Fasting

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Fasting

• Abstaining From Food For A Spiritual Purpose

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Matthew 6

• 16 When you fast, do not look somber as the
  hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to
  show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you,
  they have received their reward in full. 

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Examples

• Moses Exodus 3428 Moses was there with
  the Lord forty days and forty nightswithout
  eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on
  the tablets the words of the covenantthe Ten
  Commandments.
• Ezra 821 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed
  a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before
  our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and
  our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was
  ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen
  to protect us from enemies on the road, because
  we had told the king, The gracious hand of our
  God is on everyone who looks to him, but his
  great anger is against all who forsake him.23 So
  we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and
  he answered our prayer.

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Examples

• Paul Acts 98 Saul got up from the ground, but
  when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So
  they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For
  three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink
  anything.
• Esther 416 Go, gather together all the Jews who
  are in Susa, and fastfor me. Do not eat or drink
  for three days, night or day. I and my attendants
  will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go
  to the king, even though it is against the law.
  And if I perish, I perish.

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Examples

• Public Joel 215 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
  declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.
• Acts 132 While they were worshiping the Lord and
  fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me
  Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have
  called them. 3 So after they had fasted and
  prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent
  them off.

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Purposes

• Facing a National Crisis 2 Chronicles 202 Some
  people came and told Jehoshaphat, A vast army is
  coming against you from Edom, from the other side
  of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar
  (that is, En Gedi).3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat
  resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he
  proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
• Repentance Jonah 34 Jonah began by going a days
  journey into the city, proclaiming, Forty more
  days and Nineveh will be overthrown.5 The
  Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed,
  and all of them, from the greatest to the least,
  put on sackcloth.

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Purposes

• Seeking an Answer Daniel 92 in the first year of
  his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the
  Scriptures, according to the word of
  the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the
  desolation of Jerusalem would last
  seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and
  pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in
  fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
• Making Decisions Acts 1423 Paul and Barnabas
  appointed elders for them in each church and,
  with prayer and fasting, committed them to the
  Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

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Purposes

• Preparation of the spirit for Gods Work Luke
  4Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the
  Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the
  wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was
  tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those
  days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

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Benefits to Us

• Enhances Prayer
• Improves Spiritual Awareness
• Opens us up to Gods Guidance
• Provides Physical Benefits
• Refines Our Engagement in Spiritual Growth and
  Power
• But the Main Purpose is to Get us In Touch With
  God Zech 75 Ask all the people of the land and
  the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the
  fifth and seventh months for the past seventy
  years, was it really for me that you fasted?
• Focus on the Lord-Not on Our Own Benefit

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The Reason

• Humbling of Our selves Psalm 35I put on
  sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting.
• A Denial of our desires and appetites
• Places priority on what is important Matt 44
  Jesus answered, It is written Man shall not
  live on bread alone, but on every word that comes
  from the mouth of God. 

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The Reason

• Demonstration of What Controls Us 1 Corinthians
  612 I have the right to do anything, you
  saybut not everything is beneficial. I have the
  right to do anythingbut I will not be mastered
  by anything. 13 You say, Food for the stomach
  and the stomach for food, and God will destroy
  them both. 
• Realize Our Need of God and Our Unnecessary
  dependence on Things

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The Practice

• Must be Initiated in Relationship with God Matt
  616 When you fast, do not look somber as the
  hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to
  show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you,
  they have received their reward in full. 17 But
  when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your
  face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others
  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.
• Accompanied by Repentance and Prayer

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The Practice

• The Length of The Fast May Vary-A Meal, A Day,
  Several Days-But dont begin with a lengthy fast
• Keep Your Medical Needs in Focus, Understand
  Withdrawal Symptoms
• May Be A Complete Fast Ezra 106 Then Ezra went
  to the room of Jehohanan . While he was there, he
  ate no food and drank no water, because he
  continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the
  exiles.
• May Be a Partial Fast Daniel 103 I ate no choice
  food no meat or wine touched my lips and I used
  no lotions at all until the three weeks were
  over.

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The Attitude and Outcome

• Isaiah 58Is not this the kind of fasting I have
  chosento loose the chains of injustice    and
  untie the cords of the yoke,to set the
  oppressed free and break every yoke?7 Is it not
  to share your food with the hungry and to provide
  the poor wanderer with shelterwhen you see the
  naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from
  your own flesh and blood?8 Then your light will
  break forth like the dawn,and your healing will
  quickly appearthen your righteousness will go
  before you, and the glory of the Lord will be
  your rear guard.9 Then you will call, and
  the Lord will answer you will cry for help, and
  he will say Here am I.