“A HEART FOR FASTING”
As we begin this New Year I know in my own heart I feel a sense of urgency, I always do, to examine my heart and to examine my life and to examine how I feel about God. Is He number one in my life? Is He the top priority and goal and dream that I have for the New Year?
I’m going to teach you some brand new material that the Lord has given me on the subject of fasting. Why do we begin every year here at the ministry with a 21 day fast? Simply because it releases God to do the unusual and to do what He will not do until people fast and pray. I am convinced of that. Every year we begin with a 21 day fast because the Bible said, “seek first the kingdom and then things will be added to you.” That’s spiritual, physical, and emotional; in every area I believe the addition comes as we seek the Lord in fasting and prayer at the beginning of the year.
I want to teach you about preparing your heart for this fast. Most people by this time at the beginning of the year are tired of overeating. You’ve eaten cakes, pies, turkey and dressing and everything that you can imagine. And that’s all great and that’s all fine and we should celebrate the season, but now its time to set yourself apart to seek God for His agenda in your life for the New Year.
First of all, I want you to know that there are some things you need to ask yourself before you begin a fast, three specific things. Number one you need to ask yourself, “What are my motives for fasting?” Why are you fasting and is your motive pure? To be very honest, some people do it, especially in a church like we have here, because everybody else is doing it. Well, that’s good and I know that there are fasts that are called and you ought to jump in on those fasts but I really believe that you need to be led by God. I really believe that our motive needs to be looked at. Some people fast to lose weight because they ate too much and their pants are tight at the beginning of the year. So they see it as a good way to lose weight and there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re certainly going to lose weight but that should not be why you’re fasting. The primary goal should not be, “I’m going to lose weight.” If you go into a fast with a frivolous attitude that says, “I’m going to fast chocolate” or something like that, then you won’t get serious results. This is not about losing weight. This is about consecrating ourselves, examining ourselves, seeking God’s face, emptying ourselves and saying, “God I desperately need you.” “I don’t want to do this year without your best released into my life.” Fasting releases God’s best into your life. You can do what you can do, but you can’t do what God can do. Fasting releases God’s best for your family, God’s best for your career, God’s best for your ministry. And so I want you to first of all, examine your motive.
Secondly, you should consider some things before fasting. What results are you looking for? What are the specific needs that you’re fasting for? Always in the Bible when people fasted they did so for specific needs. They didn’t just go on a fast to go on a fast. You should write your needs down. You should pin-point or jot down what I call “a hit list.” Be it fasting for your children, your finances or healing; target those areas with fasting and prayer.
And thirdly, you should ask yourself. “Am I determined on this fast to minister to the Lord?” We always want the Lord to minister to us, but in Acts Chapter 13 the Bible said, “and they ministered unto the Lord.” What thrills me about what we’re doing as we go into this fast is that we are going to minister unto the Lord. For some joining us it will be a partial fast. For some it will be a total fast. Many of us will be fasting the whole 21 days either total fast or partial fast. The bottom line is this: when you fast it’s a time that you minister unto the Lord according to Acts the 13th chapter.
Zechariah 7 verse 5 is a very strange Scripture that explains why you need to be very careful about your motive on a fast. It says, “Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” He is asking, “are you fasting for the things that glorify me or are you fasting for the things that I desire?” “Are you fasting for me or are you fasting to get what you want?” Check your motive as you begin this fast because it’s very important. First Corinthians 10:7 says, “Don’t be as the idolaters who sat and ate and drank and rose up to play and whose bellies are their gods.” Did you know that’s in the Scripture? God said one way that we can become an idolater; a false worshipper is to allow our belly to become our god. So what fasting does is it tears the flesh off of the throne, fasting brings the flesh off of the throne, it dethrones king stomach. First Corinthians 9:27 says, “I bring my body under subjection.” Do you know that as you fast you bring your body under subjection and you get stronger in areas that you’ve been weak? In those areas that you’ve been letting slide such as the lust of the flesh; those areas as you fast, begin to surface and you get stronger in the Lord. The Bible says, “Present your body as a living sacrifice.” There ought to be a time every year when we present our body. I don’t know of any other way we present our physical body to God greater than through fasting. I like what Paul went on to say, “… as a living sacrifice.” Isn’t that powerful? A sacrifice was something they killed and it was given to God forever. Well, I submit to you that when you fast, the meals that you give up, you give to God forever, they’re forever as a memorial before His throne…hallelujah. You can’t ever take back the days that you fasted you can’t ever get back the sacrifice that you made. They become living always before the throne of God. Do you have any living sacrifice? Have you presented your body ever in your Christian walk as a living sacrifice to God? That’s what we’re doing these 21 days.
Every time I fast, I get closer to God… every time. I’ve never gone on a fast whether it’s a one day fast or a three day fast or a 21 day fast, that I didn’t draw closer to God. And the presence of God will become more real to your life. My prayers take on a power edge when I fast. My prayers become empowered. There’s something about prayer and fasting that go together. You need to pray and focus and have seasons of prayer on the fast whether you feel like it or not. Pray, pray, pray because fasting gives fuel to your prayers. It energizes, it activates your prayer life.
I want to give you seven biblical reasons to fast. You may be asking yourself, “Should I fast?” “Why should I fast?” Well there are certain times when the Bible is very clear of when people should fast.
Reason number one, people should fast when they’re in crisis. In the book of Esther the 4th chapter and the 16th verse, Queen Esther says to Mordecai, Haman is going to kill all of the Jews. She tells Mordecai to have all the people fast three days with her so that she would have favor to go into the presence of the king. Do you know one thing that the three day fast will do for you? It will put favor on your life in the time of crisis. When you get in a crisis the Bible is very clear that one of the greatest things that you can do when you feel overwhelmed, when you’re being threatened, when it seems like the enemy’s coming in like a flood, the thing that stops him in his tracks is fasting. It worked for Esther. The attack turned around. You know the story; Haman was hung on the gallows that he meant to destroy Esther and her people with. Are you in a crisis? Are you facing overwhelming odds? Fast, because it brings God on the scene.
In Acts 9:9, Paul fasted three days. He was in a major crisis because he was a Pharisee who had been converted and the Pharisees were looking to kill him. So Paul fasted for three days. I believe that if Paul had not fasted those three days right after his conversion, that he would have been killed by the Pharisees. In their eyes he was a traitor. But fasting brought deliverance in time of crisis. It will work for you, right now.
Reason number two is found in Daniel the 10th chapter the 2nd and 3rd verse. It says, “in those days I, Daniel was mourning three full weeks, (that’s 21 days), I ate no pleasant bread neither came flesh nor wine to my mouth til three whole weeks were fulfilled.” Daniel fasted for three weeks or 21 days. He ate no bread, he ate no meat and he drank no wine. Therefore, when you do the Daniel Fast you are to not eat bread, no meat of any type: fish, chicken, steak, and drink only water.
Why was he fasting? Daniel the 9th chapter 3rd verse, says, “I set my face into the Lord to seek the Lord about the vision.” I want you to notice something here, God had given him a vision. Do you have a vision? Just because God has given you a vision, it doesn’t mean that it will come to pass. It could be a vision about our families, a vision about our ministries, a vision about the call and the purpose of God upon our life. But notice that Daniel went on a 21 day fast to seek the Lord and the angel showed him that he was greatly loved and received understanding about the vision. It’s a powerful thing when you understand that fasting releases revelation and understanding and clarity about the vision God has for your life. Many of you have a vision but you don’t know how to get there. Many of you have a vision but it seems like you’re stuck in the same place. When you fast, miraculously God will release it. I’ve watched God do it in this ministry. There were many times that I didn’t know how to get from one level to the next. I had the vision. One time I had a vision for TV, but we didn’t have money, we didn’t have cameras, we didn’t have any of that. But as you fast He releases divine ideas and insights. He releases understanding; He releases the right people into your life. Fasting releases the understanding of how to accomplish the vision. Without a vision people perish. If you want clarity, if you want to know how to go to the next level in the vision God has given you for the New Year, you need to fast.
The third reason is found in Leviticus 23 and 27. Here it speaks of a one day fast. He said, “also on the tenth of the seventh month then shall there be a day of atonement for you and it shall be a holy convocation and you shall afflict your souls and fast and offer an offering.” Notice what God was saying, He was asking his people to fast for one day for consecration. It’s an annual fast to re-examine our life spiritually. Isn’t that a powerful reason to fast? That’s what we are doing to begin the year. We are fasting to consecrate ourselves and to re-examine our lives spiritually. How am I doing spiritually? You need to ask yourself that. How close am I to you God? How is my heart? Am I being loose? Am I living as consecrated as I used to? Am I reading my Bible? How are you doing spiritually? That’s what this fast ought to do in your life. It’s confirmed in Jeremiah 6:36, “therefore during this day of fasting he said, therefore go and read the scroll of the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord’s house upon the fasting day.” There ought to be fasting days in your life where you just use them to re-examine your life, to re-examine your self spiritually. We’re in the fasting day and we’re going to commit to focus on His Word. When you read the Word and focus on prayer and re-examine yourselves spiritually, God will bless you.
According to book of Matthew the 9th chapter the Pharisees fasted two days a week, and Jesus said, our religion ought to exceed that of the Pharisees. I’m not saying that you have to fast two days a week, but I’m just telling you that it was part of their life. Martin Luther told converts, new converts, to fast at least once a week. Isn’t that something? Once a week he had new converts to fast. Now we have to follow up on them, we have to beg them to come back to church. But Martin Luther taught that if you want to be a Christian, after you get washed in the blood of Jesus and you want some power and some stability in your walk, fast one day a week. I love that, I wished we’d get back to that. What will happen is things will surface in our lives during the fast that have been grieving the Holy Spirit.
In Ezra, 8:23, he said, “so we fasted and besought our God for this and He was entreated of us.” Why did they fast and seek Him? Because God always responds to people who fast.
The fourth reason is found in Judges the 20th chapter. This is one of the most amazing stories. It’s the story of Israel going against the tribe of Benjamin because they had greatly sinned against God. God told Israel and the other tribes to fight the tribe of Benjamin. The Bible said they asked God, “Should we go?” God said, “Yes.” So they go and fight the battle and Israel lost 22,000 men in one battle. It’s amazing to me that God could lead them to a battle and yet they were defeated. God told them to go but instead of victory they had defeat. Some of you are in circumstances that God lead you to; God told you to do it and yet you’re defeated. But go back and read what happened. The Bible says they wept. They wept for 24 hours; they cried. Have you ever cried all day and cried all night? Your heart was so heavy; you were so humiliated by what was going on. Maybe it was a situation with one of your children and you were defeated. Even though you knew God told you to do it, you tried and you failed. The Bible said they went back to God the next day and they said, “God, shall we go?” “Should we go?” “Did we miss you?” “God, what did we do wrong?” And God said. “Go, I’m telling you go fight them.” They went and guess what happened? The next day and they lost 18,000. That’s 40,000 people! God spoke twice, gave them the direction, told them what to do and yet they encountered disaster.