The Power of Fasting

Well, as I read in the letter from Mr. Kubik, he would like to ask that we all set aside a day of fasting sometime between January 25th and February 8th. And we still have about a week to go in this two-week time period. Rather than let's have a day of fasting without distractions of this world, determine that we are going to draw close to God and humble ourselves before Him and strengthen our relationship with our Father in Heaven. So today I'd like for us to think about this fast and how we can benefit personally from it and as a church.

Because over the next two weeks span, we will have or will be fasting as a group. There are many verses in the Bible which I would like to read this afternoon, which I think will be very beneficial to us as we think about this fast. Some of these are powerful examples of groups of people, God's people, fasting together and the amazing, miraculous results that God gave them. Others are examples of individuals who turn to God with fasting. Some of these, many of these you've read before, maybe recently, maybe some of them not so recently.

And maybe some of these you haven't read and will learn from reading them today. Well, let's go back to some powerful examples of groups of God's people fasting and the miraculous results that God gave them. Let's go to 2 Chronicles 20 to begin. 2 Chronicles 20 and beginning in verse 1. 2 Chronicles 20 and verse 1. It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon and others with them, besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat. And some came to Jehoshaphat and told him, a great multitude is coming against you.

Well, what did Jehoshaphat do? He did the right thing. Verse 3, Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And so Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord, and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And that is what Jehoshaphat... Here's a leader that stood up and did the right thing. He said the right thing. In verse 6, he said before his people, O Lord God of our fathers. And so this is a prayer to God.

O Lord God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? And do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in your hand is there not power and might? So that no one is able to withstand you? Are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of the land before your people, Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham, your friend? And they dwell in it, and they built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying, If this asher comes upon us, such as the sword, judgment, or famine, we will stand before this temple, and in your presence, for your name is in this temple, cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.

And now here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt. For they have turned from them and did not destroy them. Here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude which is coming against us. Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. Now, brethren, when trouble comes up in life, we can learn a lot from this passage, can't we?

To declare a fast and look to God and have our eyes on God. Because God is all-powerful, He can take care of any problem. He's never met His match and never will. Well, in verse 13, all of Judah, with their little ones, their wives, their children, stood before the Lord. And right away, God began to answer Jehoshaphat's prayer. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, a Levite. And He said in verse 15, listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you came Jehoshaphat.

Thus says the Lord to you, do not be afraid, nor dismay because of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God's. How about that? You won't have to fight. I'll take care of it for you. Tomorrow go down, He told them where to go. And in verse 17, you will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, who's with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed. Tomorrow go up against them, for the Lord is with you. So right away, God answered the prayer of Jehoshaphat and reassured the Jews that they were in good hands, and He would take care of the problem.

Well, they rose up early in the morning, verse 20, and Jehoshaphat told the people here, me, O Judah, and you, inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established. Believe His prophets, and you shall prosper. And so he appointed those who would go out and just sing praises and the beauty of holiness, it says. And they began to sing, verse 22, and to praise God. In that very time, God set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seer, who'd come against Judah, and they were defeated.

For what happened? The people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seer to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they made an end of the inhabitants of Seer, they helped to destroy one another. And when Jehoshaphat and the people came to the place where they looked upon the multitude, there were their dead bodies fallen on the earth.

No one had escaped. How do you like this for, you know, protection? How do you like this for security?

One of our ministers a long time ago said that the United States could throw away every military weapon and implement it has and turn to God and later this year, next year, whenever God would let our enemies destroy themselves. You know, that works as a nation and that works also as an individual. God has not changed. We look to Him and He will take care of us and protect.

Well, you can go on down and read how they had all this spoil and they had the abundance of valuable, they gathered up the abundance of valuables and precious jewels. And they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. So not only was the army defeated, but the Jewish Judah had all of this wealth that came as well into their nation. So what a miraculous thing.

Fasting works, doesn't it? God saw and heard and He's not changed. He will see and hear as we fast during these two weeks. Let's go to another outstanding example. Just go forward in your Bible a couple of books, past Ezra and past Nehemiah to Esther. We all are familiar with Esther.

And Esther was of the Jewish culture. She actually hailed from the tribe of Benjamin. Remember that Judah was comprised of the tribes of Judah as well as Benjamin and many from Levi.

So here is Mordecai who was from the tribe of Benjamin. In chapter 2 and verse 7, Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter.

What is this relationship? His uncle's daughter. Well, they were cousins, weren't they?

To one another, but Mordecai had to be an older cousin to bring up Esther. She had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. Well, just to cut through this very quickly, the king was looking for a new queen. And in verse 17, the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins. So he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king made a big feast for Esther. All right, well, the story goes on and develops how the Jewish people have an enemy in the Persian Empire by the name of Haman. And he's pretty high up in government. And so he entices the king to destroy all of the Jews. You can read about it in chapter 3 and verse 8. Haman said to King Ahasuerus, there is a certain people, and it's of course the Jewish people, scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from all other peoples, and they do not keep the king's laws. Therefore, it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed.

Well, this Haman was able to somehow connive and convince the king to do that. And letters went out that on a certain day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, all of the Jews were to be destroyed on that day, all over the Persian Empire. When Mordecai heard it in chapter 4 and verse 1, Jewish people heard it as well. And in verse 3, In every province where the king's command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting, weeping, and wailing. And many lay in sackcloth and ashes. Here's Esther, the queen. Is she going to be affected by this? There's some correspondence between Mordecai and Esther, and Mordecai says, you also, your life is on the line as well. And so he told her that in verse 13, Mordecai told them to answer, Esther, do not think in your heart that you will escape the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place. I find that interesting. Mordecai believed that God would deliver one way or another, but he went on to say, you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom? You've been made queen in the Persian Empire. You've come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

Well, Esther devised a plan. Let's notice that plan in verse 15. She told them to return this answer to Mordecai. Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, the capital city area, and fast for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. This was a three-day fast.

In the capital city. No doubt, hundreds and hundreds of Jews were being called upon to fast.

My maids and I will fast also, she said. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law.

And if I perish, I perish. This woman had some strength. She had some real character, because it was against the law for her to do what she would have to do to go and make a petition to the king. So they fasted in chapter 5 and verse 1. It happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace across from the king's house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house facing the entrance of the house.

And so it was, notice God is working here, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court that she found favor in his sight. And the king held out to Esther, the golden scepter that was in his hand. Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. And the king said to her, What do you wish, Queen Esther? Only did he not, you know, kill her, have her killed, but he wanted to know what she wanted, what her request was. What's your request? It shall be given to you up to half the kingdom. Boy, that's a lot, isn't it? Up to half the kingdom. Well, Esther goes about slowly revealing what needs to be done. She says, I want to get together with you and Haman. So they do get together and have wine. And the king says, What do you want? Esther says, Well, I want to get together tomorrow, and let's have a banquet. And then I will tell the king my request. Meantime, Haman sees Mordecai, and Mordecai doesn't show Haman the respect he wants.

And he tells his family about it. And Haman feels like he's very close to the king. And so he decides to build some gallows upon which to hang Mordecai. You can read about that in the last part of chapter 5. Well, guess what? Chapter 6 and verse 1. That night, the night before Esther and Haman and the king would get together, and Esther would let him know what her request would be.

That night, the king could not sleep. I wonder why. And the God was working. No one was...

So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles. So the history of the Persian kings, which were read before the king, and it was found written that Mordecai had a toad of a couple who had actually tried to lay hands on the king. They were going to kill him, the king, and had delivered the king from their hands. Verse 3, the king said, What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? They said, Well, nothing.

About that time, Haman came walking in, and the king said, Who is this? And they told him that it was Haman. And so they had Haman to come in. And the king, in verse 6, said, What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor? Well, Haman thought it was himself. And so he said, Well, parading through the streets, dressing in the king's clothing, putting him on the royal chariot. And so in verse 10, the king said to Haman, Hey, son, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai, the Jew who sits within the king's gate. Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken. So Haman then was required to do something very humiliating in parading Mordecai through the streets.

Well, in chapter 7, we read here that the banquet where Haman and the king and the queen all met together. And the king, in verse 2, said, What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Up to half of my kingdom it shall be done.

And so the queen then revealed to the king the plot of Haman to kill the Jews. And in verse 4, she said, We have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. The king was asked, Who is he? In verse 5. In verse 6, Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. And so the king was very angry about that. He even went outside the banquet area to the palace garden, came back in, found Haman kind of falling across the couch where Esther was. In verse 8. And the final part of this part of the story is that in verse 10, they actually hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Did God hear and answer his people? Did he see Esther and the others when they fasted? He did. And he will see God's people today as we fast. There's another good example in Nehemiah, chapter 9. Go back to where the front of your Bible, one book. Just one book. Nehemiah, chapter 9. Nehemiah, chapter 9, and verse 1. Now on the 24th day of this month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting in sackcloth and with dust on their heads. Why were they fasting? Well, you know, we need to understand the reason for their fast. Then those of the Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and iniquities of their fathers. They read the law of God one-fourth of the day, and they confessed and worshipped a fourth of the day.

And beginning in verse 5, then there is a prayer, a lengthy prayer of repentance to God.

Blessed is your name, beginning in verse 5, your glorious name, which is exalted above all. And so they praise and they glorify God, and they go through some of the history of their nation.

And they bring out the sins of their fathers. Like in verse 16, they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed your commandments. They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of your wonders. And again and again in this chapter, they confessed their sins. In verse 26, nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their backs. And in verse 29, they acted proudly, did not heed your commandments. And so verse 32, now therefore our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem small to you, all these things that the Jewish people had been through. And finally in this prayer, in verse 36, it says, Here we are servants today, and the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good things, here we are servants in it. They were actually servants in the Persian Empire. They did not have their national freedom. And in verse 38, because of all this, we make, and here's the purpose of their fasting, because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it, and our leaders and our Levites and our priests seal it. So they signed a covenant to obey God's laws.

They recognized all the captivity to Babylon and Persia was because of their sins. They admitted those sins, and they wanted to get back to the keeping of the laws of God, and they signed this covenant to keep God's law. In chapter 10, now these who placed their seal on the document were, and it goes on down to give the names of many of them, on through verse 27. In verse 28, now the rest of the people, the priests and the Levites, and all of these, verse 29, they joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law. So these people were repenting and getting back to God's laws and commandments. Did God hear? You know He did?

The Jewish people had favor in the Persian Empire. Even Esther, as we just read, became a queen in in the Persian Empire, the queen of one of the kings. So God did give the Jews relative favor and peace and a measure of independence in the Persian Empire. Another great example of a group fasting is in Ezra chapter 7. Ezra chapter 7. Let's begin reading in verse 10. Ezra chapter 7 and verse 10. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. Then in the verses that follow, verse 11, there's a letter that the king, a king of Persia, gave Ezra. And the purpose of the letter was for the beautification of the temple back in Jerusalem. And when this letter was given to Ezra, he was in Babylon, or in the area of Persia, rather, in Mesopotamia. But he was going to go to Jerusalem then and be allowed to beautify the temple. Ezra was very happy about this. Verse 27, blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart to beautify the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem. And so he was encouraged, he says in verse the last part of verse 28. And he began to gather people together to go with him.

Chapter 8, you can find the names of many of them. Verse 15, he says, I gathered them by the river that flows to Ahabah, and we camped there three days. So they're ready now to begin their journey from the area of the Persian, from Mesopotamia to Jerusalem. Quite a journey! And before taking the journey, they did something very important. Let's read about it in verse 21. Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahabah, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. Notice he goes on to say, I was ashamed to request of the king and escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king that 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 they were afraid to request any soldiers to go with them. So he says in verse 23, we fasted and entreated God for this. That's always better anyway. You know, God is much more powerful than any army of human soldiers. We fasted and entreated our God for this. To God here, he answered our prayer. And skip on down to verse 31, we departed from the river of Ahabah on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road.

No details given, but they did encounter some problems, but God delivered them along the way, and so we came to Jerusalem. They made their journey successfully. Did fasting work for Ezra and the Jews journeying to Jerusalem to beautify the temple? It did. You know, fasting always works. When a people, an individual, or a people turn to God, fasting always works. We have some interesting examples, even of evil people, that did very evil things. Fasting, and God changing His mind about what He said He would do. One prime example of this is Ahab. Let's go to 1 Kings 21.

1 Kings chapter 21. I think we all are very familiar with the story that Ahab wanted this vineyard, but the owner of it, Naboth, said, No, this belongs to the family. I can't sell it to you.

Well, Jezebel heard about it, Ahab's wife, and so she arranged to have the owner, Naboth, put to death. Then she told her husband, Ahab, the vineyard is now yours. But you know, God didn't like that. In verse 17, Elijah was sent to Ahab, and God told him, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, for he is in the vineyard of Naboth. In verse 19, you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord, Have you murdered and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord, in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours. And we'll skip on down just a little bit. Verse 21, Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam. And concerning Jezebel, verse 23, the Lord also spoke, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field. For all of those are things up to this point that Elijah told Ahab that would happen to him. So the dogs are going to eat Jezebel, and they'll eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city.

Verse 25 goes on to explain a bit more about how wicked Ahab was. So there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel, his wife, stirred him up.

He behaved very abominably in following idols according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. Okay, this was a very evil king.

Well, guess what? As sometimes can happen, like with the Ninevites, we won't turn to that example today, Nineveh was also a very wicked city. They repented at the coming of the preaching of Jonah, and God held back the punishment he had foretold, because they fasted also. They proclaimed a day of fasting.

Well, Ahab did the same thing, and we notice this in verse 27. And so it was when Ahab heard these words that he tore his clothes. He began that was an ancient custom of repentance. He tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body. Kind of a rough clothing that also pictured repentance and remorse. He put sackcloth on his body, and he fasted. He fasted. And he lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. The indication is that this was more than just a day.

It may have been a good number of days that Ahab fasted in a very rough kind of garment that wasn't very pleasant, sackcloth. You know, God saw this. How tender-hearted, how good God is. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah and said, See how Ahab has humbled himself before me?

Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the calamity in his days.

The calamity would still come, and it would be delayed. It would not come in the time of Ahab.

But in the days of his son, I will bring the calamity on his house. Interesting, isn't it?

Fasting even for this evil king caused God to change his or alter his pronouncement.

There are many, many personal examples of fasting in the Bible and getting results for it.

One interesting little night of fasting, in a way, is when Daniel was thrown into the lion's den. Let's go to Daniel 6 and read about that. It's interesting, you know, these little tidbits about fasting in the Bible, people that turned to God with fasting. Actually, we don't know whether or not Daniel himself fasted when he was thrown into the lion's den. But you know, I have an idea that he did, don't you? I doubt there was any food or water down in that lion's den. He was thrown down into it, but the lions, you know, God shut their mouths and they could not eat him. He was there all night with the lions, but I doubt there's any food or drink there. So I imagine Daniel fasted all that night, all the time he was done in the lion's den. But notice the king, King Darius, or Darius of Persia, in verse 18. The king, after he had Daniel thrown into the lion's den against everything that the king wanted, he could not change the law that he had signed. So he had it done.

The king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. I find that interesting. This Persian king, you know, not in Israelite at all, spent the night fasting, and no musicians were brought before him. It was a very somber night, and his sleep went from him. He didn't sleep any of that night. Well, early the next morning, he rushed to the den of lions. When he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. And he said, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? Well, you know, I'm not so sure the king was expecting to hear an answer, but he did.

Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever! My God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before him. And also, O king, I've done no wrong before you. And the king was exceedingly glad, and had all the evil men that had plotted Daniel's death themselves and their households thrown down into the lions' den. And before they even got down to the bottom, the lions had devoured them. So, you know, God did hear, and he did answer, didn't he? So, let's read another good example in the book of Luke, chapter 2, and verse 37. You know, some of these, again, are reminders of people of God who fasted, and they served God in this way. They worshiped God. Fasting was a part of their worship. Brethren, fasting is a part of our worship, too. It's a part of our way of life. It's a part of our relationship that we have with God, fasting. Luke, chapter 2, and verse 36, there was this woman, Anna. Anna was a prophetess, the daughter of Fanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. Apparently, something happened to her husband just seven years into the marriage. Anyway, this woman was a widow of about 84 years who did not depart from the temple. It seems like she was there at the temple day and night. At least, she was there all the time during the day, whatever is meant by this. She did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

At this instant, she came in, and Jesus had just been brought, and certain days of purification were being done. She gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of Him, of all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. But you've got to see Jesus Christ. She served God with fastings and prayers. Let's go to Acts 9. Here's an interesting and good example of fasting. The apostle Paul had been destroying the church, capturing Christians, having them murdered. God knocked Him flat.

Paul, on the ground, said, trembling and astonished, Acts 9 and verse 6, "'Lord, what do you want me to do?' He said, "'Rise, go to the city.' The men that he was with took him up then and brought him by hand to Damascus, because Saul," as his name was then before it was changed to Paul, was blind. He couldn't see anything. He was blinded by this encounter.

And verse 9 says, "'He was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.' He fasted those three days that he had no sight." Here's a man that was persecuting Christians, and then he was suddenly struck down and blinded, lost his sight, and he then for three days and three nights is fasting. And don't you think he did a lot of thinking during those three days and three nights? He did. But I tell you, he did something else. We read on down verse 10, there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and to him the Lord said in the vision, Ananias, he said, "'Here I am, Lord.' So the Lord said to him, "'Arise, and go to the street called Strait, and inquire at the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold," what had Paul been doing these three days? He is praying. I think Paul prayed hours and hours and hours. He couldn't read the Bible into the Scriptures, but he was blind, but he could do a lot of meditating, and he could do a lot of praying, and he did.

One other example, and of course God went on to use him as a chosen vessel to take the gospel to the Gentile world with great power and might. In Acts chapter 10 is a very interesting example. Here we have a man by the name of Cornelius. There may be something here that you're not aware of in with Cornelius. I think we all know that this is the chapter where salvation is opened up to the Gentiles. We know that there was this man that Cornelius that was a very devout man. Well, let's read about it in the first few verses. Verse 1, there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment. He was a devout man. Look at what kind of man this man was. He was a Gentile. He was a devout man, one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always.

Well, verse 3, 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? He said, your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.

Do you know that actually we're going to find that Cornelius was doing more, though, at this time that he received this vision, he was also fasting. He was doing more than just praying.

Let's read on down verse 5. Cornelius was told to send men to Joppa to Simon, whose name is Peter, lodging with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea. He'll tell you what to do.

So he gathered up three of his servants there and sent them on their way. Meantime, Peter has this vision where the sheet is let down three times. Then he gets up from it, wondering what to expect. And God says to him, the Spirit told Peter that three men were seeking him, verse 19, and to go with them, doubting nothing. So Peter came down and he saw these three men from Cornelius and he went with them. In verse 24 it says, the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them and they called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet. What a humble and contrite attitude this man had, Cornelius. What an attitude indeed! As Peter was coming in, he fell down at his feet and worshipped him. And Peter said, Stand up! Don't worship me, I'm also a man. And as he talked with them, he went in and found many who had come together. Then he said to them, Peter said to all of these Gentiles, You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent forth. I asked them for what reason have you sent for me? And Cornelius said, Four days ago, I was fasting. Interesting, isn't it? When God spoke to him in that vision to send for Peter. It's interesting that God looked down upon a man that was fasting when he would open the door for the Gentiles. 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 we know the rest of the story. And Peter came. And these people received God's Spirit, and they were baptized.

And Peter had to even defend his action because he did something that the Church did not yet understand should be done. You know, there are so many examples, aren't there? I've taken quite a bit of time to read scriptures. But, you know, we do read a lot of scriptures in our services, and that's good that we do that. But look at all these examples. Jehoshaphat and the Jews, Esther, the Queen of Persia, Nehemiah, and the Jews confessing their sins and making that covenant with God to obey His law, Ezra and the Jews for beautifying the temple and fasting and seeking God's help. And God heard them. Ahab, even the King of this wicked King of Israel, that God saw him when he humbled himself with fasting. Darius fasted that night when Daniel was in the lion's den.

Old Anna fasting, serving God with fasting. The Apostle Paul fasting with prayer as God knocked him down. And Cornelius here fasting when God opened the door for the Gentiles.

You know, brethren, all of these scriptures do indicate that our booklet has it very well that fasting is a spiritual power tool. In our latest booklet on the tools for Christian growth, we... the fourth chapter, the first one is on prayer, the second one is on... the second tool is Bible study, the third tool is meditation. Those we do every day. But the fourth tool is one that's done periodically, fasting. And the title of this chapter is fasting a spiritual power tool.

And this chapter brings out that we need fasting with prayer to help us maintain a close relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Yes, we do. And I think we... and I'll include myself... do not use this tool as much as we should. It goes on to say in this chapter that fasting is an important part of building a right and strong relationship with God. Fasting is an exercise in self-discipline over our fleshly cravings while keeping God first in our thoughts. By nature, it goes on to say we are egocentric. We think about ourselves self-centered and must work at becoming God-centered. A major purpose of fasting is to learn humility, to better understand how great God is and how weak, sinful, and needy we are. King David understood this when he wrote, I humble myself with fasting. Fasting does humble us. It just helps to keep us from becoming... to have pride or arrogance or to think of ourselves more highly than we should. Our chapter here goes on to say that God delights in humble hearts. He said in Isaiah 66 verse 2, This is the one I esteem, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. And Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, the humble and dependent, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, fasting just helps to keep us in line instead of getting up on a high horse and thinking more highly than we should of ourselves. And this chapter on fasting concludes by turning to Isaiah 58 and says, This is a profound passage that contrasts right and wrong attitudes in fasting. It clearly shows that fasting must not be a mere ritual. Let's go back and read some then from this chapter in the Bible. Certainly is an outstanding chapter, maybe the most outstanding on fasting in the entire Bible, Isaiah 58. Any times I like to read this chapter during a day of fasting and apply it to myself. Yes, this chapter does bring up the wrong way of fasting beginning in verse 3. Why have we fasted? They say, and you have not seen. Why have we afflicted our souls? And you've noticed. In fact, in the day of your fast, you find pleasure. You just go about your regular pleasure in business. You exploit all your laborers. Take advantage of your people working for you. Indeed, you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness.

You will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high. In verse 5, I visit a day that I have chosen for a man to afflict his soul, to bow down his head like bull rush, to spread out sackcloth and ashes. Is God just looking for these outward things?

No. Would you call this a fast and acceptable day to the Lord? The Pharisees had a wrong kind of fasting. One Pharisee and the public can remember the Pharisee said, Lord, I thank you. I'm not like other men, extortioners and all these things. I fast. I give tithes of all that I possess. I fast twice every week. Well, you know, that's quite a bit of fasting, isn't it? The Church doesn't recommend that we fast twice a week. That'd be kind of hard, really, to go two days each week fasting. I'm glad that's not what God expects. But when we do fast, He does want us to draw close to Him and humble ourselves. But that's the wrong kind of fasting when we do it for a self-righteous reason. Also, the Jews would just configure their faces so that people would realize that they were fasting. They'd go around with this real strain to look on their face and people would say, Oh, look how this man here is fasting, how righteous he must be. So that's the wrong kind of fasting.

It's not drawing close to God and not humbling ourselves before Him. In verse 6, we get to the right kind of fasting. Is this not the fast that I have chosen? Here it is. To lose the bonds of wickedness, to look at ourselves closely then, to repent of our sins and shortcomings, to undo the heavy burdens, and let the old press to go free, and that you break every yoke. You're having any problems in relationships with anyone in your marriage, family, in the church, at work, or elsewhere. It'd be good to get that sorted out on the day of fasting, where you yourself have a right understanding and a right heart about it yourself and don't have a heavy grudge in your heart and mind. In verse 7, is it not to share your bread to the hungry, begin to look out for the welfare of others, 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 from your own flesh?

So this is what fasting should be all about, making changes in our own life as we humble ourselves before God. And if we do, 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, because we've drawn close to God. You shall cry, and he will say, here I am. I'm right here, because we're walking with God. We're close to God. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, your light will dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noon day. You know, on a bright sunny day, there is no darkness at noon time. The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought. Just blessing after blessing, then, comes our way. Strengthen your bones. You'll be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. Those from among you will build the old waste places and raise up the foundations of many generations. And you'll be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

So fasting renders so many benefits. I don't know why we don't use it more often than we do.

But I guess fasting is not a natural thing for us to do. But we need to do it. So during these two weeks, if you've done it already, I hope that the sermon will still be beneficial to you because after a fast, I think we all are strengthened by it. We are closer to God. We do have more of His Spirit. We do have things and a better perspective in our life. What is God looking for when we fast? He's looking at the heart. He's looking for an obedient heart and mind.

One that wants to, that delights in the keeping of His commandments. He's looking for a humble heart, one that is repentant. And He's looking for really a childlike, humble heart that is described in Matthew 18. Let's do read this passage about what God is looking for when we fast. Matthew 18 and verse 1. Matthew 18 and verse 1, at that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? So they were wondering, these disciples, who will be the greatest in the kingdom? You know, Jesus had a unique way of answering questions quite often, and He did here. How would you answer the question? Somebody comes to you, who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom? Jesus just looked around. He saw a little child, and He called the little child to Him and said Him in the midst of them. You hear all these disciples around, big strong husky men. And here's Jesus and this little child, and He says, Assuredly I say to you, unless you're converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. You really want to make it into the kingdom of God, you have to become like a little child. So verse 4, whoever humbles Himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So, you know, that is really the attitude that God is looking for, the attitude of a little child. He wants an attitude of obedience, a childlike trust and humility.

We have just some outstanding examples in the Bible of people that turn to God with fasting. I mean, it's written in the Bible, the attitude that God wants, what He's looking for, go back to Nehemiah again. Let's just real quickly read this, because my time is beginning to run down. But in Nehemiah chapter 1, we see here the attitude that God is looking for in Nehemiah chapter 1 and verse 3. Nehemiah learned that there was great distress in Jerusalem. Verse 3, the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and the gates are burned with fire. So it was when I heard these words, I sat down and wept. When He heard things were not well back in Jerusalem. I wept and mourned for many days. And I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And we have the words here. I'm so glad we have the words, because it reveals the heart and the attitude that God wants.

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 a tinnant 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, 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. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, or ordinances that you commanded your servant, Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that you commanded your servant, Moses. 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 out in the farthest part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place which I have chosen as the dwelling for my name. But what an attitude than this is of contrition, of humility, confession of sins, of his people.

This is the type of attitude that we want to have as well. Now, these are your servants and your people, verse 10, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant. Please hear my prayer and to the prayer of your servants who desire to fear your name and let your servant prosper this day. I pray and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. End the prayer.

What an attitude Nehemiah had. You can read the same attitude from Daniel in Daniel chapter 9, verses 1 through 19. I don't think we will take time to do that right now.

The God is looking for a humble attitude. He's looking for one that, well, we do confess our sins and we do want to draw close to him. Yes, fasting humbles us.

Yes, fasting strips away the outward facade. We don't feel nearly as self-important. We don't have the same look at ourselves. We feel quite puny. Fasting knocks us down and it's good.

And we realize we can do nothing. And we must throw ourselves into the hands of Almighty God and yield our bodies to Him. And He can accomplish a lot through us if we will.

You know, fasting is like a spiritual tune-up. Things do tend to kind of get out of perspective and maybe not working quite as they should in our lives. And maybe our focus is not clearly on God's Kingdom. God's Kingdom might be just a bit blurry. And fasting helps to get God's Kingdom back in clear focus and everything in our lives back in clear focus. Near the conclusion here, I'd like to read from an old Ambassador College Bible correspondence course. It is less than 48 of the old Ambassador College Bible correspondence course. It probably goes back 40 or 50 years ago.

The purpose of fasting is to humble ourselves, to help us to see ourselves as we really are.

True humbling is repentance. It leads to conversion, admitting one's human ways are all wrong and turning to God's ways, receiving the power of His Holy Spirit to completely overshadow our own puny human strength. Fasting is a humbling experience. It cuts us down and lets us know how small and weak and insufficient and to ourselves we really are. We learn real humility. We learn that we are merely a very physical human being. Without fasting, we may mentally admit that we are not much, but we don't really comprehend it. We don't feel it. We don't see how really weak and insignificant we are until we begin to go without food and drink for a period of time. Then the lesson is driven home right to the pit of your stomach. I like the word that is put. When we fast, God becomes very important. We begin to feel in our innermost being how much we need and depend upon God. Fasting brings us to grips with reality. We see and feel ourselves as we really are, and we're brought face to face with our dependency in everything upon our Heavenly Father. Fasting makes us realize what Job did, that we are nothing but a heap of ashes, a mere chemical existence in the form of human flesh. It was kind of like a clock that has wound up to last so long. A mere chemical existence in the form of human flesh. That's what our life is. That's what God wants us to realize. Then when we recognize how feeble we really are and how great God really is, we can turn and trust in Almighty God for the spiritual power to overcome and grow in His character. So this sermon today I hope will be helpful to us. Whether or not we have yet fasted, we will be fasting in the future. If we have fasted already, if we haven't, then we can keep these things in mind. But truly fasting is a power tool that we will need to use on occasion.

Let us use it to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

And humbly ask God, as Mr. Kubik mentioned in his letter, humbly ask God for the kind of spiritual growth He is looking for in His Church and in all of us.