Even as believers, we can get so connected to the world that we begin to feel disconnected from God. We keep going through the routine of a good Christian—we love the Lord, we make good choices, we go to church, we sing worship—but something seems to be missing. In his message, Clean Slate, Pastor explains how a season of fasting & prayer unplugs you from the world and reconnects you to God!
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the following program is sponsored by friends and partners of kingdom connection i’m so glad you’ve joined me today for kingdom connection you if you follow this ministry know that for many years now we’ve been doing the 21 day fast and we’re into that fast and we would love for you to join us and today on the program i’m going to be talking about things that i’ve picked up learned through the years learned from other people some great material that we’re even sharing through this ministry and some people who mentored me like elmer townes and bill bright and and chris hodges and all kinds of people that have poured into my life and i’m going to relay some of those lessons that i’ve learned even from my own experience today in fasting and prayer and i believe that god is going to speak to you about seeking him as never before in the new year this is the perfect time for you to clean the slate and say god i’m coming after you i love you and i want more of your presence in my life and in my family than ever before so let’s go right into this service i know it’s going to speak to your life and i’m going to come back and pray for you in just a moment listen to this message and let it speak [Music] today we’re talking about having a clean slate starting the year outright starting the year with a clean slate rearranging our lives and saying god we’re coming after you in prayer and fasting so if you have your bibles i’d like for you to open them with me to the book of matthew chapter 17 and verse 15 lord have mercy on my son for he is suffering severely and he often falls into the fire and often into the water and i brought him to your disciples listen to this and they could not cure him and jesus answered and said o faithless and perverse generation notice those two words faithless and perverse generation jesus said you could not handle and rebuke the devil in this boy for two reasons here’s the problem my disciples my my my spiritual family my sons my daughters have two problems even though they’re my disciples number one they are faithless and number two they have become perverse it is possible for disciples for people who love jesus to absolutely become faithless and perverse that word is where we get perverted or or sinful uh it it is a word that has to do with the clutches of sin and the iniquity getting a hold of your heart and he says what i want you to understand is they’re unbelieving they’re unbelieving they’re unfaithful they do not have faith they’re faithless they’re unbelieving believers they’re disconnected from god listen to me they have become doubters they’re not connected enough they’re not connected enough with my word they’re not connected enough with my holy spirit they’re not connected enough in worship they go through the routine but it’s not connecting with me and so they’re faithless they don’t have the faith they ought to have to deal with the problems and the and the things that they’re dealing with and secondly not only are they faithless but they they now find themselves as verse 7 17 says perverse and that means they’re not just they’re not just disconnected from me but they are too connected to the world so you have this dual problem going on they’re disconnected even though they’re my children my disciples they’re disconnected they’re faithless they’re disconnected from god and they’re too connected they become perverse to the world so it’s like the enemy is pulling them away from god and he says that’s the problem and then jesus rebuked the demon verse 18 said and it came out of him and the child was cured from that very hour then the disciples came to jesus privately later on that day they said lord why could we not cast out the spirit why couldn’t we deal with this what was missing in our situation here he comes again jesus said because of your unbelief you’re my disciples but you’re not believing me for great things you’re not believing me for mighty year you’re not believing me to bless you and to keep you and to raise you and to anoint you and to give you dreams beyond anything you can even imagine you have become faithless and you’re unbelieving believers you just kind of go through the routine and i’m not pleased with that and not only are you disconnected from me but you’ve become perverse you’re plugging in to the wrong things you’re connecting to the world and your disconnecting from me but then he makes this powerful statement jesus is so good because he doesn’t just tell him what the problem is and leave him there he brings the solution if you feel disconnected from god you love him but you just don’t you really want to draw closer to him and you also know deep in your heart if you were to tell the truth that you’re too connected to some things in the world you’re beginning to dabble you’re beginning to get involved you’re beginning to get a little entangled you’re beginning this happens to everybody you find yourself disconnecting from god in prayer in the word in worship in seeking god and even church and and and worship and all of that and then you’re then what happens is you begin to get too connected to worldly things and he says here’s what here’s what you do about it he said verse 21 however i say to you this kind does not go out except by prayer and by fasting now you’ve got to see this my friend chris hodges taught me this the problem is unbelief and perverse sins and entanglements the answer is prayer because just as you’re full of unbelief because of your lack of connection with god when you pray prayer is connecting with god and when you fast fasting is disconnecting from the world so the solution is prayer and fasting the problem is being disconnected in unbelief and in perverseness i love the fact that all i’ve got to do to turn this thing around is when i begin to pray and fast together praying connects me back to god and fasting disconnects me from the world and sin and things that pull me away from god if there was no other reason that i talked about for fasting if you did that for 21 days and said for the next 21 days i’m connecting back to god i’m disconnecting from all of those things that are pulling my heart and soul so that i can feel the anointing again i can feel the presence again i can get into your word again that’s worth the whole fast we’re not just fasting and praying about what we can get from god but when we fast and we pray it pleases god because we express a heart of worship and gratitude fasting is about taking going into the presence of god with our lives and saying lord we we long for you we we we show you our sincerity by pushing away from the things of the world and even the flesh for a season we can’t live here you made our bodies to eat we we can’t do this all the time but this is a different time i’m rearranging everything the next few days and i’m coming after you with all of my heart mind soul and strength fasting and holiness go hand in hand when you fast you are saying to god that you want that you want to separate yourself from the clutches and the lust of the world you’re saying clean me up bring me back to purity i’m coming before you give me a clean slate tear me up rip me up any evil in me any iniquity in me anything that i’ve been compromising anything i’ve been dabbling in anything holy spirit that’s been grieving you go through me and check me and convict me and fix me and clean me and anoint me and use me come on and give god a praise that’s what fasting is about when it feels like the heavens are shut up and your prayers keep bouncing off the ceiling when the clock is ticking and you don’t know what you’re going to do and you’re running out of time and you need an answer that’s when it’s time to get serious and fast and pray jesus tied amazingly the lord’s prayer to fasting it’s in the same chapter that he gave us pray like this to his disciples and he said our father which art in heaven and he went all the way through the lord’s prayer and then at the end of that he said and when you fast as if he was he was absolutely expecting his church to not only pray the lord’s prayer but grab hold of that prayer with fasting it’s in the same chapter matthew chapter 6. and he didn’t say if you fast he said when you fast meaning i fully expect my disciples to seek me in seasons of prayer and fasting when you understand that you understand that he waits for you to seek him your father does not answer your prayers because you withhold food instead fasting communicates your need to the father it demonstrates your trust that he will provide all of your needs and you’re saying god i’m fasting to you in demonstration of my dependency upon you i’m saying to you this year i am depending on you i cannot do this without you this this is how i fast this is why i fast i’m saying to god with my physical body going without food i am desperate for you i i am fully depending on you this new year to give me the help the strength the wisdom the direction the finances the the favor the blessings the steps the all of the things that i need i desperately am depending on you and that’s what i’m saying with this fast i’m not going to make god do anything i’m not trying to make god do it i’m saying i’m depending on you i need you in my home in my family in my church in my career in my walk in my talk i need you i’m depending on you this year fasting is is saying god i’m willing i’m willing it’s not outrageous to consider fasting for a spiritual purpose it’s not ridiculous or wrong for a person to fast so that they will be alive spiritually it’s not unreasonable to fast so that you keep your walk with god your number one priority that’s not ridiculous if people could adjust their diet to lower their cholesterol and when they get high cholesterol that’s exactly what they do and when they get sugar diabetes that’s exactly what they do then why is it ridiculous for me to protect my spiritual life and my my my passion for god by saying uh this is an interruption of everything normal and regular in my life for the next 21 days i am not going to go on a fast and sit and watch tv all day or be on facebook or do all of this you you miss the whole point if your fast is not turning your world completely away unplugging and and saying god every time i could be eating a meal what i’m going to do if it takes 30 minutes to eat a meal to an hour then at breakfast my time will be spent reading something or maybe the bible or praying and pray a while read a while listen to preaching listen go on youtube if you’re gonna go on that then go on and listen to some good preaching and download you some ipod messages get you some good cds and during that time you would eat you go and you spend that time with god and i’m telling you that’s where the presence of god will come and then at noon you get in your car and you get in your truck or you go in your office and you shut the door or you get away from everybody and go for a walk somewhere in the woods or out on a track somewhere or whatever you want to do but you pull away you’ve got 30 minutes to an hour and you get out there and you talk to god talk to them about your fears talk to them about your needs talk to them about your children talk to them pray pray pray fast fast fast what are you doing you’re praying you’re connecting to god you’re fasting you’re disconnecting from the world and suddenly the anointing suddenly the favor and most importantly the presence of god begins to find you wherever you are you’ll get some of your greatest blessings laying in your bed and at four in the morning you’ll wake up and you’ll feel the presence of god in your room and you’ll hear that with gentle whisper of the holy spirit saying i’m here i’m here to bless your children i’m here to take control of your life i have a plan for you i have a destiny for you i have a calling for you my hand is on you it’s coming to your life if you will fast and pray everybody take a 2014 praise break and give god some praise if you’re hungry for him come on just take a moment stir it up stir it up there’s nothing that satisfies like the living bread the living water jesus nothing nothing one of the things this fast does to me is it causes me when i fast to turn and refocus on eternal things so much of our life is is all about ball games and practices and get to school and all and what fasting does is it says that’s not all of my life you are all of my life again and i’m letting you know that and i refocus listen on eternal things when i begin to fast a lot of the things that that i give a lot of attention to and make a big deal about they they become blurred and when you fast you begin to refocus on eternal things you you think about the rapture you think about the fear of god returns the the the the you you think about heaven you think about hell you think about your children you think about the need for revival in your own household some of the most blessed times that i’ve ever had on fasting is when my whole household was fasting and we reconnected with god because maybe the kids were fasting from the internet because nowadays it’s everybody’s doing their own thing everywhere in pockets all over the house but what would happen if we would reconnect with god while our families are fasting you begin to go around that room at night you read a little bit of the scripture and let the children pray and then you end praying i’m telling you there will be times when the presence of god because that’s the greatest reward of fasting what elmer towns calls in his book the atmospheric presence of god will come to your life have you ever been in a service or in a move of god where you could literally feel the presence of god in the atmosphere it’s going to get that way around here every week it intensifies i know what’s going to happen and the atmospheric presence of your life begins to change because you you you are so connecting to god and and unconnected to the things of the world even not necessarily evil or bad things but things like media you know uh tv and all of that you need to pull away from that the social media facebook and all of that stuff pull away from that pull away and spend that time in the word of reading a good christian book or listening to hillsong or somebody whoever floats your boat if it’s the gaithers or whoever it is whatever you like the country the bluegrass gospel the thump thump wrap whatever it is lecrae who cares whatever gets in your spirit and gets you thinking about god hook up to it and turn everything off i won’t even listen to secular music i won’t even i don’t want to be i don’t even go to movies when i’m fasting i don’t want to be around it i i i it’s not legalism it’s just i’m this is for a while i’m not going to live here all the time but this is a season i give to god fast the satan loves to get us preoccupied about i’m giving this up i’m hungry i’m hungry i’m giving this up no don’t let your mind even go there see let me explain something to you you are body soul and spirit body is your flesh your body your your soul is your emotions your body is is connected to you it’s all about you it’ll tell you about you ah if i want to sleep with somebody i can sleep with them if i want to do this i i that’s what the flesh does but the soul is about others you get your emotional feelings from others you know that person makes me happy or that person really makes me mad or that person makes me that’s what your soul feeds off of others your body feeds off of what you want but your spirit is the other part of you and it feeds off of god now here’s the key the one that will be strongest body soul or spirit will be the one you feed so if you feed your body your body will rule over your spirit and say i don’t care what your emotions say i don’t care what your spirit says if this is what i feed all the time on the lust of the eyes of us the flesh the pride of life and i don’t ever try to subdue and get my body under subjection then guess who’s gonna rule i don’t feel like going to church today and i’m not going so emotions you get in line with me and spirit i don’t care what you’re saying my body is going to control my spirit and my soul or some people just get into you know they’re they they get depressed and they allow their emotional side to be so filled up and so fat and sassy that their emotions say i’m depressed so body be depressed spirit be depressed uh i’m mad so so that affects you spirit and that affects you body get all tense and get all worked up or watch this you can fast and pray and the amazing thing about fasting and prayer is it affects two out of the three the majority because when you pray and you fast fasting connects your spirit to god and it disconnects your body from its power source and then the emotions are just standing there saying well if he’s going that way i guess i’m going that way and then you end up with a praise like david had about three or four days into the fast bless the lord o my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name come on somebody give him one of those if you’re gonna give him your body your soul and your spirit on this fast nothing impresses god more than your hunger and desire to reach out and so i want to close with this there are three thens that he promised when we fast in isaiah 58 the fasting chapter he said when you fast and you come after me and you rearrange your life that whole chapter if you read it is about rearranging your emotions your life the way you treat people the way you deal the way you think a fast a god chosen fast will rearrange your whole life for the period that you go on it and then lastly listen he says when you do that the three thens kick in he makes three promises he says after you fast then your light will break forth and your healing shall spring forth speedily everybody say healing from a marriage from a life from a brokenness for my broke places for for my body healing and then comes the second then then your righteousness will go before you what does that mean that means you will be in right standing you will be back in right place with god you will be reconnected you will be in right position for your purpose that god has for your life when you fast then your righteousness will get you right in line in alignment for your assignment and the purpose that god has called you because when you when you get into the uh the the uh perversion of a generation and the disconnection of god the un the unfaithful and the unfaithless the faithless life then you get out of sorts and you’re not in alignment for your assignment but fasting puts you back in the right place and then lastly he said and you shall call upon the lord and he will answer you and he will help you so he said healing healing will come and he said holiness will come back to your life and you will be helped supernaturally when you call on me and fast and pray he said that when we fast and when we pray that he would meet with us and that he would answer our prayers in isaiah 58 he said he would send help and he would send healing and he would send his presence into our life like never before to go before us and his rear guard would cover us and we would see the favor and blessing of god and i want to encourage you to fast and pray join us on this 21 day fast we have all kinds of materials and of course the books that god has given us and many of you have read them but if you haven’t it’s not too late to join us on this fast and even come in on the 26th we’ll be praying a blessing we always one of the highlights of the fast is the last day of the fast we anoint and lay hands on every person it’s amazing what god does and in orange county california at our campus there in the four and six p.m service and right here in georgia nine and 11 a.m always capacity crowds and you don’t want to miss it i believe that god is going to do amazing things in your life in 2014 thank you for helping us thank you for supporting this ministry thank you for sowing your first fruits gifts and for helping us in haiti as we’re seeing a miracle marketplace provide food for life for so many people you know 540 000 meals a month lives being changed and that marketplace is going to impact the whole region and perhaps the whole nation we’re believing god for great things help me today so to the poor while you you know fast and pray when you give when you fast and when you pray that’s a combination a threefold cord that absolutely breaks the heavens open and causes i believe blessing to come into your life the blessing of giving and the god who loves to see you receive thank you we’ll see you next time right here on kingdom connection start your year off on the right path seeking god’s best in 2014 this month we’ve prepared a brand new resource of encouragement and inspiration in this vibrant gift book this beautiful work of art is a daily reminder of encouraging thoughts life lessons and scripture the gift is in you is available for your best gift of 35 or more this month and when you order this month we’ll also include the clean slate confession cards for 21 days of god’s promises to build your faith and expectation ask for the gift is in you kid today a great marriage is more than a sweet melody of love it can be a beautiful symphony when two hearts are joined as one husband and wife join jensen and cherise franklin for the one marriage conference february 21st and 22nd at free chapel in gainesville georgia and discover how to live in rhythm and grow in grace with the one you love one husband one wife one accord whether you’re newlyweds or a seasoned couple the one marriage conference will give you the tools to create the marriage of your dreams i’m gonna go home with a new whole perspective of my marriage with special guests dr mark and alison rutland this weekend will be filled with music fun laughter and best of all your marriage will be stronger than ever go online for registration and more information and see how you can have a marriage that’s whole fulfilling exciting and strong as one husband one wife one accord this program has been brought to you by the friends and partners of jensen franklin media ministries for more information on this broadcast or for additional resources go online at jensenfranklin.org
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