As Christians we have many weapons in our arsenal for spiritual warfare: the blood of Jesus, our testimonies, God’s Word. But there’s one more weapon that is often overlooked and underused: fasting. In this message, Dr. Stanley covers the principles of fasting as well as the purposes of it. Though it requires discipline and sacrifice, fasting is an indispensable tool for focusing our attention on God and attuning our spirits to His will. This message is Part 3 of the series: How to Talk With God – Volume 1 CD Series: https://store.intouch.org/purchase/ho…
Part 1: Unveiling The Hidden – • Unveiling The Hidden – Radio Classic … Part 2: Praying With Authority – • Praying With Authority – Radio Classi… Part 3: Praying And Fasting Part 4: A Prayer Burden – Releasing 2/28 Part 5: Answered Prayer – Releasing Soon Part 6: When It’s Spiritual Warfare – Releasing Soon How to Talk With God – Volume 2 CD Series: https://store.intouch.org/purchase/ho…
Part 1: Why Our Prayers Are Unanswered – Releasing Soon Part 2: How To Pray In The Will Of God – Releasing Soon Part 3: A Time To Stop Waiting In Prayer – Releasing Soon Part 4: The Power Of Your Prayer Life – Releasing Soon Part 5: Praying For Others – Releasing Soon Part 6: Praying Is Where The Action Is – Releasing Soon For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to https://intouch.org/tv
[Music]
with a message from God’s word here’s
Charles
Stanley you’ll turn to Matthew chapter 6
and I want us to read a portion of this
chapter the first verse the fifth verse
and then beginning in verse 16 through
18 and the title of this message prayer
and fasting and primarily the fasting is
what we want to deal with this morning
in the series on prayer he begins in the
Sermon on the Mount in chapter 6 by
saying take heed that you do not your
arms before men to be seen of them
otherwise you have no reward of your
father which is in heaven then verse 5
says and when you pray thou shal not be
as the Hypocrites are but they love to
pray standing in the synagogues in the
corners of the streets that they may be
seen of men verily I say unto you they
have their reward then in verse 18 16 he
says moreover when you fast be not as
the Hypocrites of a sad countenance for
they disfigure their faces that they may
appear unto men to fast verely I say
unto you they have their reward but thou
when thou fastest anoint thine head and
wash thy face that you may appear not to
men to fast but unto thy father which is
in secret and thy father which is in
secret shall reward thee
openly now what he’s saying in these
first 18 verses he’s talking about
giving to the poor arms giving secondly
he’s speaking about prayer and thirdly
he’s talking about fasting and in all
three of these things he says there are
several things for us to watch out for
number one he says you don’t do it to be
seen of men don’t be like the hypocrit
standing in the public places praying to
be seen of men you don’t give in order
that others may know how much you give
and you don’t fast and walk around with
your hair uncombed and your face look
like it’s unwashed and you’ve got sleepy
in y because you’ve you’ve not been
fasting and you want to look like you’ve
been sacrificing for God he says
whatever we do we should do it in
private and when we do it in private God
will reward us openly we have to do it
out of the motivation of love and not
out of the motivation to be seen for he
says that anything and everything we do
in those areas in order to be seen of
men if you’re seen by one person or 10
people the one person that saw you do it
that’s all all the rewards you’re going
to get if a thousand people see it all
that you receive in return is the reward
of the Commendation or the criticism of
a thousand people and what he’s saying
is not that our Christian witness should
be private not that our Christian
witness should be done in the closet but
that those areas of our expression of
toward him of giving to the poor of
prayer and of fasting should be done
secretly in order that God May reward us
openly that is never the motivation to
be seen or to be known or to be praised
by others now when you think about the
responsibility that you and I have we’re
in a Warfare Paul says in chapter
chapter 6 of Ephesians he said we
wrestle not against flesh and blood but
against principalities and powers and
spiritual wickedness in high places
which says that our battle is a
spiritual battle we have personal
private spiritual battles with Satan we
have spiritual battles that develop in
relationships with other people we have
a spiritual battle going on in this
nation right now to save it or to lose
it and so we have specific weapons that
God has given us in order to do battle
he says first of all we have his name in
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth
Paul said or Peter said rise up and
walk we have the word of God to stand
upon as our promise and the foundation
of our request before the Lord we have
the blood of Jesus Christ upon which we
can walk and uh upon which we are
protected but we have likewise prayer as
a tool and as a weapon fasting as a
weapon we have praise as a weapon we
have faith as a weapon so that the
people of God are adequately equipped to
do what God has called us to do so what
I want us to notice here first of all
are some principles about fasting and
first of all is this we do not fast in
order to avoid obeying God whenever he
requires us to fast or when we feel
compelled or burdened to do so you don’t
fast over here and say Lord now I’m I’m
sacrificing my time and my food over
here and God is saying what I want you
to look at what’s over here and you say
Lord but I want you to see that I’m
sacrificing and I’m proving to you how
obedient I am obedience in fasting will
never atone for sin over here and
Disobedience because genuine fasting
always causes me to look with end to see
Lord Lord is my heart right with you so
you don’t fast to avoid obeying God in
the given area secondly fasting is for
the purpose of bringing the body into
subjection we all have appetites we have
appetites of physical appetites to eat
we have appetites to enjoy Beauty there
are sexual appetites there are all kind
of appetites that God has given us to be
exercised or fulfilled within the limits
of the boundaries of his word but there
are times when he says we have set aside
all appetites we have put them all aside
in order to seek him for a specific
reason or specific purpose so we’re to
bring the body into subjection that
means we are to bring everybody to the
point that more important than eating
and a greater desire than to eat is to
talk to the father now you’ve seen
people said oh my goodness it’s 12:00
it’s time for lunch I’m hungry they
never even thought about being hungry
until they watch the clock many things
we do we do out of habit not because
they are necessary needs and one of the
reasons that God wants us to fast is to
bring the body into subjection for a
deeper spiritual purpose a third
principle here is that fasting brings
the soul the mind the will the emotion
the conscience the Consciousness under
submission to the spirit within us so
that more
important than our normal life patterns
is something that God may want to say or
do in our life so when you think about
how many things you hear in a given day
all the things that come your way how
many layers upon layers upon layers of
thought patterns and ideas and the
habits that you and I fall into and ever
Dawn upon us that we are almost them
sometimes the victims of our own habits
that we think are good but for God to
get our attention and to get we down on
the inside of us and to speak to us on a
deeper level than happens day by day
fasting focuses our attention upon God
the Father focuses our attention Upon
Our Own sinfulness and we get a whole
new glimpse of what life is all about
and then a fourth principle involved
here is this that fasting fasting has a
tremendous effect upon us when we begin
to seek the Lord in worship and we’re
willing to fast now what would in the
world would happen if you and
I began to fast on Saturdays before we
came to the Lord’s House on Sunday I’ll
tell you I can’t tell you exactly what
would happen but I can tell you this it
would never be normal again whatever
normal is because when people fast and
pray and they begin to seek God and he
becomes the priority of their thinking
the priority of their feeling the
priority of their actions the priority
to their behavior something begins to
happen not only to them but to everybody
around them so there’s some principles
here that God has given us all through
the scripture now what I’d like to do
for the rest of the time is to share
with you for a few moments the purposes
why is it that God wants us to fast now
he said In this passage here that he
certainly does not want us to do it in
order to be seen of men then what is the
real purpose that God has in mind the
first one is this and that
is that our spirit that our spirit would
be disciplined toward the things of the
father and you recall when Jesus was uh
tempted in the wilderness it followed
his baptism a tremendous highlight in
his life and then 40 days of seeking the
mind of the father before he began his
ministry and no doubt in his own human
as well as his physical because he did
have hungers and thirst and appetites
like we do but 40 days and 40 nights of
disciplining his human aspect of himself
his human body in order to find the mind
of his father to know the mind of his
father be before he
began that time of Ministry for three
years whereby the whole world and all of
eternity would be changed but what about
us he didn’t have to deal with sin he
didn’t have to deal with an old carnal
nature such as we though he was tempted
by Satan but fasting brings our
spirituality to a point that it becomes
the priority the body the soul of man is
under subjection and we discipline
ourselves in order to bring ourselves in
a position where that he might be able
to bring us to reach the maximum of our
potential now you can live a Christian
Life and walk in the spirit without ever
fasting but what fasting does to prayer
it intensifies it it makes it possible
for us to reach down in the innermost
being of our spirit and to feel
legitimately and rightly and accurately
and precisely what often times we cannot
feel haven’t you heard people say well I
don’t know what I’m feeling I can’t
quite distinguish what I’m feeling
fasting sifts fasting prunes fasting
peels off layer after layer after layer
after layer of feelings and attitudes
and experiences and thoughts and so
often we can’t really get down to the
hardcore of what God is trying to say to
us fasting is a disciplining of the
spirit a second purpose for fasting is
this and that is to find the will of God
for your life in a given situation for
example let’s say that you’re
contemplating marriage do you know
that’s the will of God for your life are
you sort of think it is you say well
I’ve prayed and I’ve talked to this one
and I’ve been counseled by that one let
me suggest something if you’ll take
three days that may be difficult for you
you may have to work up for the three
days if you’ll take three days in the
word of God Alone on your face before
him and fasting and praying and I mean
without food but drink water and you
begin to seek the Lord and tell him that
you want him to show you in his word I
guarantee you whatever you seeking the
mind of God about whatever it may be if
you will Fast and pray bringing the body
and the soul in subjection to him and
submission to him he will clear your
eyesight he’ll clear your ears he’ll
clear your heart he’ll clear your spirit
your focus of attention will be upon him
and you’ll be able to hear from God what
you’ve never heard before it’ll come
very very clear very precisely very
accurately you will know for an
absolutely uncertain without any doubt
whatsoever this is what God wants me to
do that’s exactly what Daniel did when
he was fasting and praying in that ninth
chapter tremendous chapter on fasting
and praying he said God I don’t know
what the answer is but I want to know
the Bible says he set himself to fast
and pray before the Lord and you see
there is a sacrifice there is a giving
up there is a surrendering there is a
subjecting of the body and the spirit
but you see what we have to ask is Lord
do I want to reach my potential for you
or am I willing to be satisfied to grow
up around down here and have the
Applause and the praise and the pleasing
of others or do I want to reach my
maximum am I willing to bring this body
this soul the spirit in absolute and
total subjection to you that whatever
you want to do in my life God I’ll be
fit and ready and not only that I’ll
know what you want to do you see if
enough people are willing to get on
their face before God and to seek his
mind God will show us how to change this
nation he’ll show us how to put homes
back together he’ll show us how to
become the Catalyst that set fires in
churches and homes All Over America but
you see we’ve got another mind of God
and the reason that burdens me is this
usually at 99% of the time what is the
natural normal way of doing a thing
isn’t God’s way at
all so how do you find out how to do it
you’ve got to find his mind and we can’t
rush around seven days a week doing our
thing and find the mind of God not very
often about major things not very often
at
all that’s another purpose he has in
mind here and that is genuine personal
repentance and confession before him for
example let’s say that you’ve got got a
habit in your life that you just can’t
overcome let’s say that there’s a given
area in your life in which Satan has a
stronghold I mean he doesn’t have a
little toe hole he’s got a tremendous
stronghold in your life in fact he’s
just got one whole big whopping section
of you and you’re saying Lord I’ve
prayed I’ve read the Bible I’ve been
counsel I’m trying to walk in the spirit
why is it that I can’t get victory over
this thing in my life here’s what
happens when you begin to fast and
sometimes it’ll be like hell on Earth
the first few hours was because Satan
will attack you listen I don’t mean that
all fasting that way but if you go to
God telling him that you want freedom
you want Liberty you want Victory you
want healing in the Inner Man and you
begin to fast you can just watch it
Satan calls for every demonic power that
is available for attack and he’s going
to attack you and here’s what he’s going
to say you don’t think that’s going to
work do you and besides that it’s almost
time for lunch listen to your stomach
growl what is is your wife or your
husband going to think what are your
children are going to think and after
all the Bible says you shouldn’t do it
in public and and your family already
knows that you’re going to fast today or
tomorrow the next three days they know
you’ve gone away for three days and they
you don’t think God’s going to answer
I’ll tell you he’ll put every evil
diabolical Wicked thought he can come up
with and he’s got gobs of them to cause
you to doubt to do anything he can to
get you get you up off your knees
because Satan knows what is God going to
do he’s going to reveal sin that we do
not normally see he he’s going to strip
us open inside and out lay us bare we’re
going to look upon him and we see him
we’re going to see ourselves when we see
ourselves in the light of seeing him we
going to see sin and wickedness and
carnality in our heart we’ve never seen
before but that’s part of the process
when we begin to see what’s inside of us
in the light of what he’s like and we
confess and repent of this and God
cleanses our life out and gets us
straightened out friends you become to
come become a Powerhouse for God God is
going to move in your life as he’s never
moved before there is no incident in the
Bible of people fasting and praying and
repenting toward god without the release
of God’s Supernatural power in their
life and you see what we take for
granted and one of the problems in this
country is we’ve got too
much the real truth is that most of the
nations in the world the people are
fasting every day
anyway the problem is they don’t have
anything to
eat and and friends we’re so blessed
we’ve got it coming and going three
meals a day four or five snacks you name
it you can buy a drink of this and a
piece of that and a bar of that and one
of these and one of these in any the
machine anywhere in this country you can
find all you want to eat and more than
most Americans
need I’ll tell you something interesting
in the
Bible how many times you’ll see the
relationship between
overeating and
sin and you just take Israel they got
got across the Red Sea the Bible
says they met together they ate and they
rose up to play and all kinds of homs
and all kinds of things begin to happen
there is something about the human body
that Satan takes advantage of there all
legitimate appetites but if Satan can
get one of them off balance if he can
get one of them perverted if he can get
one of them over here on some Avenue and
we begin to focus on that then he wipes
us
up very important if we going to get
right with God and you say I’m not
saying that you have to fast every time
you confess but I want to ask you this
are you one of those persons who’s
saying I want to be everything God wants
me to be but somehow I just can’t do
that I want to but I can’t break out in
fact I don’t even know what it is that
has me changed I don’t even know what it
is that keeps holding me back I just
know what I want to be I know what I
believe God wants me to do and I can’t
do it then I want to challenge you to
start with one day take a Saturday if
that’s your your day off what it may be
and you just say to your wife quietly
don’t make any big to-do out of it honey
I want to just fast today or if your
wife and you want to do that you tell
your family your husband and look I’m
willing to cook uh three meals today if
necessary but it would certainly be
easier on me if I didn’t have to go in
the kitchen uh today and just be by
myself alone to pray and husband surely
you’ll take the kids out and do whatever
is necessary won’t hurt you to
cook ah and teach you to appreciate your
wife a little more
and you just take care of that while she
sets aside a time to pray or if the
husband and wife want to take a time of
fasting and praying together or the
whole family fast and pray God will do
something Supernatural in your life and
in your family and friend there is a
Power released when you fast and pray
that does not come any other way look in
the Bible to see what he says then there
is the concern over a nation the concern
turn over a nation to protect the nation
and one of the most beautiful of all
chapters is 2 Chronicles chapter 20 when
Jehoshaphat heard the enemy was coming
the Bible says he fell on his face
before God called for fasting and
praying and he prayed before God before
the whole Congregation of Israel and
when he finished his prayer God spoke to
a prophet who was standing in the
congregation and he stood up and told
him what to do and they did the most
unnatural thing they got the Army
together they got the choir they put the
choir in the front of the army the
natural normal thing to do was put the
choir up on the hill where everybody
could see them with all the Trumpets on
one side and the singers on the other
and the and the armies would go out
inspired by the choir and the and the
orchestra up on the bank where it was
very
safe Jehoshaphat said God said put the
choir and the orchestra in the front of
the
army well you can amaz be amazed or you
can you can imagine how amazed the enemy
were when the choir came out
first but but you see it put him in
confusion God defeated him but he didn’t
do it the natural normal way and you see
God will save this country God can
change this nation God can send a
tremendous sweeping Revival in America
but I want to tell you he’s going to
have to do it his way and the only way
for him to do it for him to get all the
glory and praise and honor is for people
to pray if God sent some sweeping Mighty
evangelist through America to start a
Revival we give him all the credit we do
it anyway we are prone to give people
credit God wants glory not men having
credit and when we fall in our face
before God and weep and confess and
repent and praise and sing God is going
to hear that it’s sweet to him because
he knows his people are getting honest
with
him another thing another purpose for
for uh fasting is this that is a concern
for God’s work and you’ll recall in
Nehemiah chapter 1 when nemiah who was
the cup bearer of our xeres the
scripture says that he was serving the
king and of course he was a u uh he was
a um not a he was a prisoner but uh he
was a prisoner who had a acceptable
responsibility of being sort of a a
butler there and the scripture says that
when he heard the news of how the walls
were broken down in Jerusalem and the
gates were burned and here he was
hundreds of miles away in Babylonian
captivity that he just wept and wept and
wept and his heart was broken over the
whole situation and he says and it came
to pass when I heard these things that I
sat down and wept and mourned certain
days and fasted and prayed before the
god of heaven and I said I beseech thee
Oh Lord God Of Heaven the great and
terrible God that keepeth Covenant and
mercy for them that love him and observe
his
Commandments let thine ear now be
attentive and Thine Eyes Open that thou
mayest hear the prayer of thy servant
which I pray before thee now day and
night for the children of Israel thy
servants and confess the sins of the
children of Israel which have sinned
against thee both I and my father’s
house have sinned and dealt corruptly
against thee listen that’s the kind of
prayers the leadership of this nation
needs to pray anyway Nehemiah began to
pray he didn’t say a word to anybody he
fasted and prayed and besought the Lord
day and night now he had to fulfill his
responsibilities before the king the
second chapter says he came in before
the king when then the king says what’s
the matter with you nemiah you look down
in the heart your spirits grieve what’s
the matter with you and that’s exactly
what Nehemiah had been mourning somebody
to ask him at the right
time and so he opened his heart he said
my people are dispersed they’re
scattered my God is is shamed by the
dispersion of my people the city of
Jerusalem God’s holy city the walls are
broken down the gates are all burned and
my heart is grieve for my people and the
King said listen watch this here is a
heathen Babylonian King who doesn’t even
believe in the god of Nehemiah here is a
man who’s a servant and a slave to the
the king and the king of Babylon Under
The Sovereign control and the power of
the almighty God who is our almighty God
today said to him Nehemiah what can I do
for you and Nehemiah said I’d like to go
back I’d like to see my people revive
you know what he did he gave him a work
order and that work order said that
every all the all the supplies that he
needed all the people he needed and all
the time he needed and all the
protection he needed to go back to
Jerusalem rebuild the walls rebuild the
gates that he had not only the king’s
supplies he had the king’s blessing and
the King’s
protection that is a demonstration of
what happens when God’s people fast and
pray in concern for God’s work now
friend when they got desperate God
moved and the problem in America is
we’re not desperate we still think we’re
going to pull it off and we’re not I
guarantee you God isn’t going to let
this nation pull off anything except
repentance and confession and
humiliation before him and you know
where that starts my heart your heart
the hearts and the families and the
homes all over this nation when people
pray things begin to
happen well let me just go through just
two or three things quickly that I’ve
already mentioned about what happens the
first thing that happens when God’s
people begin to fast and pray is is a
sharpening of the mind there is nothing
that makes the mind so Keen nothing that
gives such Clear Sight as fasting it
peels off every hour you and I are
fasting and praying is peeling off one
layer of fog and Haze where we’re able
to see the innermost being of what God
is thinking able to see ourselves as
we’ve never seen ourselves before able
to see those around us as we have never
been able to feel their feelings and see
their condition we’re able to understand
scripture like we’ve never understood it
before able to get the mind of God able
to discern his will and most of all the
supernatural power of God is strangely
miraculously but definitely released
when God’s people are willing to Humble
themselves before him bring themselves
in subjection to him and say God I can’t
but you can more important to me than
food more important to me than any
Intimate Relationships of any kind any
need that I have more important than
that is my relationship to you that I
find what you’re saying to me and friend
we have the privilege of Watching God do
a supernatural work in our midst the
greatest work will be in our hearts and
it’s my prayer that God will burden your
heart that you’ll never be satisfied
with less than the maximum of your
potential for him now father we thank
you in Jesus
name for giving us the examples of
fasting and praying all through the
scripture and there’s so many of
them we thank you for that beautiful
chapter of Isaiah 58 that describes how
we ought to go about fasting and I pray
that many today will commit themselves
to prayer groups many today will commit
themselves to begin to fast and to pray
and to seek your face confessing and
repenting of sin
that you may be able to use each and
every one of us and all of us together
in small groups and a great body and a
whole nation of people that through all
of us you may demonstrate your
Supernatural power that you’re alive
that you’re God that you’re Sovereign
that everything on this Earth and
everything Beyond it is under your
perfect
control I pray for somebody here today
Father who is unsaved for they cannot
pray except they first pray for mercy
and forgiveness and cleansing and
salvation
I pray for fathers and mothers who have
families who ought to be a part of this
Fellowship who ought to join this
fellowship and grow up with us in
understanding the truth of the
scriptures and growing in their life and
providing the teaching and the
admonition and the nurture of their
families they will bring about strength
and stability and stalwartness and
mighty in spirit this we ask in Jesus
name and for his
sake