 guys welcome to this stream i'm gonna explain a little bit about why my lips a little bit more reddish today than usual but we have already a thousand people in the stream on youtube and on facebook for the launch of a 21 day fasting challenge before i share something of encouragement for your fasting i just want to ask you to let me know in the chat where you're tuning in from and as well as let me know if you are taking part of this fasting challenge so if you are tuning in from whatever you're tuning in let me know that in the chat i see people from texas virginia canwik india and as well as other places let me see what's coming out on facebook so go ahead and let us know in the comments below where you are tuning in from netherlands romania georgia kenya la georgia uk south carolina chicago my church is doing a 21 day fast come on somebody praise god queens new york guys it is a joy to be with you this morning i'm excited for what the lord has in store for us in the next 21 days if you also let me know in the comments below in the chat if you are participating in a 21 day fast in some way shape and form so just put the number one in the chat if you are participating in a 21 day fasting challenge and if you are not don't log off i believe that by the time i am done sharing the lord is going to encourage your faith and you will be joining with us hopefully if you are physically able to and so i see a lot of people dropping number ones in the chat on both facebook and youtube praise god praise god fast forward number one amen fast forward number one amen a little announcement before we go any further and that is if you haven't got the fast forward book i would encourage you to get it today you can download it on my website free of charge or get it on amazon also if you have not downloaded a reading plan or got a reading plan on your bible app something you can do with your family with your small groups is you can actually read that reading plan together with them and so these short encouragements that you got in the email this morning that you will get every day for the next 21 days they're actually from a reading plan and so for those of you who are like i haven't got anything in the email that means you haven't signed up for the challenge yet so if you signed up for the challenge then you will be able to get those in the email and you can get the same kind of a content on the uversion bible app and so all of that is just available to keep a sense of community and to build a strength in those people that are taking this challenge of prayer and fasting one request that i will ask of you guys throughout this fasting is if you have gotten the book or if you started to read even if it's a free book if i can ask you to do me a big favor it costs you nothing it will just cost you about two three minutes if you can go on amazon or on google on good reads and leave a review for the book it will help other people to discover the book and it will also help us to reach more people it costs you nothing to do that but it will help us to get the word out most of you you know that i am not a published by a some official publisher i am self published which means that i rely on people like you guys to help get the word out and one of the ways that it helps to get the word out is when people leave reviews so be kind and go today tomorrow sometime during the next 21 days and leave a review a detailed review take a photo with the book and leave a review this will really help us to get the word out so about that's about that and i really appreciate that american top gunners asking is the book for free yes you can download it free of charge on our website if you have any questions concerning fasting go ahead and drop them in the comments and then at the end when i'm going to finish sharing my short exhortation and the prayer for today then i'm going to try to pick at least three four five questions and answer them at the end so i see a lot of people are watching from a different parts of the world so some of you this is already the end of day one for some of you it's the beginning of day one but for most of us here today in the in the america in the pacific northwest this is early in the morning and this is pretty much the day one of the fasting challenge so let's begin the 21 day fasting challenge is a lot of churches are taking time in january to set apart to see god in prayer and in fasting we don't see a strict command from the bible to fast in january we do see an encouragement to seek the kingdom of god first and everything else will be added to us i want to speak to you for just a brief moment concerning the fever of fasting now i just returned from romania and on the last day of romania when i was there i got um i got some disease and part of that is i started having a fever my body started to you know go high in temperature and um by the time i came home i was full blown sick so i spent next you know a few days in bed fighting with fever and uh something i learned about fever is that when i was having it you know at first i wanted to take as much medication as possible so i can bring that fever down but as i started to research and this is nothing new for many of you is that fever is a temporary increase in the body's temperature in response to disease or illness so when your body has an infection your immune system kicks into a gear to help you heal one way it does this is by increasing the body temperature which is what we call fever so a fever is actually a natural and a healthy response to many kinds of infections the higher temperature helps your body to fight off the infection more effectively for example the higher temperature may help your body's immune cells to work better and it also makes it harder for the germs causing the infection to survive and so to help bring down a fever your body uses a variety of methods for example you might start sweating more which will help to cool down your body you will also feel cold and shivery which is your body's way of generating heat and raising your temperature back to normal drinking fluids and getting rest can help your body fight off the infection and bring down the fever you know i think that fasting has this effect of a fever it increases the spiritual temperature in your life in which spiritual germs cannot survive put that in the comments fasting increases spiritual temperature in your life in which spiritual germs cannot survive a lot of us we have spiritual germs in our lives and what happens when we begin to fast is we are increasing the spiritual climate in our life and then you know we sweat stuff out meaning stuff begins to come out of our lives the stuff begins to be removed from our lives i'm reminded of book of acts 28 verse 3 it says when the paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand it's interesting that the viper this spiritual germ the spiritual infection was there among the sticks but when the heat increased the viper came out and sometimes when you have certain problems running in your life when you have certain issues running in your life one of the best ways to get them exposed and expelled is to increase spiritual temperature is to raise the temperature in your life and fasting is one of the ways that as you decrease physically emotionally as you decrease the temperature begins to increase and something begins to happen these infections these spiritual pride greed anger maybe even spiritual forces behind the scenes that are attacking your life that are hiding behind the scenes they begin to be exposed and expelled because the temperature no longer makes it comfortable for them to stay that's why i believe that as you begin to fast the enemy will fight you to give you doubts and to give you sometimes even sicknesses distractions and everything so that you don't fast because the enemy is afraid of an increased temperature in your spiritual life because it's kind of like a fly a fly will sit on a warm stove but the moment the stove is hot the fly can no longer rest there and that's how the enemy as long as our life is lukewarm not only the lord is gonna you know vomit us out because god is not pleased with complacent people but also the enemy is completely comfortable the verse that i feel for this fasting challenge is matthew 17 21 and it says that however this kind does not go out except by prayer and by fasting there are certain germs certain vipers certain kinds of problems that only leave when you increase the heat when you raise the temperature when your spiritual climate increases mark chapter 9 verse 29 says the same words this kind come out this kind can come out but by nothing but prayer and fasting meaning there are certain kinds of spiritual germs hidden and maybe attacking your life that will not come out until you increase the temperature and all the 21 day of prayer and fasting whichever way you do this fast whether you do it complete fast juice fast daniel fast whatever one the lord placed on your heart all that really we're doing is we're cranking up a temperature so that whatever that is not of god will come out will leave maybe the lord will reveal that in the dream maybe the lord will reveal that in prayer maybe the lord will point to that particular germ that particular viper that particular issue at first maybe you're joining this fast for your family to be healed for your health and and everything and that's good but i want you to be be prepared when during this fast the lord will be dealing with this kind that kind of a problem that maybe have been ignored that have been undetected for a while and the holy spirit is going to increase the heat in your life so that that area in your life will be addressed exposed and expelled the same fire that increases the heat in your life will be the one that will destroy the germs the story of matthew 17 verse 21 deals with jesus being on the mountain and then he comes down from the mountain and the bible says that when he was on the mountain he was there for some time with his disciples three of his disciples he prayed there and his face was changed and moses showed up elijah showed up and they talked to him about his exodus and so being on the mountain jesus you know spent time with the father in prayer disciples were there his face was changed and i believe for two things for this fast and today there's something that i want to leave you with divine transformation or personal transformation the bible says as he prayed his face was transfigured look chapter nine verses 28 and 29 now it came to pass about eight days after these sayings that he took peter john and james and went up on the mountain to pray as he prayed the appearance of his face was altered his robe became white and glistening as he prayed the appearance of his face was altered my prayer for you today that as you spend time with god as you read the word as you are also going through the fast forward book or you're reading the reading plan as you're taking some time in the next 24 hours this day that god will alter your face he will alter your character that he will alter your attitude that he will alter your thoughts that he will change you fasting is not about changing god it's about god changing us it's not about so that i can increase it's so that i can decrease and he can increase his face was altered on the mountain there was a personal transformation this kind does not leave by prayer and fasting how does this happen when you spend time with the lord when you spend time in his presence and he personally changes you he personally alters you he personally transforms you in his presence in his word by his spirit but i want you to notice the second thing is that after jesus was changed the scripture says in mark chapter nine verse 14 and when he had came to the disciples he saw a great multitude around them and scribes disputing with them so jesus is coming down from the mountaintop and his disciples are let's just say the valley because if he was on a mountain they were in the valley and in the valley they're dealing with the demonized kid and they're not able to deliver this kid and so instead of praying i want you to see what the disciples are doing at the bottom of the mountain they're arguing they're disputing they are fighting with scribes with religious leaders and jesus comes and he says guys what is this and he then deals with the case of a demonized kid delivers the kid and he brings freedom to that so i believe the lord wants to not only bring personal transformation i call it divine transformation he wants to bring demonic elimination in our life from our life he wants to remove demonic presence demonic influence and some of us when we don't pray and fast when we don't spend time on the mountain we end up arguing in the valley disciples were arguing instead of praying see arguing disables you prayer enables you come on drop that in the comments right now arguing disables you prayer enables you debating instead of praying winning arguments with people instead of winning a personal battles in your own life i believe when we ignore prayer when we ignore fasting when we ignore the word of god in our life we will miss a personal transformation god wants to do we will miss the anointing that god wants to give us to overcome spiritual germs demonic presence and influence in our family and in our life and we end up arguing and fighting in the valley instead of having victory in the valley only people with mountaintop experience can have victory in the valley come on put that in the comments right now only people with mountaintop experience can have victory in the valley so during this day what i want to encourage you with is take time to be in the presence of jesus take time to be in prayer may god alter your face not physically but may god change your heart may you experience divine transformation and demonic elimination as holy spirit will bring different issues or different sins or different compromises don't excuse them repent over them fasting is supposed to be a lot of time of weeping and repentance and so may the lord lead you into that in fact i was praying today and that was my prayers that lord will lead over a thousand people have signed up for this fast ten thousand people have signed up over this fast and my prayer is that god will lead us all into deeper measures of repentance deeper measures of spiritual renewal and spiritual resetting that we will find our first love again that we will find purity again for those of us who lost it and that we will find freedom in the areas we didn't even know we were needing freedom amen so that's just my encouragement for today is the fasting is like fever in the sense that as you know your brain has this thermostat and when there's germs in your body your brain you know right the way changes the temperature your body increases the temperature because certain germs cannot live in higher temperatures and that's exactly what fasting is is that you increase the temperature in your life so that these spiritual germs no longer can live in your life that you experience cleansing freedom purity sanctification holiness and righteousness amen if this was a blessing to you drop number one in the chat from the fast forward book i'm going to read just a few encouragements right now concerning the health component of this fast and then we're going to read the prayer so the fasting tip the health tip as is mentioned in the book and it's in the page six our body is accustomed to consuming food at regular intervals during the day as you refrain from eating it is normal to experience dizziness weakness headaches and nausea these symptoms can be common during any long-term fast and so drink more water water with electrolytes you might need to rest a little bit more but this is just normal this is not a sign usually from this is not a sign from god to quit this is just a normal thing when your body experiences that the scriptures to meditate on that i want you to take time to meditate on today revelation chapter 19 verses 1 and 6 after these things i have heard the voice of the great multitude in heaven saying alleluia salvation and glory and honor and power belongs to the lord our god and i heard as if it were the voice of a great multitude as a sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty tundering saying alleluia for the lord god omnipotent reigns Matthew 6 13 and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen psalm 22 28 for the kingdom is the lord's and he rules over the nations let's pray lord i choose to surrender my fleshly desires in order to come closer to you help me to shift my focus from my needs to your will for my life lord i pray that you will lead us holy spirit i pray that you will guide us lord i pray that as we take this time not to become holier more powerful but to decrease to become smaller to become more humble before you god may you increase that purity and holiness in our life when you expose the impurities lord may you lead us to deeper measures and levels of repentance brokenness humility may you cause the tears to flow again lord may you soften our hearts may you give us the baby skin hearts lord i ask you for those people who have spent a long time arguing in the valley maybe ministers and pastors who have spent a long time just reacting to the problems in their churches may you use this time to alter our face alter our heart change us god from the inside out and lord may you empower us to deal with the valley problems may you empower us god to remove the germs the vipers the demonic influence that is maybe running rampant in our life and our finances and in our health when you when we experience divine transformation and demonic elimination in jesus name amen amen thank you lord so if you have any questions i want to stay for just a few more moments and answer them and so this was a blessing to you guys drop that in the chat amen for those of you that are just tuning in we will be able to you'll be able to re-watch this and and receive that encouragement what water electrolytes do you use so i just buy my water my wife actually buys the water from cosco and it just has electrolytes added so i don't necessarily know much about the electrolytes or what water and so it's just the one that has electrolytes added to it so that's the one that i use should i do communion with my church on the water fast i think it's completely fine it won't necessarily break the fast or it won't upset your stomach unless you're gonna do a communion where you eat a loaf of bread but if it's a small cracker it shouldn't be a problem can you speak on a 40-day fast help so i have a video on my youtube we uploaded it a few days ago on my experience on the 40-day fast and you can check that out it was recorded when i streamed with azea i was on his show and i shared a little bit about that so but it 40-day fast is very similar to a 21-day fast it's just twice as long is it okay to fast for both spiritual and health reasons to cleanse your body because doctors found cancer cells and to cry out to god for healing i believe so of course if you have medications that you're taking you you should consult your doctor before you attempt to do a fast but i watched a few documentaries and actually by doctors who are from my understanding they're not christian who take people through an extended long fast and they found even cures of cancers and others when people with fast how during a fast it will like attack those cancer cells i'm not saying that's the formula and that's if you fast that's exactly what's going to happen but i do believe that fast has a physical benefits as well but the purpose for fasting is spiritual so but you can do both is it okay if i eat dinner only after 21-day fast because i've never done that i'm gonna learn so many things thank you pastor god bless you um so if you fast for 21 days without food you're saying if you can eat dinner after 21-day fast you would be highly discouraged to eat a dinner after a 21-day fast without water without food uh you would you're gonna want to start uh break down or come out of that fast very very slowly and not with a dinner and so it'd be maybe something like a broccoli soup or soup or just just liquids and we will talk about that as we approach the 21 days about how to come out of a 21-day fast on water but um yeah can i work out yeah if you have the physical strength of course you can work out and there will be times during depending on the kind of fast you do but if you do just a water fast you will be able to have physical energy sometimes that's even stronger than you had before uh you were fasting because your body is still feeding itself you must understand you're not dying your body just started to eat of its storage that you have probably most likely most of us have plenty of are you doing a water fast pastor that i am doing uh yes i am doing the water fast by god's grace do i fast with water only how do i fast uh fruit veggies only so again those of you who are not sure what kind of a fast to do go back to my fasting challenge video which is on the playlist and watch different fast that i mentioned you can choose from what kind of a fast you should do that is not for me to tell you that is between you and the lord and you should consider your health you should consider your your work and other things don't just go in into a water water 21-day water fast just because somebody is doing it um we are doing a 21-day fasting challenge uh i am not in the position to tell you the kind of a fast each person should do because each one of us is on a different journey in our health in our walk with the lord as well as in in things that the lord is leading us to do can you please give us advice on for those on medication i want to do a water water fast if you are on medication i would highly discourage you from doing a water fast i would encourage you to do some kind of a fast that involves either eating or partially eating but not to do a water fast unless god divinely leads you uh but it's advised not to do that what kind of a liquids do we consume uh the best liquid to consume on the water fast is water should we spend a certain amount of time each day for praise and worship outside or a side of prayers i think that let the lord lead you in the amount of time that you pray and you praise and you worship um and so some days you will have more time so you'll have more time some days you'll have less time and so and let the lord lead you sometimes the lord will lead us more in repentance sometimes he'll lead us more into worship sometimes he'll lead us more into just consuming god's word sometimes you will feel honestly tired physically and you might not even uh able to utter any words and so you can pray in your heart during that time you can just be on your knees and just be in the presence of jesus and so um prayer is more than just words that we utter it's the heart posture and it's it's our thoughts our our attitudes and our life being devoted to the lord as well how do i access fast forward devotional and so that fast forward devotional you can download it on the website or you can also go on the reading plan on the u-version bible app okay guys that's all the time that we have today i don't want to stream too long because i do want to have more time for myself to spend time with the lord and i want to give you also that time to do that and so we will trim the intro and the outro and then give you the opportunity to rewatch this so may god bless you as you fast i will see you again tomorrow at the same time nine o'clock so we're gonna schedule the stream in just a few minutes from now so make sure that you don't miss tomorrow's stream as well i'm gonna share a fresh word with you and just kind of encourage you answer some questions and spend some time with you in the process of these 21 days so god bless you thank you and until tomorrow