This morning we visit a place called Bethesda. An invalid, crippled, lying on the ground waiting for the miraculous. Jesus says "Do you want to get well?" Some people do not want to get better, they like the attention they get, or possibly the thought of doing anything different scares them. Some are crippled by fear or other such hold backs and don't know they are crippled.
Sometimes religious do's and don'ts cripple us. This man is healed and is commanded to pick up his mat and walk. The day this happens is the Sabbath. Man made Sabbath rules have crippled many. When man takes what God has said further than God intended, man cripples others. As we have seen with other miraculous healings, the one receiving the healing takes Jesus at his word. So should we.
Sometimes when it comes to taking Jesus at his word we hit a wall. How hard is it to love our enemies? How about forgive those who had deliberately hurt us? What about being Holy as God is Holy? There is a great difference between being Holy and being Religious. How hard is it for a cripple to get up and walk? All of these are commands of scripture. Not once but several times Jesus commanded a cripple to get up and walk, Peter did it, Paul did it as well. And God still commands us, spiritually cripple, to get up and walk as He did.
We are very good at being religious, we trod out our list. We go to church, we pray, we read our Bible, we witness (actually we argue), but that is not what God wants us to do. He says "Be Holy as I am Holy" (Leviticus 11:45). Holiness embraces purity and moral integrity. Those called to be God's children are to be like him. The basic idea of holiness in the Bible is that of separation from all that is profane. The developed sense of holiness includes various meanings translated into English as "purify," "sanctify," "separate from," "dedicate," etc. The simplest understanding of holiness is that of loving conformity to God's commands and to his Son. Conforming to God's image not that of the world (Romans 12:1-2).
How hard is this? Just as difficult for a cripple to take up his mat and walk. Yet Jesus commands both. With man, this is impossible, yet with God all things are possible.
Why do we hit these walls in our lives?
Maybe like this man we are waiting for someone else to do something for us.
How many times have we asked someone else to pray for us, yet we did not pray for ourselves?
How many times have we posted a prayer request but not pray for that request ourselves?
This man is waiting for someone else to do something.
Sometimes we keep hitting our wall because we do not know better.
Our walls represent barriers, something we must overcome or something we must go around. It represents barriers that keep us from being all we can be for GOD. So how do we get past this barrier?
The Bible calls us to pray and fast.
The Types of “Fasting”
This week I took a survey, many people answered, some of their answers were different. Some said dedication, some referred to Jesus in the desert. All agreed on one thing, fasting is a deprivation.
One preacher, Dennis Rupert, lists three types of fasting in his sermon on the subject:
The Normal Fast: [This] was the fast on the Day of Atonement [which lasted] from sunset of one day to sunset of the next. So in this type of fast the person abstained from food and liquid for a period of one day […].
The Partial Fast: In this type of fast, the emphasis is placed on restriction of diet, rather than abstaining completely from eating. Examples are: Daniel, Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego eating only vegetables and drinking only water […].
The Radical Fast: This type of fast is one in which the person refrains from both food and water OR simply food (but not water) for an extended period of time.” (Rupert 2005, no pages)
So the types of fasting we see in the Bible all have to do with abstaining from some or all foods for a certain amount of time.
The Requirements of Fasting
There are very few rules when it comes to fasting, and what you do is really between you and the Lord, but there are some rules.
Refraining or depriving ourselves from food without adding worship and prayer is Dieting
Depriving ourselves of food and water for an extended period of time without adding worship and pray is Hunger Strike.
Therefore depriving of food without replacing it with worship and prayer is not Fasting.
There are some dietary problems with fasting. Some people cannot go, because of a medical condition, without food or water so I suggest a different kind of fast.
I did like one response to the survey. Fasting was putting her needs aside for God's needs.
Fasting is giving up something we like and worshiping and praying to God. It could be TV time, it could be Computer time, giving up, for a period of time, something we enjoy doing
The Effects of Fasting
1. Fasting Leads to Freedom
Isaiah 58:6 says, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
2. Fasting Leads to a Giving Spirit
Isaiah 58:7 says, “Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
3. Fasting Leads to Spiritual Insight
Isaiah 58:8 says, “Then your light will break forth like the dawn…”
4. Fasting Leads to Healing
Isaiah 58:8 says, “…and your healing will quickly appear…”
5. Fasting Leads to Righteousness
Isaiah 58:8 says, “…then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.”
6. Fasting Leads to Answered Prayer
Isaiah 58:9 says, “Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
7. Fasting Leads to Influence
Isaiah 58:9-10 says, “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”
8. Fasting Leads to God’s Guidance
Isaiah 58:11 says, “The LORD will guide you always…”
9. Fasting Leads to God’s Provision
Isaiah 58:11 says, “…He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”
10. Fasting Leads to a Godly Heritage
Isaiah 58:12 says, “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. 13 ‘If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’ The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
11. Fasting Leads to Joy
Isaiah 58:13-14 says, “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD…”
12. Fasting Leads to Blessing
Isaiah 58:14 says, “…and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’ The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Some healing may require prayer and fasting. We tend to get a little scared about fasting. Fasting is not necessarily food fasts, the idea is to replace something we like doing with worshiping and prayer. So maybe instead of watching several hours of TV tonight, spend those hours in prayer and worship. Instead of spending hours on the computer, spend that time reading, meditating and prayer. It could make a big difference in our spiritual walk. Rise take up the mat and walk.
Challenge
1. Take a Personal Issue to God
I want to challenge you to go to God over that time period with any issue you may have. It could be an answer needed to a tough question, it could be healing, it might be freedom from an addiction, it could be personal revival, or it might be the salvation of a lost friend or family member. Whatever your issue or issues are, take them to God during this fast.
2. Pray for Our Church
We need to see the hand of God move mightily here. Ask God for a fresh touch and for revival and the salvation of many.
3. Make a Commitment
Tips
1. Before you commit to anything you need to understand that God must be the one to call you to a fast. Ask Him now to lead you.
2. You might want to consult your doctor before you begin something like this.
3. Your meals need to get smaller and smaller in preparation for eating nothing.
4. Spend a lot of time confessing sin.
5. Spend a lot of time reading God’s Word.
6. Spend a lot of time praying.
7. Spend a lot of time worshiping.
8. Keep a journal of God’s leading.
Let us rise, take up our mat and walk, let Jesus do the Impossible.
