Not by bread alone

I have never come to a sermon in such a backwards way. Most of the time as I prepare a sermon, I start with God’s word and the sermon is application of God’s word on our lives.

I had intended to start a series this morning on the sermon on the mount, which will be just that. Here is what Jesus said in that sermon and her is how we should apply that sermon to our lives.

But I’m a little ADD.

Picture this: You are tired, you are stressed out. You’ve been working non-stop, you go to the doctor and you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol. You are worried about bills, and your health, and your friend that is sick. You’re not sleeping, you are irritable and your doctor tells you, you need to take a day off and relax. As a matter of fact, you probably need to do that every week.

You go home and start doing some digging and you find a study from a research hospital that says that people that take one day week for rest and relaxation are happier, have better health and live longer. So you decide to take that day. You sleep in the next morning, get up and make a cup of coffee and decide to start you day off with a short devotion and open up your bible to Mark 2:27 and read:

Mark 2:27 NASB95

27 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

As you have one of those palm to forehead moments, you can just picture God saying, “Well, I’t took you a while, but I’m glad you got there.”

When, not if...

Matthew 6:16–17 NASB95

16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face

Matthew 6:18 NASB95

18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

when, not if...

Fasting is mentioned more than 50 times in the bible. Often it is mentioned with prayer. Prayer and fasting.

And yet, we rarely mention it in church. You will seldom hear a sermon about it.

it is not a give to get scheme. You can’t manipulate God. It isn’t a hunger strike before God.

Fasting: The intentional denial of a physical desire for a spiritual purpose.

Isaiah 58:3–11 NASB95

3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. 4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. 5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord? 6 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? 7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, 10 And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday. 11 “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

Do you want to, “Make your voice heard on high?”

Tony Evans : Old lumberjack young lumberjack.

If prayer is cutting down the tree, fasting is sharpening the ax.

Jordon at the store

I’m reminded of a time when my son was younger. We had started giving him and allowance. He and I had gone to Walmart for something he wanted to spend some of his own money. I had put the groceries on the conveyer belt, and we put the little divider at the end of the groceries, and behind it he put a drink and candy bar or something. As we were standing in front of the shelves with all the gun and candy and junk toys, something caught his eye, and he said ooo dad, I want this… I said sure, if you want to pay for it, you can have it. He put it back.

He was willing to spend my money on it, but it wasn’t important enough to spend his money on it.

Skin in the game.

How often are we like that with God? We want Him to take it seriously. We want Him to move, to answer our prayers. We want to see Him to heal the sick, to save out lost friends, to move mountains. We want Him to take is seriously, but how serious are you taking it.

You ever do this? You ever have someone ask you to pray for them and then you say, “absolutely!” and then you forget until you see them again?

I’m so bad about that, if you ask me to pray for you about something, I will pray about it right then, because if I don’t I’m liable to forget.

If you want to know who your friends are, don’t ask them to pray for you. Ask them to fast and pray for you.

“I’m your friend, but I ain’t giving up my peanut butter.”

But if you decide to fast and pray for someone or something; 1. You won’t forget what you are praying for.; 2. You are demonstrating to your Father that you aren’t just willing to spend His money, but you are willing to spend your own.

I never told Jordon this, but had he said that he still wanted that thing even with his own money, I was going to pay for it anyway.

Beloved, that’s how much I love my son. God loves you much more than that.

Fasting in the Bible

There are dozens of examples in the Bible of people fasting:

Moses fasted 40 days on behalf of Israel’s sin: Deuteronomy 9:9, 18, 25-29; 10:10

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David fasted and mourned the death of Saul: 2 Samuel 1:12.

David fasted and mourned the death of Abner: 2 Samuel 3:35.

David fasted and for his child: 2 Samuel 12:16.

Elijah fasted 40 days after fleeing from Jezebel: 1 Kings 19:7-18.

Ahab fasted and humbled himself before God: 1 Kings 21:27-29.

Darius fasted in concern for Daniel: Daniel 6:18-24.

Daniel fasted on behalf of Judah's sin while reading Jeremiah’s prophecy: Daniel 9:1-19.

Daniel fasted regarding a mysterious vision from God: Daniel 10:3-13.

Esther fasted on behalf of her people: Esther 4:13-16.

Ezra fasted and wept for the sins of the returning remnant: Ezra 10:6-17.

Nehemiah fasted and mourned over the broken walls of Jerusalem: Nehemiah 1:4-2:10.

The people of Ninevah fasted after hearing the message of Jonah: Jonah 3.

New Testament Fasting

Anna fasted for the redemption of Jerusalem through the coming Messiah: Luke 2:37.

Jesus fasted 40 days before his temptation and the beginning of his ministry: Matthew 4:1-11.

The disciples of John the Baptist fasted: Matthew 9:14-15.

The elders in Antioch fasted before sending off Paul and Barnabas: Acts 13:1-5.

Acts 13:2–3 NASB95

2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Paul fasted three days after his Damascus Road encounter: Acts 9:9.

Fasting was a regular part of worship and prayer

Remember the parable Jesus told about the Pharisee and the tax collector going in to pray.

Tax collector was humble and the tax collector was proud.

Tax collector went away justified.

The Pharisee said to God, “I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.”

Jesus was rebuking his arrogance, not his actions. He wasn’t rebuking that he fasted, no more than he was rebuking that he paid his tithe.

Jesus rebuked his motives, while recognizing that fasting was a regular part of worship just like paying tithes is a regular part of worship.

So why aren’t we fasting?

We are in pandemic, churches have been closed, we have been separated from each other. Christians have been arrested for attending service. A church in Mississippi was burned down. The First Pentecostal Church in Holly Springs MS that refused to shut down was burned to the ground an a message read, “I’ll bet you stay home now.”

Not is the time for fasting and prayer.

We were made to fast.

I told you that I backed into this sermon.

Friend is doing an eating plan that includes intermittent fasting. He talked about how he felt better and lost some weight.

I started to look into it from a health perspective.

When you eat, you body breaks down fats and carb into glycogen and stores it in the blood and liver. (refrigerator) . When you have too much food in the fridge, your body uses insulin to move the food from the liver to your fat cells for later use (freezer).

When you fast, your body takes food our of the freezer and puts it back into the fridge for you to eat when you need it.

That’s just the tip of the ice-burg

"Everyone has a physician inside him or her; we just have to help it in its work.  The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.  Our food should be our medicine.  Our medicine should be our food.  But to eat when you are sick is to feed your sickness."                                                - Hippocrates

Fasting is not only spiritually beneficial, it is physically beneficial.

You ever notice when animal are sick, they instinctually stop eating. You may notice what when you are physically sick, or burdened, you lose your appetite.

12 hrs without food: Ketones are produced that take food from the fat cells to provide energy to your body.

18-24 hrs Autophagy: Your body starts to removed unnecessary and damaged cells. Cells break down viruses, bacteria and damaged components.

Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells, according to Priya Khorana, PhD, in nutrition education from Columbia University.

Human growth hormone goes up.

metabolism goes up

mental clarity increases

Insulin resistance is reduced

Less inflammation in the body

Blood pressure, tyglicerides and cholesterol levels improve.

May prevent neurodegenerative disorders,

promotes fat loss

may delay aging and increase longevity

may aid in cancer prevention and increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

Fasting doesn’t replace the gospel

Calling for a fast Monday June 1st.

HOW You can fast.

14:10

16:8

18:6

20:4

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other

Fasting is not a magic pill.

Put differently, fasting directs our hunger toward God. It clears the mind and body of earthly attention and draws us closer to God. So, as we gain spiritual clarity of thought while fasting, it allows us to hear God's voice more clearly. Fasting also demonstrates a profound need of God's help and guidance through complete dependence on him.