Training Hour: Fasting, Praying, Giving 1

Ecclesiastes 4:12 CSB

12 And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

As Jesus preaches on the Sermon on the Mount, He gives a three-fold cord of living victoriously in this life.

Say, “God wants me to thrive, not survive.”

Jesus gives us the “life hack” of thriving. It is also the duty of every Christian to give, pray, and fast.

READ MATTHEW 6

Jesus says, “WHEN YOU FAST…”

Why We Fast

Matthew 5:6 CSB

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Fasting is a commandment - spiritual discipline; Fasting is spiritual, conquering the flesh

Two questions about fasting:

1. So what is the secret in fasting? Why do we fast? What’s the point and purpose??

2. HOW do I fast? So what is the secret in fasting?

The question usually comes from someone with a desire for deeper intimacy with the Lord and knowledge of God’s perfect will.

“Fasting is the secret to obtaining open doors, miraculous provision, favor, and God’s spoken word and touch.

When God places a dream with in you that only He can make possible, it requires fasting and prayer.

The good or bad in you that you want to come out, will come out only through fasting and prayer.

When you feel growing dry spiritually, or in need of a fresh encounter with God, fasting is the key and secret to unlocking heaven’s door and slamming shut the gates of hell.

God wants you to live victoriously. God wants you to live holy. God wants you to successfully fulfill your purpose in His kingdom.

You see, when you eliminate food from your diet for a number of days, your spirit becomes uncluttered by the things of this world and amazingly sensitive to the things of God.” - Fasting, Jentezen Franklin

In denying the cravings of our flesh, and limiting the powers of King Stomach, our flesh is weakened.

This allows our spirit to take lead. And we know our spirit is born of the Spirit, so our sensitivity and responsiveness to the Holy Spirit is increased as our flesh is weak.

What do do when fasting???

DECIDE what your fasting plan will be. There are several different options to include:

a. Full Fast- Drink only water (you conclude the number of days)

b. Daniel Fast- For 21 days don’t eat any meat, sugar, or breads. Eat only fruits and vegetables and drink only water and 100% fruit juice.

c. Juice Fast- Liquid form of Daniel Fast ;)

d. Partial Fast- You can choose what timeframe you want to fast (Daniel, Juice, or Full Fast). These can be from sun-up to sun- down or a specific time frame, i.e. 7am-7pm. *Commit to one and hold on!

Additional & Encouraged Fasting Options:

a. Social Media fast- Getting Off all social media platforms

b. Media fast- Getting off all media/news platforms

c. “The Big One”- Fasting the one thing you seek out daily (faithfully) that would help your body, mind, and soul come under the submission of Jesus Christ? For example; daily coffee cup, energy drinks, pastry, gum, etc.

JESUS FASTED Luke 6:40

Luke 6:40 CSB

40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

We see at the launch of Jesus’s ministry - after He was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness where He would be tempted by Satan.

Luke 4 talks about how Jesus fasted for 40 days before He was tempted by Satan.

Fasting here was preparation - preparation and consecration for ministry that Jesus would do and that would ultimately lead Him to the Cross.

Fasting here was intercession - for Himself, knowing His flesh at its weakest point would be attacked in the slyest of ways by the liar and deceiver.

And He was successful. And we know that Jesus got away often to be with the Father alone. So we knew the level of intimacy Jesus had with God, and as God, was strong due to His will to override His flesh.

Let’s ask it this way: “If Jesus could have accomplished all that He came to do without fasting, why would He fast? The Son of God fasted because He knew there were supernatural things that could only be released because of fasting. How much more should fasting be a common practice for our lives???” - Fasting, Jentezen Franklin

Luke 6:40 CSB

40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Dethrone King Stomach

Why “King” stomach??? There’s a baseline of the failure of willful obedience in human history.

Genesis 2:8-9 & 16-17

God gave mankind the commandment and rule of exercising personal will. But mankind failed.

Genesis 3:6 CSB

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Sodom and Gomorrah were driven by their flesh - to include (in order) pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness

Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentel stew. And came to despise his birthright…which was essentially to become the patriarch of God’s chosen people - Israel.

The Hebrews, having left Egypt miraculously, crossed the Red Sea and dry ground miraculously, were led through the wilderness miraculously, and were fed daily by food from Heaven miraculously - became bored with their food and complained to God. So God said, fine - Numbers 11:18-20

Numbers 11:18–20 CSB

18 “Tell the people: Consecrate yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you wept in the Lord’s hearing, ‘Who will feed us meat? We were better off in Egypt.’ The Lord will give you meat and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and wept before him, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’ ”

There was so much quail, that it was stacked around them 2.5 ft deep!

Thousands died there and in verse 34 it says the place became known as Kilbroth Hattavah, which means “The Graves of Lusters”… a memorial for those who ate their way out of going to the Promised Land.

There are some promises, some miracles, some doors of opportunity that God has in store for you that simply require you to deny your flesh, dethrone King Stomach, and submit to the Lord.

Fasting is faith-driven, and faith-oriented…it takes to continue in fasting having not yet seen results.

When those hunger pangs kick in, and your body (your flesh) is telling you to have a little something - just a little snack to take the edge off… You have to remind yourself of your promise and decision to fast.

When your coworker decides out of the blue to take you out to eat - you have to remind yourself of your promise and decision to fast.

When you are presented a situation where maybe it would be ‘rude’ to not eat something…you have to remind yourself of your promise and decision to fast.

Somewhere you have realize and exercise God being greater than your circumstances.

At some point, you have to decide that what you need or want from God is more valuable and more necessary than that snack or steak.

You’re going to have to decide to sacrifice some gains in the gym or on the track because you’re weaker from fasting.

You’re going to have to change some daily habits because you’re weaker from fasting.

This is NORMAL.

POSITION FOR SUCCESS

You have to believe by faith that God has positioned you for spiritual success, and the fleshly things around do not matter as much as what He has in store for you.

Faith God is who He says He is and wants for you to have what He has in store for you

Fasting for

-Consecration: the action of making or declaring something (like the year, the marriage, the job, etc.) is sacred, set apart, for God.

Lev 16:29-31

Jeremiah 36:9

Joel 1:14

-Spiritual Discipline over the flesh: training your body to be obedient, and to gain knowledge/intimacy in the Lord.

Matt 4:1-02

1 Cor 7:5

-Intercession: positioning self sacrificially between a person, place, or event and what you’re asking God to do in them.

Esther 4:15

Psalm 35:13-14

Isaiah 58:6-7

Deliverance: interceding specifically for the action of being rescued or set free from something.

Mark 9:29

Isaiah 58:6

-Repentance: acknowledging sin or a heart issue before God, and denying the flesh in pursuit of His presence

Joel 2:12-13

Jonah 3:5-10

-A Word from God: Personal needs / prayer answers / to receive from God

Judges 20:26-27

Dan 10:1-3 (heaviness)

Exodus 34:28

Ezra 8:21 & Isaiah 58

Scripture gives us a word of Caution concerning fasting. Because this is a personal act before God, it is relational to God and He perceives value in it. Therefore we must heed these cautions about fasting before God and behaving certain ways:

Isaiah 58:3-7

Matthew 6 .

What you can expect while fasting:

Fasting is not only beneficial spiritually. There are a number of health benefits to fasting as well.

Physical Benefits:

Allowing your stomach to rest

Increased energy

Mental Clarity

Boost in your immune system - detoxing!

Weight loss

Clearer skin and complexion

Restoring a healthy GI tract.

Potential Side Effects:

Headaches (they will dissipate after a couple of days)

Irritability (lower blood-sugar)

Bad breath (find sugar-free mints)

Feeling cold (add a layer)

Weight loss