Seek First | Pastor Gary Blackmon

Bless the Lord.

Come on, give the Lord a hand of praise.

Amen.

This is the day that the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it.

So glad again to hear great singing and worship before our kid.

King, let me just say thanks to all United States, especially to your pastor.

I know he had to go to other service, but won't you give him a hand and thank him for the leadership that you're a great friend, uh beloved brother of the Lord.

So I really appreciate him and his work that he served together on the board.

At least the Christian Universe together, and he has been a great friend and brother beloved.

And so I'm glad to be here again.

If you have your Bibles, why don't you just open them up right quick and just turn to Mark chapter 9?

Mark 9 · chapter mention

It's gonna be our study for the day.

And but before I do that, I just want to uh tell a story.

It's a true story, actually.

Uh I don't know if you heard it before, but it's a true story.

Uh it was about uh Drummond Bar, uh, which was a bar in uh Mount Vernon, Texas, and they decided to expand the you know the bar and do some extensive work.

And well, the the local Baptist church, they didn't kind of like that too much, so they decided to give a petition.

And not only the petition, but they was gonna say we're gonna fast and pray that the expansion wouldn't go and seem that it didn't.

So they they worked with this uh bar, kept going and kept building, and all of a sudden the grand opening came.

Then the week before the grand opening, uh something happened.

The day that they were gonna have the grand opening, lightning hit the bar and burnt it down to the ground.

And so the local church that was fasting and praying, they began to have a get a little, you know, sort of broggadaceous, and they began to have a smug sort of sense in their hearts, and they were going around town telling all the local people that it was through fasting and prayer, the church burned down, the church burned down.

And so the bar owner got mad, and he was kind of upset that they were doing that, so he decided to sue the church.

And so he sued the church on the grounds that even though that they didn't indirectly, but I mean directly, but indirectly caused the bar to burn down.

And so all of a sudden they wrote their the, you know, the depositions and they sent it to the judge, and the accuser sent his in, uh, the bar owner, and and so then the defense of the church put theirs in and said it was because of the church, and they said, No, we didn't do anything wrong and we didn't cause it to burn down.

And all of a sudden the judge called both parties in his office and he said to him, I have a problem.

I don't know which way I'm gonna decide.

He says, I have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and I have a church that does not.

Well, let me go on record to say this morning, I believe in the power of prayer and fasting.

Amen.

Now, listen, listen, listen.

Now you clapping, but listen.

When I talked about fasting and prayer, I'm gonna tell you what happened to some of you.

It happened to me too.

Whenever I hear fasting, what happens is my stomach reached up and grabbed my collar and run.

And that's what some of you are doing right now and say, let's get out of here.

We're not talking about fasting and prayer.

But I want to read this scripture that Jesus writes, or Mark writes in the gospel about Jesus and in Luke chapter 9, and we're gonna look at verses 28 and 29, just two verse, but I want to plant it, but that's I want to speak beyond that and talk about this idea, the power of fasting and prayer.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

So I want to give a mini theology in prayer and fasting.

This is what it said in Mark chapter 9, verse 28.

Mark 9:28

And when he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, glad he did that privately.

Why could we not cast it out?

Which is this demon news talked about that in a moment.

And here's what Jesus said.

And Jesus said to them, This kind, everybody shout, this kind.

Come on, say it again, this kind.

This kind comes out only by prayer and fasting.

Y'all already quiet on me.

When you talk about fair impressed in this ideal fast, the story is that Jesus starts back in Mark chapter 9, 14.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

Jesus went on the Mount Transfiguration with his three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John.

And while he was there on the mountain, the Bible says he was transfigured, meaning that he opened himself up and his dealty was exposed.

Because you know Jesus is both humanity and dealty.

He's God at the same time, he's human.

And so God opened himself up through Christ, and they saw him.

And the Bible says, when he was transfigured, he saw two people, Moses and Elijah, on two great heroes.

And the disciples just fell as though they were dead.

And all of a sudden they said, Can we build, Peter said, Can we build three tabernacles?

We won't just step in and worship.

But while they was on the mountaintop, down in the valley, the nine was left there.

And that was a father that had a boy who was demon-possessed, he had an evil spirit, and and the father came to disciples, and as Jesus came down from the mountain, and Jesus heard all this chaos and commotion, and and his father ran up to him because they were arguing, the Bible says, and Jesus saw this man come and say, I had this boy, and I brought him to your disciples so that he would cast this evil spirit out, but they couldn't, they tried, but they couldn't.

And Jesus says, Oh, you of little faith, what am I have to do with you all?

And he says, Go get the boy.

Jesus healed the little boy, and all of a sudden, they don't know how who else they went in, but later after they went in the house for a private debriefing with Jesus, his disciples, all 12 of them, and I can imagine the humiliation and the look upon their faces, and Jesus was quiet, and they were quiet, and somebody spoke up.

And he says in verse 28, Lord, why could we not cast out the demon?

And that's what Jesus said to them.

This kind only comes by prayer and fasting.

Let me say, listen, I believe that God can do more than we can ever imagine through fasting and prayer.

So, what I want to do, I want to just lay down a biblical definition of fasting that culminates with prayer that we can latch on to to see how God can move in our lives when we avail ourselves in the spiritual realm.

So here's the biblical definition of fasting.

I'm gonna give you two, but the one I want to use is biblical fasting is the refraining from food for spiritual purpose.

Alright?

See, Jesus always assumed, it was the assumption of Jesus that the lifestyle of the Christian would always be about three things in the Bible.

So fasting was common to that early church.

But when Jesus writes in Mark chapter 6, he says that was three things, not if you fast, but when you fast.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

He says these three things when you pray, when you give, and when you fast.

So Jesus was had the assumption that we would fast, it would be a part of our daily life, it was a part of the life of the new church at its birth.

And God expected those, so he says, when you give, when you pray, and when you fast.

If that be the case, that Jesus expects his children or expects the church or believers to fast, then why don't we?

Why is it so difficult?

Why so many few participate in it?

Why don't you hear it in preaching and in teaching in the Christian realm?

Here's the answer.

Here's one of my reasons.

We don't fast and we don't resist food for spiritual purpose because our stomach is king.

Not Burger King, but our stomach is king.

And here's what I mean by that.

And I think it happened in creation.

See, what happened, how my mind and your stomach became king is through the creation.

When Adam and Eve was in the garden, amen, and God told them not to eat their fruit, which represents food, they took and ate.

Now we believe, I believe again, that Satan deposited something in their thought life, in their mind, to do it.

So food became king based on what Adam and Ian eat.

And what they did, they ate, let's say, they ate themselves away from God's blessings.

They ate themselves away from the provisions of God, they ate themselves away from the presence of God.

And what happened was they didn't did not want to adhere to God's command about not taking the fruit.

It is almost as uh what I like to call the Esau syndrome.

The Esau syndrome in the Old Testament, you know that Isaac had two sons.

What was one?

Jacob and Esau.

See, Esau, what he did, he he looked at the physical, right?

The physical appetite for a moment and lost the gift.

He gave away, he literally gave away his blessing for food.

As a matter of fact, when we talk about in reference to the children of Israel, the God of Israel, we always say it was Abraham, Isaac, and who else?

He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It should have been he's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau.

But Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of soup.

Because his stomach was king.

And so, whenever you think about the provisions of God, you gotta always understand this.

And here's the statement I want to give you.

The means of grace, the means of grace is that the agitation of the physical cause us to accentuate the spiritual.

When we are agitated in our stomach, or the flesh, I can say, the physical, what that does, that accentuates the spiritual.

In other words, we are created beings of God.

God created us as spiritual beings to hunger after him.

Amen.

God says, I want you to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

And so what happened is this idea that if we don't understand that God needs us to follow him or pursue him with an idea of the spiritual.

You see, when we hunger after the spiritual, then we will not crave that which we don't need.

Are you hearing this morning, please?

Whenever you're spiritual for the hunger, or if you if you don't pursue that which is spiritual and hunger for God, then you'll find yourself wanting that physically that you don't need.

Amen.

Here's what I mean by that, because that was a spiritual principle behind this.

In the book of uh 2 Kings, chapter 7, that the people of God were facing a famine.

2 Kings 7 · chapter mention

They were encamped around by the enemy, and so they couldn't get out, they couldn't do anything, and all of a sudden they ran out of food.

They couldn't have nothing to eat.

Matter of fact, they they just they just they were just downtrodden.

They were desperate in the sense.

They didn't have nothing to eat, the food was running out, they were in dire straits.

And like I said, whenever there's not a spiritual hunger for God, you will find yourself doing something that you normally would not do under the circumstances.

They were so hungry, listen, they were so hungry and desperate to eat that the Bible says for 80 pences of silver, you can buy a donkey's head.

Listen to this donkey head.

Something that they would never have eaten.

But they did not pursue God and they found themselves in that predicament.

But it goes on to say something else.

For five pieces of silver, they could buy a cup of dove dung.

Who would ever lower themselves to eat that?

But whenever we don't pursue that which is spiritual before God, we will find ourselves chasing that in the physical that we really don't need.

That we would never choose to eat, or never choose to look at, or never choose to pursue, to fulfill the needs of the flesh.

And God is saying to us today, we have to remind ourselves if you don't direct your spiritual hunger to feed after spiritual things, you will find yourself hungering at the wrong thing.

Amen, Pastor.

I'll say that myself.

So that's my biblical definition of fasting.

It's the surrendering of the flesh to pursue the spiritual, to agitate the physical, to accentuate the spiritual.

And God wants us to remind us, listen, He wants to remind us over and over again that there is something that God wants to do in every one of our lives.

If you're sitting here looking at me and you're a child of God, God has a great plan for your life and great purpose.

And when you don't fast and pursue that which is spiritual, listen, you stifle the hand of God.

This kind only comes by fasting and prayer.

So what happens?

So why should we commit to fasting and prayer?

Here's the first one because biblical fasting is linked or coupled with fervent prayer.

And when that happens, guess what happens?

We can partner with God.

Listen, can I say this?

When I'm talking about spiritual fasting, you and I are gonna be challenged to go on this fast, whether it's a one-day fast, a two-day fast, uh whatever it may be.

Now, listen, I know we're in a time now because I'm doing it too.

I'm my church, our church.

We're on the 21st day of fast.

We started last week, this is my day seven, and I love sports.

That's one of my things.

So I cheated yesterday.

I got my phone and looked at the score again, and then I got it up near this morning, but I'm back on track, all right?

Amen.

But but but but fasting is not, you can do that from social media and from Netflix and sports and all those things.

Nothing wrong with that.

I don't want to get it legal legalistic.

But fasting is fast food.

Oh, no, no, shouldn't say fast food like that.

Because you think I'm talking about Chick-fil-A.

No, fasting is fasting from food.

Now I know that some of you have dietary laws and you know you're on medication and all that, but here, don't make it a legalistic thing because the Bible says, listen, God knows a heart.

That's what he's after, he's off the heart.

Amen.

If you're doing it for legalistic purpose, and let me say this fasting is not weight loss.

Fasting is not about dieting.

Because if you're fasting to diet and you lose weight, then what becomes the purpose?

It becomes your appearance.

And so people are looking at you and not what God is doing.

And so God says, so why should we fast?

We should fast because when you fast, the spiritual prayer or spiritual fasting is linked to our prayers, a fervent prayer, and we partner with God.

And when we partner God, we got to understand that God is sovereign.

He doesn't need us.

God can move without you.

Amen.

But he chooses to through two privileges.

He saves us, and not only saves us, but he in he gives us the gift of service and works.

And so we can work and serve by God.

And so that's what God does.

He he does it in such a way that he says, I want to partner with you.

But then, second of all, physical fast brings, watch this, spiritual release.

There is something in your life that God will not release until you fast.

And some of you, listen, I know you've been praying for issues in your life or in your marriage, for your children, for your parents, or all kinds of things.

But that is not released, I believe, in the spiritual realm until you fast and pray.

The story told about Daniel in Daniel chapter 10.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

You can write that verse down and leave it later.

But in Daniel chapter 10, the Bible says that Daniel was fasting because he needed to understand what God wanted to do.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

Because he knew that God, without God speaking to him, without God directing him, he would not understand the direction God would have him.

And the Bible says the angel came to Daniel.

Listen to this.

The angel came to Daniel, said, Daniel, watch this.

The first day you prayed, I heard you.

The first day that you pay, prayed to God, God heard you.

But the prince of the prince of Persia, and Prince of Persia mean the enemy, the devil.

The prince of Persia held up your prayer for 21 days.

You ever heard the 21-day Daniel fast?

That was it.

But watch this.

He says, Daniel, when you set your heart for me, the first time that you mentioned your prayer and what your need was, I heard you and I sent the prayer.

I released it.

But it got held up in the spiritual realm.

Watch this.

It was on its way, but in the spiritual realm, it got held up.

Brothers and sisters, God hears you the first time.

You don't have to beg God, you don't have to wall on the floor, you don't have to run around the church.

Amen.

You don't have to do cardwells, backflips.

God heard you the first time you prayed, but in the spiritual realm, there's something that's holding it back.

It's released.

And fair in prayer, fasting in prayer releases the hand.

You can't manipulate God.

But God will release when He sees you giving up what you know can get you to the place that God wants you.

Every battle that we have is always in the spiritual realm.

The Bible says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

But principalities and powers and wickedness house.

Can I tell you this?

There's a real devil.

Anybody believe that there's a real devil?

Now listen, he may not live in your house, but when you go outside, he's on your roof.

He's waiting for you to come out.

Come on outside, come on out here.

And his goal is to trip you up along the way in your Christian life.

It's to hold you back, it's to hold what God wants to give to you.

And there's some things that only come this kind, as Jesus said in that.

This kind does not come except by fasting and prayer.

Amen, Pastor.

Here's another reason why we fast.

We fast and pray to release God's spiritual power.

Anyone need power?

And I'm not talking physical power, I'm talking spiritual.

I need the hand of God to move in my predicament.

I need God to move in my situation.

And God wants to move and God wants to release.

But again, again, it's always an act of obedience.

We can give to the church, amen.

I think fasting and giving are the hardest two messages to preach in the church.

We can give to the church, we'll pray casually, but spiritual power is released when we're obedient in our act of worship through fasting.

Amen.

Wow.

I got an Amen cone over here.

Amen.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

The devil came to kill, to steal, and destroy.

I came.

That you may have life and have it more abundantly.

The release of God's power.

Listen, can I go back to Luke, Mark chapter 9?

Mark 9 · chapter mention

I read that passage and I thought about it.

They said, We tried to heal, but we could not.

Now you got to listen to me.

Early on in ministry, the disciples had already given authority.

I mean, Jesus already given disciples authority and power.

They had gone out before and cast out demons.

They were healing the sick.

They had done it many times before.

But what happened, I believe, in this text, because they were left alone.

How would you like to be with Jesus?

12 of you all, and all of a sudden he says, You, you, and you, you three, y'all going with me up here.

I'm going, oh, wait a minute.

Are we potty plants?

Didn't you call all of us?

Why are you leaving us here?

And so while Jesus was up there again, fasting, praying, and John, Peter, James, those disciples, they were distracted.

And what they try to do, listen, without God's power, what they would try to do, they would try to do in the natural what they had always done before.

They had become, watch this.

They had become self-sufficient.

Oh, we've we've healed before, we've cast out demons.

And so they went to that little boy and said, Come out of that demon.

Like, well, yo, yo, yo.

You ain't did no fasting prayer, dying.

You think about a mountaintop.

You and the Bible says they they thought that they became, can I tell you this?

They became mechanical in their worship with God.

They came to work, they went to worship every time the church doors was open.

Amen.

They do their devotion the same time they do their devotion, they give the same time and the same amount they give all the time.

Listen, brother and sister, you would never experience God's power in your dependency, in your self-sufficiency.

Amen, Pastor.

And listen, we are we are DIY DIY people.

Amen.

We can do it ourselves, and we don't need God.

Whenever you get to the point where you say you don't need God and you don't need to fast, you don't need to pray, you are self-sufficiency, and listen, you will fail in every attempt.

Amen.

So fasting and prayer releases the power of God, it releases God to do in the natural what we could not do.

And there's something else that I discovered in studying this.

If you notice when Jesus, and you heard so when the Bible said that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and the Bible says the dove came on him, uh, and the voice in heaven came, this is my son who I'm well pleased.

And right after that, the Bible said the spirit led him to the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

I'm thinking to myself, why?

He's the son of God.

He had they had just heard that this is my son whom well pleased.

And the devil started tempting.

If you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread.

Jesus said to them, Man should not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

I'm talking about spiritual power here.

If you're the son of God, throw yourself off this temple, and God will charge his angels to catch you, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

But then right after his fast, after his 40 days, can you believe he went 40 days?

After 40 days, here's what the Bible said that Jesus said, because I I had to look at this and read it twice because it messed me up theologically.

It said in Luke chapter 4, verse 14, it's not on the screen, but here's what it said.

Luke 4:14

And after that time, he returned.

Watch this in the power of the spirit.

Man, I had to jump back.

After that time, after he had finished fasting for 40 days, he returned in the power of God's Spirit.

This is the Son of God.

This is God Himself.

This is God incarnated.

And ever since that time, he could do mighty works because the Spirit of God was on him.

Would it be said as people of God that God will release his power in us?

Now listen, I've seen some strange things as a pastor.

I've seen people rebuking this and rebuke the devil in this and rebuke the demon in this, and they can't control it through your son.

You catch that on the way home.

Watch this.

If you have Jesus, you have the power that only heaven can bring to bear on your life.

Nothing isn't too possible for God.

Please, as believers, stop saying I'm barely making it.

Or I'm trying to get by.

No, you have power in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

You say, Pastor went charismatic on me.

No, see, that's the problem.

We'll let somebody else hijack what we believe.

We sing that song power, power, wonder working power in the blood.

Jesus.

And God wants to release his power in you.

And listen, can I let a secret on you?

I'll whisper this because I don't want the enemy to hear it.

The devil knows it.

And that's why Jesus says in Mark chapter 9, this kind comes only by fasting and prayer.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

What kind?

He wasn't talking about unbelief in the sense, but he was talking about the sufficiency of self to release God's power.

Let me give you the last one.

So, so how?

What happens?

Spiritual release is released in us.

We have spiritual power.

But lastly, when we pray and fast, we receive spiritual revelation from God.

Wow.

I like the words of Isaiah chapter 58, verse 8.

Isaiah 58:8

It says, and then, and the then is when, when you fast, your light will break out like the dawn, and you will be healed quickly.

What is your light?

Your light is revelation.

It is the word of God.

When you fast, listen, I've done it many times.

When you fast, you will get such clarity from God's word when he speaks.

Some of you want to move in a direction that you're not sure if God is calling you to move in.

When you fast and pray, God will clear it.

It may not be audible, but it will be such clarity in your life that this is the way that God wants us to move.

I tried, I told uh Pastor Chris that I was going to bring, but I try to find it, but we remodeled a home and everything is in those bins, and I couldn't find it.

But I was going to bring my journal.

20 years ago, when I was thinking about planting this new church, I was with promise keepers and I was getting ready to.

God was, I believe, in my heart that was moving me out.

And so I said, I really want to hear from God.

And I had an office off for 290 and West 43rd Street in a bank building.

And I said, I have to fast.

My wife says, Well, why?

I said, I really want to hear that God is calling me to plant this new church.

And I fasted for 40 days.

Listen, liquids and broth, water, juice, and broth for 40 days.

I was going to bring my journal and set up here, it's stacked.

But I'm going to tell you some of the clarity and the clearest thing that God was doing during that time in my life.

My office was on the fourth floor.

I was working with Promise Keepers.

My office on the fourth floor.

People would literally, as God is my witness, people would literally get off the freeway and come in my office and say, I don't know why I'm here, but what are you about?

And I would literally pray for those individuals.

Get off the freeway.

Get in the elevator, come up the fourth floor, and walk in my office.

I would go to the store, the grocery store, and I would walk in the store, and the cashier was giving my receipt and my cash back from me from a purchase.

And the young lady would say to me at one time, You look like a pastor.

Would you pray for me?

That's amazing.

Just clarity.

I use food as a mechanism.

Then I didn't stay at home when I was fasting.

I would go out.

And I would literally take people out to lunch and sit there with my water, and it made them uncomfortable, but I wasn't trying to do that.

I wanted to use food as a listen, as an accentuant or accentuate my hunger for God and prayer.

I use reverse psychology on my own self.

And I would tell you, it was one of the most refreshing, clear times in my life.

I began to see if people talk to me and say, they didn't know I was praying for.

They says, You look like a pastor.

You look like a pastor.

See, when you fast and pray, God will give you tremendous clarity.

He will give you a revelation of what he wants to do in your life.

Let me close with these thoughts.

When I was looking at this passage, verse 28 just really jumped out at me.

More than any other passage.

And these are the words that sort of jumped out me in this phrase.

It's the question that the disciples asked him why could we not do it?

I thought about that.

Why could we not do it?

And as they sat in that room with Jesus in that private setting, getting a debriefing from him, maybe the mountaintop experience, and while he was down there arguing.

And I'm sure it was maybe quiet, and they just broke the ice and said, Jesus, why could we not do it?

And their voice probably was in the sense of their earnest prayer.

We want to be able to do what we used to do again.

That's what I got back from it.

Now, this may not happen at United City, but for my church, what if we just walk out to the door of the sanctuary and watch out and just watch thousand people, look out the window, and thousands of people pass our church every day, thousands of people, and no one comes in to be saved.

And the question came back to me: why could we not do it?

And some of you else maybe here to have young children or teenagers or young adults who who you birthed and who you cared for.

And now that they're old, they don't serve the God that you serve.

And the question reverberates to me: why could we not do it?

And I thought about that over and over again, and it just kept coming back to me.

That God wants to ask you that question.

Why are you not able to do it?

That's a good question.

Why can I do it?

Jesus says, this kind can only come by prayer and fasting.

Let us pray.

Gracious God, our Father, we thank you for the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

We thank you for your kindness.

We thank you for your generosity towards us, Lord.

There is nothing too hard for you.

And we bless you, Lord.

For your favor.

We thank you, Lord, for all that you have given us the Lord.

And I pray for not only this ministry here at United City as they launch out into fasting and praying.

And God, I pray that they would not make it legalistic.

If they fall, the Lord, I pray that they would get up and try again.

And God, I pray that you would do a supernatural work in this place like you've never done before.

And God, I pray that you would speak.

Use Chris, use the staff.

And may they set an example to Lord of your faithfulness.

And God, I pray to Lord that those who do not know you, we desire, Lord, that you do it again.

You saved before, you can do it again.

You healed before, you can do it again.

You set free, you can do it again.

Use us as instruments in your will in your hand.

As we avail ourselves to Father from the fleshly things of this world, that you will release your power in us.

That when we speak, when we sing, when we share, may the power of your spirit be released in us to do those things that you called us to do.

And we'll be careful to give you the glory, the praise, and the honor.

And all of God's people say.

And so if you made that decision, would you text next to 55498?

And someone from our team would love to follow up with you.

In the meantime, I would love to pray with you, even right now, as God continues to do things in your heart.

And so, Jesus, we love you so much.

We say thank you for the truth of your word.

Thank you for still showing up in people's eyes.

Jesus, I bring you continue with your hearts in your minds.

I bring peace to mind.

Jesus, what do you just do?

This has been an incredible service.

We look to see either in person.