WHAT IS FASTING?
Fasting is going without food/drink/sleep/sex etc to focus on spiriutal growth. Basically, we humbly deny something of the flesh to GLORIFY God, enhance our spirit and go deeper in our prayer life. Fasting magnifies God, and belittles everything else.
Fasting involves replacing the time you would be eating (or going on facebook, or listening to your ipod, or whatever it is your fasting) with prayer and seeking God.
Biblically, fasting is from FOOD.
Matthew 7:7 - ask and you shall receieve. Knock and the door shall be opened. Seek and you shall find.
Fasting IS seeking. Fasting IS knocking.
Fasting is SEEKING GOD'S FACE MORE FULLY.
When we deliberately set aside a meal/food etc we are showing God we want to seek Him.
Jeremiah 29:12 "Search for me wholeheartedly and you will find me. I will be found by you". God promises us that wewill find Him if we seek him WHOLEheartedly - not halfheartedly! We want to go after Him with ALL our heart! Fasting is a physical, outward declaration that we are seeking God - an expression of what is within our heart!'
FASTING IS EMPTING
You're emptying your body of food, entertainment etc - you're emptying your soul of soulish things, your life of distractions, your stomach of food - you're saying to God "empty me of my sin". When God looks for vessels to use, He looks for empty vessels, not vessels that are full of their own thing.
FASTING IS TASTING
"Taste and see that the Lord is good" Psalm 34:8
Sometimes we're in place where we can't "taste" God and eat from the banquet He's prepared for us. You can't enjoy the meal God has for you - or IS for you - because you've scalded your tongue and burnt your taste buds! Fasting RESTORES, bring back, enhances our spiritual taste buds. We enjoy Jesus more because we can taste Him better!
FASTING IS WAITING
We've talked about how "waiting on the Lord" is an ACTION word. Whatever it is we are waiting for - provision, His presence, direction, etc - waiting is not a passive or resting word. You've got to be active in your wating, as you wait for God to give you your destiny; show you your calling; your gifts; how He is going to use you...you have to pursue your destiny in Him by waiting upon Him ACTIVELY.
Is 30:18 "Blessed are those who wait upon Him"
Sometimes it feels like God is taking FOREVER to answer our prayers. Have you considered that He is preparing TWICE as much for you and so He is waiting twice as long? He has His reasons - Carrot came up with the cool analogy that God could quickly mould you a nice-looking pot and give it to you, but if you let God take His time with it, He could mould you the most beautiful, intricate, lovely pot WAY better then the other one which would make you SO glad you waited! Yes, God takes His time with some things! Why? Well...why did He choose to make the world over 6 days? He is God - He could have zapped it up straight up - perhaps He is teaching us to take time with things, and to stop and smell the roses after and say "it is good!".
So He His soveriegn reasons for no answering prayer straight up - fasting and praying can reveal them to us.
FASTING IS RESTING
Hebrews 4 speaks of "a rest unto God's people". Read it, before you read this. Fasting is slowing everything down so we enter God's rest. (Time does slow down when you fast - you will notice that. distractions like food and entertainment seem to speed life up a whole deal!) He says "come to me all who are weary and burdened and you will find REST for your souls".
I personally get get frantic and manic tryingto geteverything done and make stuff happen and get caught up in the daily grind of it all. And before i know it - the days and weeks slip away and time just races! There aren't enough hours in the day! But I've found that i can get twice as much done by seeking God in prayer and fasting - seeking Him FIRST - and all that other stuff that I'm caught up in gets taken care of!
"Seek first the kingdom of God and all else shall be added unto you".
If we seek Him FIRST he will take care of all the other stuff - whatever that looks like.
He has a place of rest prepared for us, and calls us to COME and rest in Him. Fasting is COMING. It's being active, declaring in the PHYSICAL that you want change in the SPIRITUAL.
THAT place is where we find rest for our souls,
strength for our weakness,
wisdom for ou foolishness,
courage for our fear...
Sometimes, when our daily lives get clogged with distractions and soulish things, fasting unlocks the gates to this place of rest for us...
FASTING TO KNOW GOD'S WILL
In a certain situatio, in your whole life, or for the upcoming season, or before making a big decision...we want to know GOD'S will and not go by our own will! Yeeks! Unwise!
Fasting to seek God's will/direction is different from praying and petitioning for something we desire. It's acting to strip away all distractions and things that are not God...to find HIS will and not our own.
His will is PERFECT - we don't want or need anything else added or subtracted from that!
You don't just stumble upon the will of God.When you fast and pray, God will give you direction for your life.
He has already planned out an assignment for your life, and He will give birth to that plan as you fast.
It's presenting your whole body - physical and spiritual (we talked about how our body is not just the physical shell, but the spirit and soul also remember) and saying "God, what is your plan and purpose for me?"
There are always new opportunities and assignments from Heaven coming our way and WE DON'T WANT TO MISS THEM!
Chapter 5 of Song of Songs speaks of missed opportunity...
(verse 2) I heard my lover knocking and calling...'open to me, my treasure, my darling, my dove, my perfect one'
(verse 3) She basically responds by saying I can't be stuffed. I'll get dirty. I got my pj's on!"
(verse 6) she goes on to say "I pulled back the bolt, i opened to my lover, but he was gone. I searched for him but could not find him anywhere"
This story speaks of missed opportunity - she changed her mind at last minute but she missed her lover! Heaven has a fantastic mission and plan for our life, and our Bridegroom Jesus is knocking at the door and WE DON'T WANT TO MISS ANYTHING! Because everything from Him is heavenly and awesome! Fasting is us opening that door!
I think of when I'm surfing, and a awesome wave comes my way - sometimes I pike out, for fear that I'll go over the falls, stack it, snap my board (yes I am a GIRL surfer, not a dude, and so i actually THINK of consequences when i surf...) and I'll pull back on this AWESOME wave. And there it goes...and so once it's gone - it's gone. I'll never get that wave back - every single wave is unique and different - and yeah, other waves will come - but it won't be the exact same as that wave that i just let go by.
We don't want to miss one single wave of opportunity heaven wants to hand us! We want to stay attuned to God and his plands and purposes for us, His people - and fasting attunes our ears to Him.
LIVING BY THE SPIRIT
Fasting AWAKENS our Spirit-man. As we starve ourselves of soulish things and our Self lays down, our Spirit begins to rise up and take charge instead! We want to feed our spirit, not our soul.
Galatians 5 talks about living by the spirit and not the flesh (soul).
v 16-18 - Paul talks about living by the spirit and not the flesh/soul
v 19-21 - the results of living by the flesh aren't too great
v 22-23 - the results of living by the spirit are awesome
Fasting is v24 - nailing our fleshly desires and natures to the cross and crucifying them there.
FASTING IS A WEAPON OF WARFARE!
Fasting brings breakthrough of stubborn spirits or strongholds over our lives, towns, other's people's lives, etc.
Matt 17:21 "This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" - read the story!!
Fasting puts POWER behind our prayer.
Some prayers can ONLY be answered through fasting.
Satan hates fasting - he knows it releases God's power.
Ecc 4 "a three fold cord is not easily broken". the 3 folds to this cord is: praying, giving and fasting.
Praying, fasting, and giving TOGETHER maximizes the release of God's power in our lives.
Jesus knew that some of the benefits and power of fasting cannot be released otherwise - that's why he fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. The devl tried to cause Jesus to focus on desire for food rather than the purposes of the Father.
Fasting is a lost art in Christianity. It should be a regularly part of the normal, everyday life of the Christian. But the devil KNOWS the power of it and has placed much warfare around it I think.
But Jesus CALL us too. He says WHEN you fast (Matt 6:17), WHEN you give, WHEN you pray - NOT IF!!! Fasting was always intended to be a dominant part of our lives.
God wants to pour out supernatural blessings on our lives always, but some will never be released unless we seek Him in fasting and prayer!
FEW TIPS AND THOUGHTS ON FASTING...
Like prayer, it's a lifestyle, not a once-only event. We do it regularly.
During time of fasting, it's important to set aside time to worship and seek God. We don't have to be religious and regimented with it, but it's good to be intentional.
Focus on His Word - get fed with Soul Food instead of physical food. His word, his heavenly downloads, His presence - is WAY better then real food (coming from the girl who feeds 9 times a day........)
Our spiritual eyes get sharper as we read the word and fast at the same time.
It was during my 40 day fast that I was read scriptures I had read a thousand times over, but suddenly they seemed to have new meaning and revelation - like I said, you read them with sharper eyes if you are fasting as you read the word.
As we read His word while we fast, there is actually room in our souls for His Heavenly downloads!
Write out a Holy Spirt Hit List - a list of people you want specifically to be saved or special burdens or spiritual objective you want to conquor through your fast.
Write it down - there's power in writing it down, recording it - scripture itself literally means "It is written".
Write it down so you can run with it (Habakkuk 2).
People you want breakthrough for.
Things you want breakthrough for.
Friends/family you want to see saved.
There is never the "perfect time" to fast. There will always be a holiday, a lunch, a birthday, an event - something that creates a bump in your road. You just have to ask God, set a time, a commit to it. He will honour your commitment and reward your resilience. Don't talk yourself out of it because theres hurdles in the road that will make fasting harder. Praise Jesus for the opportunity of sacrifice!
Remember, fasting without praying is merely DIETING or STARVING yourself. Not cool!
Don't become legalistic/religious - God isn't displease with us when we don't fast
Dont become prideful - do it privately (see what Jesus teaches on fasting in Matt. 6:16-18). God rewards openly what is done in private remember...
Daniel received his visions and visitations from the angel of the Lord on His fast (check out the book of Daniel)
Esther caused victory for her people, the Jews, by calling them to fast and pray for 3 days
Smith Wigglesworth received the baptism of the Holy Spirit after spending 2 years in the spiritual wilderness when he fasted for 10 days - he also received the gift of preaching and tongues
JohnWesley fasted twice weekly from sun up to sun down
Charles Finney went 3 days without food every time he felt spiritual diminuationat his meetings
Remember it doesn't just have to be food! Something your flesh is addicted too...maybe it's junk food. For me, coffee is one God has called me to fast numerous times. Maybe it's your ipod. Maybe it's facebook. Maybe it's texting! Ahhh funny how in Jesus' day none of those things existed and now we think we can't live without em.....
Love you!
P.s. everyone who attended this specific Soul Food committed fasting on behalf of one specific person they want to see saved. We wrote our a Holy Spirit Hit List so if you want to join in on our fast and prayer, please do!
Anyway, see you on Tuesday @ Eastgate Church 5.30pm-7pm! Love Niks!
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