We Must Commit to Fasting and Praying
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Good morning, CHURCH!
Everyone please greet your neighbor.
To our online viewers welcome to FFM where we L.G.L.P.
If you want to follow along with me, my notes are available on the FFM app. (Scan the QR code)
Are you ready to be equipped?
Let me see your sword!
To bring in the New Year, we’re going to take communion as a community.
(At home grab some bread/crackers and a cup of something to rep. the blood of Christ.)
(Let everyone get ready.)
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 ESV
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
You ever wonder why he broke the bread?
His body would later be broken for us. So, when we break this bread think about the beating he took for us.
Let’s pray. (Take the bread, break it and eat it.)
1 Corinthians 11:25-26 ESV
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
This cup that we are getting ready to drink represents the new covenant that was established by the blood that was shed from his body. (Jer. 31:31-34)
Not the old covenant that was made when he led them out of the land of Egypt.
:33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer does he only communicate with the Priest, Prophets and Kings.
He is with us and in us.
Let’s pray. (Drink from the cup.)
We ended the year 2024 talking about the commitment necessary to follow the Lord.
And if I plan on continuing on this track for the next few Sundays.
I hope you’re committed to being here.
So, the Lord hijacked my original plan for the service today.
And I believe He wants me to talk about a commitment to fasting and praying.
Today’s message title is:
We Must Commit to Fasting and Praying
I’ve never heard a follower of Christ say that we don’t need to pray.
pause
So, my focus today will be on fasting.
And since we are smack dab in the middle of a three week fast It’s perfect timing.
Let me start with total transparency.
I started this fast just like I do almost every year.
Knowing I need to fast but:
Let me be honest with you. (I really don’t like to fast.)
*I’m not trying to lose weight.
*I’m not trying to miss playoff football games.
*I’m not trying to avoid coming together with my wife.
*I’m not trying to stop watching “The Last Kingdom,” or “Lioness series.”
*I’m not trying to miss the new movies coming out at the beginning of the year. (Den of Thieves Two)
But about 3 or 4 days into this fast, Holy Spirit arrested me!
He showed me that my flesh was more in control than I thought it was.
Yeah, not to the point of practicing sin.
But to the point of overindulging into whatever I want to do that I don’t think is sinful.
News Flash!!
If you can’t tell your body NO, you’re not in charge, IT is.
And let me hit you believers with this:
Your body doesn’t belong to you anymore!
If you want to own your own body, take responsibility for living a sinless life and earning your own way to eternity with the father.
(You can’t do that huh. I didn’t think so.)
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
(I know you think you’re your own.)
(Reminds me of teenagers who think they’re grown.)
Before we get to verse 20.
What is Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit trying to get us to see?
The Temple was the most sacred dwelling place of God’s presence.
(The presence that would cause men to drop dead if they were not correct.)
So, now take that Holy presence of God and transfer some of it into your temple. (That should rock you.)
(I’m not my own.)
:20 for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.
Take a moment to think about how much you cost him?
(This metaphor would have hit home back when it was written because they were more familiar with the whole system of slaves and the ransom payment.)
In 1 Peter 1:18-19 it tells us that when God decided to pay for you he didn’t start handing out silver and gold.
He spilt out the blood of Jesus to pay your debt.
That price is what we call the gospel.
The great exchange.
If you’re creator, Yahweh, paid for your life with his son, that makes you now, his property.
How can we so casually just do anything with this body that houses the Most Holy God?
And tell me how the church in America can look so much like a culture that doesn’t follow God?
I understand why the world does what they do. They don’t belong to God.
But we are the church, we should be different.
We are the property of God. (We’re slaves to Christ.)
And if you’re not his slave, when you die, you’re going to wish you were his slave.
Let me move on.
The text in :20 concluded by saying, “So, glorify God in your body.”
There is no way in this current version of America, that we can glorify God in our body if we don’t fast.
*Too many temptations.
*Too many luxuries.
*Too many channels to watch.
*Too many apps to scroll on.
*Too many sites to visit in secret.
Let’s talk about a commitment to fasting.
I went through every passage in the old and new Testaments that talked about fasting.
The scriptures display a vast number of reasons to fast.
In the Old Testament:
- Fasting as a sign of repentance. (1 Sam. 7, Joel 2, Jonah 3)
- Fasting in mourning or grief. (2 Sam. 1, Neh. 1, Esther 4)
- Fasting for deliverance or guidance. (Ezra 8, Judges 20 2 Chr. 20)
- Fasting as part of worship. (Lev. 16, Ps. 35, Daniel 9)
In the New Testament:
- Fasting as a spiritual discipline. (Matt. 6, Luke 2, Acts 13)
- Fasting during trials or decisions. (Matt. 4, Acts 14,)
- Fasting and repentance. (Luke 18, Mark 2)
- Fasting for deliverance and power. (Matt. 17, Mark 9)
There were also things like National fasts in the book of Esther.
Fasting and humility in Isaiah 58.
Warnings about improper fasting in Jeremiah 14.
The condemning of self-righteous fasting in Luke 18.
You got all that. (If not, you can go back and watch the recording.)
Since I don’t have time to share details about all of that with you.
How about I start with Jesus himself and what his position on fasting and praying is.
Jesus addresses fasting in several passages of Scripture, giving us insights into its purpose, practice, and spiritual significance.
His teachings emphasize the heart and intent behind fasting rather than mere ritualistic adherence.
(If your heart isn’t in it, you’re just on a behavior restriction and 3 week diet.)
Those of you that don’t fast:
It’s kind of like the whole baptism discussion.
If Jesus was baptized, which he was, and said that we should be baptized, which he did, then what are we talking about.
Jesus himself fasted!
Matthew 4:1-4 ESV
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
After fasting 40 days and nights he was hungry.
We get hungry and want to stop fasting after 4 hours.
We turn of social media and the TV for a few hours and we stop fasting.
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
If you haven’t fasted and prayed, how you gonna be able to resist the tempter when he comes for you?
That’s why we give in to so many temptations so frequently.
What a powerful statement from the mouth of Jesus when the tempter came at him.
“We don’t live by food alone but by every word from God’s mouth.”
-A non follower can live on food alone.
-But if we try to live on food alone, we will die spiritually.
-And if we try to live on mostly food and a little bit of God’s word, we’ll be spiritually malnourished.
I think it’s important to mention why Jesus fasted.
He was about to go public with his ministry of healing and miracles bringing much attention to himself as the Messiah.
This lets us know that in Jesus’ humanity he realized his need and reliance on the Father.
He realized the necessity to prepare for spiritual trials. (He had to get built up.)
*We’re about to hit this city with the great commission. And the Devil ain’t gone like it, but we gone be prayed up and live a life of fasting.
I want to mention fasting being a private act of worship.
Matthew 6:16-18 ESV
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Before we address the privacy of fasting.
Did you notice that both verse 16 and 17 started with the phrases, when you fast.
(Not if you fast, not you should fast, not why wouldn’t you fast but when you fast.)
That’s one of the biggest duhh’s in the Bible.
He went on to teach that we shouldn’t try to make it look like we’re fasting or broadcast that we’re fasting to be seen by others.
- This will be my last post for 21 days because I’m going into a time of fasting.
- “Are you watching the game?” “No, I’m fasting for three weeks.”
Either you’ll be rewarded by God or by the people you tell.
Jesus also mentioned fasting as a time of sorrow as well as a response to spiritual need.
Matthew 9:14-15 ESV
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
The disciples would fast and mourn when Jesus is gone from them.
Fasting is appropriate for mourning.
Isn’t it usually the case when someone loses a loved one, they don’t want to eat.
Yet everyone wants to make them eat.
Everybody brings food.
Jesus let us know that fasting was needed for spiritual power.
Matthew 17:18-21 ESV
And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” 21 But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.
Some manuscripts omit this last verse in Matthew 17.
But when you look at Mark 9 and other manuscripts it’s clear the principle aligns with the broader scriptural connection between fasting, prayer and spiritual empowerment.
In closing, If, fasting was necessary for Jesus, it’s necessary for you.
If you’re watching online or here in the room, I have a very important question to ask you.
What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?