Fasting for Breakthrough

Fasting is one of the most misunderstood and neglected spiritual disciplines in the modern church, yet Jesus never treated it as optional. In Matthew 6, He used the word 'when,' not 'if,' placing fasting alongside prayer and giving as expected rhythms of a disciple's life. Fasting is not a diet, a hunger strike, or a method of earning God's grace. It is the voluntary and intentional act of laying down food for a focused spiritual purpose. When a believer chooses not to eat in order to seek God, their physical posture aligns with their spiritual desire, declaring that His word is more essential than physical sustenance. If prayer is the key, fasting is the turn of that key, concentrating full attention, full desire, and full spiritual energy in one direction toward God.

Scripture gives six compelling reasons to fast: when you need a breakthrough in prayer, when you are seeking God's direction for a major decision, when genuine repentance and mourning are needed, when a crisis demands more than ordinary prayer, when preparing for ministry, and when breaking spiritual strongholds that have resisted every other effort. Daniel fasted and received a visit from the angel Gabriel. The early church fasted before launching the greatest missionary movement in history. Jesus Himself fasted forty days before beginning His public ministry. These are not coincidences. They are a pattern.

Isaiah 58 contains a covenant promise about what fasting produces when done with the right heart. God promises that light will break forth, healing will come speedily, and when His people call, He will answer with the words 'Here I am.' Fasting is not about impressing others or leveraging God. It is about turning fully toward Him with a heart that is hungry for His presence above everything else. The key is already in your hand. It is time to turn it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for sending your spirit to be with us. Thank you for guiding our hearts. Thank you for teaching us every day. Father, we've got it here today, as you said in your word, that all gathering, it's unto thee. And Lord, even though we are here physically, we have appeared before you in the realms of the spirit. For your word tells us that we've come unto Man Zion. And the word tells us, Lord, that when we come to the universal church in heaven, there's a sprinkling of the blood. Father, we've come to you today to help us, to really get our thoughts together, our mind together, Father, to position us in the place that you want us to be. So that, Lord, we will learn from you, the great teacher. As we open the scriptures today, we pray, Marty God, that you teach us your word. Lord, this is a subject that every single person knows. And this is a subject that it's not the first time that you've taught your church. But today, I ask you for something different today. I ask you, Lord, that today you open up the scriptures in such a way that none of us have seen it before. Take us behind the depth of your word and minister to our hearts, O Lord. We pray, Father, that we want insight, we want light. You said that your word is light and your word dispersed darkness. And that's our goal today, Lord, that we've set up this stage for your spirit to come in like a flood and to disperse every darkness in us, O Lord. And so that when we leave this place today, Lord, we will be equipped, Father, to live the life that you have designed for us in this world. Oh, we worship you, Lord. And we praise you and we thank you and we adore you and we magnify you. And we thank you, Lord, for this privilege of assembling us here, Lord. The privilege of taking us into your holy temple and the privilege of opening up the living word of God. The Bible says that the word that is able to give our inheritance, Lord. This is what we desire today. And we ask you to bless your word. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ the Nazareth, the Son of the Living God. And life that says, Amen. Thank you so much, and please take a seat. I'm sure everyone had sits um uh what's it called? Uh uh uh uh Semon guides with you. Um, you want to follow along the service as much as you can. So if you're visiting and you're revisiting and you're coming back home, welcome, Alicia. Thanks for coming. So, as a church, at the beginning of the year, we designated 2026 to be what we call the year of spiritual fruitfulness. Amen. Now, since the beginning of the month, every sermon that we have shared here is intentionally structured around the monthly themes that we put together for a spiritual fruitfulness preaching plan. So, just to recap briefly where we've been at the beginning of the year after this point. The whole of January we spent time to the theme for January was planted by the rivers. And then in February, we looked at pruning for productivity. In March, our study was rooted in God's word, and in April was about the fruits of the Spirit. In May, we talked about the gifts of for service. And in June, we spoke about the family of God, being part of the family of God. In July, it was about evangelistic fruitfulness. We spent the whole month of July talking about evangelical fruitfulness. Now, as part, obviously, this year, we began doing the this year, and I'm just grateful to God that every one of these sermons had a participating guide with it. And so hopefully it's not lost. You can always have a reference point and go back and look at your participating guides and then refresh and memory of the things that we've studied. So there comes August. And in August, we decided we started last week, and the focus has been on spiritual disciplines. Amen. Spiritual disciplines. And so, inasmuch as we've studied all the things we studied, to me, this month it's so critical because in your study guide, I wrote this morning that the spiritual fruitfulness, or the this is so these disciplines are not the fruit. Amen. These disciplines are the root system that actually leads to you having permanent fruit, if that makes sense. And so if we don't get our heads around this subject, and I believe that where most believers have had struggled in the past is because we don't have a grasp on this disciplines that actually lead to fruitfulness. Amen. And so last week when we began, I just mentioned the five spiritual disciplines that we'll be focused on this month. Okay. And last week we studied prayer. One of the things that we studied was that we established that prayer is the foundation of every spiritual discipline. Imagine if you're building a house, the first thing you do after acquiring the land, the plot of land, is to make sure that you build a solid foundation before you raise up the house. Amen. And prayer, you gotta understand that prayer is the foundation of all spiritual disciplines. Amen? And so we spend time, and as part of the study, we learn that prayer is not your spare tire, it is the steering wheel. Okay. And everyone left here last week challenge to build a solid daily prayer life for themselves. Because without prayer, none of these other disciplines are going to work. That makes sense? Prayer is the one, it's the foundation where we build the disciplines on. Today, and I know that most of you have probably studied this subject, had this subject before, but today, our second discipline on our list is fasting. And I'm trusting God that today you learn something new about fasting. Amen. The next week, if God Jesus tarries and doesn't return, we're going to be looking to your worship lifestyle. Okay? And then the next subject on this list is spiritual stewardship and giving. Okay. And then the final week in August, we are going to be focusing on the Sabbath rest, which are called the forgotten discipline. Now we know if you know your Bible, you know that the Bible tells us that God created the world in six days and the seventh day he rested. And I'm really looking forward to explaining the Sabbath rest, how critical it is for believers, because it's forgotten discipline because folks do not understand how critical the Sabbath is. And we're going to dig deep into understanding the Sabbath, what it means, and how essential it is for us to be able to understand and then live our lives and be fruitful. So before we begin, I want you to write this statement down, please, in your uh participating guide. Please write this statement down. It blessed me this morning, and I'm sure it's gonna bless you. You ready? Before God can do something extraordinary through you, you must remove everything that stands between you and him. Okay. I remember in the month of February when we're talking about pruning for productivity, when we began, we shared an illustration here. So every year, uh towards the fall, there is uh something called the Chicago Bank of America Marathon. And um imagine this year, you know, all the lead runners from the world have gathered in Chicago and they're about to start this run, this marathon that they do every 26 miles that they do every year. And just before they began, somebody shows up in a combat gear, like he's going to war. He has a backpack that weighs about 50 pounds in both hands. He has a 10 gallons of water in both hands, and he begin, and he stands at the beginning of the pack. Everybody's gonna look at him as if there's something really wrong with him. Why? Because the the whole idea for you to run a marathon is to run as light as possible, isn't it? And so that you can, you don't want to carry any excess weight. So having that in mind, you think about an Olympic weight lifter, somebody who weeks lifts up weights for uh for the Olympics. And most of the time you see these three, 400-pound men simply wearing a tight body body thing. That's it. Because they don't want to carry anything in excess. Why? Because you are about to lift up or you're about to compete for the world heavyweight lifting record. So they remove everything they do, they don't need. Why? Because there's no need for any excess weight, no unnecessary gear. So they have one goal, nothing between them and the lift. Okay? You want to be successful in sports. Actually, Paul talks about it, you know, that every one of us should run a race, and then he says everyone should cast away every excess weight. Amen. Because weight slows us down. Now, I want to announce to you that this is fasting. Amen. Fasting is the discipline that takes prayer from a whisper to a tender. Fasting is the discipline that amplifies your spiritual signals the way a megaphone amplifies your voice. Now, how many of you have gone to street evangelism before and have used a megaphone before? You see, this microphone. But this microphone does something. It amplifies my voice. And in this study, my goal is to show you that fasting amplifies your voice in the spiritual realm. Okay? I quote from a gentleman, his name is Andrew Merry, and he wrote a book with Christ in the School of Prayer. This book was written in 1885. And I quote what he says: Prayer is the one, it's the one hand with which you grab the invisible, fasten the other with which you let loose and cast away the visible. Now, I read this statement about 4:30 this morning, and I had to kind of pulse again to call it. It's a very simple statement. But the the the the secret about studying the Bible is not just reading things and moving along, it's just allowing the Holy Spirit to take you through the reasoning of the person that wrote it. And so again, Mary says prayer is the one hand with which you grab the visible. Okay. We understand that prayer allows us to bring them visible in the visible realm. Okay. But then it tends to run it says what fasting does is the hand that loses and casts away the visible. And so I began to dig a little bit deeper, and I'm going to write what some commentators, I'm going to read what some commentators wrote about this. He said, here is the theology Mary is divided is driving at. Most believers pray with one hand while the other hand remains full of the world. Okay? He says they reach towards God while simultaneously holding on to everything else. And they wonder why their spiritual grape feels weak, why prayer feels like speaking into the void, why heaven seems distant, why breaking through doesn't come. The picture he's planting here is of a believer who, through fasting, empties the second hand so that that hand, so that the hands are now free and reached. Both the invisible realm being grasped and the visible realm being released. The full attention, the full desire, the full spiritual energy of the person is now concentrated in one direction. So he writes, in plain terms, Mary is saying this: You cannot hold onto the world and hold on to God with equal intensity at the same time. When we pray without fasting, you are reaching for heaven with one hand whilst the other hand is still full. When you fast and pray, you reach for God with both hands and release everything else. This is not weakness. This is the posture of a person who has decided that God is enough, that He is more real, more necessary, and more worthy of pursuit than anything the physical world is offering. And it is out of that two hands, whole person fully surrendered, each fully surrendered, reach the breakthrough camps. Now thinking about this. Most of us, when we hear about preaching on the sermon and preaching, or when somebody's talking about prayer, the first thing that they say, or most people say this, that prayer is the key. How many of you have heard that before? Prayer is the key. Now I want to challenge you with this thought. Let's say you walked in today and you have a key to come to this place, and you came and stood behind the door, and uh you took out your key, put it in the lock, and you left it in there. And you tried to open the door with the door open. Talk to me. Will the door open? The door isn't gonna open. You need to literally put a key in the lock, turn the lock, and then open the door. Correct? So we all have heard this before that prayer is a key. I saw me to you today that if prayer is a key, then fasting is the turn of that key. Because without the turn of that key, you are not entering this door. And one of the things that we struggle with a lot in the current Christian cycle, in the current Christian church, is having a true understanding of what fasting is. And here is a sobering question for you. I want to begin with today. When is the last time you intentionally fasted? I'm not talking about having an October fast. We're talking about in my office today. I'm not talking about a church declaring there's going to be a fast in 21 days and everybody gets into it, and everybody, that's that. That's what we're talking about. We're not talking about maybe skipping a mail. We're not talking about you being so busy that you forgot to eat lunch. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about when you took your calendar, you decided to set a mail aside day, and then you said, God, I'm laying down food right now, and I'm spending this time in your presence, seeking your face with everything I have. When was the last time you did that? Like I said, for most uh is there a giggle that back there somewhere? For most modern Christians, fasting is the most neglected spiritual discipline of all. Because, ladies and gentlemen, fasting is not easy. Some of us pray, sometimes. We come to church every Sunday, we worship, we read our Bible when we remember, but to fast, we tell God uh not today. I remember years ago when I was young in the faith. Please don't judge me. I was young in the faith, and you know, there was a lot of talk about fasting, and I didn't like my food. I really did. And so my brother and I were in a conversation and he was challenging me to fast. And I said, I said, one ball of kinke cannot stop the power of God. For those of you who know what kinker is, I said, one ball of kincake, the power of God is so free that one small plate of food is not gonna stop the power of God. How ignorant I was. I pray that that mindset changes today. Now, when we take a look at our text, um, and this Matthew 6, if you if you can look at Matthew 6, verse 16, and it's just an A part I'm gonna read. Jesus said this moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with sad countenance. Now, what do you observe in that statement? Take a close look at our statement. What are you observing? You notice what Jesus did not say, He did not say if you fast, he said when you fast. Now, if you go through the whole discourse in Matthew 6, there are three important things that Jesus mentioned to his followers. The first one he said, when you pray, he didn't say if you pray. Then he said, when you fast, he didn't say if you fast. Read the whole chapter of Matthew 6. Then he said, when you give, he didn't say if you give. Three important things that was mentioned. Now, today we are spending our time in this statement that Jesus made about fasting, when you fast. So when you take a critical look at this, what you conclude is that fasting is not optional for a serious disciple. Amen? And it's not something that's optional, it's not something that Jesus is saying when you feel like it, when you feel up to it, when everything falls in line, when everything falls together, comes together, when you know, then you can fast. No. It is something that Jesus has assumed that it's it's part of the rhythm of a life of a person who follows him. And so in addressing his disciples, he's making a very vital point in this spiritual discipline, assuming that people that are following him do understand the essence of fasting. Does it make sense to everyone? So, before we can understand, in my opinion, what fasting is, we first of all need to address the issue about what fasting is not. And there is a serious confusion about this subject. There is a lot of misinformation around this discipline. And the sad thing is, even in the church, even with believers, some of us are struggling with the subject. We really do not understand that. And so perhaps today is the time that God will shed some light on how relevant and how important the discipline really is. So watch this now. First of all, we're going to talk about what fasting, what spiritual, what's it called? Spiritual discipline, fasting is not. So currently in this country, in the health space, there's a lot of talk about, chatter about fasting, okay? Intimidate fasting. Um, you know, there's a lot of health benefits about what you know, abstaining from food, what fasting is. And so I don't want the church to misunderstand the difference between this, the fasting in a health space for faster metabolisms and you know, for health issues to this spiritual discipline of fasting we're talking about. Okay? The first thing you need to understand is that what's it called a fasting is not a diet or health program. Okay? That's the first thing straight off. It's not. Let me kind of classify this well. Spiritual discipline of fasting, it's not a health or diet program. Okay. So these days there's a lot of intermittent fasting. You know, people fast for fossil metabolisms, there's detox cleanse. This is not like a weight management issue. You know, even though, again, there's a lot of benefits that have been reported from this space. The way you got to understand is that you are not positioning yourself for a physical result. Because when you do those things and your focus is on maybe losing weight or getting a faster metabolism, the reward is something physical. And remember what Jesus. Has warned them. You are positioning yourself for the move of God. So the difference between the spiritual discipline of fasting and then the physical fasting that we do, there are two different things. One, you're going to get results, which is physical, the other you're going to get a result, which is the move of God. Does it make sense? Okay. Number two, fasting is a hunger strike. Or you don't fast to manipulate God. I remember the first time I did a seven-day fasting, I was actually holding God hostage, Bishop. I was telling him that if you don't come through, I'm not going to eat. Unfortunately, some people fast as holding God hostage the way I did it. Listen to me. You can't tell God. Listen, God is not moved by your hunger, you know. The only thing that moves heaven is God is moved by your faith. Amen? He is moved by your faith, your sincerity, and your obedience to what he's actually to do. Remember this. The goal for spiritual discipline fasting is to surrender to God, not for leverage. Most people, especially in Africa, they fast because they want power. You don't fast for leverage, okay? You fast to surrender to God. Okay? Fasting is a way to end salvation or divine favor. Most people still think that you can manipulate God into giving you something because you are fasting. You cannot fast your way into God's good grace. You already stand before the Father, justified in Christ Jesus. No amount of hunger earns the cross has already purchased. Now watch this. Fasting does not produce grace. Please write this statement down. It positions you to receive it. You cannot fast your way into grace. Fasting is just positioning us to receive what God has already provided through Christ Jesus on the cross for us. Okay? Fasting is not punishment for sin. Some believers engage in fasting as self-afflicted penance as if striving themselves will atone what God has already done for them or something is wrong. Now watch this now. Fasting is not about punishing your body, it's about focusing the spirit. Does it make sense? Yeah. Now watch this. So what then is fasting? We know what fasting is not. It's not intentionally not eating because you want a fast metabolism or you want you are involved in intimate fasting because you want to lose weight. It's not you are not fasting because of all the physical benefits. If you're doing that, you miss the spiritual part of it. Okay? So what is it? I'm going to define fasting. Please write it down. I'm going to read it slowly so that you get it. Fasting is when you voluntarily, intentionally lay down food for a focus for focused spiritual purpose. Let me say it again. Fasting is when you voluntarily, nobody's forcing you, and you intentionally decide you are not going to eat. And the reason for that is to be full so that you can focus on a spiritual purpose. It's gonna do losing weight to you. It's gonna do it. So let me explain. Okay? Pay attention, let me explain. When you decide to voluntarily not eat and put the food away from you for a defined spiritual purpose, what that signifies is that you are you are telling God and yourself that you need him more than you need physical substance. Now, Messiah, always uh point of reference, had a similar issue. I'm gonna remember when he began his ministry. The Bible says he was led, after the baptism, he was led to the wilderness uh to be tempted, fasted for 40 days and 40 nights to be tempted by the devil. When the devil came to him, trust him to be the smartest person on the face of the earth. When the devil came to him, he began from what I call the low-hanging fruit. There was no way that the devil was going to tempt Jesus with manning when he knew that Jesus was hungry. Does it make sense? He knew that he was hungry, so the temptation was very simple. If you are the son of God, look at Matthew 4, 4 with me, please. But he, if you are the son of God, he said to him, Cast this stone into bread. But verse 4, Jesus said, But he answered me and said, It is written, man should not leave by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word of God is supposed to be a spiritual sustenance for God's people. Amen. And so when you decide and make up your mind that, and something that should, we're going to talk about it, the frequency of it. But as part of this is an interesting thing. Many times when we begin, we decide to fast is because there's an issue. When we decide to fast because we decide to get something from God. But what about the time that you decide to fast because you yearn and long for Jesus? You want to get close to Him. Your spiritual purpose is to be connected to the heart of God. And therefore, we're going to learn in a minute that when you abstain from food, it's an alignment. What is going through the physical body is aligns with what happens in the spiritual realm. Does it make sense? Let me tell you something today that I'm telling you you're not going to hear from a lot of puppets in America. The forces of darkness they fast more than Christians. Part of Satan's discipline is fasting because he knows the potency of that spiritual discipline. When you decide voluntarily, when nobody's forcing you, to put food aside and to seek in the face of God, what you do, there's a physical expression of what I call the spiritual hunger. Watch this. And again, I said it. Your body tells the truth about your values. Listen, you may listen to me carefully. When you choose alcohol over God's word, your body tells the truth. That's what is important to you. When you choose you eat three, four times a day, what is important to you is that food. When you decide not to eat for the purpose of fasting, there is something going on here. Your body is actually aligning with the truth of what you value and what you value when you lay food down to seek God, you are your physical posture aligns with that spiritual desire. Okay? This is why it is such a powerful spiritual discipline exercise because you come aligned exactly with, and one of the reasons why I didn't even write this down, is that when we fast, we share in the misery of Christ on the cross. It is so powerful, people. When you fast, imagine now the ladies here, and I know this because my wife likes to cook, and she spends hours cooking. From the time she prepares the food to she lays the food down, to clean the pots and everything else. When you're fasting, what you do is that imagine all that time, you channel that time in prayer. You're redirecting that time to God. Okay. To me, I think the most important value added to fasting is an intensification of a spiritual sensitivity. Now remember when we began, we made a statement that you gotta remove everything between you and God. Does it make sense? There has to be a clear path, okay? Now, something happens in the spiritual realm when you fast. There is a clarity that comes to you, a sharpness of spiritual perception, a heightening of your awareness of God's voice that nothing else in this world can give you. Because when you begin to do that, it's a statement that's saying to God that I remove everything that is stopping me from getting to your heart. Does it make sense? And so when you begin to do that, and it's so interesting, we're going to look at some important figures in the Bible that did these things. You want to ask yourself a question. One of them comes to mind before we get there, Esther. Esther is facing an issue. The whole life of the children of Israel were a whole country was destined for extinction. The situation comes to Esther, and what he turns around and tells them, guys, go and fast three days, three nights, no food, no water. After the third day, I'm gonna approach the king. And if I perish, I perish. Ask yourself a question. Why was it necessary for the whole of Israel to fast for three days? It's an answer that we're gonna we're the question that we're going to answer. Now watch this. Let's say you go for an interview for your dream job, and they told you that they're gonna call you at 2 p.m. for an interview. And so you come home, you get ready, you turn the TV, everything is off. You're just waiting for this important phone call. All of a sudden, your your son walks in, your husband walks in, turns on the TV and then blows it at full volume. What are you gonna do? You are just gonna turn the TV off. Why? It's not because the TV is evil, but because there's something else important that you are waiting for. Now listen, fast intense off the noise of the physical appetite so you can clearly hear what heaven is saying to you. Many of us are in situations that we made to make some important decisions and choices. Many of us. We need to hear God's voice. We need to make an important decision today or a choice today. How do we do that? You've been praying. I liking it that you put the lock, the key to the lock. You have not turned it yet, so the door is not open. If you don't turn the lock and open it, you are going to start behind it. That is what fasting does. It's going to amplify that prayer that you are praying. How does he do that? It turns off the noise in the physical realms. Why? Because your spirit man is aligned with God. You're not hearing me. And so when he speaks to you, you hear clearly what heaven is saying. Moses, I was thinking about this very early this morning. Moses gets a call in the book of Exodus to go to Sinai to get the law, receive the law from God. And Moses tracks up the hill. And the Bible has it that for 40 days Moses was up in a hill. No food in the presence of God. Most important things that happen, they shift in the Bible of most of these great things, people happen as they spend time in fasting. Okay? We mentioned Esther, Jesus himself. Imagine, Jesus comes, gets baptized, and the Bible says that he was led to the wilderness by the Spirit of God for him to fast for 40 days. Before Jesus picked up a microphone to say the first statement he made in his ministry, Matthew 4.17, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. He spent time to fast and to defeat the devil before he began his ministry. The early church, we're going to come to the book of Acts. The early church before sending Paul and Barnabas out on a missionary journey, the Bible says that they were fasting and ministering to God. Okay? And then the voice came and said, separate unto me, Paul and Barnabas. And after the voice came, they fasted again before they sent them off. So the first missionary journey in the Bible that produced so much great records was established in fast. My microphone says it doesn't want me to talk anymore. So let's talk about the purpose of fasting, shall we? Um go me to Isaiah 58, and I read from verse 6 to 9, please. This is how God Himself has announced the fasting that he wanted Israel to partake of. Does it make sense? So in verse 6, he begins, is this not the fast that I have chosen? To lose the bond of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke. Now, verse 7, it is not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cashed out. When you seek the naked, that you when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh. Then your light shall break forth, verse 8, like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your regard, then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall answer, you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of wickedness. There are six biblical purposes for fasting, people. Six of them. We're gonna run through this quickly. Please stay with me. The first reason why any person here should include fasting in the arsenal or do it, it's because a person you are looking for breakthrough in prayer. Okay? As Jesus demonstrated himself, as the Bible demonstrates it, as Esther demonstrated it. And then one of the greatest men in the Bible, I remember I had so much fun about three, four years ago when we studied in the book of Daniel. And so this morning I was thinking about this as a perhaps next year, God willing, if the Lord terries it, it doesn't return on time. We're just gonna go back and study book by book again because I've just had fun studying the book of Daniel. So I want to reference Daniel chapter 9, verse 3. Now, if you are not aware of the background story, what's going on here? The Bible says that Daniel um knew, you know, the book of Jeremiah. And Daniel knew that God had banished the Jewish people for 70 years of the desolution of Israel, of Jerusalem. Okay. And so through the writings of Jeremiah, Daniel knew that the 70 years was approaching. Okay? And so Daniel decided that to seek God's face in prayer. Now, this is so critical. Please study particularly the way Daniel phrased this. In Daniel chapter 9, verse 3, he says, Then I set my face towards the Lord to make request by prayer and supplication. You guys realize that whenever the Bible talks about prayer, he has the word and supplication. Have you noticed that? Prayer and supplication. Most of the time, that's how the Bible puts it. It's unfortunate that most of the prayer of the current day Christian is all based off supplication. The moment they start to pray, God, I want this, God, I want this, God, I want that. So what is the difference between prayer and supplication? Because the word end here means in addition to. So there's got to be something a bit different about prayer and different about supplication, even though supplication is part of the foundation of prayer. In the interest of time, I'm not going to be able to explain it. But I trust God that one day we'll get to the subject and I explain the world. But back to Daniel again. Daniel says, Daniel began to pray, okay? Request. He began to request something from God by prayer, okay, and supplication, which is a request, which is humble petitioning God. But look at the next sentence. With fasting, sackclothes and ashes. Daniel went the whole nayat. And if you know your Bible and if you know your Old Testament, you know that whenever the Bible talks about sackclothes, it's talking about physical things that somebody wore, which was very rough on the skin. It was meant to be worn close to the skin. And ashes were just an expression of mourning. Okay? And so Daniel did not just approach God with, you know what I mean? He approached God with this desire to know something, but look at the arsenal. Not just asking God for things. He went obviously understood the means of prayer, which is worship. Oh, you're not hearing me. And then supplication, telling God what God has already said concerning Jerusalem, seven, what's it called, for seven years. But he added fasting to it. He had to turn the key. Tell someone who's to turn the key. If fasting was missing, I don't know if the answer would have come speedily. Because guess what? Jump to verse 21. Jan and 9 21. Just jump a few verses. And listen to what Daniel said. Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, you know, hear me. The man Gabriel, whom I have seen in the vision at the beginning, being called being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening sacrifice. So the Bible is so interesting. Now we know that angels fly. It's in the Bible. Gabriel flew. He didn't just appear, he flew. So now we know angels fly. Okay. And he reached him by the evening sacrifice. Who knows that time? 3 p.m. So listen to carefully. Some breakthroughs are not released by casual prayer. Are you hearing me? There are certain issues in your life, certain challenges the church is facing, certain issues are going on. I promise you, you can pray all you want. If you don't turn the key, you're not entering. It's not just by casual prayer, they require a declaration of desperation. Fasting signals to heaven that you are serious. That you're not just taking for granted the suffering of Jesus on the cross. So the first reason why anyone should fast is when you are looking for expedited answer to your prayer. Number two, when you are seeking for God's direction. We looked at Acts chapter 13, verse 2 and 3. We've spoken about this already, Paul and uh Barnabas. Before they were sent out on a missionary journey, please write it down and make reference to it. Acts chapter 13, 2 and 3. We don't have any little time. So the most strategic missionary movement in church history was launched from a room full of people who were not just singing but were fasting. And before they sent them out, they fasted again. Watch this. Fasting creates the atmosphere for having to speak with clarity. You want to hear heaven. You want a clear direction from God. Your fasting creates the atmosphere for having to speak to you clearly. When you have a mega decision about your marriage, don't just look around and say the man has managed, so I'm going to marry them. Don't just look around and say, This woman is beautiful, so I'm going to marry her. As a Christian, when you have that mega decision about your marriage, most of the people get jobs. You are desperate for a job. The first job they offer you, you take it. How many minutes or days did you spend on your knees asking God, is this the direction for my life? You have a decision about ministry. Your child, fast before you choose. People. Because all the above, everything I've shared up to this point, releases and gives you a clarity on what God is actually wanting to do with you. Then the third thing reason is repentance and mourning. Let's go to George chapter 2, verse 12. Now, therefore, says the Lord, turn to me with all your heart. Touchable, turn to God with all your heart. With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. There are times when a person, a family, or a church need to bow before God in genuine holy sorrow. Fasting gives a physical form to the eternal repentance. It says to God, I am not threatening this lightly at all. Deliverance and precision in crisis. Number four. So you look at 2 Chronicles 20, verse 3, and Jehoshaphat was in trouble. He was in big trouble. There were three nations that have aligned against Judah. Come to attack Judah. Read the reference there. In these days, what Jehoshaphat would have done, or the pastor would have done these days, they would have called all the elders and done a poll. What should we do? Give me an advice. Give me the comments. What should I do? Oh Jesus help us, Lord. The Bible says that he called a fast. People of God, when you read the Bible, don't just skip through these important emphasis. You simply need to ask yourself a question. Why did he have to do that? We spoke about Esther already. Three days of fasting. No eating, no drinking for three days. Why? Let me answer that question for you. Some situations are simply too big for business as usual. Some situations in our lives are just too big for you to pretend there's nothing happening. And we see Jesus preparation for ministry. Those who aspire to be in ministry, Jesus came to give us an example of how this is done. Before you pick up a microphone, you open a church and open the door, make sure you settle a situation with God first. Okay. If Jesus, the Son of God, who the Bible tells us everything was created by him, needed to spend 40 days seeking the face of God, how much will you and I hear? Number six. This is one of the subjects that you're not gonna hear spoken about a lot in American churches. Because it simply said that once you get born again, every spiritual stronghold is broken. That's a lie. Okay? That HLA. I will debate any preacher man, any, I don't care what apostle title you have, I will debate you on the subject. Look at Matthew 17, 21. Now, this story is very interesting. Jesus actually just went on Mount, Mount of I think Mount of Mount Transfiguration, one of those things Matthew is talking about. And his disciples, they brought a child who was demon possessed to his disciples to cast out a demon. And the disciples tried, and the demon wasn't going to go anywhere. Anyone here who has ever got involved in deliverant ministry will tell you, okay, the demons, the demon wasn't going anywhere. The disciples were under Jesus' authority at the time. How come the demons were not going anywhere? When the disciples didn't they speak in tongues? Didn't they clap their hands in church? When they church people, how come they couldn't cast out a demon? And so Jesus comes down from the mountain and the father approaches Jesus. And Jesus turns around, looks at disciples, and tells them something, you faithless generation. And Jesus says a word, and the demon is gone. Interesting. And so when it's alone, they come back to him and ask him a question. Man, how come we were not able to cast the spirit out? Look at Jesus answering verse 21, Matthew 17, 21. However, this does not go, this kind, there is a kind. All demons are not the same. There is a kind. This particular kind. So imagine if you are dealing with this kind, the deliverance services have been in that you just take a look at the demons, it will come out and the demon goes. The deliverance services have been in that people have delivered and have delivered for years and they still come back. And you deliver them, they still come back. The demon is still there. It goes and it comes back. After 35 years of ministry, we've seen a lot. Now let me tell you something. He said, This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. So what was Messiah trying to tell them? You just fast for three days and then you come and cast the demon out? Is that what this conversation is about? I submit to you that's not what it means. He's talking about a lifestyle of consistent prayer and consistent fasting. Some of the issues that we are dealing with. Now you want to cross-reference the same statement. Look at Mark chapter 9, verse 29. The same story. He says the same thing here. Then the Bible says that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses will every word be established. He said to them, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting. There are situations in your life, situations in our life, generational things that we're dealing with that are submit you today. You can be a casual Christian. You die, you go to heaven. I don't know because I'm not Jesus. But I'm assuming that because you've accepted him, you're going to go to heaven. But there are certain things that God has designed for you to walk in this earth that you are never going to realize it. Why? Because this kind is not casual prayer Sunday morning church. This kind. This kind, it's not like Andrew Murray said, both hands, one hand you are praying, one hand you are grabbing the world. This kind is not going to go. And the example is that the disciples could not do anything about it. There are battles that will not yield to ordinary prayer as submitted to the life touch. There are battles that are not going to yield to ordinary prayer. There are strongholds in families, in communities, in minds, in bodies that have resisted your best spiritual efforts. This kind, it's not going to go. This country now is full of mental health. Everybody's got mental health. Everybody's depressed. This kind. Tell someone say this kind. This kind for those situations God has given us. This is the south thing. I was sitting here this morning during worship and my heart was overwhelmed. You know why? Because including myself, we look at Christian life, the Christian, you look at Christians, and Christians are struggling the same way that the world is. If it's divorced, everybody's divorced. If it's sickness, everybody's sick. I remember I was in a conference once, Bishop, and the guy is a crook anyway, he's a liar, but all the same. He called, he called for people who are sick. Everybody should lift up their medications. That day, something nearly happened to me. Almost everybody in the church had medication in their back. These are people that we all speak tongues. What is going on here? This kind. But this kind, God has given us weapons greater in intensity to deal with this kind. And that weapon that God has given, the discipline God has given the church, I submitted today, is to deal with this kind is prayer and fasting. There is no way that you have the key that you put on the lock and that you turn that the lock is not going to open. Talk to me. If you have the key, and the key is for this lock, and you put the key in that lock, and what did Jesus say, Matthew? I give unto you the keys of heaven. Tell someone to use your key. We're not using it. So fasting and praying does something, and the promise is in Isaiah 58. Look at verse 8 to 9. If you go through Isaiah 58, verse 8 to 9, Isaiah is not the door itself. I'm just going to read through it. He says, Your light shall break forth like the morning. Darkness goes away. When you fast the way God has actually too fast. He says, Your healing shall spring forth speedily. What does it mean? Your restoration comes quickly. Then he says, Your righteousness shall go before you. What does that mean? Your path will be clear. He says the glory of the Lord shall be your real God. What does it mean? He covers your back. He said, You shall call and the Lord will answer, you shall cry, and you will say, Here am I. When you do fast in his way. He says, And I'm here. Not eventually, no, maybe, not I will consider it. Here I am. This is not a vague spiritual generalization. This is a covenant promise from God who cannot lie. Time is up. So let's deal with how do you fast quickly. Matthew chapter 6. If you read the text again, Jesus gives us three things we're supposed to do when we fast. Number one, because of time, I'm not gonna, I'm just gonna kind of rush through this. Number one, you have to have the right motive. Okay? You don't fast for power, you don't fast for breakthroughs, you don't fast for money, you fast for the right motives. Look at Matthew 6, 16. Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, for they've disfigured their faces that they may appear to men to fast them. As surely they are say to you, they have their reward. What is their reward? They have the reward of the worst possible currency. Human applause. Your motive is to be seen by God. It's not by the applause of man. Your motive is singular to see God, not to impress your small group or your church. Principle number two, the right manner. So principle number one, have the right motive. It's got to be all about God. You're sick in it. Nothing else. Make sense? Nothing else. Number two, right manner. Look at Matthew 6, verse 17. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face. So in their day, the proper outward appearance was to have a shower, anoint your head with oil, wash your face, dress normally, and you know. But what the Pharisees were doing was that they would intentionally uh you know make their faces as if they've been baptized with lemon juice. Tear their clothes out, walk in the marketplace so that everybody sees that they are fasting. God says have the right motive. Okay? It's not about what live a life normal. Don't announce what you're doing. Because it said that your father who sees in secret will reward you secretly. God sees your heart. Remember, it's because of him you're doing it. And he sees it. You don't need to announce it to the whole world that this is what I'm doing. Have the right motive. Principle number three, it talks about the right reward. Matthew 6, 18. So that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but your father who sees his secret place, and the father who sees his secret place will reward you openly. Amen. How many of you have heard this gentleman's name before, Derek Prince? Derrick Prince. Derek Prince wrote a book in 1973. And the book is titled Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting. And in that book, Derrick Prince makes this coach and I read it. He writes about a gentleman called John Wesley. How many of you know John Wesley? Heard of John Wesley before. John Wesley was the one that founded the Methodist Church. John Wesley, founded the Methodist Church, fasted every Wednesday and Thursday until 3 p.m. throughout his ministry. So throughout the ministry life of this gentleman, every Wednesday, every Friday, he fasted till 3 p.m. Derapon writes he was so strongly believed in the connection between fasting and spiritual power that he refused to ordain ministers who did not practice regular fasting. Wesley wrote in his journal, let every Christian fast every Wednesday and Friday. His ministry produced one of the greatest revivals in Western history. If you don't know about John Wesley, we've got the Wesley brothers, please read about John Wesley. The same thing with Martin Luther. Did it say Martin Luther had a fasting regiment. Almost every one of these guys, Tyndale, every one of them had a regimented fasting protocol. Let me deal with fasting quickly. Let's pray. I've got two minutes. So what we call the normal fast, okay? What is a normal fast? Water only. This is the most common biblical fast. Now, please. Water is essential. So when you're fasting, please make sure you drink plenty of water unless God tells you not to. And then there is what we call the pasha fast. Most of us study Daniel chapter 10, verse 3. Vegetables, fruits, water, meat, sweet, no, no meat. Let me get this right. Vegetables, fruits, and water. No meat, no sweets, no processed food, right? No grass-fed. That is what we call the Daniel fast. And it's an excellent place for beginners. So my goal here today is to encourage the church to have a specific regimen of adding fasting to your prayer. Does it make sense? And this was something that you do every six months, every three minutes. It's something that you got to, and nobody's legislating here telling you to do this like John Wesley's Wednesdays and Fridays. No. You can choose a specific day that you decide that this day I'm sitting aside every week and I'm fasting from what midnight to 3 p.m. Then we have the absolute fast. No food, no water. Please make sure that you consult your physician. Okay? Make sure they consult your physician. Now I'm going to make it very simple for you. What about media fast? No Facebook? No Instagram? No TikTok. No YouTube. What about that? It's a beginning point. The principle is the same. Move distractions and increase your focus on God. And trust me, these things are distractions. So let's work this into it. What about intermittent fasting? I just said a song, but so let's say you miss a male, but that male is focused on prayer. And you focus that time on God. Amen. It's all about focusing on God. So let's give you some practical guidelines and let's pray. If you like, you start with one meal, okay? Replace that meal time. Don't use it on Netflix. Spend it in God's word and in prayer. Let hunger remind you of prayer. Okay? Drink water throughout. When breaking, long fast, break gradually. Piece of fruit, some soup, not a buffet place. I would never. And always, if you have a medical condition, consult your physician. I remember one year um we went to my cousin and I and a couple of friends went to a place called Ashburnham to uh it was Easter season, and we went to fast. And I think we did a three-day dry fast. Uh no water, no food for three days. And Ajburnham was outside London. So our way back to London, the fast was over, we're coming back home. So we decided to stop by Nando's chicken. To buy some chicken or periper chicken. London got London's all over the place. They began from London, it's all over the place. He wrote a book, The Spirit of Discipleship, in 1988. I read from page 166. Fasting confirms our alter dependence upon God by finding in him a source of sustenance beyond food. So, in closing, here's the bottom line, people. If you are here today and you have a battle in your life, that prayer alone is not cracking it. I think I've made my case, haven't I? You have strongholds in your family, strongholds in your mind, mental sickness all over the place. There are challenges in your finances, challenges in health. And these things have resisted your best efforts. I've made my case today. You have a decision that needs clarity from heaven. If you have a burden that has refused to move, put the key, turn the lock, man. Isaiah 58, verse 6. Is this not the first I have chosen? Go go home, read Isaiah 56, meditate on it again. We do go where God says you will lose the bond of wickedness, he won't do the heavy burdens. If you let oppressed oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke that you placed upon people. Not most yokes, he says every yoke. Okay? Now God, we gotta go. These kids have to come and do something. So I'm gonna run up. I want to run through. I want to give you five assignments this week. And we call it. Can you call the kids in, please? I'm about to run up. Oh, we'll take the offering before, right? Before they come in. Okay. I'm about to run up. Choose your fast. Okay. Number one, choose your fast. Pick a type appropriate for your health and the season you are in. One meal, one day, a daniel fast. Be specific. A vague commitment is a broken commitment. Number two, set your prayer focus. Don't fast in a vacuum. Before you fast, write down what you are believing God for. Make your fast purposeful, pointed, and passionate. Number three, schedule it. A fast you don't schedule is a fast you wouldn't do. Put it on your calendar before you leave this building today. This week, this month, make it concrete. Number four, replace meal time with prayer time. When hunger hits, let it drive you to your knees. Every groan of your stomach is a reminder I am seeking God right now. Number five, write down what God reveals to you. Fasting creates a sensitivity in the spirit that ordinary days do not produce. God will speak. Write it down. I read my last verse and we pray. Isaiah 5, 58, verse 9. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer. You shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If you take away the yoke from the mist, the pointing of the finger and the speaking of wickedness. This is God, this is the God we serve. And He is waiting right now for you to press into Him like never before. Please stand.