Be Thou My Vision Series

"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it; Plan more than you can do, then do it; Point your arrow at a star, take your aim, and there you are; Arrange more time than you can spare, then spare it; Take on more than you can bear, then bear it; Plan your castle in the air, then build a ship to take you there." (Poem by an anonymous author)

It was a beautiful night, and the light of a full moon seeped thru the windows. Mom glanced at the clock and then told her young son “Jimmy, it’s time to go to bed.” So Jimmy went upstairs… and an hour or so later his mother came up to check on him. To her astonishment he wasn’t in bed – he’s staring out of his window. “What are you doing, Jimmy?” she asked. “I’m looking at the moon, Mommy.” "Well, it’s time to go to bed now." So reluctantly the boy got into bed, and then he said, “Mommy, you know one day I’m going to walk on the moon.”

Well now… there’s a dream for you. Jimmy planned his castle in the air, and planned to build a ship to take him there. When Jimmy grew up, he got into a terrible motorcycle crash, and broke almost every bone in his body. But he never let that get in the way of his dream. Thirty two years after he told his mother his desire to walk on the moon – JAMES IRWIN did exactly that. He walked on the moon. He was one of just 12 men that has ever done so. (David Salyer)

James Irwin had a dream to walk on the moon … and he got it done.

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) tells us “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. Without a vision - without a dream - people perish. Having a dream is that important. God’s people need to have visions - they need to dream… dreams.

And that brings us to our text for this morning. In Acts 13, we’re introduced to a church with a vision - with a dream. How do I know they had a dream? THEY FASTED. “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.’” Acts 13:2

Fasting is a serious activity. Fasting is the kind of thing you do when you want to put UMMPH in your prayer. When people fast (fasting the way that pleases God) Isaiah 58:8-10 tells us “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am…. Then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”

Fasting is like putting your prayers on speed dial. and when people fasted in Scripture, they seriously wanted something from God.

• Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the 10 Commandments.

• In II Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat held a day-long national fast… because 3 massive armies were on their way to conquer the Kingdom of Judah.

• Daniel fasted for 21 days – begging to understand a vision he’d been given.

• Esther held a 3 day fast - before she went into the presence of King Xerxes to plead for him to spare the Jews in Persia from destruction.

• Jesus fasted for 40 days before being tempted in the wilderness/ beginning ministry.

Now just so you understand - fasting isn’t required of Christians. But in the New Testament, Christians DID fast for the same reason the ancient Jews did - they fasted to appeal to God for … something. And while Acts 13 doesn’t tell us WHY these leaders at Antioch were fasting, it appears (to me) they were fasting because they were asking God for a dream… for a vision, I think they were asking God: what can we do for you? Give us a dream… give us a vision for You! And I believe THAT because - in the midst of their fast the Holy Spirit told them to set apart Barnabas and Paul to be missionaries. And from that time on, Christianity spread like wildfire across the Roman empire. I believe that when the leaders at Antioch fasted they did so because they wanted to do MORE for God.

ILLUS: It’s kind of like buying Christmas presents for someone you love. You want to make sure you get something they want. Something they’ll appreciate. So when these men fasted… it was like they were asking God - WHAT CAN WE GET YOU? WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE US DO!!!!