Mike Bickle emphasizes the significance of fasting as a means to prepare the church for an impending revival and the challenges that accompany it. He explains that fasting is not about earning God's favor but positioning ourselves to receive His grace and power, which is essential for effective ministry and personal transformation. Bickle encourages believers to adopt a fasted lifestyle, which includes not only fasting from food but also from distractions in time and money, to deepen their intimacy with God. He highlights that fasting is a normative practice in Christianity, essential for spiritual growth and understanding God's plans. Ultimately, Bickle calls for a collective response to the current crises through prayer and fasting, urging the church to seek God's intervention and guidance.

We thank you for the Word of God and I ask you for living understanding, I ask you for the spirit of revelation, I ask you for impartation on the grace of fasting in the name of Jesus, Amen. We have notes at the back at tables if you want the notes you can get them or get them on the way out and we have them on the internet as well. Paragraph A, the Holy Spirit is preparing the church for the greatest revival in human history but also preparing the church for the greatest or the most intense pressure in history. Both of them are yet ahead for the human race and particularly the church that will walk through this in victory and triumph in power. But radical changes are needed because of the state of the church right now, that's pretty obvious. Now the good news is those changes are coming because the church in the book of Revelation is prepared, she is prepared before the Lord returns. So that I am confident of but what is happening today in the church is that there is a widespread acceptance of things that are very different from the New Testament church, that's obvious. So my question is where's the change coming and what's it going to look like? Paragraph B, and we won't look at all the notes today but just a few points here and there, is that the question of the hour is what are we supposed to do? That's the question. What what do we need to do personally to do our part as God is preparing the church and changing it and getting us ready for this great revival in this great time of of pressure that's coming so that we walk in the quality of intimacy and power that the New Testament church walked in? Well part of the answer, not the whole answer, is embracing what we what we what we refer to as the fasted lifestyle. Now the fasted lifestyle is talking about fasting food and that's our subject today but the fasted lifestyle is bigger than the subject of food. It's living in certain restraints in areas of our life in terms of time and money and food and other things as an expression of our devotion and our dedication to the Lord and and as part of our commitment to be closer to Him and to be more involved in His kingdom. And so it's restraint with a purpose of connecting with God and being more equipped to be vessels of His power and of His glory. Now the book that I mentioned earlier, The Rewards of Fasting, is all about the fasted lifestyle. It's not mostly about fasting food, although about half of it maybe is, but the other part is about the larger subject of the fasted lifestyle, fasting in money and time and and other things as well. Now many people naturally, by nature, fear fasting. I remember when my youth leaders first told me about fasting. I was 16 years old. I was at the Presbyterian Church, the Colonial Presbyterian Church, just right down the road. I was there for five years really involved in the Presbyterian Church and they were missions-oriented. They valued fasting and prayer and and evangelism, a lot of ministry. And so all my leaders were talking about fasting days. They had once a week fasting days. And I remember, oh man, I was 16, 17, 18 years old and I sort of committed to them. I mean sort of. I longed to do them because all the leaders did them, but I never actually made it through the day. I don't know if anybody can relate to that. But all the leaders did, so in my heart I was I was in. Yes, but when it was 3 in the afternoon, I never made it past 3 in the afternoon. A couple times I did. So this happens a couple years and I feel rotten about how bad I am at fasting. I hate fasting unashamedly. I hated it, but I felt guilty about failing so much because all the leaders were doing it and I wanted to be in unity with them and and I feared fasting. I mean I had a basic fear of fasting and I think it's a very natural thing to do, but I found out over the years that the fear of fasting is actually far worse than the fasting itself. The anticipating it is worse than the doing of it and when you're in it you think it's not that big a deal, but when you're thinking about it, it's a real big deal. Well just to be clear, I'll say this a dozen times, but I'm looking at my notes here, that we don't earn the power of God and we don't earn the release of the presence of God to our lives by fasting. Fasting positions us to receive. We don't earn, but we position ourselves through fasting through these restraints and they're restraints with a purpose. They're restraints because of dedication and devotion to Jesus to want to be closer to Him and to be more effective in working together with Him as the Holy Spirit uses us. But so we position ourselves closer to receive through fasting. We don't earn anything. Now fasting is biblically a normal part of Christianity. It's a normal part of New Testament Christianity. The reason I say that is that as different ones have visited IHOP over the ten years, they've said to me like, wow we just love this radical IHOP message. And I go, like what what's the radical part? And I'm thinking they're gonna say the fact that there's 24 prayer. That's that's pretty radical, the 24 prayer. But often they say the fasting. I go, let me just be clear. Fasting is not radical. A once a week fast day is normal Christianity. That is not radical. That's not optional. That's not strange. That's not above and beyond. That's just New Testament Christianity. Now in the Western world that's a new idea. But church history verifies that the church established two fast days. I mean for hundreds of years there was many believers fasted two days a week. Or at least that that that was the challenge and the call. And that's it was a common practice in the early church. Matter of fact when John Wesley the great revivalist in the 1700s, who was the father or the beginner of the Methodist Church, he required all of his circuit rider preachers, and there were thousands of them ultimately, he insisted or called them. You can't make people do it. But he really urged them to fast two days a week like they did in the early church. Well fasting two days a week is just like an extreme concept to the average Western Christian. One day a week is an extreme thing. One day a year okay let's do that maybe on somewhere Lent somewhere. Let's take one day off. But it's the point I want to make is that it is normal Christianity to fast on a regular basis. We do not believe that Christianity works in our life and the way God means it to be without the grace of fasting operating in our life on a regular basis. Matthew chapter 6 verse 17, Jesus said when you fast, Matthew chapter 6 verse 17, when you fast your father sees in secret he will reward you. Now there's several points to, truths to point out. Number one he didn't say if you fast he said when. Jesus implied that fasting would be accepted as normative by his disciples. The second point I want and this is talking about fasting food particularly in this verse. The next point I want to mention is that the father sees. The father is attentive. Anything that the father is watching with attentiveness I we value it. If the father cares enough to fix his attention on it you can be sure it's important in our life. Well the father is watching with a fixed attention when we fast. He cares. But the other point I want to make is that he responds. He rewards us and that's a powerful reality. That God from heaven rewards us. Paragraph E. Now some of the rewards the father gives are external. They're external rewards. Meaning God touches our circumstances by his power. And I love the external rewards. I love when the Lord rewards seeking him. Because it says in Hebrews 6 11 those that come to God must believe that he is and they must believe he's a rewarder to those who seek him. There is a faith dimension Hebrews 11 6. He wants us to believe he rewards. Matter of fact he says you must believe that God rewards. That he's watching and he rewards if your faith is going to be healthy and active. And so the reason I say that is some folks go well I'm not really into the reward. Well Jesus taught it and I tell you if Jesus taught it it's good and we want it. So paragraph E. Some of the rewards of the father that we're looking for are external ones. They're his blessing on our circumstances. Others of the part another dimension of rewards are internal. And God is expanding our heart and allowing us to encounter him in a new depth. And so we fast so that we can experience the power of God to change the world to change circumstances. And we fast to experience the power of God to change our heart. So there's an external and there's an internal. Paragraph F. Now the reason I mention this over the years I've had people surprised at this internal dimension. Meaning I've heard this on a number of occasions. Wow I know fasting is for external blessing but fasting to change yourself instead of to change your city that's a new idea. And so it doesn't seem like a new idea to me but I've heard that comment over the years and so if that is new to you I want to encourage you that there's a two different types of reward. There is an internal transformation that God enlarges our capacity to experience God in our spirit. When we fast we are our capacity to experience and to feel God's presence enlarges in our life our capacity does. And that makes a big difference. Okay paragraph H. Now there is such a thing that I'll refer to as the grace of fasting. There is grace there is divine enabling there's divine help to fast. Now some people have never thought to ask God to help them. But I want to encourage you to make this a priority. As a rule not every time but nearly every time on on my fasting days I typically fast on Tuesday and on Thursday. And I've done this for some time as a rule and I don't always do it but those are the days I've set aside to to set my heart to do that. But typically the day before or the morning of or both I will take a few minutes I don't mean just kind of a quick prayer I mean I take for a few moments and I say Lord it's Monday I go tomorrow Tuesday is a fast day. And I'm not I'm not drawing any confidence you know on you know there the idea that I have fasted through the years and there's some kind of buildup of endurance it doesn't work that way. Whatever fasting I did last year or last decade it does nothing for today. I ask him on Monday I go Lord tomorrow's a fast day for me. I ask you for help. Then on Tuesday morning I typically before or even through the day I say help me I'm not presuming on yesterday's victory in fasting that I'm gonna have grace to fast today. And then I'll do the same thing on Thursday. And by the way as a as a leadership team we've declared over the last 10 years Tuesday as our staff fast day we encourage everybody to fast one day a week unless they're unless they're children or they're in bad health for if they have health problems or they have an eating disorder they have an eating disorder we don't want them fasting. I mean this is for real because it really triggers all negative things and patterns and in some people's lives. But we are extending the Tuesday all staff fast day and to Thursday because it's Tuesday and everyone's jamming in the prayer room and just for practical reasons we can't fit everyone in everyone in on Tuesdays. How many of you have a hard time getting in on Tuesday? I mean they're parked down the road they're parked everywhere. So we came up with this brilliant idea. Why don't we have part of the people have their fast day on Thursday? And so some of you on Tuesdays if you'd shift over to Thursdays and and again some of you will fast two days a week and there's plenty in our community who do that there's probably several hundred who have set their heart to do that and my goal isn't to get everyone to do that but it's the idea that we want everyone to do one except their children and except their again the conditions I mentioned a minute ago that they have health reasons or they have an eating disorder. I challenge people to do that. Now it's not mandatory it's simply voluntary but we encourage you to do that and I think it will make a big difference in your life. But the point I'm making here is that on those days I ask the Lord for help. I don't just presume on yesterday's victory. I don't say oh you know I've been a good faster through the years because some periods I've had tremendous grace and had tremendous consistency and and I had a real resolve in other seasons it was a real struggle in other seasons I just didn't do it at all for a while and so I know all three seasons I know the seasons of real victory and resolve and and it's not necessarily that it's easy but I consistently follow through then other seasons it's half and half then other seasons it's like ah you know the thought of fasting you know till 10 a.m. in the morning seems dreadful. But if you will ask the Lord for grace I mean not once I'm talking about every fast day before after and in between I assure you I know this from experience from 30 plus years of doing this it will really make a difference and to some people as simple as that is they've never thought to do that and you have not because you ask not. If you ask you will get help. Now what does grace for fasting look like? One guy said I didn't have grace. I said well what's that mean? I was just having fun with him. He goes means I was hungry and tired so it meant I didn't have grace to fast. I go no. When you have grace to fast you're still hungry and you're still tired. The guy went oh you're kidding. I was thinking you know you bypassed it and forgot you were fasting that day. I go oh no no you'll still know you're fasting. But grace for fasting is the Lord strengthens your resolve and your determination so it ends up that you follow through far more consistently and that's real. I mean it's real and you say how do I know? Well at the end of the day did you make it through the day? Yes guess what you had grace. So it's not so much that you know it's noon you pull out the Richter scale and measure it do I have grace today or not this seems like a not grace day. No you don't do that because it's a resolve. It doesn't mean that some of the difficulty and the weariness of it is lifted. That's not what grace for fasting means. It means there's a resolve there's a tenacity there's a determination that's being strengthened that the Lord gives you and it ends up that you follow through on that which you set your heart to do. Top of page two. I look at seven different reasons for fasting in the Bible. Seven different reasons and those that didn't get the notes again you can get them on the way out if you want or just get them on the internet if you want these seven you think hey I don't know if I'll remember all of them because this is a kind of a quick biblical overview of why we fast what's on our heart what are we aiming for. Number one or paragraph A we fast for the increase of the power of God in our ministry. That's biblical to fast so that our ministry has more power in it and there's power in many different ways but paragraph one when the disciples were praying for the young man that had a demon and the demon wouldn't go out they went to Jesus. So Jesus how come this didn't work? He said this type goes out only by prayer and fasting. So there is a dimension where prayer and fasting increases our receptiveness for the power of God to operate through us when we minister to others. Now John the Baptist his powerful preaching was undoubtedly related to his fasted lifestyle. I mean he was a man that was a picture of the grace of fasting and his anointing on his life undoubtedly is connected to his fasting. It's not only his fasting there was a sovereign dimension in his life but his cooperation with his calling and the grace of God was important and he gave himself to fasting. Number two I listed some of my heroes my personal heroes there's many revivalists men and women in history that God used in an extraordinary way. These are some of that I've read their biographies and really been inspired by them through the years John Wesley and George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, Charles Finney. Those are guys as I read their biographies in my you know late teens and early 20s the thing one thing that struck me well the tremendous power in their life I mean they led thousands of people to the Lord had an unusual unction and authority on their preaching but all of them were deeply committed to fasting and prayer and it shows up in their journals and their writings and so that's that is a point I want you to make the connection that in history of revivals the people used in revivals as vessels and not just the preachers in our context we're thinking of singers musicians writers drama dancers all kinds of different expressions of the grace of God there's an anointing and an authority that can be increased that is related to the person's fasting and prayer and responsiveness to God. Well John Wesley he's the one I mentioned earlier that you know 1730s 40s 50s right through there he died in 1792 so I mean he went for he for many decades he was preaching he died and I think he's 88 years old when it when he died so he preached for about 60 years and what he insisted that I mean I'll say this first that he was the one the Lord used dramatically in England and in America in the first Great Awakening in the middle 1700s and he had thousands of circuit riders they would get on the horses and go to different cities and villages and little out-of-the-way places and they were Methodist preachers and he started quote the Methodist Church and he insisted that they all fast two days a week that was just standard procedure and he said he insisted on that for for decades and it was normative and I love this famous quote of him that's pretty intense I love it though he says the man who never fasts is no more on his way to heaven than the man who never prays what a statement let me read it again the man who because I don't have this on the notes Alan Hood who grew up in the Methodist Church he gave this to me and I love this it's but it's one of the famous Wesley quotes the man who never fasts is no more on the way to heaven than the man who never prays pretty intense but I like it one of my most inspiring examples from a history is John G Lake I have there on paragraph two most of you know a little bit about John G Lake as far as I know he was used in healing the sick more than any man I know in church history past the the Apostles beyond the Apostles I don't know of another testimony in history that had more power he died in 1935 so even in the 20th century he was operating in unique power he went to I'll say this first he was a businessman an insurance man from Chicago and God gripped him with the revelation of healing and he began to give himself to ardent prayer and fasting I mean intense seasons very wealthy businessman I mean he would be a multimillionaire in today's currency I mean he was a tremendous wealth one of the most successful insurance guys in the nation at that time but he was gripped by God to operate in power apostasy said I want a power like the Apostles and and and he broke through and the Lord released his power on him and and one of the famous testimonies of his life was the five years he went to South Africa and this is verified by many that in a five-year period through his own healing ministry 500,000 documented healings in five years I mean it's remarkable from the raising of the dead to paralytics to blind eyes opening thousands and thousands of new converts and hundreds of churches in five years not in a soul ministry in a five-year period and when you read the John G Lake testimonies and we have many of them in our bookstore they're little 50 and 100 page booklets where they they're John G Lake sermons I think we got about five or six different ones and we got one big one that puts them all together you know it's about 500 pages or something a big old one I highly recommend the John G Lake books and and it tells his story and his testimony and and some of his sermons and they are so powerful I've read them over and over again but he's a guy that deeply connected fasting and prayer with a manifestation of power in his ministry and he urged the people to take that seriously okay paragraph B the second reason for fasting a prayer was is to grow in prophetic revelation of the end times to actually gain insight into God's plan of the end times now the premier example of this is the Prophet Daniel in the Old Testament Daniel fasted and prayed and I have the verses there I won't go through them all but Daniel fasted and prayed and then the angel Gabriel or another mighty angel appeared to him and spoke to him about God's plan in the end times and the angel says to him look here in Daniel 10 verse 12 Daniel the angel appears and says from the first day you set your heart and he went on a 21 day fast and the angel he's been fasting 21 days and praying and the angel says from the first day you set your heart 21 days ago your words were heard in heaven and God sent me to come because of your words because you were crying out I've come to you the implication if you did not cry out I would not have come to you and in Daniel chapter 10 it's the it's a very important vision about the end times he didn't receive insight about his own generation so much as he received insight about the generation the Lord returns then another example of Daniel Daniel chapter 9 verse 3 it's the same deal the same situation Daniel he said in verse 3 Daniel 9 verse 3 I set my face toward the Lord with fasting and prayer you can read the whole context on your own verse 21 Gabriel the angel Gabriel appears that's pretty intense when Gabriel appears in verse 22 Gabriel says he talks to Daniel and says Daniel I've come to give you skill to understand and it was the vision of the end times I mean it wasn't even for his own generation he received supernatural skill to understand God's plan that was 2,500 years later my point being if you have a forerunner if you have any kind of messenger ministry forerunner messenger ministry where you're preparing others preparing yourself and others for the unique dynamics of the generation of the Lord returns if you have that kind of calling that kind of assignment I want to assure you that fasting needs to be a critical part of your life and ministry I want to urge you strongly if you're healthy again you always want to give that qualifier to to take to embrace take two days a week for fasting you really want to give yourself to this I've had people say I'm a forerunner messenger I'm a minister I'm a messenger ministry again whether it's music song dance drama whatever I'm a messenger of a messenger and the next question is are you embracing fasting in your life well the Lord hasn't given me grace to that I want to assure you you will not be prepared in this unique grace of a messenger ministry without fasting being a regular part of your life for a long season and so I really want to urge that category of people to take two days a week everybody else one day a week more if you want but I would urge two days a week meaning it's more than just kind of a casual thing in your life now God promised paragraph two to give unprecedented revelation dreams and visions in the generation the Lord returns now Joel is the one who gave that promise as in Joel chapter 2 Peter quotes it in Acts chapter 2 but it's originally in Joel 2 but in context in context the promise of dreams and visions right before the Lord returns is in context of fasting and praying and so if you're a messenger and you want to operate in the prophetic anointing and you want to operate in that messenger kind of preparing the people through searching the word you will need supernatural grace skill to understand it doesn't mean an angel will appear to you like the angel appeared to Daniel and gives you new information but we need our spirit tenderized with the old information I'm talking about the biblical information paragraph C the third reason we fast is for the fulfillment of God's promises to our city or our nation now God has plans and promises for every city every nation but we have to seek God for the release of those plans and promises when God gives a prophetic promise to a city or a nation or even an individual it's very important that prophetic promise is not a guarantee it's an invitation when God says I am going to visit you and do this and that that is not a guarantee he's saying I'm inviting you to respond to me and if you respond to me I will do this in your ministry a lot of prophetic people that speak God's purpose or plan for city nation or an individual many of them fail to mention the conditions there are conditions on promises they're not guarantees they are invitations and if we respond then it is a guarantee and fasting and prayer is often dynamically connected to that well I have a number of examples here I'm not gonna go into the details of Daniel and Nehemiah and Cornelius where they responded in fasting and prayer and the purpose of God for their generation was released and so when God says I'm gonna visit Kansas City or I'm gonna use America or I'm gonna use the nation that's on your heart that is an invitation to cry out to God not just to presume that it's an automatic pilot number four there's fasting to stop a crisis there's a crisis that's looming in the land and it needs supernatural intervention I love what Lou Engel says that when there is no remedy for a nation God calls a fast when there is no remedy God calls a fast fast and pray call God into the situation when there is no human remedy then we need God to show up on the scene and God's vehicle of calling his involvement into a city is through fasting and prayers not only fasting a prayer but that is essential components when God wants to break in and avert or stop a crisis in an individual's life or in a nation and I'm not saying that every time there's a crisis if you fast and pray you're guaranteed the crisis will go away but I know this that if you fast and pray you're lining up with God and positioning yourself to receive what God has to give well the first example I give number one is the crisis that Hannah was in personally now to her this was a real crisis and some of you can understand this she was distressed in her personal life because of her barrenness she wanted a child and she fasted and prayed and it's again not that every time somebody fast and prays they're gonna have a supernatural intervention and a reversal of barrenness but on this occasion God gave her a child and it's the Prophet Samuel but the point I'm focusing on is that she was in a crisis in her life and instead of just kind of waiting and seeing what would happen she pressed into God with fasting and prayer number two and three I give examples of crisis in nations in paragraph two Joel the Prophet says hey there's a locust crisis an agricultural crisis in Joel 1 and then there's a military crisis in Joel 2 of the Babylonian invasion of this into the nation of Israel to destroy the city of Jerusalem so whether it's an agricultural crisis in Joel 1 of a famine a drought an economic breakdown or it's a military crisis of Joel 2 both times the remedy was the same call a corporate fast and cry out to God and beloved it doesn't take a whole lot of of discernment but our nation is in a crisis right now I mean things are mounting up what has happened in the last 12 months I mean in the last nine months is staggering escalation of darkness being set up in our nation it's a staggering escalation of darkness yeah you know in my 54 years on the earth I've never seen a nine-month period where more things were put in place more dominoes went down for darkness to come into America at a new level we're in a crisis I'll just give you a little FYI we don't have the details yet but our the leadership over our prayer ministry over our prayer pillar in our infrastructure we met Monday about 15 of us and we are determined to have an extended fast in December after the Thanksgiving and before Christmas we don't know the boundaries of it yet we talked a couple hours and the Lord is speaking to us and stirring us up and we don't know the details but I'm just kind of giving you an FYI if you want to kind of make a mental note of that and so it'll be after Thanksgiving it'll be after that we'll have that will be over but it's before the one-day conference but it's not mostly for the one-day conference there is a mounting evil in our nation and the the greatest problem in America I don't even believe the greatest problem is abortion I don't believe it's the homosexual agenda or the rise of Islam and all of these things that are happening the greatest problem is the wholesale not entirely but shift of the church to compromise and lethargy and disconnect from God that is the that problem will cause all the other problems to double and triple there is a a crisis in the land around the doctrine of the grace of God and the grace of God is being presented as that which empowers people to feel good while they're sinning and it should be presented as that which empowers us to get a new beginning when we repent and the power to follow through in connectedness with God it's a very different doctrine of grace and I'm watching the church I mean a lot of guys for years that have been fiery for the Lord are just getting really loose and just the just the the earnestness in the church there's one camp and it's many many ministries by the way their earnestness is increasing but far greater there is a passivity there's a letting a go of essential truths and allowing heresies to enter in is normative and and I mean I'm troubled by abortion I'm troubled by the homosexual agenda I'm troubled by the rise of militant Islam and many other things in our nation and I'm troubled mostly by what's happening in the church though because that's the place where the where where the things that are in the balance can go the right direction but anyway we're gonna I just went on a little bunny trail there but that's okay we're gonna we don't know yet we're going to take another week or two to figure it out you know the days but it will be you know probably a couple weeks but we're gonna give ourself to this in December and it's mostly because what's happening in America and and and it's it's nice that it's right as we're going to the one thing conference as thousands of young adults come I'm sure that there will be it will make an impact on that but that's not the main reason we are troubled by what's happening in our land I mean it is it is increasing so rapidly I mean the darkness that's being loosed on our nation out of the White House is terrifying to me the implications of where this thing is going and though I'm praying for our president and his administration there are so many doors that are opening so fast that are going to have serious consequences on our children and their children and their children if the Lord tarries and and there must be an immediate response I don't mean just our little group but I'm talking about God stirring up his men and women all over the nation and people are troubled troubled troubled you know I appreciated Shirley Dobson on a James Dobson the focus of the family on a kind of a nationwide one of everybody kind of a bunch of leaders on the phone and her and Lou are leading it Lou Engel I wasn't a part of it but she declared a lot of national leaders on this big phone call that she's calling 2010 the year of prayer that there's no way America is going to survive this without a breakthrough of God and and so there's many voices coming through and crying out for this so I'm encouraged by that God's raising up prophetic voices like that in the land okay number five or paragraph E we fast for protection now this is something that most of us probably haven't thought that much about I've never done this one this is the one of the seven I've never fasted for but probably it's going to matter in the days to come I'm sure it will I'll take the word probably and throw that away the fast for protection now what was happening is that Ezra was in Babylon that's about 700 mile walk you know back at about 500 BC they were or a little bit later than that but that's good enough they were they were going from Babylon to Israel to Jerusalem to rebuild the city of the nation and this 700 mile walk you know Ezra you know saying hey guys we got this long walk but there's all these thieves and bandits on the road you know we have permission to go back and help our country but uh you know we're a little bit terrified on the journey so they fasted and prayed for divine protection Esther fasted and prayed for protection I have some of the details there on the notes but praying for protection I I'm sure this is going to come become very relevant before the Lord returns this praying for protection coming and going and those kind of things okay number six or paragraph F fasting for direction now we're talking about direction I'm not talking about direction for the end times I thought about direction for your life direction for your ministry direction for your assignment in the marketplace direction for your family and I have some examples here where fasting and praying was employed in order to get specific direction for that hour when Paul and the group at Antioch the five leaders were there they were fasting and worshiping and that's when God gave them direction for their ministry when Paul said in the elders I have that on the notes in Acts 14 he fasted so he knew which elders to select and also that there would be an impartation of grace when they were appointed now paragraph G this is the one that I only take a few moments on but this is the one I really have a I'm stirred up about this morning is the seventh one it's fasting for it to grow in our intimacy with God these other six are fast related to circumstances and I we really care about those and we value those but this paragraph G this fasting is an is the internal one it's the one of the seven that's internal Matthew chapter 9 if you turn there verse 14 and 15 now the fasting for increased intimacy and connection with God I call this it's just a term that we've used over the years the bridegroom fast because it's a fast that enables us that enlarges our capacity to feel the desires that Jesus has for us as the bridegroom God and it enlarges our desire for him so the bridegroom fast is not like the other six it's not for external circumstances to be blessed and for favor and for the break-in of God but this is for the break-in of God at the heart level let's read the passage it says in Matthew chapter 9 verse 14 the disciples of John they came to Jesus and they asked a question why do we and the Pharisees fast often we fast a lot but your guys don't fast we notice they don't observe the fast days they're just happy-go-lucky and what's the deal and Jesus answered their question with the question which he often does if you ask God a question I mean pray Lord tell me this often he'll give you a question back so come on Lord don't give me a question you know I need this answer and he might whisper and say there's an answer in the question I'm asking you think think there's an answer in there for you and so that is his style often if you ask him a question he'll ask you one and so the stakes typically go up higher when you get in that dialogue okay verse 15 so Jesus answers their question with a question he said to them can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom's with them I mean what a strange seemingly random question like they're saying no what Jesus said can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom's with them but the days will come now he prophesying he kicks in now to a prophesying mode when the bridegroom is taken away and then they will fast now what he's saying now he's the bridegroom obviously he's talking about himself now the disciples of John John taught his disciples to fast often that tells you the value of fasting the Jesus called John the greatest man born of a woman and when he taught his disciples he stressed regular fasting he's greatest man ever born of a woman is according to Jesus so we know this is important and so the disciples of John it's kind of a little bit cute because they're going to Jesus they don't fully understand who he is that he's fully God fully man standing in front of them and they're going to him with a lot of zeal I can picture Jesus smiling and really appreciating these young guys I can see a grin on his face because their question is this we're not sure that your leadership is going to produce dedication do you really care about dedication to God Jesus smiling I love the question I love this this is great yes I do care about dedication to God well then how come your guys aren't dedicated and Jesus says well here's the deal I am the bridegroom and I am with them and because I'm in their immediate presence there is no need for them to fast because he's giving a teaching on the nature of fasting here he says but the day is coming when I'll be taken away then they will fast so there's a couple of big points here number one he's declaring himself as the bridegroom God which is a huge point in itself he says I'm a God that has deep desire for my people I'm not just a king with power I'm a bridegroom king with desire I care I feel deeply for you that was statement number one he was making which is a powerful statement that's worth lots of time on but we'll move on he makes the next statement he goes I the bridegroom I will be taken away I can imagine the twelve going what do you mean taken away that sounds bad he's talking about his death he says I'm gonna be taken away and this is a little bit concerting I mean disconcerting to them there you're going to be taken not go away taken away that sounds like against your will type deal they're gonna kill me it's what he was saying I'm gonna offer up my life freely but from their point of view they're killing me then you will fast and these twelve are going we will like we'll explain connect the dots for us and what's happening I have it written in the notes there you could read it on your own but what's happening is that Jesus is with them and I have this written in paragraph D that the joy of his presence I mean think about this glorious beautiful God man the bright countenance the radiance of joy the the lightning of God in his personality in his ministry the authority the kindness but the fear of the Lord I mean they just loved being with him on those long walks they loved just being in his presence they felt confident they felt loved they felt desired they felt secure they felt presence they just wow wow they got so accustomed to the nearness to him and what Jesus is saying he goes one day I'm gonna be gone meaning he's gonna die on the cross and raise from the dead and go to the right hand of the Father and this nearness that you are so accustomed to you will not have but what will happen is that you will long for it you will mourn you will long for this nearness and what will happen is that you will then fast and because the Spirit will live in you on that day because Jesus died rose from the dead went to the right hand of the Father poured out the Spirit from that day forward that Spirit lived inside of them Jesus was saying that you can have this nearness in the future but you're gonna have to cry out for it and you're gonna long for it you're gonna mourn for it you're gonna remember this familiar intimate friendship and this nearness with you and that's going to be in your memory and that's gonna make you long oh I want to be I want that feeling again I want to be near you and Jesus said in that day you will fast and that will position your spirit before me to to increase its capacity God will touch your spirit increase your capacity and I will show you more about how I feel about you and at the same time I will increase your desire for me I will reveal my desire to you through the Holy Spirit and they're going we know you desire us and Jesus could have said yeah because I'm in your presence you see my face you feel my touch you feel the anointing on my life but you're gonna have the same feeling in the future by the Spirit touching you but you're gonna fast for it to increase and you're gonna have to seek me in a way you don't now and these Apostles are a little disconcerted by this are going we don't want it to change we want it to be always like this and he's saying oh it will be like this but it will be a different dimension and he's introducing a new dimension of fasting he goes in that day you'll fast because when you fast you position yourself to receive more and when you receive more your desires will increase you will feel more but it will be related to fasting it will be different than now but it I will be near you again but it will require your responsiveness that's why I call it the bridegroom fast it's a fast that's not related to power in our ministry though I appreciate that fast and I do those kind of fasts and seeking the Lord I want more power desperately this is a fast that's related to an increase of desire to feel his desire and then to have more desire to return to him and fasting releases the grace of God in our life for that okay let's go to let me see where do I want to go let's go to top of page six and a fast forward because we're coming right to the end here top of page six paragraph a five rewards of the bridegroom fast five rewards and they're they're they are connected but they are distinct number one it leads to tenderizing our heart we feel the presence of God more you want to feel his presence more I'm not saying fasting will solve all your problems but if you've got a spirit of obedience in your life and you have the Word of God in your heart those are key spirit of obedience because fasting is no substitute for obedience I know some folks who say I'll go on a long fast but I'm going to continue in my immorality that doesn't work that way you have to have a spirit of you have to have a yes in your spirit obey him and you have to get the Word of God you have to read the word and talk to him from the word but you throw fasting in the mix there will be an increased tenderness of your heart now my testimony over the years is that I've had seasons where I've had a stronger manifestation of grace where my fasting was more intense and other seasons when it was less intense but I want to tell you this that when I've had several years that would go at a time in a different seasons over the years of it you know they go two three years at a time and when I'm fasting more I feel his presence so much more and when I fast less the sense of his presence the discernible feeling of his presence goes down you say well why would you ever why would you ever change it well that's another story for another day I mean I want I want to fast to the fullness that I have physical strength and the grace of God too because it is a there's a cause effect of your tent the feeling of his presence significantly goes up when I fast more regular and seasons than other seasons I have far more prophetic dreams far more they it's distinct I don't mean within a month but I take a two or three year period I look back there's a spike you know in the graph if I if I made a graph which I haven't but it would spike straight up in that season in terms of insight in the word the feeling of his presence prophetic dreams number two it changes our desires you know the so many are stuck in an addiction to this that or the other there's a whole list of addictions you could name fasting will help shift your desires because you're positioning yourself for the Holy Spirit to tenderize you and change your desires from bitterness and anger and addicted to pornography or alcohol or whatever addictions whether it's just anger and the spirit of dullness number three increase of understanding I just mentioned that that fasting you will see not only the Word of God you will feel the power of it you'll have more prophetic dreams and visions those kind of things number four it makes your body healthier that's a benefit number five it strengthens your sense of identity as sons of God and as in the bride of Christ we feel his desire for us and we have more confidence even in our weakness that we stand before him in confidence as sons of God and as the bride of Christ okay paragraph B five different types of fasts that are that are in the Bible or they're mentioned in in church history there's the regular fast number one that's without food or drink only water no calories and of course I always throw in coffee and so the without food now for those there's coffee and there's coffee there's those guys to do that triple mocha double triple this that that's a full-on milkshake okay that's not coffee okay and my point isn't my point at all it's not at all that you're cheating the guy goes I'm cheating I go no that's not the point I don't care if you're cheating that's not my point my point is the fasting it doesn't work it doesn't tenderize you the whole point isn't to get through the day feeling like you did it the point is to be changed the point is to encounter and I'm just saying that it's not really a fast so what some of these folks do in the double triple milkshake you know three hamburgers in the in the blender type thing and and I don't want them to lose confidence that the fasting doesn't work because that's not fasting so anyway the regular fast food and drinking only water and coffee and no calories a little bit of cream okay number two well that's my story I'm sticking with it okay it's the liquid fast and this is important it's light liquids again we're not talking about milkshakes and hamburger milkshakes or chocolate milkshakes either one of them and the liquid fast is a form of fasting it's real it's really it doesn't have the same it doesn't position you in the same way for the same kind of intensity of experiencing the change in the in large capacity but it's real and I want to encourage you to look at that the partial fast Daniel abstained from tasty foods he would you know a strict diet alike on just a certain amount of vegetables and the point was just to he was in his 80s when he did this was to sustain his strength because he was in the Kings Court he was like working at the White House he had huge governmental responsibilities and so he said I won't take anything tasty I take a couple of these vegetables just to keep my strength is minimally up then there's the Benedict fast that was a very famous one st. Benedict and he had many monasteries for centuries did this they would eat one meal a day for extended periods of times for months and months and months sometimes for years different ones did they do one meal a day and for a week or two or three it doesn't seem like that big of a fast but those that have I did this once for some time you do it for a season it is truly fasting I mean you will fill all of the feelings of fasting and you will feel the tenderness in your spirit as well it takes a little while before you get into that mode but it's it's in the monasteries and the Catholic monasteries in Europe that was a a that's a real fast by the way if you do it for months and months at a time okay the next one is if you want extreme exercise extreme caution is the absolute fast and that's the abstaining from food and water and that would be for a day or two days or the most extreme was Esther three days and you don't ever want to go beyond that and you want to be really cautious about that and I hardly hear of those kinds of fasts but it is a biblical fast and and the only guy I've ever heard of has ever called one of those is Lou Engle he's called a couple of them but in our midst you know so buyer beware okay so one of those are bound to shoot up sooner or later I've never been on a three-day one like that and I know guys that have and and they've said it's really touches them but again there the goal isn't just isn't to do something Rambo heroic the goal is to connect with God that's the goal that's the goal now some fast just being practical there's two approaches for a one-day fast some go from 6 p.m. like say 6 p.m. Tuesday to 6 p.m. Wednesday something like that and others go as a little more intense and it's the one I recommend you go all day and then you break it the next day meaning you don't eat that night at 6 o'clock you fast the whole day and and you go through the night and you break it the next morning or the next lunchtime that's the wreck that's the one I recommend is the standard procedure one day fast where you go the entire day go through the night and the other one is a little less intense you eat at six o'clock one night and then you eat six o'clock the next night in essence you miss two meals you miss the breakfast and lunch one day and the one I'm recommending which is it you do the one you want but you're missing three meals and you go through the night and and haven't having done it both ways lots of times for lots of years