'WHEN YOU FAST"
“WHEN YOU FAST”
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday Evening Service
May 17, 2010
FASTING IS INTENSIFIED PRAYER
6:16-18: “When you fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Verily I say to you. They have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face. That you appear not to men to fast, but to your Father which is in secret; and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.”
Fast means to cover over the mouth, not eating; to abstain from food. It is not abstaining from water.
There are different kinds of fasts:
- For Vanity – NO!!!!!
- A Personal Fast – done because of a Bible principle of example.
- Proclaimed Fast – Calling the church to fasting and prayer – Joel 1: 13-14: “Gird yourselves, and lament, you priests; howl you ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God; for the meat offering and the drink offering is withheld from the house of your God. Sanctify you a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry to the Lord. (2:12) Also now, says the Lord, turn you even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God.”
- Purposed Fast – This is a Fast called by the Lord which could be for an individual or the whole church. (Isa. 58:6) “Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and unacceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to do the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
- Prophets Fast – Do not initiate this exceptional fast unless you know it is the will of God! No food or water, a supernatural sustaining by the Presence of God as in the case of:
(c) Jesus 40 days (Mt. 4:2; Lk. 4:2)
Fasting is taught by example in the Bible:
- David (11 Sam. 12; Ps. 35: 13; 109:24)
- Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra (8:21-24; 10:6; Neh. 1:4)
- Esther and Daniel (Esther 4: Daniel 9 – 21 days)
- The nation
- The early church (Acts. 13: 2-3) “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” (14:23): “And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.”
6. Paul (Acts. 9:9 (11 Cor. 11:27) “In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”
The purpose of fasting is twofold:
- It is a God-given means of breaking the power of the flesh (body), rendering it submissive and mastered. (Gal. 5:17) “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would.”
- It is good for our natural health: house-cleaning for all the toxins, wastes, and poisons; will produce healing.
Fasting can have the wrong motivation. (1 Ki. 21:4) “And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezrelite had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.”
Luke 18:9-12: Jesus spoke this parable to certain which trusted in them that they were righteous, and despised others. “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You, that I am not as other men are, extortionist, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes to heave, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.”
The proper motivation for fasting is for the benefit of others. It is not for self-promotion or our own interests per se. (James 4:2-3) “You lust, and have not; you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consumer it upon your lusts.”
We seek through the crucifixion of the self-realm to become acquainted with the fullness of the mind and purpose and person of God. (Eph. 5:17) “Be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
We should fast when directed by the Sprit of God. (Luke 4: 1-2) “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from
We should fast when we know as individuals that we need to. Or when the church as a whole is called to fast for a special occasion.
In Genesis 3 when Adam and Even ate of the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the heavens closed when the hand is put forth for food. The heavens will open when the hand is withdrawn from food during a fast!
- Accompanied by prayer (Daniel 9:3)
- Accompanied by confession of sin (1 Sam. 7:6)
- Accompanied by humiliation (Dan. 9; Neh. 9:1-2)
- Accompanied by the reading of the Word of God (Jer. 36:6)
- Habitual (Anna, Cornelius, Paul)
- Can be prolonged (Daniel, Moses, Elijah, Jesus – There is no set length.
- a hold endeavor (Joe. 1:14)
- Unto the Lord (Zech. 7:5)
- a mark of discipleship (Matt. 9:14-15)
- Requires sacrifice and discipline (“Give:” of 1 Cor. 7:5)
There are many benefits to fasting:
- Fasting Intensifies Prayer (Is. 61:3) “To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.”
2. Fasting brings answers (Dan. 9; Acts 9: 9-15; 12: 1-4)
3. Fasting brings deliverance and victory (11 Chr. 20; Esth. 4; Mt. 17: 14-21) “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, why could not we cast him out? (A lunatic and sore vexed) And Jesus said to them. “Because of your unbelief; for verily I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard see, you shall say to this mountain, Remove here to yonder place; and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible to you. However this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting.”
4. Fasting Precipitates the Latter Rain (Joel 1:14; 2:13; 15 with “after this” of 2: 25-28)
5. Fasting bring the dunamis of God (Luke 4: 1-4 with verse 14)
Fasting is learned by doing. Enter with positive faith. Pray to receive the full benefits of fasting. Read and study the word. Enter a fast when you are up and not down. Avoid boasting. Be pure in motives.
We should not be surprised if initial fasting is misery to the flesh. Weakness, headache, or backache may be experienced. It is good for “well-meaning” friends to understand that starvation won’t set in for 30-40 days! Physical discomforts are a sure sign that we need to fast and “clean” the house. Hunger and eating is a habit and can even be an addiction.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V., Text from The Sermon on the Mount by: Dr. Kelley Varner