21 Day fast

INTRO

If you have a Bible this morning please turn to Hosea chapter 6. We will get there eventually and we will also be studying this text for the next three weeks so you will get to know it really well! Well if you are new to living rock church or new to the idea of fasting this is a great Sunday to be attending because every January for the past three years we have taken this time in the beginning of the year to set apart 21 days to fast. To seek the Lord. To say no to something for a season so that we can eagerly seek the Lord. If you are new to this idea of fasting or are unsure what it even looks like to fast I want to give you about a 5-10 minute review/ideas of ways you could fast during this season if you are unsure of what you want to do. Then we will get to the first verse of our text today.

But before anything else, let’s pause and pray and ask for the Lord to have his way in this time.

Prayer

FASTING in the Bible

I won’t give you every situation that fasting happened in the Bible but I think it is important to define what was happening when the people of God fasted. So the definition that we see when we read throughout the Bible about fasting is,

The Hebrew word for fast means “to cover one’s mouth.” Or “to afflict oneself”

The Israelites fasted on many different occasions whether it was because God called them to fast, they needed direction on what to do, or out of repentance because of their sin. This was them abstaining from food, covering themselves with sackcloth and even putting ashes on their head to show a full experience that they should return to dust for their wicked ways. Fasting is also seen in the new Testament for preparation where Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights before starting his ministry. Paul, barnabas and the whole church in Antioch were fasting and worshiping when the Holy Spirit gave direction to Paul and Barnabas to set them off on their first missions trip.

So one way to fast during these 21 days is to fast from food. This can look different for everyone because, believe it or not, yes your body can miss a meal and still survive. You can miss 3 days, 7 days, even 21 days with no food and your body would be just fine. However, if you are new to fasting I do not suggest starting with a 21 day fast. I would recommend trying to fast 1 meal each week during these 21 days and when you do that remember it is not a time to just sit and think about food. Maybe you fast dinner on Monday and then you come to our Monday night prayer to seek God intentionally rather than sitting in your kitchen wondering what breakfast is going to be. Remember that fasting is saying no to one thing so you can say yes to God in a more intentional way.

In fact before I give a couple other options for fasting I want to share with you some rewards of fasting.

REWARDS OF FASTING

Increase our dependance on the Lord by reminding ourselves of physical weakness.

This is really the case when it comes to food. When you become weak, start to feel a hunger in you that you didn’t know you had, you turn to the Lord rather than to a snack.

Some other ways to feel this other than fasting from food are if you fast from caffeine, coffee, sweets, or sugary drinks. Instead of being woken up by the caffeine hitting your body there will be a dependance on the Lord where you may feel like you are going to die. But he is the God of the resurrection and can help you. Ultimately, when we are weak, he is strong.

Gives you more time and attention to prayer.

One of the greatest excuses for our generation is that we don’t have enough time. We are too busy. We don’t have time to pray. Don’t have time to read the Bible. But we all know that is not true. And the removal of planing, whether it before one meal, or even a day, of not eating fees up a lot of time. No planning of what is going to be prepped, cooked, eaten, and cleaned up.

Another way to fast to give you more time is Social media, tv, movies, video games, etc. or whatever else may be a time consuming thing to say no to it for 21 days. See what happens when you are not addicted to something and see how God wants to speak to you.

Strengthens your ability to say no to sin.

When you fast there is muscle physically and spiritually that is being built up that I like to call the no, no muscle. Many times, people have simple sins in their lives because they don’t even know that they can say no to these things. When you fast, you are able to beat your body and make it your slave, rather than the other way. It is you being able to have resistance, by the Holy Spirit, to say no to the sin that creeps into your life that seem impossible to get over.

Heightens our spiritual and mental alertness of God and his presence.

When we fast, weather it be from food, social media, sweets, or whatever, and (THIS IS IMPORTANT) you replace that time and that focus with seeking God, I promise you that you will be more aware of God’s presence in your life. Sometimes people feel far from God, and I understand that, but sometimes it is self inflicted because there is no seeking God.

And this is why the the theme of our fasting this year is returning to the Lord. It is a call all throughout scripture because we seem to get off track at times. And there is a need to reevaluate who we are, what we are doing, and ultimately, who are we worshipping.

So let’s turn to Hosea and see what this understanding of Return is and how it implies/impacts our lives today.

SCRIPTURE

English Standard Version Chapter 6

1“Come, let us return to the LORD;

for he has torn us, that he may heal us;

he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

2  After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

3  Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;

his going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Let me give you a little background to Hosea and what was going on with the people of Israel at this time. Hosea is one of those books in the Bible that bears the heart, faithfulness, and depths of God’s love. Hosea is called to be a prophet to the northern kingdom, also called Ephraim, through the book. But they have a wicked king that continues to lead the nation is worship of Baal. Because of this God calls Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman. She is unfaithful to him, but he is faithful to her. This is God showing through the prophet the same relationship he has with Israel, that he married them in covenant faithfulness but they have, through idol worship, have committed adultery. Even though he has stayed faithful and could have divorced them or, even worse, killed them, for their disobedience, he is faithful to them. However, there are consequences for sin and because of their sin they will be lead into exile by Assyria. 200 years later the southern kingdom would be taken into exile by Babylon.

Hosea not only is called to be faithful to an adultness wife, he also is called to be a poet to the northern kingdom and tell them to return to the Lord. Stop following Baal. Stop trying to form political allegiance to Egypt and Assyria, they are not your hope! And here is the kicker in all of this, while they are worshipping baal, while they are committing adultery with the Lord, they are still offering sacrifices in the temple. They are still doing their rituals and worship that they have been told to do but there is no knowledge/intimacy.

So what does the scripture say since they have not returned to the Lord? He strikes them down, and torn them. What does this mean? And is this what God does to us?

This is referencing to the exile that they would be sent into. This is God being faithful to his word where if they obeyed, there would be blessing but if there was disobedience, there would be curses. They are reaping what they had sown.

But what does this look like for us today? Does God do the same thing? Yes and no. When we sow into the flesh we will reap the flesh. If we sow into the Spirit we will reap the spirit. If we follow the Lord, we will get the Lord. If we follow idols, we will receive what they can give us.

So in simplicity we could say,

Returning to the Lord means turning away from idols in our lives.

In every idol there is a false promise of what God can fulfill. You may think that the idol of work will scratch the itch of feeling important. Yet, God is the only one who can give you an identify that fulfills. That idol of comfort and living your best life now can be snatched in a moment. The only comfort that is lasting is the comforted, the Holy Spirit! You may think that idol of the relationship that is so frustrating and if it just worked out it would make your life better, but there is only one relationship that will truly satisfy.

And we know that there is promise here even in the returning to the Lord after us being disobedient adultresses with our heart and faith that God says he will heal us and bind us up. This is the other return that I am trying to point out that and we will explore more of in the next couple weeks. But I need to share this in the notes so you can draw strength from it during the hard parts of your fast. When you want to give in, when your flesh just wants that food, to check that social media, or give into whatever you said not to.

When we return to God He returns to us.

Now before you think this is heretical, I’m not saying God went anywhere. This is God always giving of himself wholey, fully, and without restraint. Hebrews 11 tells us this promise when we see God there is a reward.

English Standard Version Chapter 11

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

What is the reward? A new car? A new house? A bigger paycheck? Maybe, maybe not. But without a doubt the reward is himself. That when we turn to him there is healing, restoration, and a peace that only God can give.

We are privileged to end this service today with the Lord’s supper which is so fitting. The invitation to come, let us return to the Lord is seen even in this meal today. Where we take the bread and the cup and we return to the Lord fully. Surrendering our sin, our lives, our dreams, and following the crucified, resurrected reigning savior.

A couple practicals if you have never taken communion with us at living rock

Be a follower of Jesus

Take time to confess any sin and not take this in an unworthy manner as 1 Corinthians tells us

Come on either side of the tables, pray as a family or friends up front here or go back to your seats.

Pray