Sermon Central
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40 Days Of Prayer And Fasting
Contributed by Larry Brincefield on May 31, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: I went to a conference where Elmer Towns spoke on 9 different types of fasts. This sermon was inspired by his presentation.
Introduction
1. Email Funny (top 10 women drivers)
Read Text: Isaiah 58:6-8
2. 9 Fasts in Scripture1
Here in these 3 verses, we see 9 different types of fasts…
I’m going to try to hit each one real quick…
Because some of you need to fast; but for different reasons…
I am indebted to Elmer Towns; who presented these 9 fasts to a group pastors in Ocala…
And inspired me to not only fast myself…
But also to call my church to fast for a special purpose…
Body
1. The Apostles Fast Matt 17:21 (to loose the bonds of wickedness)
A. Isaiah 58:6 says, “is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice?”…
The KJV says, “to loose the bands of wickedness”
B. The Apostles Fast is a fast to free yourself from the addiction to sin…
In Matthew 17:21, The apostles were faced with a boy under the control of an evil spirit…
But they were unable to help the boy…
When they asked why they couldn’t…
Jesus said, “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting”
This boy was under the control of a sinful, evil spirit…
And just like him…
There are people today who are under the control of a sinful influence or an addiction…
Perhaps the addiction is alcohol or smoking…
Perhaps the addiction is pornography or sexual addiction…
Whatever the addiction is, you may have tried everything you can think of to break the hold of that addiction in your life…
Well…have you tried fasting?...
I believe that there are some people here this morning that need to do an apostle’s fast…
To loose the bands of wickedness…
To break the hold of addiction in your life.
2. The Ezra Fast: To Solve Problems
A. Isaiah 58:6 says “Is this not the fast to untie the cords of the yoke”?...
The KJV says, “to undo the heavy burdens”…
In Ezra 8:22, Ezra writes, “so we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”
Ezra and God’s people was faced with a very real problem…
So they went to the Lord in prayer and fasting…
And the Lord answered their prayer!
B. Perhaps some of you are facing a problem…
Maybe there is a problem in your family…
Or in your job…
And you are just not sure how to handle it…
You sense that you are under a heavy burden about something…
If you would like to seek divine guidance and direction…
Perhaps you should do an Ezra fast.
3. The Samuel Fast: To bring evangelism and revival
A. Isaiah 58:6 says, “is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to set the oppressed free?...
There are people who are under oppression…
But it isn’t poverty…
Or some authoritarian government that has them oppressed…
It is the power of sin that has them broken…
B. In 1 Samuel 7:6, God’s Word tells us that “when they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord””
Before we have a revival…
We often call people to prayer and preparation so that the Lord can do a mighty work amongst us…
But, I wonder, if we haven’t seen the incredible breakthrough of the Holy Spirit like we would like…
Could it be that we haven’t shown the Lord how serious we are about revival by fasting?...
In Jonah chapter 3, we see the whole nation of Nineveh from the King on down…
Prayed and fasted for 40 days…
In fact, the King actually issued a proclamation that not only were the PEOPLE going to fast…
But that the ANIMALS were going to fast too!!
When God saw how serious these people were about turning from their sinful life…
God spared them the punishment that He had commanded Jonah to prophesy to them.
4. The Elijah Fast: To Solve Emotional & Mental Problems
A. In Isaiah 58:6, God’s Word says: Is not this the kind of fast I have chosen: to break every yoke?...
In 1 Kings 19:8, it tells us that Elijah was struggling with being discouraged and depressed…
Jezebel had killed other prophets…
And because of what God did through Elijah when the prophets of baal were killed…
Jezebel vowed that Elijah was going to be killed in response…
Elijah, just after having a great spiritual victory over the prophets of baal…
Suddenly became very discouraged and depressed…
He ran and hid and prayed that he might die…
He then fell asleep…
And then an angel woke him up…
There was a cake of bread and a jar of water…
And when Elijah ate those…
God gave him the strength to travel over 200 miles without any other food or water…