Sow Fast
Selected verses
Prayer-
Introduction-
This morning I have a clever title for the sermon called Sow Fast. Sow… not sew.
Sowing is talked about in the Bible as a process of planting something and watching it grow. Sowing seeds, you expect a crop of whatever seeds you planted.
You sow watermelon seeds, you cannot expect cucumbers.
Fasting in the bible is the going without food for a purpose. To put them together this morning, I am desiring to see in God’s Word what He says about sowing time and energy into prayer while abstaining from food and what can we expect to happen.
Is there a blessing for doing it?
Does it bring answers to questions we have about God and our relationship with Him?
Does this spiritual discipline bring answers to some of our prayers?
Or… is it a diet that we pretend to have some spiritual meaning?
The Bible talks about fasting and praying but we don’t hear much about it today. In fact, I have talked to people that thought Fasting was an Old Testament ritual not practiced anymore today.
The truth is, fasting and prayer are for today! In fact, now more than ever!
The combination of fasting and praying is not a fad or a novelty approach to spiritual discipline.
Fasting and praying are not part of a human-engineered method or plan. It is thought of by God and has spiritual benefits if done for the right reasons.
They are not the means to manipulate a situation or to create a circumstance.
You do not fast and pray so God will do what you want Him too.
Fasting and praying are Bible-based disciplines that are appropriate for all believers of all ages throughout all centuries in all parts of the world.
I have learned that many people in the church have never been taught about fasting and prayer, and many have therefore never fasted and prayed.
As a result, they don't know why fasting and praying are important.
They do not know what the Bible teaches about fasting, or how to fast.
Too many of us, fasting sounds like drudgery -- or a form of religious works.
Too some, fasting sounds extremely difficult. People tend to stand in awe at reports of those who have fasted for several weeks. When they hear about such fasts, no doubt they think: If I fasted that long, I'd die! I couldn't possibly do that!
Praying and fasting is not for every believer because every believer cannot for health reasons fast for extended periods of time. But every believer can pray and sacrifice of their time so God could use them to be a part of a solution instead of being maybe the problem.
Praying and fasting can be as little as one meal or for an extended period of time.
For the Lord to be involved in our prayer and fasting, the two are done together.
If you are just skipping a meal with no prayer, it is a diet. Nothing more.
Let’s look at God’s Word-
Matthew chapter 6- Jesus Himself is telling us about prayer and fasting-
(V5- 6-) Read from the Bible
When you prayer-
Don’t be standing in the streets and churches making a spectacle of yourself.
Don’t be a hypocrite and have people think more highly of you than they should.
Don’t draw attention to you but life changing prayer usually happens behind closed doors as you seek the face of God in certain areas.
There will be many prayer warriors in heaven that the world did not know but God used to make things happen.
There is corporate prayer but it never draws attention to the pray…er, but to the prayer offered up to God.
(V16 continued)- Jesus Himself says-
“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. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 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.”
Do not disfigure your face and let everyone know what you are doing.
If you draw attention to yourself, you have received your reward.
For others, God says what is done privately will be rewarded.
When you pray- no longer just someone else but when you pray… make sure it is for the right reason and make sure you are one who prays and He gives them an example of pray called the Lord’s Prayer that we recite.
When you fast and pray- do it for the right reason, don’t be haughty or you receive your reward just because you are running around with sacrifice on your face- was the oil off, have it be between you and God and watch God do something amazing!
THE PRINCIPLES OF FASTING are simple
There are two main overriding principles related to prayer and fasting in the Bible.
First, biblical fasting is going without food. The noun translated "fast" or "a fasting" is tsom in the Hebrew and nesteia in the Greek language. It means the voluntary abstinence from food. The literal Hebrew translation would be "not to eat." The literal Greek means "no food."
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, a lot of people give things up for Lent- television, chocolates, soda, addictive things, pleasurable things. But if we are to do a biblical fast, it is eliminating food and replacing that time with prayer. You cannot separate the two. If you give up television, then you should take that time you would watch TV and go to prayer. Biblical fasting is a serious time of prayer. The more serious you are to prayer, the more serious results you will see. Prayer is a hard discipline and most do not see the results God wants because they are not willing to sacrifice the time needed to get the answers from God.
Why would we Spiritual Fast and Pray?
Fasting is one of the Holy Spirit’s tools for strengthening and transforming grace in our lives. This spiritual practice is a gift from God meant to grow us and draw us into deepening relationship with Himself.
If you do not already know this power and the importance of fasting, here are some insights drawn from God’s Word and personal experience to get you started:
Fasting was an expected practice in both the Old and New Testament eras. For example, Moses fasted at least two recorded forty-day periods. Jesus fasted 40 days and reminded His followers to fast, “when you fast,” not if you fast.
Fasting and prayer can restore the loss of your "first love" for the Lord and result in a more intimate relationship with Christ.
Fasting is a biblical way to truly humble yourself in the sight of God (Psalm 35:13; Ezra 8:21). King David said, “I humble myself through fasting.”
Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance and a transformed life.
The Holy Spirit will imprint God’s Word deeper on your heart, and His truth will become more meaningful to you.
Fasting can transform your prayer life into a richer and more personal experience.
Fasting can result in a dynamic personal revival and make you a channel of life change to others.
If you fast, you will find yourself being humbled.
You will discover more time to pray and seek God's face. And as He leads you to recognize and repent of un-confessed sin, you will experience God’s grace to grow and mature you.
The first and foremost purpose of a biblical or spiritual fast is to get a breakthrough on a particular matter that you lift up to the Lord in prayer.
A spiritual fast involves our hearts and the way in which we relate to and trust God.
I think we miss the blessings of God because we are not willing to seek His face and know the will of God for our families, for our lives, for the life of the church that we belong too.
Jesus disciples came back to Jesus after they could not heal a women. Jesus said that there are some things that only come by prayer and fasting.
Interesting, Jesus tells us that we as believers have the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and He says that there are some things that comes only through the sacrificial time we spend talking to God.
We miss blessings from God because we are not fasting and praying.
We do not have the will of God because we are not seeking God to find His will.
We do not have the power that believers should have because we do things in our own strength.
I see some people not having answers to prayers because truth is they are not praying about it only complaining about it.
God is never allowed to get involved except to be their sounding board.
I am not against people fasting in order to lose weight. Many people fast to lose weight or maintain their weight.
What I am opposed to is making the losing of weight your primary goal in a season of spiritual fasting and prayer. To have weight loss as a goal makes your fast a diet plan, not a time of genuine fast and prayer. If losing weight is your purpose in fasting, you will be missing out on the full reason for fasting, and you likely will be concerned only with what you don't eat rather than with what you are led to pray.
Why is biblical Fast and Prayer Hard?
It is hard because we say we pray but actually praying is hard to fit into our schedules. It is a discipline that usually is not fit into our day except if we have an urgent need to bring to the Lord.
You add not eating and we spend our time thinking about what we are not eating rather taking that time and seeking God for the things going on in our lives.
There is spiritual battle that goes on because we are entering into the heavenlies when we are fasting and praying.
There is a flesh battle because we are going without food and our bodies are screaming at us for food like we will melt away to nothing.
Spiritual Preparation
In preparation for this special time with God, I urge you to examine your heart through prayer, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any un-confessed sin.
Scripture records that God always requires His people to repent of their sins before He will hear their prayers. King David said:
“Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer.”
Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.
What can you expect while in a fast?
You can expect some unknown things to happen that will try to discourage you from praying-
You can expect that should you repent of known sin and truly open your heart to God that He will speak to you and show you some things- some you will like and some you won’t
Iceberg illustration-
Did you know that 90 % of an ice burg is under the water and is unseen. Ask anyone that was on the Titanic and they would tell you. Iceberg pieces that are smaller than 16 feet across are called Bergy Bits or growlers. It is the unseen, the growlers that will get you every time. We need God to help us with the unseen things. To protect us, to lead us, to show us, to give us the strength to bear things that are bigger than we are.
What will you do with this information this morning? Some will have a heart to pray and some will do nothing. The breakthrough comes to those that are willing to ask God to intercede in their lives and in the problems of life to find the solutions.
Tool illustration-
By using the right tools, it it’ll make the job easier and will make the job more beautiful. You don’t use a hammer to do detail work. You do not use a wrench circles. You don’t just talk about prayer- you go to prayer and talk to the Lord and when the Lord says or you find yourself with out anwers, you fast and sacrifice food for a period fo time and you take it to prayer and focus on God to give you the answers you need.
