Recap: Episodes 1 & 2
It gives me great joy to come to your screen!
– Mt 6:17-18. “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” When=necessity Reward=Reward
1.Importance of fast,(when not if) benefits of fasting;humble ourselves, divine intervention,spiritual growth
benefits of prayer, virtually all men of the Bible were men of prayer&Fasting-Esther, Daniel, Moses, Jesus, Early Church, Church Fathers
Honestly are we getting the result or tired
Episode 3:WHY YOUR FAST MAY NOT WORK (False Fasting) Fasting Recipe Recipe for True Fast Dos and Donts of Fasting True & False Fasting
Isa 58 Contemporary English Version
Shout the message! Don’t hold back. Say to my people Israel: You’ve sinned! You’ve turned against the Lord.2 Day after day, you worship him and seem eager to learn
his teachings. You act like a nation that wants to do right by obeying his laws.
You ask him about justice, and say you enjoy worshiping the Lord. 3 You wonder why the Lord pays no attention when you go without eating and act humble. But on those same days that you give up eating, you think only of yourselves and abuse your workers.
4 You even get angry and ready to fight.No wonder God won’t listen to your prayers!
5 Do you think the Lord wants you to give up eating and to act as humble as a bent-over bush? Or to dress in sackcloth and sit in ashes? Is this really what he wants on a day of worship? I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the Lord. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused! 7 Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don’t turn away your relatives. Then your light will shine like the dawning sun, and you will quickly be healed. Your honesty will protect you as you advance, and the glory of the Lord will defend you from behind. When you beg the Lord for help, he will answer, “Here I am!”Don’t mistreat others or falsely accuse them or say something cruel. Give your food to the hungry and care for the homeless.
Then your light will shine in the dark; your darkest hour will be like the noonday sun.
11 The Lord will always guide you and provide good things to eat when you are in the desert.He will make you healthy. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water
or like a stream that never runs dry.You will rebuild those houses left in ruins for years;
you will be known as a builder and repairer of city walls and streets.
But first, you must start respecting the Sabbath as a joyful day of worship. You must stop doing and saying whatever you please on this special day. Then you will truly enjoy knowing the Lord. He will let you rule from the highest mountains and bless you with the land of your ancestor Jacob.The Lord has spoken!
As good as fasting is it may not work if not done as prescribed.
DON’T’S
- SIN /Godlessness/LAWLESSNESS
Isa 58V2 You act like a nation that wants to do right “Here is my answer: when you fast, you go about doing whatever you like,
while keeping your laborers hard at work. (all forms of cheating both ways) Rom 6v2,2
Lawlessness; Sin is lawlessness.
- V4 You even get angry and ready to fight.Your fasts lead to quarreling and fighting, to lashing out with violent blows. Fasting is not bribing God.It shd change us & not just our circumstances. God’s nature vs Act
- V10 Don’t mistreat or falsely accuse others
- The list in endless, murder, Lying, injustice, evil thoughts
Isa 59 NIV Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.2But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.3For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.4No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.
- Isa 58v5 Religious approach–5 Do you think the Lord wants you to give up eating and to act as humble as a bent-over bush? Or to dress in sackcloth and sit in ashes? Is this really what he wants on a day of worship? I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the Lord show off; awe n gbo mi, NOISE – Matt 6v1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
- Prayerlessness Fasting Minus Prayer=Hunger Strike/Starvation fasting has no spiritual power of its own except when combined with prayer. Fasting is a catalyst to Prayer Fasting + Prayer=Atomic power intercontinental ballistic missile. Fasting doesn’t work because of the hunger pang, Fastign is not a Talisman.It is based on relationship.
- Conclusion:
Obedience is better than Sacrifice. Obedience=Fasting/Prayer. Sacrifice=doing righteousness. Which one are you stronger in. The best is to do both without neglecting the other.Net week, I focus on the Dos of Fasting.
Episode 4
Dos of Fastign (Fasting for Results
- Isa 58v3 Why have we fasted, they say, and You do not see it? Why have we afflicted ourselves, and You take no knowledge [of it]? Behold [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins], Humble yourself (Introspection, repentance) not just 40 days
- Isa 58v6 Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly.civil justice
- V7-10 Sharing your food to the HungryGive your food to the hungry and care for the homeless(budget it, give it) Prov lends to the lord
- Help the poor Proverb Fasting is abhorrent to God if we neglect the people close to his heart.The poor
- V12 Obey God’s law rep sabbath-Obedience is better than sacrifice
- Firefighting & inconsistency
