Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, I know it's super warm today. I probably shouldn't have reminded you of that, but I don't think you needed a reminder. Feel free to use those finance envelopes on your seat as makeshift fans or Bibles or iPads. Use whatever you can. I promise you we've got every door open, every fan on, and I'm hoping that the new facility will have a little bit more breeze flowing through. I want to talk today about a subject that is so countercultural, but I cannot honestly, as a leader that God has empowered and called to help lead this community of people. I honestly could not avoid this topic if I believe and want each of you to step into your spiritual authority in Christ.
[00:00:53] It's so counterintuitive, though, and I can think of an example that just highlights the incredulity that sometimes people will have about this topic. When I was about 15 years of age, I grew up in a lovely Christian family and a lovely church, and I was one of the musicians. I was a pianist, I was a keyboard player, and there weren't many of us in the church so regularly at a young age, I was playing on Sundays. And there was a period of time when I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me and say, mark, I don't want you to play an instrument for three months.
[00:01:36] My first question was why?
[00:01:40] But I wasn't the only one facing that question, because when I concluded that, I just had to trust that that was God and that he knew the reasons why, that there were other people. I remember there was one Sunday where no other pianist was present in the service. And the pastor looked at me and said, mark, will you jump on the piano? Not physically jump on it. Up and down, will I play the piano? And I said, I'm sorry, I can't. He said, you can, we know. Come on, don't be bashful. I go. No, I don't want to say I can't. He goes, but you can. I can't. And I said, I'll explain to you later.
[00:02:20] But it was a period of time where giving up something because I sensed God call me to lay some things down. It wasn't bad. In fact, I didn't play in sort of heavy metal bands. I didn't play in things that might have been regarded as dubious music in dubious locations. I was playing in a worship band. And yet I felt God asked me to lay it down. Something I was doing for his glory, and yet he asked me to lay it down.
[00:02:51] And today I want to talk about fasting, because there are times and seasons when God calls us as his people. If we want to step into the fullness of what he's got for us, then he asks us to lay things down. And this is so counterintuitive from the way that all of us are schooled in this world, because we live in a world of indulgence. We love to eat until that moment where you think, I couldn't eat another thing. Pull me out of this chair, please.
[00:03:26] Whereas a nation, we drink until they can't find their own way home, when they need to be helped in so much of our business dealings in society that there's a greed that no profit is ever enough, we just keep going. We live in a society of indulgence.
[00:03:47] And in the midst of that indulgence, there are times when God asks us to lay things down. Why? I want to look at that. Why? With you today.
[00:04:00] Now, I know, having said all that about society, that there is a bit of a fashion around intermittent fasting.
[00:04:09] And you can get apps for your phone that help give you some guidelines. That is not a spiritual thing. That is just a health or a diet methodology that is very different to what I'm about to describe to you now, which is spiritual fasting. I believe that God has called every single person in this room and watching online to know who they are in Christ and to know who Christ is in them. And that when that happens. Things change.
[00:04:43] When we know who we are, who Christ has made us to be, when we know who he is in us, that is a formidable partnership. That when you face a trial and a difficulty, your first reaction is not to crumble. Your first reaction is to say, I know who I am. I know who he is. Let's face this together.
[00:05:04] And I believe with all my heart that fasting is like a key and it unlocks the door of not just that knowledge, but that revelation.
[00:05:18] See, knowledge goes into our mind. We can know things about God, but revelation goes into our heart. And sometimes people say the journey from your head to your heart is one of the biggest, the longest, most difficult journeys. And fasting is part of that key that unlocks the pathways by faith from knowledge to revelation. And all of us, I believe, are called to be people of revelation.
[00:05:45] Some quotes about fasting that I picked up. Someone said, fasting is to be practiced in order for God to get a hold of us and for us to get a hold of God.
[00:05:59] Someone else said we fast, that he may clarify our hearts and our minds for the purposes that he has for us. I remember as a young person going away to a youth event and someone asked the question, is the music that I like to listen to acceptable to God? And in those days, there was a lot more debate about secular music and sacred music. And I'm not quite sure what the justification of something being Christian or secular is. Is it the person who wrote it? Is it a heart that they had? Is it the content of the lyrics? Is it who's singing it? Is it? Where it's being sung? I don't know. But the answer that this man gave to this question of this young person, is it wrong to listen to my favorite music? The answer stuck with me to this day. He said, if you're not sure, fast and pray for three days, and at the end of your fast, play the music.
[00:06:59] And if it feels uncomfortable in your spirit, stop listening to it.
[00:07:06] But if you think, yeah, this is fine, this is edifying, this builds me up, I've got no problem with this, it doesn't disturb me, then that's fine as well. You see, because fasting, it declutters. It takes away the things of this world. It blows like a breeze through our lives and our hearts and our minds so that we understand more of what God has for us.
[00:07:30] We fast to seek and to submit to God's will. And I love what someone else said. Fasting is feasting on fellowship with God.
[00:07:43] Some feast on chicken dinners, chicken and rice.
[00:07:49] Some feast on all sorts of delicacies they can put in their mouth. And then there are others who feast on fellowship.
[00:07:59] And I know who's the happiest.
[00:08:02] I know who has the richest life, those who have discovered this key. And they know who God is. So for the next few moments, I want to take you through some practical steps. I want to help us understand what fasting is. I want to help us understand how we fast, why we fast, and so on. So first thing, understanding fasting together.
[00:08:25] Here we go.
[00:08:27] Definition of fasting.
[00:08:30] It is. Fasting is the voluntary abstention. Hear that word? Voluntary, not compulsory.
[00:08:41] If you never ever fasted in your life and you get to heaven, god is not going to say to you, what are you doing here?
[00:08:53] You and I know that we are saved by grace alone.
[00:08:57] We will get to the doors of heaven, the gates of heaven, and we will be ushered in purely on what Jesus has done, not on what we have done.
[00:09:06] That's the call. That's the joy, that's the wonder of our salvation.
[00:09:11] So we're not earning salvation with God here. That's done, that's complete that's. Jesus cried. It is almost no, no, he cried out, it is finished. Death has been defeated. Salvation has been won. You and I can be imputed with the righteousness of Christ because of his work.
[00:09:33] But fasting is a voluntary response, an abstention from food, from drink or certain other pleasures for a specific period of time, usually for spiritual or religious purposes. It's not a form of self punishment. It's not a woe is me, I better fast to try and earn my way back to God. No. If you're tempted to do it for that reason, just have another believer pray with you and help you understand the mercy of God, because his mercy is just a prayer away, not a fast away.
[00:10:06] It's not a form of self punishment. It's not a, oh, I've been a terrible prodigal child, and therefore I'm going to have to earn my way. No, you come by grace alone.
[00:10:18] It is not a hunger strike. It is not you saying, God, I think you're quite begrudging. I think you struggle to bless people, and so I'm going to quit food until you change your mind and do something good for me.
[00:10:34] That's not God. God is loving, compassionate, kind and gracious. He loves to bless. This is not a hunger strike to manipulate God. It's a means of seeking his will.
[00:10:47] It's not a time of earning more from God, but a time of giving more to God in response to his grace upon our life.
[00:10:58] There's a scriptural foundation for fasting, not just a cultural thing in church. Fasting holds a prominent place throughout the Scriptures. We read of various famous names within the Bible that fasted. We read of Moses on Mount Sinai. We read of Daniel Fasting. We read of Jesus 40 days in the wilderness fasting and praying.
[00:11:21] We read in the Book of Acts on this series on just being a church that's like a New Testament church. We read at least three occasions where there was fasting that was referenced in the early church, and it seems to point to a culture that was there. Acts Nine the moment that Saul had an encounter on the road to Damascus with Jesus and he was blinded, and we read he spent three days fasting and praying before Ananias came for his sight to be restored. We read in Acts 13 of this community of believers that were fasting and praying. And we read that in Antioch that there was this moving of the Spirit to set apart Paul and Barnabas for missionary journey, that they got this sense of the Spirit leading because they were a church who fasted and prayed. This wasn't a good idea. This was a Holy Spirit lead. Acts 14 we read of Paul and Barnabas appointing elders in the church, that people were appointed to leadership not because of their talent, but because of the leadership of the Spirit. That's the church I want to be part of. That's the church that I believe God is looking for in the nation, that we don't just put people who have leadership experience in place, but we put people that the Holy Spirit is positioning in places. That's the New Testament Church.
[00:12:52] And we see that within these stories and many others throughout the Bible, that the purpose of Christian fasting was for these following reasons it was a spiritual cleansing.
[00:13:04] Fasting allows us to detox our hearts and our minds. By denying our physical wants and desires and needs. We create a space to focus on our spiritual needs. In doing so, we invite God's presence to cleanse us from within that there's this beautiful intentionality about saying, I am dedicating, I am making sacrifice in order to be closer to Jesus.
[00:13:40] Now it's not a simple and eleazy thing. We'll look at this more in a few moments time. But I found that when I fast and I've tried to create a rhythm, neither and I've got a rhythm. In our lives, we fast most weeks, virtually every week. We have seasons of fasting. And I found that there's one thing you can pretty much be guaranteed of when you fast, you get offered food.
[00:14:09] I've had people say, hey, I've ordered one too many Dominoes. Would you like this?
[00:14:16] And I lean forward and I smell it. Because fasting doesn't deny the smell, does it? The senses.
[00:14:25] It's 50 calories smell in that then.
[00:14:28] Or somebody comes into the office, says, oh, I just thought I'd bless everybody with Krispy Kremes today. Well, thanks a lot for doing that today. Thank you. That was a lovely gesture. Get behind me, Satan.
[00:14:42] But this intentionality about saying that this is about me focusing, this is about me detoxing the other needs that there are within my life and concentrating on God's presence. It's a time of self examination. Fasting invites us to examine our lives.
[00:15:06] I started back to the gym recently and I'm reminded that as I stand on one of the cardio machines, it measures the calories that you burn. And as you're there on a hot day and you're working out and this thing measuring the calories that you've lost based on your energy and your heart rate, it moves very slowly and you're like quarter of an hour and you've burned 220 calories, 30 minutes, and you've burnt like 353 seven, 5400 calories.
[00:15:42] And it's taken all of that time and that effort to lose that much. And then when you go to the local shop and you see a Mars bar and you pick it up and you read the calories on the back and you think, it took me half an hour to burn that much, I'll give it a miss. Thank you.
[00:16:07] You see what the exercise does, it doesn't just do you good, but it also makes you more aware of the detail of what it is that you put into your body.
[00:16:19] Fasting does something similar.
[00:16:22] It's difficult for you to have an intentionality of fasting and then to ply your life with sin.
[00:16:30] You become so much more sensitive to what's good to bring into your life and what isn't to go into your life, and it helps it attunes you.
[00:16:41] It also accompanies times of intensified prayer. Fasting is intimately connected to prayer. It deepens our communion with God and it makes our prayers more sincere and heartfelt. It is a way of expressing our dependence on him. As Jesus said, man will not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the Father that there is an understanding that there is more to this life than what we put in our bodies.
[00:17:12] It creates dependence upon the Lord.
[00:17:16] Just before I continue, does this sound like the sort of thing. That's for a specialist few people.
[00:17:26] Because my heart is that I give you a key today, wherever you're sat, however long you've been following Jesus, that I come and I give you a key to how you can live your life knowing the revelation of who you are and who God is in you. And I pray that you will take this key and you will unlock something rich and deep within the wells of your life. Because I believe what this nation needs is not a church with bigger buildings. It's not a church that's more gifted or more talented. It's not a church that's more wealthy. It's not a church that has more influence in politics. What this nation needs is a church that knows who it is and whose it is and knows its authority in Christ.
[00:18:19] That's what will change this nation. And I pray that such a church will arise, and I pray that you and I will rise with this authority.
[00:18:29] There's different types of fasting. There's partial fasting. Just maybe certain foods. You might say, I'm going to leave sugar out. Well, if you leave sugar out, there's virtually nothing you can eat, it seems anymore, seems as in everything. And someone once said to me that sugar is more addictive than crack cocaine. So I'm not saying I'm facing a bunch of addicts today, but probably am. And if you start cutting out of your life, then your body begins to cry out and you crave. Your body craves the sugar. If you've got that sugar craving, that's what it is. It's your body manifests an addiction.
[00:19:08] Maybe you're thinking, oh, when's this going to finish? I need a coffee.
[00:19:11] Another point.
[00:19:17] So it might be that someone says, I'm going to cut sugar out or I'm going to cut coffee out or some other things that are addictive, or I'm going to just cut back on certain things.
[00:19:27] I know that some people in this generation, they've been on a fast from fruit and veg for years.
[00:19:37] And parents, you thought you had fussy kids, but they're fasting.
[00:19:45] So there's partial fasting. Then there's a fasting of all food, maybe for a set period of time, and you make a decision, I'm going to fast a day, I'm going to fast a few days, going to fast a week, fast 40 days, whatever. Don't start with that, all right? Learn what it is to fast a meal, understand what it is, what it takes, and we'll talk more about that in just a moment. But there's fasting from all food, maybe just drinking water, just choosing to just to drink water. And that can be a really challenging but a deeply purifying experience for your body. Then there's intermittent fasting, not just the diet sort, but intermittent fasting. Maybe I'm going to miss out a couple of meals a day and have just one meal in a day. And that becomes a way of just focusing that time and then that time that you save cooking and eating. You can spend your time going on a prayer walk or go to your room, sit in your car and spend time talking with Jesus. Some practical guides for fasting. First of all, seek God's guidance.
[00:20:47] It's important, I believe, that we don't just say, yeah, I'm going to do this. Yeah, come on, bring on a week of fasting. I believe that it will be tough.
[00:21:02] There is no one in this room that enjoys this, I don't think.
[00:21:08] I'm not one of them. If they are, I do it. I fast regularly because I believe it opens up a way to the riches of God that I wouldn't be accessing otherwise. And there's so much more that I want to access in Him. But I don't really come to a place where I think, yes, no food today.
[00:21:29] Hallelujah.
[00:21:32] Come on, no more nando's. Yes.
[00:21:39] So if you think, I don't fancy this, you're in.
[00:21:44] You're the same as the rest of us.
[00:21:48] And we need God's guidance, prayerfully.
[00:21:52] God, I'm thinking of fasting for a day or two days. Or I'm thinking of fasting from Sugar this week, or I'm thinking of fasting from social media. God says yes on that one, by the way, straight away, yes, I'm thinking of it. God, would you help me understand? Will you help me be able to discern? And let me tell you what he wants to help you discern whether your motive is legalism and maybe self righteousness.
[00:22:22] Because if you think that by fasting it will make you a better Christian than the person next to you, god will want to purify your heart and he might say, no, don't fast.
[00:22:34] I want to help your motivation and understanding that.
[00:22:39] So seek God's guidance. Secondly, consider the health implications if you're susceptible to issues like eating disorders.
[00:22:49] And I've worked with quite a number of people over the years who have had eating disorders, people with bulimia, people with anorexia.
[00:22:59] And I found that this isn't for everybody, but I found that lots of the people I've worked with over the years that it's been less about their image and more about control.
[00:23:10] They want to control the food, they want to control they don't want anything to have a hold on them. So when we talk about fasting in church, it can be a trigger to justify a poor relationship that someone has with food.
[00:23:26] And I would suggest that if it's a trigger for you, fasting food is probably not the thing for you.
[00:23:32] You probably need to fast YouTube, social media, TV or something else that is not going to play into the hands of your vulnerabilities.
[00:23:44] Secondly, around health, if you have a medical condition, you should consult your GP before you fast. We don't want people collapsing on us this week. We don't want people to be ill and have problems medically. So do the right thing and get some medical input and advice around fasting.
[00:24:06] Thirdly, set clear goals. If you go into this week and say, oh, I may fast, I'm not quite sure I'm going to do it yet, I guarantee you'll get to the end of the day or the end of the week and you didn't really do anything. You might have delayed your packup by ten minutes or something, and then it's just all your hopes and intentions. You have to be really clear and focused and this is true of any decision we make in life. If you're not clear about what it is you're going to do, you won't do it.
[00:24:33] And the fact the more detailed you can be about the decision you're making, the easier it will help you to hold on to that decision. Have clear goals, who will help, and just a really practical thing. Keep hydrated.
[00:24:46] We are famous in this country for being under hydrated and we need to drink more water. I know we never have warm days in the UK. I know it's never humid.
[00:24:58] I know that we need to keep fluid and so keep hydrated, drink lots of water. And finally, as we come towards the close of this Ephesians 320, it says God is able to do exceedingly abundantly. Above all, we ask, think or imagine.
[00:25:29] Lots of you will know that verse in there, but do you know it in there?
[00:25:37] Is it information or is it revelation?
[00:25:40] Because if it's revelation, when you face a challenge, when you're facing an impossible situation.
[00:25:49] I had people say to me over the last month, six weeks, the building is too big for you.
[00:25:58] We've looked at your spreadsheets and you cannot afford it.
[00:26:03] It hasn't rocked me, it hasn't caused me to be destabilized about the promises of God because I know that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly. Above all we ask, think or imagine. And when we, the whole church know that not here as information, but here as revelation, then nothing can stop the purposes of God in our nation.
[00:26:31] A church disciples with power and authority.
[00:26:36] The difference between knowledge and revelation is really important and faith is that enacting that taking it from the knowledge and putting it into revelation. It involves faith.
[00:26:49] Faith is an active word. It involves stepping out, it involves obedience.
[00:26:56] And we see that Jesus was operating while he walked on earth according to people's faith.
[00:27:05] In Mark six we read this really unusual little description of something that happens in Jesus hometown of Nazareth.
[00:27:16] These words.
[00:27:19] It says this Jesus could not do any miracles there.
[00:27:37] Why?
[00:27:39] Well, it does give an accept, lay his hands on a few sick people and they were made well.
[00:27:46] But it says he was amazed at their lack of faith.
[00:27:55] And I believe one of those quotes I brought you, that feast fasting is feasting on fellowship with God.
[00:28:05] When you feast on fellowship with God, faith rises in your heart and the shackles of this world begin to ping off and the life of Christ and the power of His Word comes alive in you and your life becomes like a crucible of the miraculous. Anything can happen. Why? Because God has spoken it.
[00:28:34] We have people traveling the globe to go and bring their needs before a celebrity speaker, and all the time they've got a key.
[00:28:45] They can unlock faith in their own life.
[00:28:51] Use your keys.
[00:28:56] I found that faith can be tempted and tested when we fast.
[00:29:02] We read that Jesus was tempted in the 40 days in the wilderness, that he fasted.
[00:29:09] Friend of mine did a 40 day fast a number of years ago.
[00:29:14] I've never done 40 days, but he did a 40 day fast and he didn't really change his diary very much. And he just became really grumpy.
[00:29:23] He was horrible to be around. I think he thought that he was going to float around on this spiritual cloud and all of us were going to be like, ha. Can we spend time with you, Jesus? Understudy? Can we touch the hem of your garment, please, sir? Instead, he was, like, angry.
[00:29:46] If you're going to do a prolonged fast, probably need to look at your diary a little bit, to be honest. Probably to lighten things up, prepare with some of the pressures around your life that would be really important.
[00:29:56] But not just we understand how someone can be hangry, hungry, frustrated, tired, lacking energy. We understand that. But there's another dynamic, and that is that the enemy can come in like a flood.
[00:30:14] And he thought, I know I'm going to get Jesus at his weakest if you turn these stones into bread.
[00:30:22] Now, if I'd been fasting 40 days and someone mentioned the word bread to me, I'd be imagining the smells. And if I had the ability to just say, okay, stones, come on, Wonderloaf, come on, come out now.
[00:30:38] It would be wonderful.
[00:30:40] But Jesus said, man will not live by bread alone, by every word that proceeds from the Father, because he knew where his strength comes from. It doesn't come from what he puts into his body. It comes from what he allows to permeate in his spirit and faith. Growing through the key of fasting, I believe, is part of our call as God's people.
[00:31:04] When we fellowship with Him, we move from information to revelation, and this changes everything about our lives.
[00:31:12] And as we begin this week of prayer and fasting, I don't want you to be compulsory to feel compulsed to fast. I don't want you to feel condemned to fast. In fact, if it's rooted in condemnation or compulsion, please don't.
[00:31:32] It's the wrong motive. The Bible doesn't say God loves a giver. Bible says God loves a cheerful giver.
[00:31:39] God doesn't love a despising foster.
[00:31:43] He loves someone who knows the cost, knows the sacrifice, but says God, you are worth everything.
[00:31:54] And at the beginning of this week maybe consider prayerfully with the Holy Spirit, whether there is some change you can bring into your week.
[00:32:07] If you feel this is too late for you coming into this week, then don't think I've missed my chance. There's another week next week, there's a week the week after.
[00:32:16] But don't I'm not saying we'd extend in the fasting and prayer for a few weeks. I'm saying you live. All right? You're alive, and the invitation is there by God continually.
[00:32:29] But I pray whether you fast social media, whether you fast food, whatever you choose, that there will be a grace in your life.
[00:32:46] And even when the enemy seeks to come in like a flood, that the Lord raises up a standard and he strengthens your faith.
[00:32:54] See, we think faith grows by convenience, by blessing. But faith grows just the same way as muscle grows in the gym. It grows by resistance.
[00:33:06] It grows by repeatedly doing the things that are going the opposite way to you. And as you do that, it strengthens you. And the enemy thinks he's being clever when he tempts people in seasons of fasting. But actually, God is in control, and God is extending an opportunity for us to develop our spiritual faith. Muscles. Let's pray together.
