Call to Fast
The Call to Fast • Sermon • Submitted
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Call to Fast
Call to Fast
Reason for this message today is OPC is in the midst of a transition, you’ve selected a Pastor search team and they covet your prayers as they listen to the guidance of the Holy Sprit in searching for the next Pastor.
This is the reason for this message this morning. Satan has been trying to distract me this week from preaching this message, but he will not win!!
There are times when we deny ourselves in the natural in order to press in spiritually. Fasting removes distractions and gives our spirit man strength so that we can make a purer connection with the Lord.
Jesus fasted before He began His public ministry.
Luke 4:1-4
1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,
2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”
5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please.
7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”
8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off!
10 For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
11 And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ”
12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region.
What is Fasting? Baker encyclopedia of the Bible
-Eating sparingly or abstaining from food altogether, either from necessity or desire.
-In medical terms, fasting is the detoxification of the body through the restriction of food.
Spiritual fasting entails setting aside activities as well as reducing the intake of food and replacing these activities with the exercise of prayer and preoccupation with spiritual concerns. The NT word which is translated “fasting” literally means one who has not eaten, one who is empty.
Fasting is the most powerful spiritual discipline of all the Christian disciplines. Through fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit can transform your life.
The Benefits / Reasons to Fasting
There are things that God desires to happen in our lives that will not happen unless we fast. Fasting breaks strongholds, liberates people, and moves us into a realm of realizing God’s power in our lives.
1.Fasting During Transitions
12 They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the Lord’s army and the nation of Israel, because they had died by the sword that day.
Saul, the King of Israel and his Jonathan had just died. David, had been long been called and anointed as king, but not installed as king. It was now time for him to take the throne, so David called a fast during this time of transition.
2. Fasting Prepares Us for New Seasons of Life
Moses Fasted, Jesus Fasted and reminded His followers to fast, “when you fast,: not if you fast, Paul fasted before the start of his missionary journey. It was an expected discipline.
Fasting and prayer can restore the loss of the "first love" for your Lord and result in a more intimate relationship with Christ.
Fasting is a biblical way to truly humble yourself in the sight of God (; ). King David said, “I humble myself through fasting.”
3. Fasting Gives US Greater Awareness of God’s Presence
There is a unique spiritual sensitivity that comes through prayer and fasting. Fasting has a way of quieting our heart. Fasting helps us to hear from the Lord. If you are struggling to discern God’s voice, one of the best things you can do is fast!
Example of old school TV when flipping through channels. The white noise is the world, the distractions around us, as we fast the white noise begins to go away and you begin hearing the Spirit clearly.
4. Fasting helps us Discern God’s Will and Breaks Satan’s Grip - It is Spiritual Warfare
Daniel 10
1 In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) had another vision. He understood that the vision concerned events certain to happen in the future—times of war and great hardship.
2 When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks.
3 All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.
4 On April 23, as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River,
5 I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist.
6 His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people.
7 Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide.
8 So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision. My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak.
9 Then I heard the man speak, and when I heard the sound of his voice, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground.
10 Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees.
11 And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling.
12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.
13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.
14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”
15 While he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground, unable to say a word.
16 Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, “I am filled with anguish because of the vision I have seen, my lord, and I am very weak.
17 How can someone like me, your servant, talk to you, my lord? My strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe.”
18 Then the one who looked like a man touched me again, and I felt my strength returning.
19 “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!” As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, “Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”
20 He replied, “Do you know why I have come? Soon I must return to fight against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, and after that the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece will come.
21 Meanwhile, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one helps me against these spirit princes except Michael, your spirit prince.
Notice Daniel fasted 21 days and it appeared nothing had happened, but notice that the first day of the fast the answer was on its way. Daniel didn’t see or hear anything for 24 days, but God heard him and the answer was on its way from the very first day.
The angel told Daniel that he had been fighting with this principality for 21 days and was help by Michael the chief angel. There had been a struggle in the spirit realm. Paul said we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities.
When we fast and pray in spiritual warfare, we wrestle with the enemy. Prayer isn’t just communion with God it’s also confrontation with the devil.
Prayer and Fasting isn’t starving yourself until you get what you want from God.
Prayer and Fasting is more about aligning ourselves with God’s will and promises. We we fast we weaken our flesh and strengthen our spirit.
Fasting is simply denying our flesh so that our spirit man can feast on God.
https://www.cru.org/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/fasting.html
Time of Consecration & Prayer with Hymn #589
We dedicate our gifts to you, O God.
Help us to use them to glorify you; to be vessels of your work in this world.
We dedicate these pledges to you, O God.
Guide our leaders as the prepare us financially for the upcoming year.
Use us, O God, to do your work in this world.
Encourage us to see that we are al ministers called into the Body of Christ. use us in our service.
We pray over these gifts, blessing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Hymn#375 Jesus Shall Reign
Prayers of the People
#513 Thank you Lord
Charge:
Philiippians
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.