So we're going to talk about prayer and fasting. We like to encourage everyone to pray and fast to start out the new year.
It is a good time just to reboot spiritually, to grow spiritually, to move forward spiritually, to see what God has for us and what he's wanting to do.
So the last week of December there, right before open heavens, a few days in December, a few days in January,
we're encouraging prayer and fasting that week. If you want to meet here Monday, Tuesday, and Friday and Saturday, that's fine.
If you don't, that's fine too, but set some time aside to pray and fast that week.
And again, it doesn't have to be, you know, sometimes we get this all or nothing thing.
And it's like, well, I'm either going to fast all week or I'm not going to do it at all. Fast a meal. Fast a day.
It's not any more scripturally, it's not any more spiritual to fast three days than it is to fast one meal.
When Jesus was at the well with the woman, he was fasting a meal, as far as we know. It was meal time.
And apparently they expected him to eat, which means he probably had eaten earlier in the day.
And now all of a sudden he's saying, I'm not hungry, I'm not eating, I've got bread that I don't need physical food.
So it's, it's find a way to do some prayer and some fasting. And it's not a flesh thing that you got to be a hero.
Well, I did this great wonderful thing. Well, then that was all about you anyway.
Make it about God and do some prayer and some fasting. But most Christians don't like to pray and fast.
I won't even ask for a show of hands of how many have prayed and fasted this last year at all.
Because we might all get discouraged. Most Christians don't like to fast.
We don't, a lot of times we don't understand it. We don't understand what it's for.
We don't really want to understand it. We don't really want to know what it does because we don't like doing it.
Just be honest. The flesh does not like to fast. It will scream and yell at you.
If you ever want to hear the voice of your flesh just fast, after about a day it starts speaking up.
But after about two or three days, all that, I'm going to die. I'm going to...
All those thoughts, that's your flesh speaking to you.
You'll learn to understand and hear its voice very clearly.
But fasting is actually a love issue.
Of course, if everything's fulfilled in love, then it has to be a love issue.
But fasting is actually a love issue.
And scripturally speaking, for us as Christians, fasting should come naturally.
Even though it requires discipline, because the flesh doesn't want to go there.
But as Christians, it should come naturally.
A healthy well spirit will pull us toward fasting.
It will pull us that direction.
And if it's not happening to us, well, it doesn't mean we're going to hell, but it is something to be concerned about.
And once I'm done explaining it this morning, that should make sense to you, hopefully, what I'm talking about.
But as born again believers, our love for Jesus should draw us to fast from time to time.
So Lord, I pray our hearts and our minds open to hear and see what this is about.
It's not a job that we have to do to be good Christians.
It's not something that is a spiritual exercise that we have to do in order to stay part of the church.
This is a relationship thing between you and us.
And I pray in Jesus' name that by your spirit you convince us of that this morning as we talk about this.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
So the big question is why pray and fast?
The reference I'm going to give you here is found in these two verses also.
But Matthew gives a unique perspective on this that the other two writers did not include.
Matthew says it this way.
Then the disciples of John came to Jesus inquiring, why is it that we in the Pharisees fast often
that is abstained from food and drink as a regular religious exercise?
But your disciples do not fast.
So what's the deal? Why do we have to do this and your disciples don't?
Jesus said, can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast.
Now if you go to the other two gospels it will say can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is still with them?
Matthew picked up on something different on the word Jesus used there for fasting.
So he put it right in his gospel.
Mourning and fasting are equated as equal here.
Can people mourn the bridegroom when he's right here?
The days will come he's gone then they will mourn or then they will fast.
Mourning and fasting are equated as equal there in that verse.
The word mourn means to grieve, to mourn, to sorrow.
Do you ever get homesick for heaven?
Towards like, man I could just leave this place. I just want to go home.
I've had as much of this place as I want.
Do you ever long and crave to be in the presence of God?
You just long for it. You just crave it. You are so hungry. You're so desperate.
You want that intimacy. You want that closeness.
Paul said I consider everything garbage except knowing him.
It's his whole goal. Does your heart ever burn to know him?
I just want to know him. I want to understand him.
I want to be like him. Does it ever rise up inside of you?
Him. It's all about him. Here's one that's interesting.
Do you ever find yourself grieving and apologizing to him for failing him?
I am so sorry I messed that up.
I am so sorry that I am not what you have paid for me to be.
Because news flash none of us measure up to what he bought and paid for.
We fail him daily. Daily.
Does it ever rise up inside of you like my God? I feel so bad. I feel so bad.
But it goes back to that little phrase. God, you know I tried.
But I missed it. I messed it up. Does that ever rise up inside of us?
Because see, that's love language. That's love language.
If you're dating someone newly married, those kind of things that I just listed should just rise up inside of you.
It's a sign of a good relationship. Honey, when you're getting home, I'm waiting for you. I want to be with you.
That's a sign of a good relationship. You know what a sign of a bad relationship is?
I hope she don't come home too soon because I don't want to hear the griping.
You got a problem in your relationship. I long to just be with you.
That's a sign of a good relationship. And it's not words. It's a longing that comes out of us.
I want to just be with you. I want to be in your presence. And I'm so sorry for the things that I'm messing up.
I'm so sorry. Sign of a bad relationship is rather than saying I'm so sorry for the things I messed up.
Sign of a bad relationship is, well, if you would, yeah, you got a great marriage.
If you would do this and you would stop doing that, I bet you're a real gem to live with.
See, mourning for the presence of the bridegroom is love language.
We don't long for more when we have it all. He says, how can they mourn? I'm right here.
How can they mourn and long for more of me? I'm right here.
But the day's coming, I won't be right here. Then they're going to mourn.
Then they're going to mourn. The day's coming, they will get so homesick, they won't be hungry.
They'll blow through a meal and it's like, I'm just not hungry. I'm just looking for the day Jesus comes back, fixes this, makes this right, changes things.
See, that's what fasting flows out of from Jesus perspective.
I've got a song here I want the guys to play just first verse in the chorus. And you can cue that up.
And I picked this particular version of it. There's a number of versions out there.
But I picked this particular one because when you listen to it, you can hear the spirit of this man crying out
for his master, for his Lord. The others, it's like, well, they're singing it and it sounds nice, they're singing it nice.
This guy, it's like, man, I'm pulling, I'm needing you, I'm wanting you. Just go ahead and play it.
Ten o'clock last night I was going over some of this stuff. I hadn't had that song in mind yet.
It popped in my mind so I listened to it. And I thought, wow, that fits really well. That's probably God.
And I asked this question. I said, so what is the point of that song? And the Holy Spirit said, that's a love song.
That's a love song. I thought, really? I said, show me. And he gave me a vision.
He said, put it in this light. He said, and the vision he gave me was a young woman probably in her 20s, early 30s.
She was in bed with two or three small children. And I immediately knew she's a military spouse.
And he's gone. He might be gone for six months. He might be gone for a year.
And the kids are sleeping. And she's holding them. And she's crying. I miss you so bad. Please come home.
I need you. Please come home. I can't do this alone. Put that thought in your mind. Replay that.
This is a love song to Jesus. On the physical level, your body hates it.
Your body grieves. It can't eat its chocolate cake or its ice cream.
After you fast a week or two, the things you don't even really like to eat, you begin to fantasize about.
Like, oh man, to have some broccoli or some Brussels sprouts just soaked in butter.
Your physical body mourns when you fast. On the emotional level, eating is a very emotional thing.
It can cause us to overeat. It can cause us to eat the wrong things. It can cause us to spend too much at a restaurant.
Why do you think they put pictures on that menu?
It's to make you go, ah, that looks so good. That's an emotional. They're grabbing you.
What about the spiritual level? Do you remember the excitement and the awe and the intensity you had
when you just got saved or as a new believer those first weeks and months, sometimes even a year or two?
The desire to know him, this new thing that had opened up to you, the freedom, the life, the excitement, the whole thing.
Do you ever long for that again? Do you ever long for that first love? And I've heard people say, I've heard ministers say,
well, when love matures, it loses that. That's garbage. When the flesh gets bored, it loses that.
But true love is a longing and a thirsting and a hunger after the other person.
It says that the Father God pants or breathes after us. He longs for us. He longs for that relationship.
But spiritually, this world is such a wretched, such a miserable, such a corrupt, such an ungodly place
that that stuff tries to get on us and pull us in. Man, you can't, you can't hang out with ungodly people
for a whole day, whether it be at work or whatever, and go home and feel spiritually alive.
You feel kind of like yuck God on you. It tries to cool us down towards God. Make us lukewarm. Make us cold.
It's continually try to harden us, harden our heart. Continually try to get us to shrink back.
Like Pastor Igor was praying, we're not shrinking back. This world, this world system tries to get us to shrink back,
which goes perfectly with what Jesus gave further in that scripture. Could you, there we go, we're back.
This is Jesus going on and explaining. No one puts a piece of cloth that has not been shrunk on an old garment.
For such a patch, tears away from the garment and a worse rent or tears made.
Verse 17, neither is new wine put into old wineskins, for if it is, the skins burst and are torn in pieces
and the wine is spilled and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, so both are preserved.
You know what's really interesting about those two verses? One verse he's talking about shrinking and becoming smaller.
Old garments shrunk. They get brittle, they get hard, which causes them to shrink down.
Are we bigger spiritually today or are we shrunk down from what we used to be?
Are we still as hot or hotter after the things of God?
Or have we shrunk down?
The shrinking down is part of letting this world system get down on us and in us.
And what he's saying is if you're shrunk down, if you're spiritually struggling,
example, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Okay, now that word there is spoken word. That's Reema. That's not logos.
When it says, give us this day our daily bread, Jesus said, pray that.
And then later he said, by the way, you can't live on physical bread alone.
You have to have the spoken word of God.
Reema word.
Not just reading the Bible, but it has to come to life.
The Holy Spirit needs to speak to you.
Or you're going to start starving and dying.
When's the last time God spoke to you?
Does he speak to you daily?
Or are we shrinking down?
Living way below what he has for us.
He says, well, I can't take something brand new and put it on a person who shriveled up spiritually.
I'll destroy him.
I'll just rip their life apart.
So on verse 16 he's talking about shrinking.
On verse 17 he's talking about expanding.
Just the opposite. Neither is new wine put in old wineskins.
That's a shrunk down, hardened up person.
For it if it is, the skin bursts and tears it into pieces.
Same concept as verse 16.
But the wine is spilled and the wine is spilled, skins are ruined.
But new wine is put into fresh wineskins so both are preserved.
So for God to move in our life, he has to take that old shrunken cloth.
He has to take that old dried up wine skin and put life back into it. Renew it.
So that not only can we go back to the original size,
he wants to pour in new wine that stretches us.
Makes us fat.
Do you know what the word anoint means?
To be made fat.
And we're not talking physically, we're talking spiritually.
The word anoint means to make someone fat.
Put that into that verse.
He wants to pour an anointing into us that will enlarge us.
New wineskin.
So what's he saying?
They asked him about fasting.
He said they can't fast while I'm with them.
I'll leave, then they'll fast.
When they fast, this is what's going to happen.
So what is he saying?
What is Jesus' point on fasting?
The things that he does in us when we fast,
number one, verse 16,
he will fix and patch what is broken and make it pliable again.
He'll stop the shrinking.
Not by giving us a bunch of rules, it comes out of the heart.
I used to be hot after God.
What did that look like for you?
Everybody looks a little different.
What did it look like for you?
Well, I did this or I did that.
I was so excited to get to church.
I love to get in the Word and pray every morning.
And I haven't done that for years.
You're all shrunk up.
You know what he's going to do?
Through fasting, he's going to take that dried up thing
and put life back into it
so the desire comes back to you
to do what you did at first.
Remember that's what he told the church had lost their first love.
He said, return and do the things you did at first.
I need you to return to your first love.
He's going to take that shrunken, shriveled thing
that has reduced our spiritual world
smaller and smaller and smaller.
Our spiritual life less and less and less.
And see, that is what he's talking about
when he talks about the Laodicean church.
How they thought they were doing so good
because they were measuring everything in the physical realm.
I got a nice house. I got a nice business.
We got money. We can take vacations.
And he says, you don't realize you're dying.
You're wretched, poor, miserable. You're dying
because we're measuring things physically.
He wants us to measure things spiritually.
And then the physical flows out of that.
Shrunking down. What causes that?
Wrong beliefs. Disappointments.
Letdowns. Religion.
Praying for something and it doesn't happen
so you let your faith die.
Bad experiences.
Lost hope.
What makes a marriage bad?
Same stuff.
Same stuff I just listed.
Traditions.
Traditions can shrink us up spiritually.
Our willful sin. Our seared conscience.
Fasting works to change that.
And then it goes beyond that to revitalize us.
Soften us.
There is that one. I should have put it ahead sooner.
There are the kind of things I was just talking about.
Things that cause shrunken and shriveled.
Our spiritual world gets smaller and smaller.
We become less flexible.
We become inflexible, unchangeable.
Bless God, we know how this is supposed to be.
It's all signs of you got shrunken cloth.
It's gotten hard.
Fasting works to revitalize that.
Verse 17, the wine skin
soften, renew what has become old, what's become hard,
what's become inflexible, what's become brittle.
Remember early in the relationship,
honey, what would you like to do?
Well, I don't know.
And you'd work back and forth, figure it out.
You watch these people have been married 30, 40 years.
I wouldn't want to live with them either.
Sitting in a restaurant.
Well, I'm going to go to the car. I'm done.
Well, I'm not done yet.
Well, you come out when you're ready.
And he gets up and he walks out.
You feel like walking over, grabbing him by the back of the neck,
dragging him back, sitting him down and said,
you got to learn what it means to be a husband.
This selfish thing you're living in right now,
this ain't being a husband.
You got no care for her whatsoever.
They're coming across the parking lot in ice.
And she's going like this.
And he's just walking over here.
You shrunken up, shriveled.
There's no marriage left.
God wants to revitalize that, soften that,
that old brittle, hard heart.
That inflexibility in us.
He wants to soften it up, make it flexible again.
Otherwise, when he pours in the power of the spirit
and things begin to move in the spirit realm,
it'll rip us apart in our thinking, in our thoughts,
in our beliefs.
There's a lot of people who don't like the moving in the spirit
because they're afraid of it.
You know what that is? That's a hard heart.
Well, I don't want it to get weird.
Well, you're already weird because you're resisting God.
God says we should lift our hands and praise Him.
When's the last time you did that?
When's the last time during a praise and worship service
you got down in your knees and you lifted your hands
and you honored God.
Those are kneeling is a way of worship.
Lifting hands is a way of worship.
And speaking is another Hebrew word for a way of worship.
When's the last time you did that?
Some of us has been months or years.
But we think we're okay spiritually.
And the heart longing.
The love.
The relationship is dried up like an old prune.
You say, well, how do I fix it? You fast.
Because much of the problem is in the flesh.
And it needs to be put under.
It needs to be controlled.
We're weak in faith, fear of man,
unaccepting of new. We're just rigid.
We're unchangeable. We're skeptical.
And all those sins that we've lived with all these years,
our heart is so calloused over. It doesn't even bother us anymore.
To begin with, it's like, you know, it bothers me when I...
I got to work on this, but we just kept doing it.
After a while, it's like we think,
well, maybe God must have got good with it
because I'm not even bothered anymore
when I keep doing that same old thing.
No, you know what the difference is?
Your heart calloused over so hard, there's no feeling left.
It's not God saying, okay, I realize you're struggling with this area.
I'm good with it. I won't bother you about it anymore.
No, you're so hard, so rigid, so inflexible,
the searing of your conscience,
you can't feel the conviction anymore.
Yes.
How do you fix that? Fasting.
Fasting.
Prayer and fasting.
Let's look at the Old Testament, what he talked about there.
Why have we fasted, they say, and you do not see it?
Well, they were all upset because they're complaining
because they're fasting and God's not paying any attention.
Why have we afflicted ourselves and you take no knowledge of it?
Now, you got to cut these people's slack because they weren't even saved.
You know, salvation hadn't been bought and paid for yet.
They're just plain old, fleshly corrupt beings trying to do what God tells them to do.
So sometimes when I listen to, you know,
well, God, it's like a little kid saying,
I took out the garbage, where's my reward?
It's like, well, yeah, they weren't even saved.
But let's go on, God's going to give them some advice.
Behold, O Israel, on the day of your fast,
when you should be grieving for your sins.
See, that goes back to that phrase I said,
when's the last time you said, oh God, I'm so sorry for failing you?
I'm so sorry.
Grieving for your sins.
Because news, newsflash,
we all sinned yesterday.
Probably some of us today already.
You find profit in your business,
instead of stopping all work as the law implies you should do,
you extort your hired servants the full amount of labor.
So you're fasting, but you're not changing anything
and how you're conducting your life
and what you're doing is wrong.
Verse 4, the facts are that you fast only for strife and debate
and to smite with the fists and wickedness.
So in other words, how you live when you're not fasting
to when you are fasting, no difference.
Fasting as you do today will not cause your voice to be heard on high.
Huh, well that's interesting.
Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen?
A day for a man to humble himself with sorrow to his soul?
Is true fasting merely mechanical?
I love that, the way they amplified put that phrase in
because that brings out what Jesus said,
the days coming they will mourn.
Mourning is not mechanical, mourning is a cry of the heart.
Is it only to bow his head like a bullrush
and spread sackcloth and ashes under him
to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have?
I'm going to do all the actions like I'm mourning
but I really don't care.
Will you call this a fast and acceptable day for the Lord?
Verse 6, rather is this not the fast I have chosen?
Now read this with the knowledge that Jesus gave us.
Fasting is to change us.
Remember, we just read that.
Is this not the kind of fast I've chosen to loose the bonds of wickedness?
In who? In us.
To undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free
and that you break every enslaving yoke.
Where does that happen? In us.
When we change, our world changes.
He's starting with us.
If you read the Old Testament first and then go to what Jesus said
and don't understand, Jesus said,
fasting is to do something in you, the cloth, the wine skin.
Fasting is to change you.
If you read this without that knowledge,
I believe that's where we get the thing of,
well I'm going to fast and force other people to be free.
I'm going to fast for my husband and he will have to be set free.
If your husband will fast, he'll be set free.
We can't force it on him because according to Jesus,
fasting does the work in us, not them.
So kind of keep that in mind.
Verse 7, is it not to divide your bread with the hungry, bring homeless,
pour into your house when you see the naked,
that you cover him or that you hide not yourself from the needs of your own flesh and blood.
Okay, so now I've even preached this and I can't say it's totally wrong
but I'm leaning against it now.
I've heard it, I've even mentioned it or preached it that
different ways to fast.
Dividing your bread with the hungry
and bringing the homeless, pour into your house.
That's a way to fast.
Cover them when you see them naked.
Give them clothes, that's a way to fast.
And that you hide not yourself from the needs of your own flesh and blood.
Take care of your children, take care of your family.
It's a way of fasting.
Well, if you read the Old Testament first,
then it sounds like these are all different ways of fasting
except for the fact the word fast means to abstain from food.
But if you read Jesus first
and say when we fast it changes us,
when we're changed
then we're willing to divide our bread with the hungry
where before we probably weren't.
Fasting changed that.
We're willing to do something for the homeless.
Where before all we would do is criticize them.
They just get out there and get a job and blah blah blah blah blah.
Fasting will change it to we're actually willing to do something.
We're willing to give clothes.
We're willing to do something to make sure our family is taken care of.
Fasting changes us which changes how we live.
Fasting changes us which changes how we live.
Next verse.
Behold, O Israel, on the day of your fast
when you should be grieving for your sins
you find profit in your business.
We read this already.
Instead of stopping all your work
you just go on as normal
but you're just going without a meal
and you're looking like you're doing the right thing
and it's not coming out of your heart.
He said this is the fast I've chosen
which we read that already.
Verse 6 and 7.
Divide your bread for the hungry and so forth.
Fasting is not a mechanical rote we do
to earn credit or a star with God.
Well, I'm going to fast
and then God has to do things in my life.
It's not the motive for fasting according to Jesus.
The motive for fasting is I want more of him.
That's the motive.
Otherwise, you know what we're doing?
We're messing with grace.
Well, I'm going to fast for three days
then you watch God move.
What are you telling me?
You earned it now?
Now you're good enough because you fasted?
Do you know why things change after we fast?
Because we changed.
We changed.
All of a sudden those areas that were hindering us
God goes in there and he starts ripping them apart
and ripping them out.
And pretty soon we have the ability
to operate in the spiritual things
that we didn't have before we fasted.
And we think it was our physical effort
that made it happen.
Where in reality it wasn't.
It was the change that God did in us
while we were fasting
that broke the yoke, opened the bondages
and let the spirit begin to flow.
There's a huge difference.
And I'm getting over a little run
the flu had at me in the cough
so I don't want to bark at you.
So I'll put it in my cheek
so that you don't think it's snuff.
Fasting changes us
to be a different person.
You say, well, how do you know that for a fact?
Why should I go through the hassle of it?
It's hard. I know it's hard.
It'll change us.
That's why we need to do it.
What will it do in me?
Well, I'll show you what it will do in us,
but that actually is not the best question.
Fasting should be coming from
I need more of God. I need wisdom.
I need God to help me.
I want intimacy with God.
Why are you not speaking to me anymore?
Why does the word,
why does praise and worship,
why do these things not excite me anymore?
Why am I so critical?
Why am I so judgmental?
I need more of God.
That's the motive for fasting.
You're mourning over the loss
of what you should have.
Religion says, oh, you're fine.
You're fine.
How long have you been living for the Lord?
40 years? Yeah, you're doing great.
Everybody's crusty and crabby
after 40 years of living for God.
You're fine.
That's why we don't even entertain fasting.
We don't even entertain mourning
for what we should have.
God, what's wrong with me?
I don't even cross our lips.
Because we think we're fine.
Because religion, tradition,
the standards that were set,
say we're fine.
But yet if you'll really stop
and take a look inward,
we're not where we should be,
and we know we're not where we should be.
And then Christians will say,
well, I know I'm not where I should be.
Why aren't you?
I mean, just stop and think about that statement.
Well, I know I'm not what I should be.
And what are you doing about it?
You think God's happy with us when we say,
God, I know I'm not doing what you want me to do,
but it's the way it is, I guess.
Get over it.
That's basically what we're saying.
Could you do better as a Christian?
Oh, absolutely. I could do things.
But why aren't you doing it better then?
Because you're living tradition and religion,
not relationship.
You're living like that bad marriage.
Honey, I thought we paid this bill off already.
Why is it overdue?
Give me that.
Mind your own business.
I'll take care of that.
Oh, you're just a gem to be married to.
Krabby crossed the old.
Ever crossed your mind to say,
honey, I'm sorry I forgot that.
I got busy and I overlooked it.
I'm sorry. I'll take care of it.
I'm sorry, honey.
I would never apologize to her.
That's your problem.
That's your problem.
Your heart is so hard.
Fasting will change us from being ungodly
to being more godly.
The supernatural things that are supposed to be flowing
in our life will begin happening.
Our hard heart will soften like the cloth.
Like the wine skin.
Will be made new.
Reading on.
You say, what's it going to do for me?
Then shall your light break forth
like in the morning.
You know why some people are spiritually weak?
How can you tell if you're spiritually weak?
When you pray, nothing happens.
You're probably starving
because you haven't been in the Word for months.
Why read my verse for the day?
Okay, well let's put that into the physical.
Here's your piece of broccoli for the day.
You don't need any more than that.
If you get hungry, it's on you.
Here's your french fry for the day.
How long would we last
and we'd be starving to death?
Well I read my verse for the day.
I'm not talking just about the logos word.
I'm talking about you're in the word enough
that the Holy Spirit actually begins to speak to you.
Man does not live by bread alone
but by every word that is spoken.
Reema, the Holy Spirit speaking to us.
You know why a lot of times for Christians
our life has no effect on people around us.
Our light is not breaking forth on anybody.
We refuse to fast.
We refuse to change.
And fasting would change us.
Your healing in your restoration
and the power of your new life
shall spring forth speedily.
Well I don't know, I've prayed and I've asked
and I've done things to get healed
and I'm still not healed.
Have you fasted?
You know I'm not going into this part
but there's a ton of information online
how that fasting heals people.
Physically.
Nothing to do with God.
It just doesn't work in us.
I had a friend who was dying of liver disease.
He had diabetes and numerous things.
And the doctor told him, he said,
I'm giving you six months to live.
He said, well he was overweight
and his body was just a mess.
And he went home and he thought,
I ain't going to do that.
He wanted this whole pile of medicines.
He said, I ain't going to do that.
So he started searching online
and he discovered some doctors telling him
you can reverse all that with fasting.
He went on a 72-day fast.
He fasted for 72 days.
He went back to the doctor.
He said, check everything again.
Everything was gone.
Diabetes was gone.
His liver had no signs of a problem whatsoever.
The bodily totally restored itself
through fasting.
Which makes perfect sense.
He said, you're healing.
You're restoration. You're no life.
We'll spring forward if you fast.
Sometimes we don't get healed
because we're just plain don't fast.
Your righteousness,
rightness, justice,
right relationship with God
shall go before you.
Peace and prosperity.
These things come by fasting.
And the glory of the Lord
shall be your rear guard.
We many times live our life
out of the protection of God
because we haven't fasted in years.
Fasting produces our rear guard.
Nothing's going to sneak up on me
and get me.
I'm protected by God.
Why?
Because I'm fasting.
Then you will call
and the Lord will answer.
Oh, pastor.
Does that mean that
he'd actually answer some of my prayers?
I don't know. Try it.
You might be surprised.
Try some fasting.
Well, it doesn't seem like
he answers some of my prayers.
Certain areas he doesn't answer.
Try fasting.
God, I need you
to work in my life
in this area.
I pray and it seems like
nothing happens.
Let that rise up
in a grief and in a mourning
of God.
I know it's bought and paid for.
Your word says so.
I need it.
Then you shall call
and the Lord will answer.
You shall cry
and he shall say,
here I am.
Well, I can't hear his voice.
Try fasting.
Because then you shall cry
and he shall say,
here I am.
Oh, you're going to hear him.
Ooh.
If you take away
from your midst
the yoke of oppression.
In other words,
quit living so ungodly.
Verse 10.
And if you pour out that which
you sustain your own life
for the hungry and satisfy
the need of the afflicted.
In other words, let fasting
change how you live.
Then your light will rise
in darkness.
Your obscurity and gloom
will become like the noon day.
Now you will begin to affect
the world for God.
And the Lord shall guide
you continually,
led by the spirit,
and satisfy you
and drought,
and in dry places,
you're going to be drought proof.
We don't know where the
economy is going.
Well, then you should start fasting
because fasting will make you
drought proof.
And your bones
will be strong.
There's a lot of our health
comes out of our bones.
The bone marrow.
And you shall be like a water garden,
a spring of water
whose waters fail not.
Well, I just feel dry
and empty. Start fasting.
Go to God
and say go for the right reason.
God, you're the vine.
I'm the branch.
This thing should be flowing through me and it's not.
I need you to fix that.
And start fasting.
And your ancient ruins
shall be rebuilt.
This is all generational stuff
that's kind of go through your family.
And your ancient rules shall be rebuilt
and you shall raise up foundation
of buildings that have laid waste
for many generations.
And you shall be called repair of the breach,
restore of the streets to dwell in.
Get me changed
and now I can change
what's happening in my lineage.
Why fast? Because it changes us.
And the supernatural begins
changing around us
because it begins flowing
through us differently.
Our theme
for the open heavens this year
was that we put out to all the speakers is this.
As the last
day's church
living in the layer to see an age
what do you
see them as the speaker? What do you see
the church in America is needing right now?
What does the Lord emphasizing
needs to be done
in the church
right now?
One of the things, if I were going to answer
the question, one of the things that rises
up in me
is
most of the American
Christians
and I can throw myself into this too
we want what Jesus can
do for us
but we don't necessarily
want Jesus.
We want him to heal us. We want him to
provide for us. We want him to give us wisdom.
We want him to do
supernatural things in our life. We want him
to fix our marriage. We want him to take care
of our children. We want him. We want him. We want
him.
What if he wouldn't do any
of this stuff for us?
Would you still want him?
Do we want
him just because of what he does?
Or do we want him
because of who he is?
Do you know what I just described
to you? First love.
What are some of the characteristics of that
first love?
Love is blind.
It is. It really is.
When you're growing and learning
to love somebody
you will trust them
with all your heart
with all your life
with all your mind
with all your strength. Trust in the Lord
with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
Proverbs 3.5
You'll trust them.
Now in the human sense that can go
bad because others are looking in going
what in the world are they?
Love's got to be blind man. This woman
is a problem and he just trusts
her.
Well the point is this
to return to our first love
we have to return to that blind trust
when we're continually
questioning Jesus
why did you do this? Why is this happening in life?
God, what are you doing? What are you doing?
You've lost your first love
because you're actually trying to take the blame
and put it on him
like a bad marriage
there is not once
he ever has or ever will
fail us
quit questioning
and distrusting him
that's a loss of first love
first love, people who are in that first love
they are looking forward to the future
with excitement and anticipation
it's why they get up in the morning
it's why they don't go to bed at night
they'll spend hours
with this person
because life is going to be so great together
that's a quality of first love
don't tell me, I know we were younger then
but don't tell me that
you weren't tired sometimes
when she said could you come over
and spend some time with me
and you're going
I just put in a 12-hour day
I'll be right there
because you had to? No, actually you wanted to
no
now at the end of the day
the Lord taps us on the shoulder
and says could you spend a little time with me before you go to bed
do you have any idea what you're asking me to do?
I'm exhausted
I'll talk to you tomorrow
that's not a sign of first love
first love is
yeah, I'm tired
but I'm there
I'll do it for you
there's many characteristics of first love
that are acted out
that's why he told
the church
return back to your first love
and do the things you did at first
just close your eyes
and let this question sink in
are we as hot after God as we used to be?
if not, we've grown lukewarm
are we as passionate
about the things of God
as we used to be
if not, we've grown lukewarm
maybe even cold
does our heart
and spirit light up
and burn within us
when we get into the presence of God
like it used to
do we go out of our way
to please him
do we go out of our way
to get in a position where we hear his voice
see, these are all things of first love
and if we've experienced them
but lost them
then we've
backslid, we've gone back into lukewarmness
maybe even coldness
that's when things in our Christian life
quit working
you say, why would he stop doing things for me
and threw me and in me
because if he takes a new piece of cloth
and tries to apply it
to your temple
it's going to rip everything apart
because your temple has become hard
and rigid and shrunken down
he wants to
through fasting in large
you soften up the wine
skin again so it can stretch
so it can grow
and this isn't a physical
Bicycle mechanical fasting. This is a God I am needing more of you.
I am desperate for more of you.
I had a lady in Colorado tell me this. She said, Pastor, when it comes to noon, I'm going to get up and I'm going to walk out.
Every time you go past noon, I'm going to get up and I'm going to walk out.
I said, why? Because I don't see any reason why we should stay there any longer.
She ended up in divorce, ended up having physical ailments and problems,
ended up losing good relationship with most of her family.
You know why that was? You say, Pastor, would if she not had that happen, had she stayed in church after 12?
No, I can't guarantee that. But you know what? That stubborn, I'm going to get up and leave and do my own thing,
is why everything went to trash in her life.
That woman needed to pray and fast and get a new heart.
A heart that was willing to serve, a heart that was willing to love, a heart that was willing to pour in,
not just boss around. She was really good at bossing and barking out orders.
But she didn't know how to serve very well. She didn't know how to pour into somebody in love.
And one little indicator was, Pastor, when 12 o'clock comes, I'm going out that door.
I'm just making a statement to you to let you know.
Well, that's years and years ago now.
I bet the whole farm she does not connect her attitude with,
I will not do anything beyond what I think I should do to the wreckage that followed her in her life.
I bet she doesn't connect those two at all.
She doesn't understand why the wreckage followed her life the way it did.
Looking in from the outside, I can say that was a heart problem.
She had a hard, calloused, seared, conscious heart.
She needed to do some fasting and let God change her.
Because if she would have been changed, what followed her in life would have changed.
There's the whole reason for fasting. The whole reason.
God wants to pour so much through us in life.
But when we don't even mourn for his presence, we don't even long for intimacy with him.
We don't even miss him. We can go all week long.
And nothing rises up inside of us that says,
Man, I would just love to get in the presence of Jesus right now.
I miss it. I'm longing for it.
We can go week after week and it's like it doesn't matter to us.
That's that shrunken garment, hard, inflexible.
That's that wine skin that has shriveled up and has no movement left.
You say, well, what do I do if I can't, if I don't really want to fast?
Then go to him and say, God, I'm so bad off.
I don't even really want to do this.
But I'm going to start mechanically and I'm asking you to change my heart enough
that I even want to, that it begins pulling on me
that something inside of me says, I just want to please him.
I want to be closer to him. I want to draw into his presence.
I want him to be satisfied with me, to know me, to understand me,
to see me, to work in me. I want that.
Then just go and say, God, I know I should,
but I could really give a rip about this whole prayer and fasting thing.
I could care less.
But I know I should. It's just an indication.
I'm that bad off. I'm that cold. I'm that hard.
I'm that shriveled up, that shrunken.
I'm asking you, as I mechanically step out and do this,
change my heart.
Change my heart. Change who I am.
And he will, and the desire will come, the longing will come.
So I want us just to end this service very simply.
This is between you and God.
I can't lay hands on you and change your heart.
Only God can change your heart.
And before we walk out that door, I want us to take a few minutes.
Some of us need to come to the front.
We need to bow our knee.
Not just physically, but in our heart.
We need to bow our knee and say, God, I submit and I surrender.
You know, the Lord showed me what he wants for the stage platform area in the new building.
And it may look a little bit odd.
I won't try to describe it to you.
But it has a place about this height where people can gum and kneel.
He just showed me a picture of it. It was like a vision.
And I said, why would we want that?
He says, because people need to learn how to bow the knee.
We need to learn how to surrender.
And sometimes the platform or what we call the altar at the front of the church is a good place
to make a physical statement of God.
I'm coming and I'm bowing the knee.
I'm acknowledging you as Almighty God in every area of my life.
And I surrender at all.