first portion of your finances to God, the rest is blessed .
When you put God first in your life, all other things fall into their proper places.
Fasting is a choice but also a sign of obedience. Jesus expects us to fast and in the same way as He expects us to pray.
If you say “I will fast when God lays it on my heart,” you never will. You are too cold and indifferent to take the yoke upon you.
D.L. Moody
There is the personal fasting, private fasting when God calls us to fast but there is also in the Bible the public or corporate fasting.
Jesus’s teaching was not that we should not fast publicly, but that we should not fast to be seen by others. It is a matter of motive.
Why are you praying, giving, fasting? Is it to be seen by others? Or is it to be seen by God?
We see in the scriptures “Public Fasting” that the people had a “fasting calendar” and the people obeyed the days of fasting.
In the Old Testament God ordained a day of Fasting – The Day of Atonement Day – Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23:27).
”“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.“ Leviticus 23:27 NKJV
The day of Atonement is day of repentance and humbling oneself where God ordered his people to afflict their soul and fast.(For more than 3000 years the people of Israel fast on this day)
The Scriptures also mentions regular days of fasting which were set in their calendar. An example is found in Zechariah:
”“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘The fast of the fourth month, The fast of the fifth, The fast of the seventh, And the fast of the tenth, Shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts For the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.’“Zechariah 8:19 NKJV
Fasting is a spiritual weapon that most Christians do not use it and because of that their spiritual lives become stagnant.
What is fasting: Fasting is abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.
This preaching is not so popular because in this culture of entertainment and pleasure, words like “fasting” and “sacrifice” have gotten lost in the body of Christ.
If you read the bible you are going to see that Fasting is a spiritual discipline practiced by Jesus, his disciples and his followers as a source of power, strength and spiritual growth.
It’s not easy to fast, it’s not fun to fast, but it’s powerful!
I learned this principle 38 years ago and since then my spiritual life has been transformed.
At the beginning I felt scared of praying for possessed people but after these periods of fasting I noticed the spiritual authority I had through the name of Jesus and how many people were delivered and set free from demons through my prayers.
Fasting it’s not for the strong ones, fasting is for the weak, fasting is for the common people, for the ordinary people like you and me who are desperately hungry for God and really desire to be used by God.
Fasting doesn’t manipulate God.
It’s important we go to into a period of fasting knowing that we will never earn God’s blessing, God’s favour, or his miracles – you can never earn the blessings or favour of God by your own work!
It’s the Grace of God, the Blood of Jesus that release those blessings!
Fasting does not manipulate God, fasting doesn’t make God do something that wasn’t His will in the first place.
Fasting gets you ready for God’s answer, fasting prepares your heart to say: not my will but your will be done.
Fasting breaks you down, fasting brings you to a place of humility, a position of obedience and brokenness and makes you understand: my Heavenly Father has the best for me, and
I trust You no matter what!
Fasting is an invitation, not an obligation, it’s something you do voluntarily!
You go to God and say: God I’m breaking my routine, I don’t have to do it, but choose to do so!
Fasting is a choice, but it is also a sign of obedience.
Let’s see why fasting is needed ! Mark 9: 25 – 29
25 “When Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him,
“You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”
26 After crying out and convulsing him greatly, it came out of him. The boy became like one dead, so much that most of them said, “He is dead.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose.
28 When he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?”
29 He said to them, “This kind of spirit can come out by nothing, except by prayer and fasting.””. Mark 9: 25 – 29
The Bible tells us about a father whose son had been tormented by evil spirits from childhood. The father longed to see his son set free. He asked Jesus’ disciples to help his troubled son. But Jesus’ disciples could not set his son free!
Then Jesus came, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him”. The boy was set free!
When Jesus and his disciples got home, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not we cast it out ourselves? And Jesus answered, “This kind of spirit can come out by nothing, except by prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:29
Here Jesus gave us a key! He said there are some situations that can only be overcome trough Fasting and Prayer.
There are certain things that just won’t change until you fast and pray!
That’s why we are challenging everyone in Church to take part on these 21 days of fasting and prayer.
Here is the point: breakthroughs never happened to anyone in the bible who did not seek them.
Some people say they have faith, but they have no physical acts of obedience. When you start seeking God, you get God’s attention and God turns to your cry.
In order for us to understand the power of prayer and fasting we need to read another verse:
16 “So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.””
Matthew 17:16-17
Jesus said to His disciples: “O faithless and perverse generation!”
In other words, Jesus was saying to his own disciples:
The first reason you could not cast out demons: You are faithless
you have no faith, you are unbelievers – you are walking with Me, but you are disconnected from God.
When unbelief takes over, fear, anxiety, hopelessness come and you cannot trust in God in miracles because of your lack of faith.
Second reason: Jesus called his disciples perverse.
Jesus said: you are not connected to God / but you are connected to this World – this world has perverted you!
This world has contaminated you with sin!
What did Jesus say to His disciples? Mark 9:29
You suffer from perversion and lack of faith but if you pray and fast you can overcome this situation!
Because:
Prayer connects you to God and Fasting disconnects you from the World
When you fast you are disconnecting yourself from sin — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
I as a pastor, have always to go back to praying, to fasting and I have to ask: God Help me, because I’m starting to disconnect from you and I’m being led by this World.
Then I start to pray, I repent, fast and disconnecting from the world by connecting myself more to God.
Suddenly we are connected to God and we can let go of this world and fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit comes over us and we have the favour of God once again!
The real reason why I fast, to be honest, is because I feel my own inability, my unpreparedness, I feel I lack the tools to do what God has called me to do.
When I’m fasting, I recognise my dependence on God for this new coming year!
Because I don’t want to do what God has called me to do with my bare hands!
When you’re fasting, you’re saying God I need you, I need the anointing of the Holy Spirit!
In Matthew 6, Jesus talks about the three duties of every Christian: giving, praying and fasting.
And He doesn’t use the word if, He says when.
17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Matthew 6:17-18
Your Father sees what is done in secret and He will reward you.”
Why is fasting so powerful in the Christian life ? Because fasting is a way of humbling yourself!
Did you know that God never says He will humble us? He always tells us to humble ourselves.
God can humiliate you but only you can make yourself humble.
Don’t pray: God make me humble. Because it is not scriptural prayer.
Also you will probably regret the results of that prayer!!
A few weeks or months later when you find yourself in the most humiliating situation you think: God, How did I get here? He will say: You prayed !
In Luke 14:12 Jesus said when you go to a banquet don’t walk up to the head table and sit in the best place. Because you will be embarrassed when someone comes and say, the speaker will sit here, you take a place on the corner (last place)
Jesus said: take the lowest place, the last place!
The Lower Down You Go, The Higher Up You Will End !
Because The Way Up is Down !
“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 14:11 NKJV
The great demonstration of this truth is Lucifer and Jesus!
Lucifer was a created being, He wanted to go up, to reached for equality with God, he slipped and fell.
Jesus had equality with God but He humbled Himself even to the point of death on the cross and so God highly exalted Him.
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” Philippians 2:9 NKJV
Why did God exalt Him? Because He humbled Himself! Everyone who humbles themselves will be exalted.
I can promise you exaltation if you will humble yourself. There are no exceptions.
The scripture says: Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God and in due season and he will exalt you!
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10
When you humble yourself, when you serve people, when you take the last place, when you walk in obedience to your leaders, you are opening the doors for God to exalt you!
When you humble yourself, when you serve people, when you take the last place, when you walk in obedience to your leaders, you’re opening the doors for God to exalt you! When God sees what is done in secret, He will reward you. He will exalt you!
What is powerful about fasting is that as you fast, you’re humbling yourself before God! You’re saying: God use me again! God fill me up again! God bless me again!
Keep Fasting and Your Father that sees what is done in secret and will reward you !
God bless you