Sermon on the Mount:Fasting - Matthew 6:16-18 | Pastor Daniel Reese

Matthew 6 is where we'll be this morning back

added in the Sermon on the Mount. Two weeks ago

if you were here we were looking at Jesus's words

regarding how we should pray. This morning we

will be looking at what Jesus has to say about

fasting. Prayer and fasting always seem to go

hand in hand with one another. When we talk about

fasting we usually talk about prayer and so before

we dive into our text this morning I would like

to briefly review what Jesus had to say about

prayer a couple weeks ago before we took our

Easter break and then I'm going to give you a

challenge. And so two weeks ago, we looked at

the Lord's Prayer. And if you remember, we saw

that before we make our requests to God, before

we go to Him with our laundry list of things

that we want Him to respond to, we need to start

by giving Him glory first. We want His name to

be honored. We want His kingdom to come. We want

His will to be done here on this earth. When

we start with those things, it really helps protect

us from selfish prayers. It really helps us be,

you know, prevent us from being self -seeking.

It gets our hearts and our minds right when we

understand who we are in a relationship with.

We are communicating with a holy God who is at

the same time our Father. We're able to communicate

with our Father because He's approachable. He's

not some sort of political, powerful figure who

has armed guards around Him all the time, right?

Where you have to schedule an appointment to

meet with Him. He's our Father. We have a relationship

with Him. Then once we give Him honor and glory,

we honor who God is, we can move on to our requests

and our requests for our good. And so we ask

Him for our daily provision, for our daily bread

that He would be reminded that everything we

have each and every day comes from Him. We ask

Him to forgive our sins. and all the ways we've

dishonored him. And then we ask him to protect

us from temptation. Now all of our prayers should

be built on that model. Not only that, but we

also need to always keep our eyes focused on

Jesus. Not just when we are making the request.

but but even after he grants the request if you

remember Peter had his eyes on Jesus when when

Jesus was walking on the water towards him Peter

had his eyes focused on him and he has his eyes

focused on Jesus when he makes the request but

as soon as things get uncomfortable as soon as

he takes his eyes and starts looking at his environment

as he's walking on the water he begins to sink

Jesus is who our focus should be on before and

during His granting of our requests. As the writer

of Hebrews says, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus,

the author and perfecter of our faith. Now that

seems to be where we go wrong, isn't it? We forget

to focus our eyes on Jesus. We have them focused

on what we want. We have them focused on our

preferences. They're focused on what will make

us comfortable. And what happens so many times

is we tend to confuse the Lord's will for our

will. And so we say things like, well, this is

how it's always been done. As if God is limited

in how he can move or how he can speak. And we

begin to think that our will is God's will. And

when that happens, we tend to get into some trouble.

So let's talk about fasting. this morning. And

here's what I want you to consider as we look

at this text because when we're done, I'm going

to ask you to make a commitment. And here's what

I'm going to ask you to commit to just so you

can start thinking about it. I want you to think

about committing one day a week, one day a week

for the rest of the year to fasting. It's 35

weeks left in this year. Can you fast for 35

days? Throughout the rest of this year. I want

you to think about what day that's going to be.

I want you to think about your schedule because

it's going to go better for you if you are consistent.

It's going to go better for you if you have a

plan. So you think about that while we look at

our text this morning. All right. I'm going to

invite Kaia up here this morning to read our

text and then we're going to dive in where she's

going to start in verse 16. If you're willing

and able, we'd love for you to stand as we honor

the Lord's word together. Father, who sees you

in secret will reward you. Amen. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for Kiah. Thank you for just

what you're doing in her life and how you're

growing her and speaking to her. I pray, Father,

that you continue to lead her and guide her in

all that she does. I pray for this text and I

pray for our hearts as we read this text. This

is a challenging text and it's a spiritual discipline

that so many of us lack. And so, God, I pray

that you'll soften our hearts towards it. I pray,

God, that we'll see your will in it. We ask all

these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Good job,

Kai. Now, as we'll soon discover, if you don't

already know, the practice of fasting is very

biblical. We know that Jesus engaged in that

practice while he was in the wilderness for 40

days. But like so many biblical practices, by

the time Jesus came around, the practice of fasting

had been perverted greatly by the Jewish religious

leaders. And so what Jesus is saying right out

of the gate in this text is that motives matter.

Your motivations when it comes to fasting matter.

According to the Talmud, which is the religious

law, if you will, these religious leaders, they

tended to fast twice a week. They fasted on Mondays

and they fasted on Thursdays. Now, they claimed

to have picked those particular days because

Moses went up to the mountain to receive the

law on the fifth day, which was Thursday, and

he came down from the mountain with the law on

the second day of the week, which was Monday.

So they decided, we're going to fast on Mondays

and Thursdays. Now, in Jerusalem during this

time that Jesus is talking about this, those

two days, Monday and Thursdays, happen to be

the market days. On those days, the people from

the surrounding areas Would come to the markets

there in Jerusalem. So those particular days

when the city was filled with the most people

During the week. It was the opportune time for

the religious leaders to show how holy they were

to display their piety and so these religious

leaders they would walk through the streets they'd

walk through the market and they'd have their

hair all disheveled some of y 'all know what

that's like right they they would they would

wear raggedy clothes they'd dump ashes all over

their face so that they would look pale and they

would parade around the city on market day to

show everybody that was there just how spiritual

they were That was the whole point. But just

as we saw with prayer, and as we'll see here

in just a second with fasting, in a couple of

weeks when we look at giving to the poor, Jesus

abhorred this hypocritical outward behavior that

was inconsistent with the hearts of these religious

leaders. He doesn't care as much about the action

as he cares about the heart. Once again, Jesus

is going to get to the heart of the matter and

not just religious ceremony. So let's stop real

quick and let's understand what fasting is. Let's

define it. Fasting is defined with the Greek

word nasteo. Now, nasteo means not to eat. It

means a total abstinence from food. That's what

fasting is. What I've found as you study these

things is you find a lot of well -intentioned

commentators, a lot of well -intentioned pastors

who have taken and expanded this definition well

beyond its basic meaning. For instance, here's

a great sounding definition of fasting that I

found this week. He said, fasting means to lay

aside any pleasurable and or vital activity for

a period of time order to intensely pursue God

and know his mind with the intent of obeying

his revealed will." So that is how this particular

commentator defined fasting. While there is certainly

nothing wrong with doing what he suggested, it

goes well beyond the biblical idea of fasting.

There may be a lot of benefit, to going without

TV for a period of time, without going without

social media or the internet for a period of

time in order to focus on God. But when I do

that, I'm not fasting. I'm also not fasting if

I give up some particular food on a certain day

of the week, since that's not fasting, since

fasting is the abstinence of food. But biblical

fasting, which I hope is what we're all after

here, does go beyond just abstaining from food.

Now it doesn't mean you just skipped lunch because

you're too busy to eat. Fasting in the Bible

is never merely just a physical act. It is always

connected with some spiritual purpose. So we

could further define biblical fasting like this.

Biblical fasting is abstaining from food for

spiritual purposes. That's what we're after.

abstaining from food for spiritual purposes.

The Bible encourages, but never commands fasting.

Just like we saw with prayer, Jesus expects his

followers to pray, he expected his disciples

to pray, and he expects his followers to fast.

Twice in this passage he says, when you fast.

there's that expectation built into it. He's

expecting you as a follower of Jesus to be fasting.

Later in his ministry, Jesus confirmed that he

expected his followers that they would fast when

he completed his earthly ministry. He says in

Matthew chapter 9, he says, then the disciples

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

of John came to him saying, why do we and the

Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?

And Jesus said to them, Can the wedding guests

mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken

away from them, and then they will fast. And

so people fast for spiritual reasons. What Jesus

was saying is, if my disciples want to know God's

will for their life, they just have to come ask

me. Because I'm here, I'm God, right? I'm in

the flesh. If they want to know what direction

to go, all they have to do is literally come

ask me. Now when I'm gone, that's when they need

to fast. However, the fact that we as Christ

followers are not commanded to fast does not

lessen in any way its value. We have numerous

examples in the scripture that demonstrate the

importance of fasting in the lives of everyone

from Moses to Jesus. These biblical examples

of fasting vary greatly. in their duration, how

many people are involved, the situations that

gave rise and the reasons for their fasting.

However, if you look at all the examples of fasting

throughout the Bible, you'll see some common

features in all of these biblical fasts, and

so we need to understand those. There's different

reasons to fast, but the primary reason that

we should be fasting, the primary reason that

we should be abstaining from food for a particular

period of time is to seek after God. We need

to see God that that is what the religious leaders

had either forgotten or just flat -out ignored

rather than engaging in a fast for the purpose

of seeking God and Figuring out the direction

of their life. They were merely concerned about

how righteous they looked about how holy they

looked about how religious they looked to others

around them But every legitimate fast that is

recorded in the Bible was ultimately for the

purpose of seeking God. The circumstances surrounding

each fast are different. The period of times

are different, but every legitimate biblical

fast was to seek God, to seek his direction,

to ask for his guidance, to ask for his will,

to ask for his protection. Seeking God, God's

will, is the primary reason we should be fasting.

If we're not seeking God's will first and foremost,

then all we're doing is going through religious

motions. All we're doing is saying, hey, look

at me, I've fasted. We also fast in order to

humble ourselves. When we fast, we humble ourselves

before God by admitting that we do not even deserve

the daily bread that comes from the hand of God.

We acknowledge our complete and total dependence

upon Him for everything that we have. So we're

seeking God's will for our life. We're humbling

ourselves before Him. By showing God everything

I have, I'm dependent on you. Everything. I didn't

earn it. I didn't work for it. Everything in

my life is because you've allowed it to happen.

We humble ourselves. After the Babylonian exile

was over, King Artaxerxes of Persia, he made

a decree and he allowed Ezra and his people to

return to Jerusalem. But Ezra, noting the danger

that they faced in the journey, without the Persian

army to protect them, proclaimed a fast. He said,

then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava

that we might humble ourselves before our God

to seek from Him a safe journey for ourselves,

our children, and all of our goods. So as the

people fasted, they humbled themselves before

God and acknowledged their dependence on Him

for their safe journey. Now, as I mentioned earlier,

technically fasting is only abstinence from food.

Technically, that's the definition, abstinence

from food for spiritual purpose. But we can certainly

take the principle and apply it to other areas

of our lives. Whenever there is anything in my

life, anything in my life that has become more

important than God, if there's something in my

life that I am relying on more than God, then

perhaps it's time to abstain from using or engaging

with that object or activity for a period of

time in order for me to humble myself before

God and acknowledge my reliance upon him. It's

never a bad thing to humble yourself before the

Lord. And when we do that, it would certainly

be appropriate to accompany that with fasting

as well. Next, we fast when we need to repent.

Whenever God reveals sin in our lives and it

leads us to repent, fasting is an appropriate

accompaniment to our repentance. We read in Jonah

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 that the people of Nineveh recognized

the value of fasting. When Jonah preached of

God's judgment, upon that city. When he preached

that God was going to destroy their city, they

repented and they fasted. We also find that the

call to repent by many of the Old Testament prophets,

but they accompanied it with a call to fast first.

Fast and repent. When we fast in conjunction

with our repentance, we acknowledge the seriousness

of our sin and the great worth that God's mercy

and grace has on our lives as he forgives us

and enables us to change our lives and turn from

our sin. I'm convinced that we would all be much

more successful in overcoming those areas of

sin in our lives. And you know exactly what I'm

talking about. We have much more success in overcoming

particular sins in our lives if we would choose

to fast in combination with our repentance. We

also fast when we're in mourning. When Saul and

Jonathan were killed in battle, David and the

people of Israel fasted. In 2 Samuel chapter

2 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

1 it says, then David took hold of his clothes

and tore them. And so did all the men who were

with him, and they mourned and wept and fasted

until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son,

and for the people of the Lord and for the house

of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

Fasting during times of mourning demonstrates

our dependence on God. During difficult times

like the loss of a loved one, during difficult

times when our life's just a mess and there's

storms all around us, it's appropriate to fast

because it shows that we are completely dependent

on Him. And it also is appropriate when we mourn

over our sin. Our sin, when we truly stop and

consider what our sin is and how it's so egregious

against a holy God, we should mourn over that.

It helps keep our eyes focused on the hope that

we have in Jesus. It keeps our eyes focused on

the grace that he has bestowed upon us. Once

again, it helps us keep our eyes focused on Jesus.

Finally, we fast with earnest prayer. Almost

every example of fasting in the scripture accompanied

by earnest prayer. Here's a few examples. In

2nd Samuel chapter 12 when the child born to

David and Bathsheba was sick, the scripture says

that David prayed for the child and accompanied

his prayer with fasting. We read in Esther chapter

Esther 4 · chapter mention

4 that when Queen Esther prepared to go in, petition

the King on behalf of her people she prayed and

fasted and also called on her fellow Jews to

do the same. Jesus fasted for 40 days while he

engaged in prayer in order to prepare himself

for his earthly ministry. And then you have Paul

after you met Jesus on the road to Damascus we

find that Paul fasted while he prayed. When we

genuinely That's the key word. When we genuinely

seek God in prayer, fasting can help sharpen

our focus on God. But a word of caution has to

be said here. Fasting is not some kind of hunger

strike that will compel God to do your bidding.

If you are sitting there thinking, well, I'm

just going to fast and I'll fast for whatever

number of days so that God will give me what

I want, that's not how this thing works. We don't

fast so that God will do what we want. We fast

so we understand God's will for our life. In

Isaiah 58, I'd highly encourage you to read that

chapter because in the Bible, it's probably the

most complete teaching regarding fasting in the

entire Bible. And in that chapter, we are challenged

by the words of God to make sure that our motivations

and make sure our hearts are in the right place

when we fast. If you're fasting because you want

to seek God's will, your motives are right. If

you're fasting for any other reason, then your

motives are wrong. All right? And so although

we were focused on the practice of fasting this

morning, there's an even broader matter that

we must consider, that each and every one of

us needs to ask ourselves. While it's certainly

true that fasting has become a neglected spiritual

discipline that could help all of us achieve

a deeper relationship, a deeper intimacy with

God, the real issue here is where is our hunger

directed? That's what we need to consider. Are

we like the religious leaders who hungered for

the admiration of man? They wanted to be viewed

as holy. They wanted to be viewed as righteous.

Or do we hunger as true citizens of the kingdom

of heaven whose hunger was described by Jesus

at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in

Matthew chapter five or six, where he says, blessed

are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

for they will be satisfied. So throughout the

Bible we see people engaging in fasting for several

reasons. Now I love when science catches up with

what the Bible has been teaching since its creation.

We know according to Genesis chapter 1 that we

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

are created in God's image. We know according

to Paul's words in first Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

6 that our body is the temple of the Lord So

he's no longer only he no longer only dwells

in a temple in the Middle East But according

to the scripture once we surrender our lives

to him once we profess him as Savior the Holy

Spirit of God Dwells in us if you want to know

what God is like What what he looks like you

look at the people around you because we are

made in his image And his Holy Spirit dwells

in us. There's this hell train going on right

now that isn't that is encouraging. Maybe you've

heard about it. Maybe you've been a part of it.

Maybe you've done it. That's encouraging people

to fast. I was in the bookstore a couple of weeks

ago with my daughter and there is this whole

section on fasting. Now it wasn't biblical fasting

but it was fasting because science now sees the

health benefits of fasting. Did you know it helps

you lose weight? I mean who knew that not eating

would cause you to lose weight? But it's interesting

how science is now saying that by fasting it

has all sorts of other benefits. Here's a few

facts that they've come up with. After 16 hours

in a fast your food storage is depleted and you

begin to burn fat. You heard of the keto diet?

That's what it's saying. Your body enters ketosis.

Within 24 hours of a fast your body begins to

clear out damaged cells which helps increase

your cancer immunity. Within 72 hours of a fast

your immune system is completely refreshed and

your body becomes more healthy internally. The

Bible tells us In 1st Corinthians chapter 6 to

glorify God with our bodies. What science is

telling us is that by fasting you can basically

heal your body. The difference is a Christian

should fast because we want our souls healed.

But fasting has these other benefits as well.

When Sina and I were going through premarital

counseling many years ago, our pastor Told us

to never have a serious argument or a serious

discussion when one or two things are true so

he said don't have a serious discussion if you're

tired and Don't have a serious discussion if

you're hungry Now I understood the tired thing

like that makes sense to me Like I'll forget

what you're talking about or I'll be grumpy or

whatever like I understand like let's not make

major Decisions when we're both tired that made

sense to me the hunger thing didn't it didn't

make sense to me But then I got married and I

realized why he told us that I understood it

when we are hungry our Flesh is telling us that

it is the priority over everything else our flesh

is saying I'm the priority. I'm number one in

this moment. That's why we use terms like, oh,

he's hangry. Or, oh, she's hangry. Because anger

and hunger seem to always go together. So what

was happening was I would be hungry for whatever

reason. Maybe I skipped lunch. Or I would be

hungry for whatever reason. Sina would have an

issue. She would have something she wanted to

discuss maybe had nothing to do with me at all

But she wanted to discuss it and I couldn't care

less about what she had to say because my hunger

revealed how selfish I could be They revealed

no Sina. I got to take care of me before I can

help you hunger Exposes our weaknesses because

the flesh is crying out for attention a social

media fast a TV fast music fast, not eating meat

on a Friday fast, those are weak fasts because

you're still feeding what the flesh wants. Biblical

fasting is the abstinence from food for a period

of time for the sake of dedicating your heart

to growing closer to God. That's a biblical fast.

It is not a hunger strike. It is not to lose

weight. It's not because you got too busy at

work and you forgot to eat. It is choosing that

I am going to deny my flesh for the purpose of

seeking God through prayer. That's what fasting

is and that's what we need to be better at. Fasting

is a denial of the thing the flesh wants the

most. The enemy knows how to tempt us. He knows

how to get our attention. Jesus fasted for 40

days. What was the first thing the enemy tempted

him with? Food. If you want to grow closer to

God, now I'm not saying everybody in this room

does, but if you want to grow closer to God,

you need to learn how to deny your flesh. Blessed

are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness.

If you want to grow closer to God, you need to

learn how to control your flesh and deny yourself

of food. You need to learn how to deny yourself

of pleasure and you seek after God for a period

of time. So maybe that means no food and no social

media. No food, no TV. No food, no sex. No food.

Fill in the blank. Whatever that is. You are

telling your flesh, I have authority over you.

I have authority over you because of Jesus. And

I will deny what you want most to weaken you.

So that I can be who I really am I am a spirit

inside of a fleshly body and I'm gonna deny you

and I'm gonna show my authority over you so I

can grow in intimacy with Christ when you fast

you hear God more clearly Peter Cicero, he's

a he's an author. It's written several books

I would recommend him to you if you're looking

for something new to read just write write it

right down He's a couple he has a couple books

that I've read the emotionally healthy leader,

and emotionally healthy spirituality. And in

one of those books, I could not find which one

it was in, but in one of those books he talks

about fasting. And in there he says that if you

have any sort of addiction, it could be alcohol,

it could be pornography, it could be control.

It could be pride, selfishness. If you want to

have a shot at overcoming those things, you need

to learn how to fast. Because the issue with

any addiction, any addiction, is we are once

again feeding what our flesh wants. We are letting

it control us, instead of showing that we have

authority over it. If you want to grow in intimacy

with God, start fasting. As you fast, it will

reveal some issues that you have that are not

honoring to Him. Do you have marriage struggles,

marriage issues, but you can't quite put your

finger on it? Start fasting. God will reveal

where you need to overcome your flesh. Do you

just have a, do you have a critical spirit? And

it's difficult for you to see the good. And all

you're able to focus on is what could be done

better. Start fasting and seek after those things

because the Bible tells us to focus on things

that are good. And the flesh wants you to focus

on earthly things. Do you have a big decision

to make? Start fasting because you want to be

in the Lord's will. You must control your flesh

and seek after him. Start fasting. Now there's

many times that I experience what I call sensory

overload. I'm sensitive in that way. Loud noises

don't do well for me. There's been many times

where I've been driving in heavy traffic and

it's a little intense and so I turn down the

radio so I can see better. Anybody else do that?

or the kids will be in the back and I'll just

have them be quiet just so I can focus on what

I'm trying to accomplish. To me, that's what

fasting does. It helps free us from distraction

so we can focus on the Lord. It's like turning

the radio down and it puts us in tune with our

relationship with Him. Every time I've gone through

a period of fasting, something new has been revealed

to me. The first time that I realized that I

had a critical spirit with my kids, I was in

the middle of a fast. And I was convicted that

my entire interaction with my kids on that particular

day was me telling them everything they were

doing wrong and showing them everything they

could be doing better. I don't want my kids to

think that they will never be good enough because

all they hear from me is how they're failing.

If I wasn't fasting, I don't know if I would

have ever heard it. I don't know that I would

have ever realized it. And only God knows what

kind of damage that I could have done to them

and their hearts. Would we all benefit from engaging

in fasting on a more regular basis? I absolutely

think we would. I absolutely think we would all

benefit. But more than anything else, the passage

this morning is a call for us to evaluate, to

honestly evaluate what we hunger for in our lives.

Do we, like the hypocritical religious leaders,

hunger for human admiration? Or do we honestly

have a hunger for the things of God? What if

hungering for God became as important to us as

hungering over a big, perfectly cooked steak?

Or a pizza? Or Whitey's ice cream? Whatever that

is. What if we were to become as upset as missing

an opportunity to engage with our Heavenly Father

as we are about missing our next meal? What if

we can honestly say that our heart speaks like

the psalmist in Psalm 42 where he says, as a

deer pants for flowing stream, so my soul pants

for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for

the living God. That's what we need to evaluate.

Where's our hunger? Is our hunger in our preferences

or is our hunger in the things of God? So I'm

going to ask you to commit. I'm going to ask

you to commit to fasting one day a week for the

rest of the year. If you want to take it above

and beyond that, fantastic. But I'm going to

ask you to fast one day a week for the rest of

the year. Every week I'm going to ask you to

commit to abstaining from food for the spiritual

purpose of seeking God's will. Now, I have no

expectations that everybody in this room is going

to do that today. I wish it were true, but if

you want to know who God is, if you want to know

the direction He has for your life, we need to

begin by fasting. So, if you have the church

app, if you pull up the church app, you can click

right on the home page and commit to it. Sharon's

going to put a QR code here on the screen. If

you scan that QR code, I'm asking you to commit.

And what will happen here in just a little while,

you'll get an email. And every Sunday you'll

get an email as a guide to help you through your

fast and your prayer. But I'm going to ask you

to commit to it. But here's what you need to

do. You need to pick the day. Don't put it on

your calendar. It's too easy to forget. The enemy

is too crafty. Put it on your calendar and commit

to it. I know there's a hundred different excuses

as to why you're not able to fast. I've heard

them all. But I'm going to ask you to lay that

before the Lord. And is he asking you to fast?

Is your faith in the medicine that you take or

is your faith in the Lord? I'm not saying stop

taking your medicine. But the enemy is going

to use everything he can to keep you from seeking

after God's will. So I'm going to ask you to

commit. And when you commit, here's what you're

doing. You're giving me and everybody else that

commits permission to hold you accountable to

that. And so I'm asking all of you that are in

this room that are watching online to hold me

accountable to what the Lord is telling me and

how my fasts are going. I've decided I'm going

to fast on Monday. That seems to be the best

day for me. I don't usually have lunch appointments.

I don't really have anything going on. And so

I can dedicate that day to just fasting. And

every time I feel those hunger pains, I'm going

to seek after the Lord's will. I'm going to pay

attention to what keeps coming up to the surface.

Is my anger rising up? Is my selfishness rising

up? Is my pride rising up? Is my whatever's rising

up throughout these fasts, I'm going to lay those

things before the Lord. So each and every one

of you has permission to hold me accountable

to that. Ask me on Tuesday, how to go. Ask me

next Sunday, how to go. What's the Lord telling

you? And so I'm going to ask you to come in.

If you want to know God's will for your life,

He will reveal it as you fast. And so I'm going

to pray for us. I'm going to ask our worship

team to come up and lead us in one more song.

And as they lead us in one more song, maybe you

just lay these things before the Lord. Maybe

you lay all your excuses out before the Lord

like God. This is why I can't fast. I get a headache.

I don't have I don't have time. I have all these

meetings a schedule. I can't fit. I can't cancel

this meeting to lay them all out before the Lord.

Let's see what he does with them. Every single

one of us has an excuse as to why we are not

fasting. Let's let's get them all out laying

before him and see what he does. Let's pray.

Father I pray right now that as we respond to

you. Help us develop the discipline of fasting.

Help us develop the practice of seeking after

you and your will. Father, what would you do?

How would you move if a bunch of us banded together

and said we want nothing more? than to know your

will. What would you do in this church? What

would you do in my life? So Father, I pray that

as we sing that you just speak to our hearts.

I pray that you will free us from distraction

for a few minutes. I pray that you will protect

our minds from the enemy. That in this moment

we seek after you. In this moment we humble ourselves

before you. We are completely, utterly dependent

on you. So Father I pray that your spirit will

move in this place. Speak to our hearts. It's

in Jesus name I pray. Amen.