Sermon Tone Analysis

Part 1 | Fasting

Praying

Fasting Defined

Fasting

Fasting Defined

Fasting is not merely going without food for a period of time; that’s dieting.

Fasting is not merely going without food for a period of time; that’s dieting.

Fasting is not something done only by fanatics or in other words, a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious of political cause.

Fasting is not something done by religious monks alone in a cave somewhere.

Fasting is not limited to ministers or to special occasions.

Biblical fasting is refraining from food for a spiritual purpose.

Fasting has always been a normal part of a relationship with God.

As express by the impassioned plea of David in , fasting brings one into a deeper , more intimate and powerful relationship with the Lord

>>> My prayer is that as we study about this particular discipline, you begin to develop a hunger for fasting

Fasting is a secret source of power that is overlooked by many

>>> My prayer is that as we study about this particular discipline, you begin to develop a hunger for fasting

Fasting happens to be a secret source of power that is overlooked by many

In , Jesus provided the pattern by which each of us is to live as a child of God.

That pattern address 3 specific duties of believer: Giving, Praying, and Fasting

Giving, Praying, and Fasting

Giving to the Needy

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer

6:9–13pp—Lk 11:2–4

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, s

but deliver us from the evil one.’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Fasting

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.

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer

6:9–13pp—Lk 11:2–4

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, s

but deliver us from the evil one.’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Fasting

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.

Jesus said, “When you give...” and “When you pray...” and “When you fast.”

He made it clear that fasting, like giving and praying, was normal part of Christian life.

As much attention should be given to fasting as is given to giving and to praying.

When giving, praying, and fasting are practiced together in the life of a believer, it creates a type of threefold cord that is not easily broken.

Could we be missing our greatest breakthroughs because we fail to fast?

Sowing

If we look at the parable of the sower at , : .

8 Still other seed fell on good soil.

It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Look at it this way: when we pray, you can release that thirtyfold return, but when both prayer and giving are part of your life, I that releases the sixtyfold blessing.

But when all three - giving, praying, fasting - are apart of your life, that hundredfold return can be released.

The New International Version.

(2011).

().

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New King James Version.

(1982).

().

Nashville: Thomas Nelson.