 When you begin to fast and pray, you will notice that there is this disconnect from the earthly and a connection that begins to become strengthened with the heavenly. The power of prayer and fasting adds more strength to the strength of prayer. The power of prayer and fasting subjects and weakens the flesh. Now this is perhaps the most neglected spiritual practice in the Christian's life. If I were to do a survey of this room, a survey of those watching online, and I'm not asking you to raise your hands here, if I were to do a survey and ask how many of you pray daily, most of the hands in this room would go up. If I were to ask a follow-up question by asking how many of you are in the word daily, fewer hands would be raised. But then if I were to narrow it down now and ask how many of you on a regular basis are tapping into the power of prayer and fasting. I would dare say that very few would be able to raise your hand, and maybe you might be able to say occasionally I fast and pray, or I've done that once or twice. But to be able to say that this is a regular part of your life, that might not be something that you can say. And now I'm not saying this to condemn you, I'm saying this to challenge you, to encourage you, to cause you to know what's available to you in Christ. This is for the Christian who wants to mature. This is for the Christian who wants to break through certain powers. This is for the Christian who wants to go from glory to glory. The power of prayer and fasting is that it accelerates that spiritual growth. And remember, I've often said that spiritual growth is not your spirit growing. Spiritual growth is when the rest of you catches up with who you already are in the spirit. Now the Bible is very clear that prayer and fasting works. There's something to it. The Bible is very clear on the benefits of prayer and fasting. We're gonna cover that this evening. But here's what's interesting is the Bible doesn't exactly cover why prayer and fasting works. Now if you think like me, this probably troubles you because you like to delve into the details behind these truths. I want to know Lord, what is happening in the spiritual realm when I'm praying and when I'm fasting? Does my spiritual sword burn brighter? Does my spiritual stature grow? Do the enemies of hell see a brighter light, a brighter glory? Is there something happening in the spiritual realm that even if I were there, I could see it? Who knows? But though we don't know why exactly it works, though we don't understand necessarily all the mechanics and the dynamics that work in the spiritual realm, we can understand that prayer and fasting indeed does work and therefore it is an act of faith. I'm gonna give you two spiritual laws here. I want you to write them down and write these in the comment section to help those taking notes. Spiritual law number one, for every natural act of faith, there is a divine reaction. For every natural act of faith, there is a divine reaction. Think about Exodus 1421. Moses simply raised his staff and the waters were parted. An act of faith. You do the difficult, God will do the impossible. You do the possible, God will do the difficult. You take one step, God will add to it. You raise your staff, God will part the waters. Now Moses had nothing in his strength, nothing in his ability that could have done anything even close to that. But it was his simple act of faith in response to the voice of God. It was a simple act of faith in response to the voice of the Holy Spirit that ultimately caused deliverance for the people of Israel. Think of Israel shouting down the walls of Jericho in Joshua chapter 6 verse 20. Now imagine how silly they might have looked if on that final day having marched around those walls several times, they released victorious shouts and nothing were to happen. Imagine how silly they would feel if after declaring that the walls were going to come down, they saw that the walls didn't come down. They were depending very much on God. Who ever thought that you could yell at a building and see it crumble? That's what happened. Was it their shouts that caused those walls to fall? No. It was God working through a simple act of obedience. Elijah calling down fire from heaven, 1 Kings 18, 30 through 38. He had a, we shall call it a showdown between the false prophets and the power of God. He had been mocking them all while they were trying to call down fire from their false power. Nothing happened for them and he's mocking them. How silly might he have looked had no fire fallen when he shouted or he called out. Think of laying hands on the sick, Mark 16, 18. You lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Okay, but what is it about the laying on of hands that does that? I don't know. I was praying for a little girl in California. Patrick was with me. Her mother had brought her to me after the service. The daughter was very nervous to approach during the service. And after the service, we're praying. And the mother brings me her daughter. She was deaf in one ear. And her mom said, can you please pray for her? I said, sure, we'll pray and we'll ask the Lord to do it. I laid hands on her knowing that there's nothing in my ability that I can do to cause anyone to hear. I don't even know how hearing works. I don't even understand the biological structures of the body. I don't understand hardly any of that. All I know is Jesus told us that if we lay hands on the sick, they'll recover. So I laid hands on this little girl and she was a bit shy and hesitant. She had her arms folded. Her mom kind of nudged her forward. You know, sometimes parents do that with the things of God. It's okay to give them a little nudge. And so she nudged her forward. And I remember just laying hands on her was a very simple act. There was no technique. I didn't pull out a handbook and read, okay, for deafness, you want to place your hands right on these fingers, these four fingers on the back of the skull, the thumbs on the ear lobes, and you shout very specifically against the spirit and infirmity of deafness. No, it wasn't like that. It was just Jesus, you said we do this, we do this. I know my hands are just like anyone else's hands, but I'm applying my faith now. Layed hands, that little girl you should have seen her face. She was shocked. You could tell the moment it happened because her face became one of surprise. And she looked at her mom like, I can hear. That mother came back just about a month later or so. And she was actually able to show us medical reports where her daughter went from not being able to hear to hearing. And in fact, the doctors were so amazed that they kept running the test again and again. And they said, surely the machine must be broken, so we have to keep running these tests. They couldn't explain why she was able to hear. But I don't understand all of the spiritual dynamics at work when I lay hands on the sick. I don't understand James 5, 14 through 15 anointing the sick with oil. Okay, there's laying on hands and now there's laying on hands with oil. Why does that work? I don't know. It just does. I just obey God. And of course we understand that there are certain things that the Lord will give us revelation on. And of course you should study to show yourself approved. And of course you should be aware of certain things in this world and be informed and not be ignorant on spiritual dynamics as much as possible. But we all have to accept that at some point it's going to come down to faith. We all have to accept that at some point there will be a dynamic that we just don't quite get. Romans 10, 9 through 15. I tell the lost about the message of salvation and this leads to them being eternally saved. How does that work? And why did God choose the preaching of the gospel to do this? Someone stands and communicates with words, with sounds, this truth that comes from God the Father. They hear it, the Holy Spirit stirs their faith and they believe unto salvation. It just, it just doesn't make sense at least to the rational mind. But for every natural act of faith there is a divine reaction. Fasting is no different. I don't understand exactly why it works. Now studying particular portions of scripture on the topic we can infer some ideas as to why it might work and we'll cover that in a moment. But I just have to recognize that it is an act of faith. Number two, the second spiritual law. Whatever strengthens my spirit weakens my flesh. Whatever strengthens my spirit weakens my flesh. Or to put it more accurately, whatever strengthens the influence of my spirit weakens the influence of my flesh. So as I begin to obey God the Holy Spirit in me begins to gain more influence in my everyday life, in my thought, in my actions. If I begin to walk in disobedience the Holy Spirit doesn't leave me, he's grieved. But he simply loses influence or effect because I am not cooperating with him in certain aspects of my life. And therefore he honors that free will, is grieved by our actions and he loses influence. Now if God wanted to he could sovereignly take over anything and everything, totally overriding your free will. It's not that God is powerless to do it, it's that he will not and this is the mystery of free will which is a whole different message for a whole different time. But we must remember that whatever strengthens my spirit weakens my flesh. This by the way is why I tell people that when you pray in tongues that you're going to see an intensification of the spiritual gifts. You're going to notice a clarity beginning to form in hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. You notice that it's easier to resist sin, it's easier to understand the truths of Scripture. You gain a greater boldness for evangelism. All of these benefits in regards to the gift of speaking in tongues can be inferred from that spiritual truth that whatever strengthens my spirit weakens my flesh. You just read Galatians 5 you can see that. One of those two influences is going to fill the gaps of the exercise of your free will. One of those will gain more influence or the other depending upon the actions that you take. And so it is the same with fasting. Faith is demonstrated through action. Faith moves things in the spiritual realm. Faith removes blockages and tears down stubborn barriers. So though we don't know exactly why prayer when it's coupled with fasting has more potency, we know that it certainly does. So remember this. Whenever you feel spiritually stuck or stagnant carry out an act of faith. Whenever you feel spiritually stuck or stagnant carry out an act of faith. This is something that the Holy Spirit has taught me throughout our journey so far in ministry. In life really, but specifically in ministry there have been many instances where I felt as though we came up against a brick wall. Maybe you feel that in your family dynamics. Maybe you feel that in your finances. Maybe you feel that in your God given dream. Maybe you feel that in your business. Now I have to be careful with the way I say this here. Let me just throw in for the sake of clarity so you know where I'm coming from. That the purpose of the gospel is not follow God and he will bless you and make you healthy and happy and wealthy. That's not the purpose of the gospel. The central message of the gospel is that Jesus saves from sin and hell and those who put their faith and trust in him are born again. That faith and believing causes you to step into the righteousness of Christ and the good news is he already did that work. So that's the gospel. The gospel is Jesus. The gospel is salvation. The gospel includes a message of repentance turning from sin with no guarantees that everything in your life will work out perfectly. Now acknowledging that that is not the center of the gospel. We still also must acknowledge that the scriptures quite clear that God does bless us in areas of our lives. It's just true. He does heal. He does bless financially. He does restore marriages. He does prosper businesses. He does all of these things and so long as we recognize that that is not the center of the gospel. That these are only what we will call peripheral truths. Then we stay grounded on the person of Christ and we recognize that he is first and that we're willing to give up anything and everything for the sake of his cause. And when we live in that place, we live with an open hand. But still, it can be said that when you hit those places of frustration, when you feel as though you are pushing something forward and it's just not budging. You're praying for your loved one to be saved. And not only are they not turning to Jesus, but it seems as though they're becoming more stubborn. You're praying for breakthrough in the ministry that God entrusted to you. And no matter how much you pray, no matter what you do, no matter what you carry out in terms of acts and intellect and gifting and study and you name it, you're trying all aspects of attempt. And it seems as though nothing is working. Pressing against that wall. Carry out an act of faith. Now some might ask, David, what's the difference between faith and the flesh? Because people get some strange ideas sometimes. There was a lady who woke up at 737 in the morning. And she took that as a sign from God that he wanted her to get on a Boeing 737, I think 47, excuse me, and go to some international location. And live the rest of her life there was just from looking at the clock and it wasn't the Lord. And so, you know, sometimes we do these things. I call this religious OCD. And I don't say that jokingly. I think it's an actual issue where people will get a whim or thought or an emotion and try to follow that. And once they've told themselves that's God, they're scared to even question that or weigh it. But we ought to weigh prophecy. We ought to weigh certain things that we think are God to make sure that it's actually him. So the difference between faith and foolishness is whether or not God has spoken. If God spoke, it's faith. If God didn't speak, well, you fill in the blank. But we do know that the scripture talks about this act of prayer and fasting. We are told to persist when we pray. Matthew 7.7, keep on asking and you will receive what you asked for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be open to you. Like a sledgehammer chips away at a brick wall. So our prayers chip away at spiritual barriers and fasting adds more strength to each strike. Pray like the miracle depends on it, but trust God with the results. Now let's take a look at the different types of fasting. I'll start with the definition. The discipline of abstaining from food or something desired for a given period of time in order to devote oneself more to prayer and the word of God. I'll give that to you again. Fasting is the discipline of abstaining from food or something desired for a given period of time in order to devote oneself more to prayer and the word. Without prayer, it's just a diet. I had a friend who would fast with us when we would do our three-day fast. He would fast with us for three days just because he liked the idea of being really, really, really hungry and then enjoying a meal. So he liked the payoff that was there. Now, the Bible talks about number one, a food fast. And this is pretty much what fasting is. It's to abstain from food, but I think biblically we can open it up to other categories at least in some ways. And so we have to be open to that. Now explain that in a moment as to why that is and it's because of the benefits that can be drawn from it. Matthew chapter four verse two. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. He was talking about a food fast. Just as a tangent here, I like the idea that the Bible says that after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. So it could mean, and this is speculation, it could mean that he wasn't hungry until that final day. That he was supernaturally sustained through this fast. That could be one way of explaining that phrasing. But I want you to notice that the devil did not tempt Jesus with water. Did he say, if you are the son of God, make this sand into a river of living water? Make these deserts into refreshing springs? No, that if you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread. So I believe Jesus did a food fast. Now this also raises the question, what about juice? Another story is kind of gross. I'll share it anyway. I knew someone who during a fast, just as kind of like a loophole would take hamburgers, put them in a blender, blend them up and then drink them. I know, I cringe every time I think of that. And that was his loophole, right? Well, I'm not eating, I'm drinking so technically it's okay. But we understand that the concept of a fast is that you're giving up that which sustains you or brings nourishment to your body. Nutrition. So this would be along the lines of juicing. It could also be, I think coffee is breaking a fast. I think certain things you might put in your tea is breaking a fast. Why? Even the sugars, a little bit of an energy boost. Even some of the things that you put in there, just because it's a liquid doesn't mean it's not bringing some type of strength or nourishment or energy. So anything that strengthens your body nutritionally can be considered food at least in the context of fasting. So when we're talking about a food fast, we're talking about nothing but water. Nothing but water. Number two, you see a food and water fast. Esther chapter four verse 16. Go and gather together all the Jews of Suza and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, day or night. Ezra 10.6. Then Ezra left the front of the temple of God. I lost my place here. Oh, here we go. Catch up here, catch up here. He spent the night there without eating or drinking anything. Now notice that whenever they were fasting food and water, it was typically not longer than three days. And this is because if you go without water for longer than three days, you're putting yourself at risk for some major health complications and even we'll call it expiration because social media will censor certain things. I don't know if you knew that there's certain words that if you use social media listens in and they kind of tether the video's performance. So we'll say expiration. I knew of a pastor who went into the desert and wanted to do what Jesus did. Well, what did Jesus fast? He fasted food. His pastor said, I want to do what Jesus did. And he went to the desert and fasted 40 days or at least attempted to 40 days food and water. And he expired because again, we have to make sure we're applying wisdom even when we're walking in the things of God. Now this food and water fast and notice in the scripture doesn't typically last more than two or three days. There's one exception. We'll cover that in a moment. Then there's number three, a dietary fast. Now this is debatable. I know it's, um, it's easy to say things like, well, you know, the Daniel fast doesn't count. We as Christians need to be more disciplined than that. Or, you know, if you're doing the Daniel fast, that's not a fast. It's just the diet. I get that. But you have to think about our brothers and sisters who have certain health complications. And while they're believing for their healing, maybe that healing has not manifested yet. For some of them, the Daniel fast is the only fast they can do. There's some health issues there that they have to bring into alignment. Maybe it's no fault of their own. And maybe they're doing some things that contribute to the state of their health. But in either case, we have to be kind and compassionate. And I think we as preachers especially can say things that sound good, but don't necessarily pan out in everyday application in the life of the believer. We as preachers have to remember that just because you're being mean doesn't mean you're telling the truth. And I think that today a lot of the preaching we hear is very mean spirited. And it's almost like the people like being abused spiritually. And a lot of that comes from the framework of legalism. We don't have time to go into that. But here in Daniel 10-3, the Bible says all that time I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine crossed my lips and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed. So here we see this is a three week fast. He's fasting certain foods. Now again, I'm going to cover why this can be considered a fast in a moment. Number four, the abstaining fast. First Corinthians chapter seven verse five. Do not deprive each other of sexual relations unless you both agree. It's talking to married couples, by the way. Do not deprive each other of sexual relations unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time. So you can give yourselves more completely to prayer afterward. You should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self control. Notice there that Satan is only able to tempt us because of our lack of self control. But that's a different message. I want you to take note here that this married couple, these married couples in general, are abstaining from sexual relations so that they can devote more time to prayer. That is a type of fast. And this particular concept specifically this verse opens up the category of fasting to many other things. Namely, anything that you give up for a extended or short period of time to focus more on the Lord. You can fast hobbies. You can fast anything, really, that's a distraction. And so while it might sound good, while it might sound like you're speaking truth to say things like, well, unless you're giving up food and water, it doesn't count. That's just not biblical. Anything that you do to weaken the flesh will strengthen your spirit. Anything that you give up to feel in with more spiritual things will strengthen your spirit and therefore weaken your flesh. So food fast, food and water fast, dietary fast, abstaining fast. And of course we look at the different lengths of fasting now. Now I told you of another type of fast. We're going to talk about that in a moment, the exception to that three day rule in terms of water. Let's look at the lengths of fasting here. And again, I want to point out that whenever you see a fast that goes beyond three days, it's a food fast, not a water fast. Without supernatural intervention, please hear me clearly. And I am not a medical expert. I'm not giving you medical advice, but you need to heed this warning here. Without supernatural intervention, the average person would expire after three days without water. The average person can go without food for about 21 days and without water for three days. So be wise, read the scripture, pay attention to what it's actually saying. Consult with the Lord and make sure you're hearing from the Holy Spirit as you step into these things, because you really are weakening that physical being. Now, first we see a partial day fast. It's found in Judges chapter 20 verse 26. So if you do a half a day, a third of the day, three quarters of the day, as long as you're removing something to make more time for the Lord, it counts. Legalism would have you condemning yourself because maybe you want it to do seven days, but you only made it to three. I promise you, the Lord isn't going to kick you out of heaven because you ate a muffin. It's the partial day. Number two, it's the one day fast, 2 Samuel 112. Next, we see the three day fast, Esther 416. Then we see a one week fast for Samuel 3113. A 21 day fast, Daniel 10.3, a 40 day fast, Matthew 4.2. Now here was that exception, I was talking about a supernaturally sustained fast. That's Exodus 34, 28. We'll read that now. Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights. In all that time, he ate no bread and drank no water. And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant, the 10 commandments on the stone tablets. So here we see an exception. Moses fasting food and water 40 days and 40 nights, but he's having a face to face conversation with God himself. So if you're having a face to face conversation with God himself, there you go. Or the Holy Spirit has truly led you, but you have to be led of the Spirit to do such things. So we can conclude that fasting can pretty much be done for any length of time. Now be very careful about systemizing that which is spiritual. Remember this, that which is religious will always be complex. That which is spiritual will always be simple. I didn't say easy. I said simple because we have the tendency to try to systemize the spiritual. Now let me balance this first by saying I believe that God is a God of order. Even in our ministry, when we organize events, there are certain dynamics that on our part we have to be organized for. We let the sound run correctly. We have the lighting done right. The media team knows what they're doing. The ushers know what they're doing. I create a sermon outline. And people say, well, Brother David, you should just be led by the Spirit. I'm saying he did lead me to put the outline together for what was coming in three weeks, but he doesn't know the future. It's only the Holy Spirit if he tells me spontaneously there in the moment, which he does sometimes. But we have to break this mindset that if there's any organization whatsoever that it cannot be of God. We say things like, well, I don't like organized religion. I don't like the church being organized. I don't like organized ministry. What do you like? Chaotic ministry? Unorganized ministry? Ineffective ministry? Jesus was organized. He was a perfect reflection of the will of the Father. And he had a strategy. He'd go from town to town, find a public place to speak, preach a message, and heal the sick. He was very organized and his disciples helped him stay so. So there is such a thing as spirit led structure. Now I balance that statement. Let me say this. This does not mean that our structures in and of themselves become our guiding light. The Holy Spirit will prompt you in certain moments. The Holy Spirit will guide you also spontaneously. It's not either or it's both and. And often we see this played out, let's say, for example, in the act of prayer. We go to pray. How long should I pray? One hour? I remember when I first started to pray, I would look at the clock and say, okay, I'm going to pray for one hour. And I would pray and pray and pray and pray and I'd say, surely 45 minutes have passed. I would look at the clock and only five minutes went by. Or I would become frustrated because I would say things like, Lord, when do I make my prayer requests? When do I do intercessory prayer? When do I pray in tongues? When do I pray against the enemy? When do I do spiritual warfare? When do I pray for my own needs? When do I pray for the lost? How do I fellowship with you? What do I say? When do I sing worship songs? Should I read the scripture now or later? Can I stand when I pray? Can I sit when I pray? Can I down when I pray or does that offend you if I'm lying down? You take it as me being your reverent. Should I speak out loud? Is it okay if I pray in my mind? For that matter, can I pray in tongues in my mind? These are questions that would clutter my mind. And I could see the smiles on your faces because you know, that's how we think sometimes. In that section, if I'm describing you, we think in certain terms. All the while the Holy Spirit is saying, you have all those truths. You have all those dynamics in place. Now just let me lead you. The word of God is not a barrier to the Holy Spirit moving. The word of God is the foundation upon which the move of the Holy Spirit is built. And so we take into account these things, partial day, one day, three day, one week, 21 day, 40 day and onward. And then we just say, okay, Holy Spirit, lead me. What do you want from me? Now, if we're looking for clues in the Bible as to how long or how often we should fast and pray, there are some records which are not scripture. Don't be offended. I'm just talking about historical records seem to indicate that the practice of fasting was to be done twice a week. Indeed, that seems to be affirmed by Jesus in this parable, Luke 1812. I fast twice a week and I give a tenth of my income. At least that character in the parable was saying this as if he was fulfilling an obligation that God had from. That was at least their mindset. Now Jesus isn't saying you fast twice a week, but in his parable he's describing the thinking of a character who at the time thought, this is what I should do. So maybe that was the impression they had. But we aren't given a clear command in scripture in the New Testament as to how often we should fast. Now it is to be in a lifestyle, Luke 237 says then she lived as a widow to the age of 84. She never left the temple but stayed there day and night worshiping God with fasting and prayers. So here we see that it's somewhat of a lifestyle that we are to maintain. Now let me take a moment here to say this clearly. What I'm about to give you in the next few sentences is not the word. It's my opinion. So you can challenge it, you can disagree with it. It's not the word. It's not way off but it's just some advice that maybe you can apply. If you were to ask me, David, in your opinion, how often should the believer fast? Here is what my opinion is. Not the word, David's opinion so it's not authoritative, it's just my opinion. I would recommend that the believer should implement, they believe in the power of prayer and fasting. If they believe this is something God wants them to do, I would say at least quarterly for it to count as something you do as a regular lifestyle. Now you can do more, you can do less. If you do more, you're not necessarily right and the other person wrong. If you do less, that doesn't mean you're not spiritual. This is just something that I've concluded that I think a healthy repetition or healthy routine, spiritual routine would include and that is at least quarterly. Once every three months a fast should happen. Now, depending upon the length of those fasts, you could increase the frequency of these fasts. But I want to talk now about the benefits. So we talked about the practical side of it. We talked about the spiritual dynamic behind it. We talked about the lengths of fasting. We talked about how often you should fast. Now I want to talk to you about the benefits of fasting. This blessing you so far this evening. You online if you're being challenged, let me know. Now, remember in my introduction that I told you that it's the what and not the why. We understand that it works even if we don't understand why it works. I want you to look as we go through these various different examples at how fasting was used. Remember also I told you that we can infer some truths based upon what fasting does. And what we can infer from that is a little bit of why it might work. So number one, fasting is used for mourning and repentance. And I don't mean like good morning. How are you? I mean like mourning, like weeping, wailing, crying, being broken over something. Joel 2.12 says that is why the Lord God says, Turn to me now while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping and mourning. Nehemiah 1.4, when I heard this I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted and prayed to the God of heaven. So in the Old Testament biblical figures would often fast in conjunction with their mourning and repentance. Now how do you take that spiritual concept from the Old Testament that they would fast while they were mourning and repenting and apply it in the New Testament perspective? Because we understand that Christ already bore the fullness of the wrath of God on the cross. We understand that we are forgiven not in punishing ourselves, but in putting our faith in the punishment that God placed on Christ. Let me tell you how many people take fasting. They think that in their suffering alone, for the sake of suffering, that God is pleased. Now let me be very careful about the way I say this because God is pleased when we suffer for righteousness sake. God is pleased when we endure persecution. God is pleased, no doubt, with the martyrs who've laid down their lives so that the gospel could spread. And we honor the body of Christ in that way. So let me be clear on that. But to make yourself suffer just for the sake of suffering, that is legalism. If you are suffering for the cause of Christ, if you are persecuted, what does the Scripture say? For my namesake, there's a purpose behind the persecution. There's a reason for the suffering. It's unto something and therefore God is pleased that you've endured that kind of suffering. But we have to be broken from this legalistic mindset that we punish ourselves to please God. Just as they did back in the day, they would whip themselves on the back, taking upon themselves the punishment for their wrongdoing. And many Christians use fasting in that way. They're emotionally, mentally, physically whipping themselves, thinking, this is me paying for my sin. This is me paying for my wrongdoing. And that's legalism. Legalism is the attempt to do through the acts of man what could only be accomplished through the cross. So how do we look at this? How do we apply this truth now from the Old Testament, funnel it through the reality of the cross, and then apply it to today? I'm going to show you how. Remember this, the flesh does not come and go. The flesh shrinks and grows. You can cast out a devil, but you cannot cast you out of you. You can be rid of demonic power, but if you go through a deliverance at night, you wake up in the morning, you're going to be there with you. You go to bed with you. You go to work with you. You ride in the car with you. You go to church with you. You cannot cast out the flesh. Now, if you follow and observe your behavior, your thought process leading up to a moment of failure, you can learn several things about yourself. Temptation is not an event. It's a process. If you fall into sin on Friday, it's because Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, your mind was in a place it should not have been. Temptation is not an event. It's a process. Now, when a believer begins to disobey God, they start to make decisions that give the flesh more influence. And when I say flesh, I'm not talking about the physical body. I'm talking about the sin nature. Often when you see the word flesh in the scripture, sometimes it's referring to the physical body. Other times it's referring to the sin nature. It's key. But when you begin to make decisions that contribute to the influence of the flesh, you'll notice that your mind begins to change. Your devotion to the word becomes sporadic. Your prayer life becomes sporadic. Your church attendance becomes sporadic. Your resisting of temptation becomes unreliable. And now old habits from back in the day begin to creep slowly into your life. The flesh begins to come alive. Old attitudes. Old habits. Old thought processes. And you begin to see now the rising of that man of sin, that woman of sin. There's this influence now that begins to come back. And then you go through a season, maybe. We're not supposed to, but this happens sometimes. Where we're beginning to falter. And we're fighting this thing. We're saying, okay, something's off here. I'm making poor decisions. This is where fasting would come into play. Because all those moments, let's say you were in that season for two weeks. During that two weeks, your flesh is getting stronger and stronger and stronger. And your spirit is getting less and less and less influential in your life. So you come to the Lord, now you realize, Lord, this isn't good. I'm noticing I'm going back to this place where I should not be. I'm noticing old habits, old thoughts, old mindsets, old attitudes. And I don't want to go back to that place, Lord. Forgive me, I'm turning from it. And then you turn from it. You've been forgiven. God washes you, cleanses you. He wipes your record clean. But now you have the task of bringing that flesh back into subjection. So when you return to that right mindset, when you fast, you reset that influence. So as a part of repentance, as a part of mourning, fasting now brings you back to the place where the flesh is weak. So you say, okay, you know what? You talk to your flesh like it's another person. You say, all right, you know what? You had too much strength. You grew way too big. What I'm going to do is I'm going to weaken you for the next three days. I'm going to say no to everything you want. Anything you ask for, it's no, don't even ask. And you take that flesh that gained influence all those weeks. And over those next three days, you grab it by the neck and you subject it. And you say, you're going to stay in that place of influence. And you're going to have absolutely none. That's where I want you. That's how much influence you have. The flesh back into subjection through the process of fasting. You weaken it again. That's the New Testament application of fasting during mourning and repentance. It's a reset of the flesh to aid you in repentance. Number two, clarity. One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit set a point Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them. Fasting again, disconnects you from the earthly. And I don't mean that in the complete way. We need you here on earth. So the Lord takes you. And it begins to connect you with the heavenly so that now there's a greater clarity. I've noticed in times where I'm more intentional about blocking out certain times for the Lord. Obviously we all have our routine. We all have our devotion to the Lord. We all have our daily prayer and daily devotion to the word. But in those moments of heightened influence where now you're saying for this week, I'm going to really, I'm going to push back some things. And maybe you can't always do that because of the responsibilities that you have as a parent as a spouse and so forth. But every so often you say, okay, for this short season, I got to, I'm going to press in a little more. And in so doing you'll find that there is this heightened clarity that begins to come in the spirit to where, to where like the Holy Spirit can speak just to whisper and it's just crystal clear. I can already hear it. I live in that brother, David. Good. That's great. But you can always go further. And that's what fasting does. It brings about greater measures of clarity. Number three, ministry establishment. Acts 1423. We see an example of this. When they appointed elders or turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, there was fasting and prayer that aided in the spiritual dynamic of ministry establishment. Number four, favor. Esther 416 tells us that Esther fasted that favor might be upon her. Favor, by the way, is not a sinful word. God is no respecter of persons. True. God is no respecter of persons in that anyone can obey and therefore become a favorite. All that means is that it's the same standard for all of us. But those who walk in obedience have the favor of God. And fasting is one of the ways that we can increase in favor. Number five, healing. Psalm 35, 13 through 14. Second Samuel 216. Fasting for those who are sick. Mark 534. Mark 1052. When Jesus would heal certain individuals, not in every instance, but in many instances, and probably in far more instances than we see recorded in Scripture, he would say to them, your what has made you whole. Your faith has made you whole. And so if fasting strengthens my spirit and increases my faith, then this also aids in the acquisition of healing miracles. Number six, spiritual preparation. Matthew 4, 1 through 4. Jesus being led into the wilderness. He's preparing for a season. I would encourage you when entering into marriage, when starting a new job, when you're expecting a child, when you're moving to a different state, when you're taking over a new ministry, or a new ministry, I should say, has been given to you in stewardship. In these seasons of transition, fast. Fast to ground yourself and enter with spiritual sobriety. Major life changes. Number seven, you learn dependence upon God, referencing again Matthew chapter four. We'll reference that again soon. Matthew 4, 3 through 4. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. You learn your strength is in him and not in that which is of this earth. You learn dependence upon God. Number eight, I'll end it on number eight, and it's really the one I want you to capture here. This is very important. A pastor friend of mine was an aviation enthusiast, and he actually has a pilot's license. No, you don't know him. He's not one of the famous preachers with a pilot's license. He's just a friend of mine who has a pilot's license, and it's one of the things he does on the side. But in his house, he has a flight simulator. And when I say flight simulator, I mean everything, all the bells and whistles like the console, I don't even know if you call it a steering wheel. They might get mad at me for saying that. I don't know. That's what it is to me. It's a steering wheel or steering you. And they have this whole simulation setup to where there's screens, to where it looks like I'm looking outside the windows. It is an elaborate setup. And I didn't know this, but there's this whole community online of online aviation enthusiasts. And they're all on their headsets talking to each other, flying their pretend airplanes. And there are even, oh, what is it called? The tower control. The control tower. Okay, yeah. I way over thought that one. What do they call the towers where they control? The control tower, I guess. The control towers. Air traffic control. They're speaking to one another, right? So there's people who play the part of the air traffic control and people who play the part of a pilot. And there's this whole community online where they're flying around. And it's how they train. So I jump into the pilot seat and he says, you're going to fly the plane. I said, great. I thought I was going to be like, you know, a two minute simulation. We did an actual flight. It's like a 45 minute flight from wherever on earth we were in their digital world to wherever we went in their digital world. All the while I'm staying in his living room there. And so we're flying. And I'm like, okay, we're off. No problem. And after about 45 minutes, we're getting ready to land and I crashed the plane. Air traffic control is freaking out. The other pilots need that runway. It was this whole thing. And he just, I remember, he took his headset off in defeat and just this, well, you crashed the plane. And that was it. No problem. We went to lunch and that was it. But you know, what I'm saying is a temptation simulation. And this perhaps is one of the reasons why it works so well. Because when you are fasting, you are bringing your physical body to the place where it's cravings are more intense than when you're not fasting. Very, very, very hungry. Very, very, very, very tired. Very, very, very irritable. This pastor's wife, one time felt so bad. She told me, I accidentally grabbed the snack while I was fasting and I looked at her suspiciously accidentally. She said, well, yeah, it was just sitting there on the kitchen counter and I was going about my business and I didn't realize that I just grabbed it and took a bite. And then she said, after I took the bite, I realized, what am I doing? What's the situation? Well, you just grabbed it and you realized, oh my goodness, I'm supposed to be fasting. You know what that is? That's impulse. And fasting puts you in the place where you can see where your impulses are weak. It teaches you to master, number one, your impulse to master those split second decisions. Those things you do without thinking about it. Those things you do without consulting anyone. Those things you do out of sheer craving and desire and fasting puts you there. And then you can look back on it and say, okay, where did I go wrong there? And you learn now to master the impulse. You learn to master exhaustion. I can't tell you how many preachers I know who fell into sin and it was typically the same story. They brought themselves to this place of exhaustion and in their exhaustion their self-control was weak and in their self-control being weak they fell into temptation. Not to say you blame exhaustion totally but they live lifestyles of exhaustion and therefore they live with a minimized self-control. Patience. You want to test your patience? Just don't eat for three days. Irritable and moody and everything is annoying and everything is, you know, you got a headache and you're tired you don't want to do anything. And so when people, if you can be patient while you're fasting you can be patient when you're full. Master impatience. Master exhaustion. You master that impulse. You master distraction. You can't even watch a movie while you're fasting. Let alone read the Bible because all you're thinking about is one thing. So when you can enjoy, you can enjoy conversation with friends they're talking and you're just thinking I'm so hungry right now. You start to see them as like a hamburger or something and that shows you how to master distraction. Because if you can master the distraction of hunger while you're fasting then you can master the distractions of entertainment while you're trying to read the word. You can master the distractions of responsibility while you're trying to pray. You can master the distractions of worry while you're trying to worship. And so as you master impulse, exhaustion, impatience, distraction even temptation you understand that should you fail in your fasting you committed no real sin. Now some might get technical the scripture says it's better to not make a promise to the Lord and then break that promise. Look it's an attempt at doing something it's not a covenant you're making you're saying here's a challenge I'm going to challenge myself I'm going to try to fast. And so when you break your fast and you're like wallowing and just say okay it was just a simulation I'm going to try again. It was just a test I'm going to try again. So instead of looking to fasting I'm going to give you an opportunity to master the strength of the flesh. I'll give you a couple of bonus points here. Number nine protection as we're 821 number 10 increase in spiritual authority when I say that I have to be careful the authority of Christ doesn't need to increase your access to that authority needs to be more complete. Matthew 17 19 through 21 it's an act of worship Luke 2 37 now I want you to lift your hands I want you to ask the Lord to help you commit to this spiritual discipline of fasting maybe you're listening to me talk and you're saying I want to go to deeper places I want to go to higher levels in the spirit then you commit now so Father I thank you that you're giving your people a desire to go deeper in your presence we thank you Lord for this sacred act of fasting that gives us an opportunity to subject the flesh to detach from the cares of this world to focus on you and precious Lord we pray that you would give us opportunities to experience your presence in power we devote ourselves wholly and completely to you we honor you we bless you in Jesus name we pray in the church said you typed in the comments amen if you enjoyed that message and you think others need to hear it make sure you leave a like on this video right now actually leaving a like does indeed spread the content further and don't forget to subscribe to my channel for more teachings like this we also show live streams and pre-recorded footage from events around the world where the power of the Holy Spirit moves to save heal the liver and in power I want to challenge everyone in here and everyone watching online to participate with what God is doing through this ministry if you're watching this and wondering what this event is in particular you know sometimes we do healing services here sometimes we do healing services in different states at conference centers but what this is here this evening and what will be replayed for years to come I pray is this evening now our first ever partners conference so we're gathered here with partners from around the world partners watching online viewers watching online and I want to extend to you an opportunity to be a part of what God is doing to this ministry would you consider today becoming a monthly ministry partner whether you're watching on live whether you're watching on replay even years from now God willing this ministry will be continuing its work ever expanding and reaching more around the world will you consider becoming a monthly ministry supporter by going to davidhernandezministries.com slash partner will you also consider giving a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate your support helps us continue to do events around the world it helps us continue to put out content like this and we give freely for we receive freely it's all donor supported so will you help us will you help us win the soul of a generation will you help us take the light of the gospel will you help us spread the teachings of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit all around the world the events and media souls hang in the balance lives hang in the balance we need you to participate we need you to do your part so go right now again davidhernandezministries.com slash donate to give a single gift davidhernandezministries.com slash partner to become a monthly ministry supporter everything single or monthly large or small it counts so don't count yourself out don't say oh what I'm doing doesn't matter because it's all of us from around the world gather together united in one cause that make the impact listen to me now we can win the soul of a generation I don't care what the devil says I don't care what the world says we can win the soul of a generation the gospel has not lost its power the great commission will not fail the gates of hell shall not prevail the antichrist is not going to be more successful than Jesus Christ for this gospel shall be preached to the ends of the earth and then the end will come revival not retreat victory not defeat will be the posture of the church in the last days and if you believe that souls can be saved if you believe the gospel still has power join with us today and one more time davidhernandezministries.com slash donate to give a single gift slash partner to become a monthly ministry supporter cancel a streaming service if you have to but get partnered with this ministry please try the website davidhernandezministries.com if you're giving from a different country or in a different currency try the website first if the website does not work for you then you can give through means of social media but do try the website first thank you for your giving and nothing is impossible with God