Building Godly Relationships Through Fasting

Well, brethren, Christ said, when the bridegroom is taken away, my people will fast.

And we know the bridegroom has been taken away. Jesus Christ was crucified. We know He is resurrected. It's at the right hand of the Father. But as Christ's disciples, are we not expected to fast on occasion? I think the Bible's pretty clear about that. We know that Jesus Christ said that His disciples would fast. And I don't think He just meant on the Day of Atonement. It wouldn't make sense if that's all that He meant. Not just once a year. The Day of Atonement is the only day that God specifically sets aside as a day of fasting, a commanded day of fasting. Perhaps one reason we are commanded to fast is for our education. Something tells me that if it wasn't commanded in the first place, that many of us would probably not do it. We wouldn't know what fasting is like. We wouldn't understand the benefits of fasting. We just wouldn't do it because, like me, I'm sure all of you like to eat. And you enjoy a variety of foods and drink. So, no doubt, fasting is for our education, why God instituted it and commanded it, so that His chosen ones would be able to experience fasting. Again, most of us don't relish the idea of denying ourselves food and water for an entire day. By fasting, we realize that we are weak physically. Some, it doesn't take very long before it already starts to have an impact. Others can go longer. Maybe they're healthier in certain ways, and it doesn't impact them as quickly. But if you fast long enough, it will impact every single one of us. We need food and water to sustain us, to keep us alive. God is not only our Creator, but of course He is our Sustainer. He provides every good gift. Food is a good gift. And thankfully, God provides food in abundance to His children. By fasting, we more fully realize our dependence upon God, who has not only created us, but also sustains us daily by providing food and water for us. When we fast, we see the strength that comes from learning to humbly sacrifice and to submit to God in fasting. But some may not realize, or have never stopped to think about how fasting can also help us build stronger, closer relationships not only with God, but with each other. So that's primarily what we're going to be talking about today. Have you ever wished that you had the power to help a friend or one of the brethren who is very ill or hurting in various ways? Have you ever wished that you had greater empathy and compassion for others? You may not realize it, but you do have access to a very powerful tool that will enable you to help and serve others more effectively and to learn to grow in compassion and empathy for others.

Fasting is a very, very powerful spiritual tool. One, frankly, that is often neglected, even by God's elect. God's called out and chosen people. At times, I'm sure we've all neglected to avail ourselves of this powerful spiritual tool. Perhaps we really haven't fasted enough. That's something to consider. Perhaps we could fast a little more frequently. I'm not saying some of you may be fasting a whole lot more than some of the rest of us, and maybe you don't need to fast any more than you are, which is great. I commend you. I'm one of those that could probably fast a bit more. Some years I do better than others. This has been kind of a down year, and I need to step it up. So maybe that's why I'm giving this sermon. But it is easy to neglect to fast because it is hard. You know, again, it's not my most enjoyable activity. Today, let's see what the Bible says about how we can all build closer, godly relationships with God and also with others through fasting. By fasting with others in mind, you can actually learn to serve others and develop stronger bonds with one another. So hopefully you'll be encouraged to fast a bit more frequently in the days ahead. And I think you will because you'll see the good that you may do by helping others when you fast. So it's not all about you. Fasting can also be about other people as well as drawing nearer to God. So before we launch into that part of the sermon, I did want to just mention a few basic principles regarding fasting. Number one, fasting should be done quietly in most cases. We're not really to draw attention to ourselves when we fast. Some would do that in the old days. Back in ancient times, the Bible speaks of some who would draw attention to themselves. Christ made it very clear that that is not what a true Christian should do. It should be done quietly. Again, Jesus made it clear that fasting should never be some vain show of a person's supposed level of righteousness. Don't you know? I fast once a week.

Well, I fast every other day. Well, you know, we're not supposed to talk about how often we fast. If it's once a month, once every two months, once every couple of weeks, that should be between you and God. So that's the first point. Fasting should be done quietly. Secondly, the frequency and length of fasting is entirely up to you, except on the day of atonement. You know, then we know that we fast from evening to evening, from sunset to sunset, on the day of atonement. But the Bible doesn't say it has to always be a 24-hour fast. Obviously, it can be longer if you wish. In some cases, it might need to be shorter, depending on your health. You know, some people have some health issues, and they may have a very difficult, very difficult time going 24 hours. It might even be harmful for them. So do the best you can. You know, God is looking at your heart and seeing what you're trying to do, but doesn't expect you to hurt yourself on a day of fasting. Fasting can take a toll on one's body, so you may need to work up to fasting a full 24 hours if you haven't fasted in a while, or if you have some health issues that might affect that.

For some of us, fasting will strengthen us. You know, if we take some time to fast, we'll actually be stronger. I think there's been some studies that show that fasting actually can be healthy for a person. Another thing to recall, a basic principle, is you most likely need to schedule and plan to fast. We schedule many things, don't we? We schedule picnics. It's June, what, 23rd? 24th? We schedule things, but oftentimes it seems we neglect to schedule a very important aspect of our Christian lives, fasting. So I would strongly encourage all of us to carve out a day to fast. I put it that way because I think sometimes you have to carve it out because we're busy people. You know, we all have very busy lives. Most of us have very busy lives. And if we can get away with not fasting, we may just do that. So you have to plan it. You have to carve out a day. And obviously, the best day is when you can really devote as much of those 24 hours as you can to the fast. If you're working, obviously that's going to diminish the effectiveness of the fast. If you're doing other things that will distract you from the spiritual aspects of fasting, then that will diminish. Now that's better than no fasting at all, but I would encourage you to carve out a day. And those of you who work, obviously you will have to probably find a Sunday.

The Sabbath is primarily a feast day. I wouldn't fast a lot on the Sabbath. Maybe on occasion, that's up to you. That's between you and God. If you need to do that sometime, you know, I know people at times do it on the Sabbath. But it just takes some careful planning, carving out the time, devoting that day to God. Now to the main topic at hand in this sermon, how does fasting build godly relationships? I want to share with you three ways that fasting will build and strengthen your relationships with God and with others. The first one, fasting naturally draws you closer to God the Father and Jesus Christ. If you're fasting in a proper manner, it will naturally draw you nearer to God the Father and to Jesus Christ because God and Christ are the focus of the fast. It's a form of worship. We worship God and Jesus Christ when we fast. It is a sacrifice. As I mentioned, we like to eat, we like to drink. So it is a sacrifice. The Bible tells us, Paul says, we are to be living sacrifices.

So that's one way you can be a living sacrifice. I don't know anyone who's actually died from fasting.

You will live. So you can be a living sacrifice in that way. Fasting strengthens your relationship with God. And God, I believe, as I read the Bible, He's more likely to actually answer your prayers when you take the time to fast.

When you go to Him on a heartfelt day of fasting, He's more likely to actually answer your prayers. Doesn't mean He will. You know, God's will is perfect. And, you know, we can't question how He decides to answer our prayers. We need to be faithful and know that He does keep His promises, though. It may take a while. It may not happen as quickly as we would like, but God has promised us a number of things. And He does keep His promises. That we can be sure. He has promised to never leave us, to never forsake us, and certainly that is always true.

Now, we know that Jesus said some things don't happen except by what?

Prayer and fasting, right? Some things just don't happen unless we're willing to pray and to fast. And I don't know how many of you have never prayed when you were fasting? We all pray, right? When we fast, we pray more than we normally would because we've got that day set aside and much of that day is sent in prayer. Or a good portion of it, anyway, is sent in prayer. And some things just don't happen except through prayer and fasting. So when we fast, we're going to be praying more and it only makes sense that God honors these fasts. Let's go to Joel chapter 2 and we'll see this here. Now, this is a prophetic book. Joel was a prophet and it's likely that this was written around 500 BC. So there were difficult times in the land of Judah when Joel was prophesying about things. Plus, this is also a dual prophecy and much of it is for the last days, the days that have not yet been fulfilled. So let's go to Joel chapter 2. Obviously, we're breaking into the context, but if you read it, you'll see that times are hard in the land of Judah. There's famine. There have been threats by other enemies that border the land of Israel. And so it's a difficult time. There's been fires. Because of the famine, things were so dry. There were fires that were going throughout the land. A lot of thick smoke and darkness because of that. If we go to chapter 2 verse 12, now therefore says the eternal, turn to me with all your heart. God's speaking to his children, to his people. He says turn to me with all your heart with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. And when we read in the Bible, we will find that oftentimes a fast is called because of difficult times, hard times. And obviously that's a good time to fast is when things are not going so well.

Certainly the scriptures would indicate that you certainly want to go to God then, but certainly nothing wrong with going to God at any time of the year.

Might call that preventative maintenance. You know, go to God and fast throughout the year. He says turn to me with all your heart with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So, rend your heart and not your garments. So again, we don't make a show of it. We're not, you know, rending our garments or lying down in sackcloth and ashes, which was a practice that many did. But that would obviously draw attention. God says you don't need to do that. He wants you to rend your heart. That's where God's looking. He's looking on your heart. He says return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful. So if you've strayed at all from God and sin has gotten a hold of you, gotten a grip on you, it's messing up your life. It's maybe even controlling you. Some sins become addictions. And I would say probably most addiction, it may be, I wouldn't say categorically, but some addictions certainly are harbored in sin or anchored in sin.

So, return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and he relents from doing harm. You know, God doesn't want to do harm. God is a loving and a merciful and a faithful God. He wants to do good. He does not want to do harm.

He knows if, verse 14, it says, who knows if he will turn and relent? No, we don't know exactly what God's going to do, but we should do the right thing regardless whether or not God immediately intervenes on our behalf and helps the situation and answers our prayers. Regardless, we should go to God. Who knows if he will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering, and a drink offering for the eternal your God? Verse 15, blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly. It's obviously not talking about the Day of Atonement because that's already a sacred assembly. Call a sacred assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes, and let the bridegroom go out from his chamber and the bride from her dressing room. I think that's far enough. We've read enough there, but it shows you, again clearly, that God wants us to turn to Him in fasting and in prayer. Now, we know we don't earn our salvation by fasting and by prayer. We cannot possibly earn our salvation. Salvation is a gift from God. We are saved by grace. We're not saved by any amount of law keeping or the number of times we fast in a year or how many prayers we send up to God. We can't earn our salvation, but we can certainly show ourselves more pleasing to God when we apply the principles that are in God's Word.

So we should look to God. We should show Him what's in our hearts, what's in our minds. Why would your fasting make any difference to God? God, again, looks on your heart. He sees your willingness to humble yourself, to sacrifice your own physical needs, and He clearly sees your desire to please Him and obey Him and follow Him when you're willing to give up something you love.

Yes, eating, drinking. Fasting helps develop humility and submissive submissiveness toward God and toward Christ. Seeking repentance while fasting is very, very important, obviously. That's a part of what we do when we fast. We should ask God to show us where we fall short, where we need to repent of our sins. And when we know what those sins are and that we've been committing sin, we should seek repentance. You know, repentance is also a gift from God. And again, He looks at the heart. So, you know, if there's a sin that you have an especially difficult time with, fasting would make sense, wouldn't it? To go to God and ask for more strength to help you overcome. You know, the Scripture says, to He who overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne. So we can't earn our salvation, but God does look at our progress, our spiritual condition, how we're approaching things. So when we go to God in a serious way to help overcome and to put sin out of our lives, and that's very pleasing. Seeking repentance will also help heal any breach. You know, if there's a breach among people, and we'll talk more about this in a bit, but it's true also with God. Sin separates us from God.

But forgiveness restores one's relationship. So when God sees you, you are repentant, He will forgive you. He will grant you repentance, and you will be forgiven, and that breach will be healed. Fasting shows our dedication to God and our willingness and desire to put Him first in our lives. You know, Christ said, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It is more important than most things that we may put above fasting. There are many things we put above fasting, right? Perhaps we should look at our priorities a bit more. Fasting helps increase our faith in God as well. When we fast and we draw nearer to God, it naturally helps us grow in greater faith. Plus, the Scripture says that faith is a gift, and God gives us faith. And how much more would He likely do that if we saw us fasting? God does respond favorably to our seeking Him through repentance displayed in prayer and fasting. Let's go to Acts chapter 10. We'll see a New Testament example of someone who is a very dedicated, God-fearing man, and he did fast. Acts chapter 10, verse 1, there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always.

It says, about the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius. And when he observed him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord? So he said to him, Your prayers and your alms, what you've done for others, the things that you've given to serve the poor and to help others, those things, those prayers and those alms, have come up as a memorial before God. So God took note of what was happening in Cornelius' life, the example that he was setting, and it made a big difference. It was a memorial before God, the way this man conducted his life. So when we, you know, we're not going to take the time to read this, but it goes on about how he sent some servants, as the angel told him, sent them to Peter.

And Peter had a vision in the meantime. God was working with Peter as well. And God was showing him that he was not to call any man common or unclean because Cornelius was a gentile.

He would have been considered unclean and not someone that Peter would associate with, not go into his home. But God is going to use Cornelius in a marvelous major way here.

So let's drop down to verse 30. So Cornelius said, they came to the house. Peter brought, I think, six others with him, came back with his servants, and they were there at Cornelius' home. So Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house. And behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, actually this is an angel, and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God.

Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He's lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you. So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore we are all present before God. So he called his household together, Cornelius did, to hear all the things commanded you by God. Verse 34, then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.

God is not a respecter of persons. Cornelius was a Gentile, and yet it was always God's plan to eventually call all people to him through the Savior Jesus Christ. Verse 35, But in every nation whoever fears him, again whoever fears him, and works righteousness is accepted by him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all.

So it doesn't matter what ethnic background, what race, what whether male or female, God is calling all people. Not at the present time, obviously, he's calling everyone in his own order, but he's certainly calling some Gentiles and has been for a couple thousand years now. So God was working in a unique way with Cornelius. If we go down to verse 44, now Peter was giving this message instructing Cornelius in his household.

He says in verse 44, While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. Now again, Cornelius was fasting at this time. God saw his dedication, his faithfulness, his commitment, his prayers. And while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. So God granted his Holy Spirit to these Gentiles that were gathered together with Cornelius.

And it's pretty clear that there was a reason why Cornelius was chosen to be this first Gentile who was called and given the Holy Spirit. It was because of his faithfulness, his dedication, his example, his willingness to sacrifice and go to God. And God looked on his heart, saw his heart, and it made a difference. So the first principle is we draw nearer to God when we fast. Your relationship with God improves when you fast. It's axiomatic. It's automatic. Can't be helped as long as you're fasting in a proper way.

And we'll talk about what a proper type of fast is in a bit. So that's the first principle. Having a strong relationship with God is first and foremost. But secondly, fasting for the welfare and benefit of another person will naturally draw you closer to the person for whom you are fasting. It seems pretty clear that it's okay to fast for other people, or at least to bring them into your prayers during a day of fasting. So we should remember others during the times that we fast. Let's go to Deuteronomy 9, where we'll see a very fine example of a person who is very willing.

He was not just fasting for an individual here. He was actually fasting for all of the Israelites, the children of Israel, because God wasn't real happy with the children of Israel at this point. In fact, God was very unhappy. Deuteronomy 9. Now, this is a rehearsing of what had happened years before when the children of Israel had come out of Egypt and God had brought them through the Red Sea, had miraculously led them, but they ended up obviously sinning against God.

So we're going to pick up the story here in Deuteronomy 9. Now, this was after the first time in the 10 commandments were given. Remember, Moses had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, but the children of Israel were afraid of God. They were very fearful of him. He didn't come down the mountain right away, and the children of Israel were not faithful. So verse 14. They were not faithful, and we'll read about this as we go along.

In verse 14, the Eternal says, "...let me alone, speaking to Moses, that I may destroy them, the children of Israel, and blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they." So Moses was their leader, and Moses was up on the mountain fasting and praying before God. So he was in good shape, but the others, not so much.

He said, so Moses said, "...so I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a molded calf." So, you know, we've read about the molded calf. This is what this is about. "...you had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you." Moses didn't come down soon enough, so they had it in their mind. Let's make this golden calf, and somehow in their twisted minds they'd gone back to Egypt, and were basically worshiping the gods of Egypt again. It's hard, perhaps, for us to fathom how this could happen, but human nature is an interesting being in slavery to Egypt all those years, and, you know, everything that was happening to them. So, they were looking back to Egypt.

He said, "...you had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. Then I took the two tablets, I threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes, and I fell down before the Lord, as at the first forty days and forty nights, I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin, which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was angry with you to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me at that time also." So, Moses is intervening for them. Moses is a type of Christ, our high priest, who intervenes on our behalf. Well, this is exactly what Moses was doing for them. I have a lot of respect for Moses because this took a lot of courage to stand up, and humanly someone might think, well, God, I'm tired of these people, too. They've caused me a lot of grief, so I'm with you. Let's start over. But Moses obviously loved these people and was willing to go to bat for them and to stand up for them. And he had fasted forty days and forty nights, and if we understand correctly, it seems that he fasted again forty days and forty nights a second time, which he evidently had a lot of help from God because humanly I'm not too sure, especially in the heat of the Middle East. No doubt God was helping him along. It still wasn't easy, was it? It would have been very difficult, I'm sure. Verse 20 says, The Eternal was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him, so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. He's fasting, he's praying for Aaron, his brother. Aaron makes some lame excuse. You know, we threw this stuff into the fire and out came this calf. No, it said he bolded and fashioned and shaped that calf because he was afraid of the people and what they might do.

So that's what was happening in chapter 10 of verse 10. I'm sorry, chapter 10, verse 10. It says, As at the first time I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights. So again, fasting a second time, the Lord also heard me at that time, and the Lord, the Eternal, chose not to destroy you. So he was moved by Moses' willingness to lay his life down for the children of Israel. That's what Moses was doing, was laying his life down for them. And that's exactly what we're supposed to do, isn't it? As Christ's disciples, Christ laid down his life for us and we are to learn to lay down our lives for one another. We talk about that every Passover.

So Moses, again, he fasted a second time to save the people of Israel from God's displeasure and God's wrath. You know, there comes a time when God says enough is enough. He let ancient Israel go into captivity in Assyria. He let the house of Judah go into captivity in Babylon because enough was enough. You know, God will only put up with things for so long. And sometimes it seems he has to get the two by four out to try to get our attention. Because we are Israelites, at least figuratively, because we are stiff-necked at times. Stubborn, stiff-necked, maybe not as quick to learn and humble ourselves as we need to be.

While all of this fasting no doubt bonded Moses closer to the children of Israel, he laid his life down for them. And you would think that they would have had much respect for Moses. At least Joshua and Caleb, I'm sure, did. Certain ones did. Those who were being led by the Spirit of God, they had to highly respect Moses for what he did.

So it will draw us nearer together when we think of others while we're fasting. Let's go to Isaiah 58. I told you we'd talk a little bit about a proper kind of fast. So Isaiah 58 talks about a proper fast. Isaiah 58. We'll start in verse 1.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their transgressions. So God is speaking to the prophet Isaiah. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their transgression. The house of Jacob, their sins, yet they seek me daily. Now God's going to be a little sarcastic here. He says, yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways. As a nation they did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching God. Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen? Okay, so God's the problem.

That's essentially what they're saying here. You know, we fasted and God hasn't answered our prayers. Why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice? Okay, this was the approach of some of the children of Israel. In fact, God says, in the day of your fast you find pleasure. So God's turning the tables now. He says they're being hypocrites. They're blaming God for this.

It wasn't a proper type of fast in the first place. It was an outward show. He says, in fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure and exploit all your laborers. So these were, many of them, I'm sure, were employers. They had people working for them. You exploit your laborers. Indeed, you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day. It was not a humble fast, was it? It was a self-righteous type fast. You will not fast as you do this day to make your voice hurt on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bull rush and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast and acceptable day of the Lord? This is the question. Would you call this a fast? God says, no. This is an outward vein show of a bunch of hypocrites. And then he shows what the proper type of fast is. Is this not the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free. They were the oppressors. He wants the oppressed to go free. He wants to see a different heart, a different attitude, a different way of fasting, to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry? They were taking advantage of the hungry. They were not paying proper wages. They were extorting where they should have been faithful. He says, is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out when you see the naked that you cover him and not hide yourself? And not hide yourself from your own flesh. No doubt, some were neglecting their own families. Now, they weren't taking care of their wives, their husbands, their children, but they were more interested in being self-righteous about how wonderful they were, how godly they were, but God sees their heart. Verse 8, then he says, if you do these things, if you take care of the poor, those who need clothing, then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you.

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard, then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry, and he will say, here I am. Now, God is quick to answer those who are humble, those who are faithful, those who are setting a godly example and serving others and helping others. You know, it does make a difference when you fast. It does make a difference. God takes note of his people when they fast. And you just have to believe that and know that that's the case because it is. Because God says it is. He says, here I am. He says, if you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. Now, undoubtedly, there was a bigger problem with people being hungry. You and I really don't have a lot of exposure to poor people who are starving.

Let's face it, we are pretty sheltered. We live in the greater Cincinnati area. It seems like you're all in nice clothing. You don't look like you've missed a lot of meals to me. I certainly haven't. But, you know, maybe we do need to reach out a bit more. I know I've been thinking about looking into the homeless situation that they have here in Cincinnati. I know when we were in Dallas, there was a program that we did along with an organization that took care of the homeless. We would go to Fort Worth, where we would serve meals to them. It was pretty clear they looked forward to the big bus coming in with food, with soup, with other things. We even went down to the river looking for some homeless people that didn't show up that day, because the director of that program was really concerned that something wasn't right. They were staying in a tent. There was flooding by the river. We didn't find them, but we went down by the river looking for them. And we should all be willing to extend ourselves a bit to help others. So, perhaps we can do more in the future as we find need. We do some things, the farm to families or whatever that was called. I mean, that was good. We distributed a lot of food at that time, and y'all pitched in and helped, and it went well, and that was a good thing. We do the monthly donations for those who defeat the food bank. We do that, but I believe there's probably more that we can do. So, if you are aware and know of certain programs that you think it would be good for us to get involved in, I'm very open-minded. I believe that we do need to reach out more and do more as a people to help the poor and the needy.

He says in verse 10, If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually. God will be with you continually and satisfy your soul and drought, and strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

So, God does see our hearts when we sacrifice. Fasting is a sacrifice. It's one way that you can sacrifice. In Nehemiah, it shows Nehemiah fasted and prayed for the remnant of Judah. Let's go to Nehemiah chapter 1.

Ezra Nehemiah. Okay, Nehemiah chapter 1. Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 3. And they said to me, The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. So, this was obviously after the Israelites were taken to Babylon, and the Persians had taken over. He said, They said to me, The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down. Its gates are burned with fire. Nehemiah was concerned about these people and was inquiring about them. So, it was when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, you who keep your covenant and mercy with those who love you and observe your commandments, please let your ear be attentive and your eyes open that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel. So, this is something that he did while he was fasting. He was taking this very seriously. He was praying for the children of Israel.

He says, I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel, your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Both my father's house and I have sinned. Look, it would be true to say that we've all sinned here, right? So, going before God on a day of fasting and asking God to be merciful and to forgive all of us and grant us all repentance, that is a good thing. We should all be praying for each other, that God would grant each and every one of us repentance for our sins, that we might all be cleansed in that way. So, next time you fast, remember to pray for everyone here, in that sense. That's what Nehemiah is doing.

He says, both my father's house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you. We have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances, which you commanded, your servant Moses. Remember, I pray the word that you commanded, your servant Moses, saying, if you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the furthest parts of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for my name. Now, these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. So, and it's good to pray for God's church and to pray that God would call more people to his church for their sake. And for all of us, frankly, we know how much energy we get when we see new people coming in the doors, right? We all love to see new people that God is calling, that God is bringing. So, let's remember to pray when we fast that God would see fit to call more people, to bring more people into our fellowship. So, Nehemiah took this seriously and, you know, I would say that we have a really nice directory in here, in my phone. You probably have it on your phone. This would be a great tool during a fast. You can bring up everyone's picture. You can go through and pray for each of them.

You can spend a good bit of your day fasting, praying for each other. So, use the tools that you have at your disposal. You'll get to know people better as well. You can be praying for them. They'll be praying for you. So, we'll build stronger bonds. All right, let's go on to the third.

Oh, before I go any further, actually, Mr. Meyers gave a very good sermon that you'll hear next Sabbath in the in the PM. And he quoted a from a recent Gallup poll, which said, a lack of consideration for others is really the number one problem that we in America have.

It's a lack of consideration for one another. That's the biggest problem. That's what the Gallup poll came up with. I think it ties into what I'm saying today. You know, let's consider others while we fast. Then, point number three. If several people are fasting for an individual, so we were talking before about an individual who's fasting for other individuals or for a collective group of people. If several people are fasting for an individual or a group of people, they're all naturally drawn closer to one another. It's okay to decide to fast with other people. You know, I've heard people do that. You know, let's all get together and fast for this reason or for this person or for this group of people.

You don't have to wait on the home office to call a worldwide fast. You can do that yourselves as God's people. So, if several people are fasting for an individual or a group of people, they're all naturally being drawn closer to one another. God sees and honors this type of fast by intervening in various ways. For example, the book of Esther. What happened in the book of Esther?

Well, Esther 4. Let's go there.

Esther 4.

And remember that Mordecai was actually putting somewhat of a guilt trip on Esther because he was basically telling her perhaps God has called you to be queen for a time such as this.

Because Haman had orchestrated this decree that there would be, you know, that they would basically kill all the Jews. And he had some gallows that he was planning to hang Mordecai on. If you remember, so Mordecai had a certain motivation as well. Haman was up to get him. So he went to Esther, and Esther told Mordecai together, all the Jews in Shushan, to fast for her, that she might be given favor in the king's eyes. So God undoubtedly saw them fasting because that's what's going to happen here. Let's go to Esther 4. I'm having a hard time. There we go. Esther 4, verse 16.

Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, Go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me. So Esther, as queen, is asking everyone to fast for her. Neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. So not just 24 hours, three days. Start with 24 hours, and let's get a little bit more of that going on. Then we might graduate to three days. Fast for me, neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. So this was a complete fast. It wasn't Ramadan.

You know, in Ramadan, they fast during the day and party at night.

And they eat and drink, and then fast again. And then, you know, they don't go for a full 24 hours without food or water. So, back to this. Gather them together, fast for me. My maids and I will fast likewise, and so I will go to the king, which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. So she knew that the king could have her killed for being so bold as to take this action. It was the king he was supposed to call her, not the other way around here, but thankfully she did find favor. They fasted, and the Jews found favor, and Mordecai found favor, and Haman was hanged on the gallows that he intended for Mordecai.

They called a fast, got heard, got intervened.

I don't have time to go to 2 Chronicles 20, but you might want to look that up sometime. That's about Jeremiah, or I'm sorry, Jehoshaphat, King Jehoshaphat, and how he called a fast of all the children of Israel, or the children of Judah, the house of Judah, to ask for God's protection and deliverance from the enemies. Samuel did the same thing. The prophet Samuel led Israel in a fast. That's in 1 Samuel 7. He did that, and God intervened to save them.

When we fast, God does look upon us favorably. He grants favor in other people's hearts and minds. So one last scripture in Ezra, chapter 8. I found this to be interesting. I can see some human nature in this one here. I can see me doing this.

Okay, Ezra 8, verse 21.

Ezra says, Then I proclaim to fast there at the river of Ahava that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him the right way for us and our little ones. So we can fast for the little ones, we can fast for everyone before our God to seek him for our little ones, and even our possessions for God's blessing upon us. For I was ashamed to request of the king and escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road. I was ashamed because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek him, but his power and his wrath are against all those who forsake him.

So he was ashamed to have to go and say, We need people. We need human beings who have swords to come and protect us.

So let's fast. Let's make sure that God has our back. That's basically what's going on here. So we fasted and we entreated our God for this, and he answered our prayers. They did not need a company of soldiers because they had God who was their protection, who was going to deliver them.

So Ezra and company fasted together, and they got God's direction and guidance. God did bless them and guided them and returned them to the land of Israel.

So today we've talked about three ways we can fast and draw nearer to God and nearer to each other. By fasting with the welfare of others in mind, God hears and does intervene in some very dramatic, exciting ways. He's done it in the past. I believe he will do it in the future.

Fasting with others in mind will help you develop stronger, more meaningful relationships with God the Father, with Christ, and with others. Frankly, I think now's a good time to start fasting more because we're not starving and we're not in the very last days and we're not forced to do it.

We voluntarily do it.

I think that even means more to God when we go to Him voluntarily during good times and we fast and we draw nearer to Him.

So let's all draw near to God. Through fasting, let's develop stronger, more meaningful relationships with God the Father, with Jesus Christ, and with others. Brethren, it is time to carve out a day to fast.