 Let's pray and begin. I'd like to request one of us to lead the prayer. Vikil, what do you pray? Before you in the name of Jesus, this time Lord, we thank you for everything Lord. We are going to learn through my problem to understand everything God. Also understand every word God. Thank you Father. Thank you Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you Vikil. So we've touched on all the subjects so far and we have one remaining from our notes which is fasting. So today we will study about fasting, what the Bible has to say about this particular act of devotion that we present to God. What is the meaning of fasting? What is the best way of fasting as far as the Bible is concerned? And what are the rewards of fasting? So that's what we are going to discuss about. So you can turn in your notes to chapter 18. It's a fairly elaborate chapter so I'll do my best to cover as much content as possible. But I would also suggest that you go back and listen to a sermon series. I forget the year may be 2016, I'm not sure. But you have a series called as The Chosen Fast. So there are four sermons under that series which have content from these notes. So you'll be able to receive much more if you take time to listen to all four of those sermons. So I'll try and cover as much content in the time that is available to me. Beginning with what fasting really is in the Old and the New Testament. We see this practice even in the New Testament and in the Old Testament, it is a spiritual discipline. Spiritual discipline. So spiritual discipline is anything that one has to develop and that has to be coupled with self-control. For example, reading the Bible, that's a discipline. If a believer does not have that discipline, if they don't have the practice of regular Bible reading then it can negatively affect their spiritual walk with a lot. Similarly prayer. Prayer is a discipline. We also call it a discipline because it may not come naturally or easily. For example, if we take exercise, it may not be something that we love to do. Initially yes but after a while we have to discipline ourselves or have some self-control, self-regulation and say, no, this is important so I'm going to do it. Or anything else in life which you have to do because it's good for you. So discipline is that something that you develop with determination and self-control. And so even fasting is a discipline. It is a spiritual discipline because it is a practice which is helpful for our spiritual life. So that is what fasting really is. Feel free to interrupt me at any point because I know this is a subject people have many questions about. So same thing holds true for our online audience here. Now when we talk about fasting and in the New Testament, Jesus did mention in Matthew 9 that when the bride group has gone, then his, you know, yeah, the people will fast. So now that Jesus has ascended into heaven, he is our bride group. So this is a part of our devotion and our worship to him that we fast. And Jesus also in a sense you want to call it a prediction or a mention. He mentioned it in Matthew chapter 9, the scriptures are given 14 to 17. We won't be reading through every passage because there's a lot that we have. So Jesus also mentioned it. So it's not like, you know, something that because sometimes we say things like, oh, when we are under grace, why should we fast? Or, you know, why should we have this kind of an expression of our devotion to God? God already listens. God is already our Father. You know, you have concepts like that. But you see there are certain useful instructions in God's word because God knows that unless we walk by those principles, we'll miss out. So Jesus also said when the bride group has gone or when Jesus ascends, those who believe in him will fast. So he wanted to be important for the believer to practice. Now when we talk about fasting, there is a right way of fasting. Jesus in his teachings, he said, when you fast, okay, don't put on a sad face so that others can see it and give you credit for your fasting. Or, you know, when you're fasting, what does he say? Don't do it to show others. He said that put on, you know, anoint your head with oil. Look happy. Don't try to do it to get people's attention. So these are all things he said to have the right motivation for fasting. Okay, because fasting is, who are we fasting for? Who do we fast for? You say loudly, God, Jesus. So, when we fast and we make people the audience, we are missing the focus. We are fasting for God and God is the one who is seeing it, observing it and who will rightly reward that fast. So people are not the focus or our attention. Now talking about fasting, there are different kinds of fasts. We will go over each of them. So what I'll do is let me quickly talk about the next section here, which is the benefits of fasting. And then I will come to the different kinds of fasting. So what is the advantage when a person fasts? What do you think? How does it help to fast? What do you get out of it? Any thoughts regarding that? Even the online batch here. How does it help to fast? How does it make a difference? Strength, okay. Strength, that's one answer. Spiritual strength, okay. Spiritual strength. Anything else? Humble, okay. Humble oneself. That's right, okay. What else? How does fasting help? What do you think? Okay, so fasting draws us near to God. Okay, what else? So fasting helps us focus better on the word of God. Okay, sure. Okay, so fasting helps us to receive from God. Okay, what else? So fasting is an expression of our desire for God. Desire for God above other things in life that one could desire for. Okay, so it's that intense desire it shows towards God. So some comments here, it says focus and pray committed to pray and edify spiritual life. Okay, another comment says it brings the flesh in subjection to the spirit. So thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts. What you've shared is true, it's correct. Some of which I will repeat in the benefits of fasting while I'm going to talk now. But there are some unique points as well. So what are the benefits? How does it help? So as one of you shared, humbling ourselves or repentance. So if I want to show or express my repentance towards God, I could be, we'll see later that, you know, you can fast for yourself or you can fast on behalf of others. So we repent and for that we can fast. Okay, and in the Bible there are examples like that. People fasted for the sake of repentance. So it shows that heart towards God. Then fasting also helps to strengthen our focus. Okay, it strengthens our focus. Now these are things which are kind of hard to explain because you will see it in your experience. When you fast, you will begin to notice that as far as the word of God is concerned, your ability to receive from what the word is saying, it increases. Okay, and that's an observation. I don't know which Bible verse to give you for that, but our focus and our attention for the word and many things of God, it actually becomes sharper. People who fast, it does that for us. Okay, so it strengthens our focus. It increases intensity. Okay, increases intensity means if you remember the time in Matthew chapter 17, there is a father, he brings his son for deliverance to the disciples, but the disciples are not able to cast out the demon. So Jesus does the needful, but later when the disciples ask Jesus what went wrong, he says this kind will not come out except by fasting, prayer and fasting. So why did Jesus say that? Why do you think he said that? The demon wouldn't come out except by prayer and fasting. But how does fasting help casting out the demon? Spiritual? Okay, yeah. So okay, so Hanan is thinking along the right direction. He's saying it strengthens spiritually if we pray as well as fast. That's true because what fasting really does is, I said it gives us a focus, isn't it? But it also strengthens our faith and what do you need to move in healing or deliverance or anything in the kingdom of God? What do you need? What do we need? Faith. Did I hear faith? Okay, that's true. So faith is what is very, very necessary to, in this case, cast out the demon and may be it was a very stubborn demon, but Jesus is saying this kind will not go out except by fasting and praying because what will fasting and praying do for us? It will strengthen our faith. So when faith is strong, we will be able to cast out the demon. So that's what fasting does for us and we can strengthen our faith. You want to intensify your faith. You want a greater focus fast. It really helps. Fasting, needless to say, develops discipline. Discipline is going beyond the natural capacity and the natural appetites of the body. We may want to eat. We may like certain foods. Whatever our body prefers, we are saying no, not now, later. So that is discipline. And the more we discipline ourselves, it's in general also, it's very good because you have self-control. You know, you can manage your own self. You're not out of control. So that is managing oneself. It deepens or develops discipline in our lives. So in that sense also, it is helpful. As far as the spiritual things are concerned, one of the fruit of the fruit of the spirit is discipline. Isn't it self-control? So as a believer, that is a fruit of the spirit. I need to have self-control. And especially when we talk about ministry, when we talk about moving in the gifts of the spirit. Yes, flowing is important but also self-control is very important because sometimes we may not be sensitive. Maybe spirit of God is saying something but I want to do something else. So if I take off on a tangent, I won't be able to sync with what the Holy Spirit is talking to me at that time. So self-control is very important. I should be able to control my emotions. I should be able to control. I want to say something or I want to express it that way. Being led by the Holy Spirit, I know how to manage, to regulate myself. So that's a fruit of the spirit and it's very helpful. Even as far as flowing in the Holy Spirit. But when we develop it, fasting will help us to become more self-controlled. Then it depends on consecration. Consecration is it needs dedication. So when you have certain vessels, for example, nowadays in our churches we are not so traditional. Those days they used to have those very special vessels which they used for communion. And it was exclusively for communion. Somebody will touch it. So what do those vessels, what are they termed? Dedicated. Consecrated. It's unto the Lord, don't touch it. So anything which is set apart, we also use the word Holy. Consecrated. Dedicated. So when we fast and pray, what we do is we dedicate ourselves to God. We consecrate. Setting ourselves apart. Or you know, you're setting your tax authorities, everything apart. You're saying God is only for you. Giving it to you. So dedicating oneself. When we fast, that's what we do. We are saying Lord, I'm consecrating. I'm keeping myself only for you. So fasting is helpful to express our consecration. So these are all some benefits. I'm sure there must have been many more. But some of the key benefits that you and I can reap and walk in as we practice fasting. So notice, one important thing about fasting is it is a discipline. It is changing who? Who is it changing? Is it changing God, God's mind, God's heart, God's character? No, it's not like a protest, right? That, okay, I will not eat for 21 days, God has to answer. I pray. When you approach fasting that way, what we are trying to do is change God. My fasting will change God, okay? But in the Bible, that's not the kind of fasting we see. What is fasting doing? Fasting is changing me. I am deepening in my consecration. I am having a greater focus. I am, you know, getting revelation from scripture. I am becoming self-disciplined. So I am being strengthened. So my faith is being strengthened. So yes, answers to prayer come. But why do they come? Because I have a better understanding of the word. My faith is increasing. So all these things will lead to answers, right? Successful prayer, effective prayer. So when we fast, we are changed. We are not trying to change God. We get changed when we fast. So that is the benefit of fasting. And fasting will also position us, it says. So when I take time fasting, maybe my heart is very far away from God. Maybe I have a lot of doubt, unbelief. So, you know, I could be in my own state. But as I do fasting the right way, I'll get positioned. My heart will sort of come to that place before God where I'll be able to receive from God. It does something to my faith and my inner strength. So that is the way in which fasting works. Now talking about fasting, fasting changes us. So you can go by because Jesus said this kind shall not go out apart from fasting in prayer. So we imply. So if we fast, what happens? Does it change the demon? No, right? Because we know that demons are the way they are. Obviously, they can't change. But something within me is changing. That is my faith is increasing. So it's like an inference. You can draw out of that one passage also fasting. You know, it changes us. Okay, it is the primary perspective on it. Fasting changes us. It doesn't change God. Yeah, see, even prayer and even prayer, what did we say when we started foundations of right prayer? We said we should know the will of God. Then you pray for the will of God. Okay, but when we approach prayer and fasting, like what you are saying, if I pray, if I fast, God will take notice of me. He will give me what I want. See, in that what we are trying to do, we are trying to change God's decision. But God's decision is God's will. And God's will is His word. We already have His word. All things are possible through Christ. See, you just need a fair amount of right understanding and judgment. So when I read the Bible, I do come across passages like this. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Luke 137, for nothing shall be impossible with God. So many things we come across. But when you read the rest of the Bible, we need to know that what we are believing for is in line with the rest of the Bible also. For example, I will just tell you. Now, can I say that Jesus walked on water? I will also walk on water. So I will go find a lake here somewhere near Hennur. I will invite all of you and I will say, okay, all of you come. I am going to walk on water. For nothing shall be impossible with God. Or imagine, somebody says, I will jump off from the whatever, any tall building here in Bangalore and I can fly. I am not going to fall. For with God, all things are possible. Ask anything in my name. Out of context. You are understanding what I am saying? Does the scripture say, ask anything? Yeah, it says. Does the scripture says, for with God, nothing shall be impossible? Yeah, it says. But look at the entire context. There are certain laws that God has put in place. So sometimes when Jesus broke bread, when Jesus turned water into wine, when Jesus walked on water. These are exceptions. When there was a need to bless the people. Yes, he did it. But he did it only once. He didn't make a practice out of it. But in general, as you look at the laws, there is something called the law of gravity. If I throw anything up in the air, it will come down. So based on with God, nothing shall be impossible if I try to fly its foolishness. So point I am making is, the verse says what it says. But how does it connect with the rest of what God has spoken? That's what I must and you know, especially all of you studying the Bible, learning the Bible. This is how we should understand. You're getting my point? Yeah, so that's how it works. So when we fast also, it's not that we are trying to shake and change what God has already intended. No, we know the will of God through his word. And we are saying God, you said it. We believe you will do it. So when I'm doing that, I'm increasing my faith to receive what he has already said. I'm disciplining myself to receive everything that God has in store for. So that's how fasting also works. Great, good question. Let's go on. I said different kinds of fast things. We can see. We'll go deep into it soon. So there's something like absolute fasting that is partial fasting. Absolute is when one doesn't eat or drink, you know, anything for a couple of days. Partial is when you do eat and drink, but then you maybe select, you know, some foods or it's not only about eating. We can also fast as far as our time is concerned. So maybe we like entertainment. But when we fast, we can say, no, that time I'm going to give it to God. I'm not going to waste it on movies or something else that I do. So fasting can be food, but it can also be in other areas. The whole point is I'm consecrating myself. I'm disciplining myself. You understand? For God. So that's how it works. It works. So absolute fast partial fast. There are examples in the Bible. We look at it a little bit later. So abstinence. Use the term abstinence. Abstinence is to stay away from. We stay away from generally food. As far as fasting is concerned, we can fast by ourselves or we can fast together with people. So you have individuals, Jesus fasted, Moses fasted, David fasted. So individuals fasted. But when you look at groups of people, you know, Ezra, he called for a fast. He told all the people, everyone will fast, including the animals. Okay. So a group can also fast or Esther. She said, okay, all my people come together. We'll all fast. So what we are mainly doing is not just staying away from food, but we are communing with God. You know, we are spending time in the presence of God and that's the normal way. Generally you would find like even Daniel he fasted and he sought understanding from the Lord. So what is he doing? He's fasting but he's also praying. Right. So fasting is not just skipping food. If I am only skipping food, that is that's dieting, right? Because you have no spiritual goals. Just I just skip meals. That's it. So fasting is a very spiritual activity and you need to couple it with maybe reading the Bible or praying or you know, take time to worship but give your attention and your focus to God. That is fasting and that's the right way to fast. There are some examples here given in scripture you can go through to each one of them. So how long can a person fast? Anyone? How long should anybody fast? 3 days. Okay. Anand recommends 3 days. Yes. Who's recommending 40 days? Okay Francis Oh 39 very specific. 39 days Francis is recommending that how about the others? Depends on the person. Okay depends on the person 40. Okay 40 depends on the problem. Depends on the problem. Okay. Sure. Yeah. Very big problem long fast. Correct. You're right. Yeah. Yes. Any other options? How many days do you recommend? Okay. Here on the chat no specific time limit. Okay. No specific time limit. That's all. Only these many options. So we have to pick from any one of this. 3, 39, 40 no specific time limit. All right. So as far as the Bible is concerned, you do see certain durations but again, you know it's not hard and fast. We should not go by what we see it's best to be led by the spirit of God. Just pray and see what do you sense in your spirit. If you feel okay, I need to fast for 3 days. Maybe 3 days is the best in that season and you fast it for 3 days you feel no I need to fast another 2 days okay that's fine but we led by the spirit and that is the best way to decide on how many days to fast. It's not like see later we'll see there is something known as a chosen fast or the right way of fasting. Now to say that if I fast 40 days, surely I'll get an answer. What is this? You fast in only 10 days. How can God answer? The length of fasting and the results it's not you know like in a way it's not connected it's the way we fast which is more important than how long we fast. We can fast 40 days but we can do very ineffective fasting possible. Did we get it? So length of fast is good but length of fast is not primarily what determines the results of an effective fast. So bear that in mind. So in the Bible one night fast is there Daniel the king he had some questions. He couldn't sleep through the night so he fasted one night in Daniel 6 then one day fast is seen I'm just listing out and you can always see examples of this 3 days fast, 3 days, 3 nights Paul fasted 3 days Esther and her group of people fasted 3 days 7 days David when his son was going to die he fasted 7 days 14 days is there when people were on the ship next 27 they didn't eat food for 14 days so they fasted 14 days 21 days Daniel when he was praying and you know there was an interruption demonic interruption he fasted 21 days then 40 days Moses fasted 40 days Elijah 40 days you have Jesus who fasted 40 days so there are different numbers now what if I do a fast which is not here like you know Francis said 39 it's okay whatever the Holy Spirit puts on your heart you go with that and that is more important so not necessarily the length of days but how you do this fast is more important so what are the kinds of fasting we can do I already said food we can fast food so when we fast food we can maybe skip a meal or 2 meals or you know pick any of the fasts that we were describing some people call okay I'll come to that later in some instances they say you just skip food but you can drink water and in some instances don't drink water also when you fast so it's like a complete complete kind of fast I mean what I believe is be led by the spirit but also know the capacity of your body okay don't try to do things which are see because it's not about harming yourself fasting is not about harming ourselves yes sometimes we may feel a burden a repentance a pain in our heart where we feel okay I don't even want food I want to seek God right so Nikhil is saying that it's important to afflict okay or make experience some distress when you fast it's wasted okay okay got it yeah thanks Nikhil so what is saying fasting without having a spiritual intention or goal spending time with God and all if we do that we are actually harming ourselves it's pointless that's what Nikhil is saying okay I got that point so see we must keep in mind that it's not about harming ourselves okay as believers sometimes we feel that oh I'll be more spiritual if I'm fasting fasting fasting fasting but okay if God is calling you that's your ministry you do it but it doesn't mean that I can harm my body because the Bible also says the body is what it's a temple it's a temple of God so by not thinking not using my understanding and my wisdom if I try to harm my body suppose I'm just saying let's say I don't have the capacity to fast for 10 days okay but I push myself to do that if the spirit of God is telling me with all preparation yes it might as well go ahead and do it but when I know that I'm not supposed to and even I don't have any witness of the Holy Spirit telling me that push and I have some issues with my health it's not God's fault and if we say oh I am fasting God you're not listening see I'm sick also but that's not wise stewardship right this body God gave us we need this body to co-work with God if we didn't have the physical body how would we serve God on the earth you know we need this body and so we have to take care of the body so that's how we understand so when we say refrain from food refrain from water what kind of fast can I undertake be wise about that also because I mean if you read science literature there's a lot about fasting on the you know internet because people have discovered now subtract the mind the spiritual things that we are talking in this class but even just fasting has a thousand benefits so there are fitness guys and you know people who recommend fasting there are fasting groups where people do it for good health they do it to keep their body in shape they do it to lose weight they do it for mental concentration so many reasons why fasting is done but they also think how much can my body take so there also there is a limit they say like as the fast three days of water no water no food apparently it's very tough without water it's very very difficult to do a fast like that they call it yes the fast the other fasts where you skip meals and you only have water apparently a human being can go on for 40 days easily without any problems you know so we have to also think about our body that's I want y'all to make that very clear in your heart so go by the leading of the spirit you skip meals or you decide skip food, skip water we could also skip certain foods that we desire that people call it the Daniel fast you know Daniel he decides that I will not eat things that give me pleasure I'll only eat normal basic kind of food that's a Daniel fast many people do that they say that okay I will not eat meat for 20 days I'll only eat like you know vegetables staple rice and all it's up to us what do you want to do which kind of fast that's okay but the result of the fast and the kind of fast we are doing for God is more important so we can do Daniel fast or I said not just food time so we can say okay I'm spending too much time on my mobile that time I'm going to give to God or something else the time which I have extra time I'll give to God so fasting you fast movies TV a lot of young people do that because sometimes food is okay they can skip but TV they can't skip you know so what is it that you love when you decide to give that up that is a real fast so think about that so refraining from certain activities and the Bible also has something known as the fasted life okay the fasted life so this is connected to people in the Old Testament who were referred to as Nas rights Nas rights so these people live their life the entire life was a consecration so you had men like Samuel the prophet Samson you remember so here in our notes in the number 6 one through 21 you can read more about the Nas right life where they were not allowed to drink anything which is of a grape derivative so you can't drink intoxicating drinks you can't cut your hair so basically there were many things they followed to express their devotion to God their entire life time and of course Samson we know he was also a Nas right but he sinned against God but the concept is entire life time is dedicated to God so as part of that dedication there can be certain things we decide to do or not to do to offer up our worship so that is pasted life pasted life or Nas right yes so I think we understood a couple of things here about fasting we will talk about the chosen fast and hopefully about the blessings of the chosen fast today's session Isaiah 58 verses 1 through 14 that is the passage we need to turn to so I will request us to please go there open up a passage if somebody can read the passage I will be very happy it's kind of long but let's read that passage before our break and then we shall come back and discuss from the passage in the next session 58 yeah full yeah 1 to 14 so may be one person can read 1 to 7 or the person can read 8 to 14 yeah please go there yeshaya 58 cry loud spear note lift up your voice like a trumpet tell my people their trans aggression and the house of Jacob get this seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of God they ask of me the ordinance of justice they take delight in approaching God why have we fasted they say and you have not seen why have we afflicted souls and you take no notice in fact in the day of your fast you find pleasure and exploit all your laborers indeed you fast for stripe and debate and to strike with the face of wickedness you will note fast as you do the do this day to make your voice hear on high is it a fast that I have chosen a day for a man to afflict his soul is it to bow down his head like a bluish and to spread out sack cloth and ashish sack cloth and ashish would you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord is this not the fast that I have chosen to lose the bonds of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out when you see the naked that you cover him and note hide yourself from your own flesh okay thank you Vimal one more person can read remaining then your light shall break like the morning your healing spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you the glory of the Lord shall be your God then you shall call and the Lord will answer you shall cry and he will say here I am if you take away the yoke from your medicine pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the atay soul then your light shall down in the darkness and your darkness shall be that the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought and strengthen your bones you shall be like a water garden and like a spring of water whose water do not fell from among you old west places you shall raise up the foundation of many generation and you shall be called the repairer of the bridge the restorer of streets will dwell in if you turn away your food from the sabbat from doing your pleasure on my holiday and call the sabbat to delight the holiday of the Lord honorable and shall honor him not doing your own way not finding your own pleasure not speaking your own words then you shall delight yourself in the Lord and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and and feed you with the high rate high rate of Jacob your father the mouth of the Lord has spoken thank you so as you can see though people were fasting God rebuked them and he brought out a couple of things which they were doing their standards were not pleasing to God so the act of fasting itself was not valid in that sense so God is pointing out he is showing look your fasting you are doing all these things but your heart is not correct your motives are not correct your actions are not correct so we will come back and we will look at what our motives should be like when we actually fast and when we do what we call the chosen fast or the fast which pleases God we will also see what are the blessings that follow okay so let's go for a break I will come back in 10 minutes and let's continue from there thank you thank you for the online comments but thank you for the online comments I can see them okay thank you so much