Stephanie Ike - The Power Of Fasting Part 2

Hey, family, welcome to the official YouTube page of One. I'm excited that you're here. This message is getting ready to bless your life. I want you to stay connected to the incredible things that are happening in this movement. So don't forget to subscribe and turn on your notifications. And if you want to partner with us and some of the great things that we're doing all over the world, you can give as well. That's time to get into this word. I love you, God bless you. Let's stay connected. Hallelujah. Family. I am so excited to be with you all once again for activate. And you know, the last time I was with you, I was teaching on the power of fasting as it relates to what is fasting. And so today, as you're getting ready to take notes, we're going to be talking about the principles to fasting and I'll just even do a quick recap, right. You know, one of the key things that I talked about the last time is that there are mysteries in God, and when we understand the mysteries of God, it is actually for our glory, right, it is for your glory, It is for your promotion, it is for your victory and fastness. One of these mysteries in God that when we tap into the understanding of fasting and we begin to move from understanding, it changes everything. Right, It's such a beautiful thing because again, I'm not talking about fastening as it relates to just you know, the natural body, like what we may do for weight loss purposes or you know, health purposes, because even scientifically, there are benefits to fastening your natural body. But I'm talking about fastening as it relates even to your spiritual growth, as it relates to tapping into just spiritual possibilities with God because of what fasting means, because of what fastening represents, and because of what fastening does to you. And so you definitely, if you have not watched part one of this message, I encourage you to watch it. But I got you. I'm gonna just do a little recap for you, right, And so I talked about how the life of a believer should be marked by fasting and prayer. And that is because Jesus, who is our ultimate model. Jesus, we see that he fasted not only in the wilderness, but even throughout Jesus's ministry. They are moments. Where his disciples will bring him food and he would reject the food, and he's telling them that I have food. That you do not know of. And Jesus will say things like, you know, my food is to do the will of God. In those moments, it is strongly assumed that Jesus was most likely in a fasted stake, and so we see that he is the model. And Jesus will say things like when you fast, not if you fast because of but he says when you fast, and he begins to dialogue about you know, how our posture ought to be when we come into the place so fast and so fast and has definitely so many powerful benefits. And I talked about that in part one. But we fast also because Jesus is our model, right, and three key reasons why we don't fast while maybe some people don't fast, or when we think about fast and we were life and that's what this religious people do. That just sounds like religion. It just sounds like you know, things you want to check mark off. And that mindset speaks to number one. And that's ignorance, right, And ignorance is not again, it's not a curse word. Sometimes when we're just like, oh, this is you know, you're being ignorant in this moment. It's not a curse word. It's a moment of self reflection and self awareness that, oh my gosh, like even when when we think about you know who we are as it relates to God, there are things that we would always be ignorant of. And that is what keeps us always at the feet of Jesus because we want to tap into understanding and knowledge because the Bible says that my people, and this is God speaking, my people perish because of lack of lack of knowledge, right. And so when you're seeing that in your life, there's some areas of your life that's not making sense. There's some areas of your life that looks like bondage, and it's being oppressed that it could be that you are one knowledge, one wisdom, one insight away from breakthrough, one understanding of away from breakthrough. And so when we feel like fastness for those people, it's really because we're coming from a place of ignorance about the power fasting. And I believe that that is why the Lord really put this so heavy on my heart to teach on it. And when you think about it, we're really you know, in the just the last few days of twenty twenty one, right, and when you're transitioning, even from one year to another, one season to another, you always want to come before the Lord God. What is it about this new season of my life? You know, what does twenty twenty two have for me? What is it that this new season holds for me? Who have you called me to become? You see, the Bible talks about that there are good works that were prepared for you even before time, that God has already set the stage of your life before time. And so you always want to be in a place of God. Give me an understanding, give me an awareness. What is it that I should be doing in this season of my life that I'm not doing right now? Who must I be in this season of my life that maybe perhaps I'm rejecting? What are the things that you have called to me? Because you see, God will not force anything on you. In order for you to tap into the place of alignment with God, you have to come into partnership with God. You know, there's a scripture that says can two walk together unless they agree, right, So in order for you to walk and sync with God, you have to be in the place of agreement and to agreements that you are knowledgeable about what the plans and purposes of God are for your life. And so as we're looking into this new season, God, what is it about this new season? What is it that it holds for me? You see, the reality is that you know, when it comes to your assignment in life, it's not always connected to the things that maybe you feel drawn to in regards to your desires. Right, there are some things that you may. Have even rejected the idea of and God is like, I've called you to this. We see this so many times in the Bible. You see moments where Moses, right when the Lord is telling Moses, Hey, Moses, I'm gonna call you. I've called you to deliver my people. And Moses has all the excuses in the book, and he's legit, has excuses in the face of. The Almighty God. But you see, Moses, his purpose was hidden in his fear because at the end of the day, as a even when you know years prior from that, Moses had this understanding that wait, maybe I could be used to deliver my people when it didn't go according to his plans, And when you know he killed an Egyptian and the people he was trying to deliver turned on him and told that, hey, you killed somebody, right, and now he's on the wrong. You know. The betrayal and the hurt and the pain, all of it masked his purpose. And so even in the face of God, Moses was like, nah, it's not me. It's not me, bra And so while I'm telling you this is that you need moments because I don't even know who this is for. But perhaps there were dreams that you had as a child, There were things that God told to you, even just as as recent as five years ago, but there were you suffered betrayals and hurt and pain, and what you felt was failure. And now you're you're you're so you're so disappointed and discouraged to the point that it has buried the seed of purpose that God planted in you. That even when someone comes before you and they're just like, man, I see you doing this, I see you being this person, You're like, now that's not for me, It's probably for somebody else. I can't even I can't even see myself doing that. God picked somebody else, right, because you have you have covered your your purpose has been buried by hurt. And so when we come to the Lord and we say, God, I need to understand what does this new season hold for my life? What is it that you're doing. What are the things connected to this new season that I'm stepping into. You're saying, God, I'm laying down my wisdom, my understanding, what I think is my desires, what I think is my intellect. I'm laying it all down to recogniz eyes and tap into what is it you know about me? Right, this is one of the reasons that we that we fast. But before I go into that, I was telling you about three reasons why we don't fast right before we went into this moment. But one ignorance, right, And sometimes it's ignorance based on, you know, just the spiritual understanding of fasting, but it's also ignorance about what happens in the body when you fast. Sometimes you can be on the fast and you know, you start having headaches, or you know you're feeling a little tired and things like that, and your body is just going through a process. Right. Most times you might just need to hydrate yourself, right, and then you're just like, Nah, this fast is not for me, the enemy is trying to attack me, or my body is rejecting the fast. No, you have to also educate yourself about what happens in your natural body so that way you recognize that, Okay, this feeling is only temporary and you can keep going. Right. Another reason that I talked about is lack of hunger. Right when we become so stuffed and full of the hour appetites connected to the world, where we're so full by our accomplishments and the things that we're doing that we call our goals, and we're so full by you know, the steps of progress, that we have lost hunger to grow in God. We have lost hunger to hear from God. We have lost hunger for the presence of God in our lives that we were just so stuffed by the world. So lack of hunger and three self dependence right, and self dependence is another way to say pride right when we're just like, look, God, I've been in control my whole life. I've done this, I've handled this all my life. You know. Sometimes, you know a lot of times we go through pain, then we go through hurt and we're just like, God, where were you right? You're just like God. You were in there, So why do I need to start calling on you to show up right now? And then you have this mentality of it's my fight, right I've brought myself here. I'm going to find a way out of this. And the reality is that you see fast And humbles your soul because fast And says, maybe I don't understand. I may feel like God, where were you? But maybe in the wisdom of God, there's something that He has for me even through this pain, even through this situation. Now, I'm not saying that everything that happens in our lives God allows it. No, there are some things that we experience because of the brokenness of humanity, but that the Lord will always be there as a comfort. The Lord will always be there to cover you and to protect you, and to bring healing and understanding and their things. That's why I love when the Word of God says that the Lord causes all things to work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. Because even that deepest pain and that deepest hurt and trauma, God says, you know what, I did not give authorization to that, but I can use it to work for your good. And so when you're feeling like, God, you know what, I've been doing this all my life. I've been taking care of myself all my life. I don't need you now. But the reality is that there's some battles that you are it is. You cannot defeat it by yourself. You cannot get the victory by yourself, because the victory is in Christ. And there's some things that it is only in partnership, because even though it looks natural, it is spiritual. Right. The Apostle Paul revealed this when he says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty in God. They are mighty in God. That though we wrestle against the flesh, that we are wrestling against principalities and powers. What may look like a natural problem actually has a spiritual root. And so if you in your natural state, you're like, God, I got this, I'm good. You know, we'll figure this out. You don't recognize that this is actually not a natural problem. It's a spiritual issue. I remember, you know, a couple of years ago, someone from our community, she was sharing with me. She was like, Hey, I had this dream and I just really need I need to talk to you about this. I felt like I actually share this with you. And when I asked, I was like, what was the dream? And she said that she was in a boxing and there were these two creatures, these two disgusting creatures that in the dream she recognized them to almost be like demonic spirits, and they were trying to fight her, and they were trying to like put her in a corner and beat her up, and to the point that at first it looked like she was losing the battle, and then something came over her and then she started fighting back, and she's like, I don't understand what that means. And while she was telling me this dream, I began to just pray in my spirit and I'm like, God, does what are those two creatures? What do they represent? And the Lord said I should ask her about her job. That there are two people at her job and they want to discredit her and they want to frustrate her to the point that she would quit, but that he sent her there, that he assigned her to be in that job. And I asked her, I said, how is it at your job? You know what's going on at your job? And she said, it's fine, but there are these two women men they are just like there is annoying like the things they're doing. And I said to her, there two women, you had a dream. There are two demons. They're trying to put you in a corner and fight you. And I began to explain to her. I said, what you think is a natural issue, it actually has a spiritual route. That these women are just being used by the enemy, so that that God, so that Satan will remove you from where God. You know that God sent you here, you know that God planted you there. And so I'm sharing this to say that there are sudden fights that even if you feel like no, the natural I got it. You know, maybe I could just I need maybe I need a better doctor, maybe I need a better desk, maybe I need a better lawyer, maybe I need a better whatever. And all you need to do is really call on your savior and humble your soul to say God, I need you, Jesus, I need you to step into this. I can do this on my own right. And so in that I talked about you know a trooths about fasting, and you know, while we fast and I can, I'll sum it up into a few things. One, we fast even when we need revelation, direction, clarity about what is happening in our lives, what's happening in a new season. Right we fast when we are preparing for a divine assignment. Right Jesus fasted, you know, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to fast right before even his ministry, before he was tempted them, before he began his ministry. And so when there's a divine assignment on your life, sometimes it could be even for me when I preach. For example, most times when I'm preaching, when I know that this is a divine assignment, I fast on the days that I preach, right even this very day, I wait until I'm done with the assignment, and then I can break with the Lord and say, God, thank you for even just your strength in this, because I cannot do this on my own. I need you to step into this moment. Right we fast when we're preparing for divine assignment. Maybe God has spoken to you about a call, and you can consecrate yourself and set yourself apart and say God, I need you to step into this with me. It may not look like ministry for you it may look like even if it's a project at your job, you have to recognize that in everything you do, it is onto the glory of God, and God has positioned you in that job. God has positioned you in that industry. Maybe you're preparing for a movie, right there is a role you just God. Maybe you're preparing for a musical performance that you can come before the Lord and say God, as I'm going out to perform to people, as I'm going out to sing this song, and it may not even be a worship song, but you are a worshiper. You see, you don't have to say God through your music for people to feel the presence of Jesus, because when you stepped in there, you came in with who you are and you are backed up by Heaven. And so maybe you're an artist and you have a show coming up and you say, you know what, this is not just a show where fans are going to show up and they're going to applaud me and we're going to get a check and go home. You're going to say, no, this is a divine assignment. That I have a divine assignment. Lord, Jesus, help me back me up that when I get on the stage, move Lord, God that let people hear the sound and not even know what's going on, and all of a sudden they're being convicted in their hearts. They could be dancing, throwing their hands up in the air, shaking like it just don't. Care, I don't know. But all of a sudden they're feeling the presence of the Holy Ghost. So whatever it is you're writing a book, that's a divine assignment. Maybe before you begin writing the book, you set some time apart and say, you know what, God, I just want to I want to consecrate. I want to commit this book to you. I just want to. And you're doing it through a fast, right, and so we fast even when we're preparing. We fast for breakthrough, divine intervention or deliverance. Right. You see, you might be going, you might have an addiction, you might have something that you're dealing with, and in that you can come to the Lord and fast because fast and says God, I'm acknowledging that I'm weak and I need your strength. I'm acknowledging that I can't fight off this addiction by myself. I need your strength. And you commit that period of time to fasting and prayer and you're going to watch God move in such a powerful way. These are everything I'm saying. I've seen testimonies of this, you know, it's so beautiful. We also fast to humble ourselves and repent before the Lord, and we fast as worship. Right. We fast because we want to restore our gaze on our first love, our gaze on Jesus. And so coming into today's message, I know that was a message in itself, but one of the key things you have to understand is what fasting is not. Right. Fasting is not manipulation. Because you fast does not make God obligated to respond to you according to your expectation. Right because you're saying that God, I'm coming on this fast, it does not mean God is obligated according to the way you see the outcome. Because the reality, like I said, fasting humbles your soul. So fast and already says God, I'm putting my wisdom and putting my understanding at your feet. I'm going to surrender it before you. And so maybe there's something that maybe for someone you're just like I don't know if I want to fast anymore, because the last time as fasten for a boot and then I saw the person get married. You know that's not that's witchcraft. You can fast and say, God, align my steps with the person you have for me. Right, align my steps, Lord, I'm just I'm gonna pray that in your timing, I'm gonna cover my marriage and pray, I'm gonna cover this person that you have for me. And in the timing that you have purpose, let nothing be a barrier. Align our steps with that we will find each other and recognize one another. But if you're fasting with someone's picture in mind and name and mind, you know that is witchcraft. But if you must fast for someone, fast for their breakthrough, fast for their healing, fast for their deliverance. Maybe you have a family member and you're like, God, I want you, I want them to encounter you. You can commit time to fasten and prayer that they will be, that they would encounter the Lord. Right, this is what This is how we fast for people, right, So fastness not manipulation. You know, one of the great examples is David. There was a time that David had some transgressions and he got a woman named Batshieba pregnant. You read the. Story in your own time. I don't want to really just go too much into that. But when Batschiba got pregnant, because of how this child came about, there was a message that came from the prophet Nathan to David that this child would die. When David heard this message, David went into fasting and prayer. He started fasting and he was petitioning the Lord that God, please don't kill this child. And on the seventh day of David's fast, the Lord took the child. Right. And it was so crazy because when you read the story, all of David's attendants they were like, Okay, when the child was living, David was not eating, was not drinking, he was mourning, he was not looking at nobody. And they were terrified to tell David that the child had died because they thought he was going to do something crazy. And David found out that the child died, David went into the house of the Lord and worshiped and he ate. He broke his fast. He said, well, that's done. But this is the beauty of this story, right, The beauty is not that okay, maybe the child that the beauty is that David under David moved in the true posture of fasting. He humbled his soul. He said, God, I'm going to petition you for something, but I trust your wisdom over mind. I trust your decision over my expectation. I trust that you, Lord God, that your word, that what the outcome will speak of your goodness. And so when the child was gone, David said, Lord, I'm not going to come from a place of this, you know, being discouraged or disappointed. I'm gonna acknowledge that you are still good. He worshiped the Lord. He ate, he took a shower, shaved you know, he put some beard oil, and he went about his business. Right. So why I'm saying this to you is that sometimes things may not happen according to your expectation. But you have to trust the wisdom of God that maybe some things were not released to you in a particular timing, because God knows that you will not be fruitful in the manner that you can be if He released it to you then or it would not serve your growth. It might serve, you know, your appetite, it might serve your your happiness, but it may not serve your growth. And so we have to trust the Lord. Fasting is not manipulation. Right now, throughout the Bible, we see different types of fast right now, the general idea of fasting is that we are eliminating our distractions. We are eliminating the things that we delight in for a set period of time, as you're sacrifice and seeking God right, So for a set period of time, you're saying God, I'm eliminating my distractions. I'm eliminating my delights to seek you right. And so when we look at the Scripture, we see different types of fasting. We see, for example, what many people call Daniel's fast. I love that people call this the Daniels fast because it was Daniel fasting, and Daniel fasted several times. But what we call the Daniels fast is when Daniel fasted in a manner that he ate no choice food, no meat, you know, no, he had no wine for twenty one days. And so what he you know, what he consumes is like fruits and vegetables. And so many people say, oh, I'm doing the Daniels fast. But what I love about this example of fasting is that it's a unique fast. Right. It was Daniel's fasting, and this was the fast that he chose to do, and so you could have the Johnny's Fast, and Johnny's fast could be that, you know what for this for ten days, I'm not gonna have sweets. Right, Maybe sweets are your weakness. Every single morning you have some candy. Every you know, all throughout the day you're having candy, and Johnny is like, you know what, for ten days in seeking the Lord, I'm not gonna have sweets. Right. In this type of customized, unique experience of fasting is when people do partial fasting, right, partial fastness, it could could look like so many things, right. It could look like there are certain types of food that you're cutting out for a set amount of days. It could look like it could look like, you know, from a set time to another time. Sometimes, you know, for me, i would do like six am to six pm and I'm like, okay, for these hours, I'm only going to have water or tea, you know, different things like that. So that could be a partial fast. But whatever it is, it is a sacrifice to you. Right, if you're a vegan, you can't say you're doing a Daniels fast. You're already on a Daniels fast, right, That's not a sacrifice. You're already a vegan, all right, right, so it has to be a sacrifice to you. So when you think about that, you know, and maybe for some of you, it's social media, right, maybe you're you're not even food is not a problem, right, and you're eating is not. You maybe eat once a day. Maybe already you do inter in it fasting, right, And so food might not be a sacrifice. But it's social media. It's Netflix, it's binging, it's television, it's different things. And you're saying that I'm going to remove myself from this, that I can seek the Lord, that I can go deeper in pressing into the Lord. Now, another type of fast we see in the Bible is a complete fast. Right. A complete fast is when you only drink water for that said amount of time. And so you know, there are a lot of theologians believe that Jesus did a complete fast, and the reason is because you know, at the end of his fast, we hear that Jesus was hungry. Right, it doesn't say that he was thirsty. It says that and he was hungry. So there's a belief that Jesus did, you know, complete fast during his forty day period. We also see in the scriptures absolute fasting right absolute fast. And is when there is no food, no water. Esther did an absolute fast with all the Jews when she said, hey, fast and pray with me. Don't eat anything, don't drink anything for three days. Paul did an absolute fast before his conversion into Christianity. You know, he was struck with blindness, and the Bible tells us that for three days Paul did not eat or drink anything. Moses did an absolute fast, but Moses is a little different because you see, both Esther and Paul did three days. And even science has research that would suggest that the human body can only survive without water for about three days. After three days, your organs could start shutting down. And so if you feel called to do an absolute fast, you know make sure that first of all you are called to do that, and you know it should not extend three days. We see that Moses did an absolute fast for forty days, but his case was a little different because Moses was in the presence of the source of life himself. Moses was in the presence of God during the time when he was on the mountain and the Lord was giving him the ten commands and so we know that Moses ate nothing but dragged nothing. But Moses is in the presence of life, and so there was a supernaturally his body was being held up by the Lord. Right. We even see about Elijah when Elijah was on a journey to meet the Lord. But before that journey of forty days, Elijah there was an angel of the Lord that came to him and prepared spiritual food for him and say, Elijah, eat because your journey is long, and so anything outside of you know, you know, going past three days of fasting without food, without water means that there is such a powerful supernatural encounter that is going to sustain you. That is not something you should just do, you know, randomly, because your organs can start shutting down. Right, But when we think about fasting, right, there are three key things that I want you guys to consider. Right. The first thing is that you need to commit. And there's a scripture I want to read to you, Daniel ten verse three. It says this, This is Daniel speaking, and he says, I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I annoyed myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled. He said that you know what, I have set my mind that I'm gonna do this for three weeks that I'm consecrating, I'm setting apart three weeks to seek the Lord in this manner. And so what I want to tell you is that you have to be committed when you'd say to the Lord, that God for these next few days, that this is what I'm committing to you. You want to be a person of your word. That is why even the Lord will say things like let your yes be or yes and your no, your no. Anything outside from this is from the evil one. Because when you come before the Lord, the Lord is banking on your integrity. The Lord is saying, you know what, I'm taking your word that you will be faithful to what you have said. And so when you're when you know, when you're inspired, when the spirit moves you, or you're just after the Lord and you're like, God, I'm gonna do this fast, commit to your word. Because here's the thing about commitment. Commitment is the evidence of your faith when you see it through despite the obstacle, despite the highs and lows, despite the temptations. It is the evidence of your faith. And I want to read to you. Hebrews eleven six says this, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him, those who are committed to seek in him. He is a rewarder. So your commitment is the evidence of your faith. Right. Sometimes you know when you're in worship, when you're in prayer and you get inspired, you're excited, You're like, God, I'm going to do this fast. I want to just spend some time with you. And then day four you start thinking about chicken nuggets, right, and you're like, it's not that deep, it's not that deep. But this is what you don't recognize that you're doing. When you're saying, Ah, I really, I'm really craving this chicken nuggets. Man, you're putting that as a priority above seeking the Lord. You're saying that in this moment, this chicken nuggets mean more to me than my word that I've given to the Lord and seeking him for this said amount of days. You see angels. There are angels that even honor your word. There was something that wasn't There was something the Lord revealed to me a couple of years ago, and he showed me how and the way he taught me this. At first, it wasn't a church service. And you know, sometimes you know, I'm breaking myself free from the lateness of my culture. You know, I'm Nigerian, and yeah, we have some late tendency sometimes. And I remember the Lord was showing me. Something and he said, Stephanie, you know this was a time I was heading to service. And he said that this time that is set even for the service, because this is a time that is set for everyone to come and gather before me. Right, he said, the time that is set. There are angels that are released at that time, and those angels have things that they are able to release to the people who are committed even to the time that this is what we're saying, Lord, at this time, we are opening up this service onto you. It's the same things that happen even in our homes when you're just like God, you know what, I'm gonna come before you at a time to be in prayer. There are there is a release. God is taking you for your what he said, Okay, you're gonna be there at five all right now, I'm there. I'm right there at five am where you at, okay, not showing that you know that you feel a little tickle on your feet. You're wondering who's tickling you? And the Lord is like, get up right. But what I'm trying to tell you is that there is such a power in your commitment. Right when you're just like okay, Lord, I've said I'm gonna do this, there are things that are waiting to be released because you see Daniel. How we don't know what inspired Daniel to do twenty one days right. All we know is that Daniel set his heart that for twenty one days he had no clue what was happening in the heavenly realms. But it is so interesting that during that twenty one day period was when he experienced a mighty breakthrough because something was holding up his miracle. There were principalities that were holding up what God had released. But the more Daniel state committed in that place of faithfulness, all of a sudden there was a release of breakthrough that came to him. You need to study that. It is such a powerful thing that happened as a result of him fulfilling that twenty one day, those twenty one days. And that's why I love that word when we go back to Daniel ten three when he said that till the three whole weeks were fulfilled. Right. So moving forward, and I'm telling you, as God was teaching me this igan to realize that there was some fast thing I was doing that it was not fastening, it was weight loss. Right, because when you fast with understanding, everything changes. So number two when it comes to key things about fasting, is to make room for God. Right fasting. The heart of fasting it is that Jesus is your focus. Jesus is the center of it all. It is all to the glory of God. And so you are growing in intimacy with the Lord, so you have to make room for God. I remember one time I was on the fast. I thought I was in the fast, and I was doing a six am to six pm fast and I was like, Okay, I'm just gonna drink water. But you know what I did from twelve to like five pm, I was binge watching a show because I was thinking so much about food. I'm like, okay, six o'clock just needs to get here so that I could just, you know, break and eat and for four hours watching watching the series, and the Lord was like, what, who is right? Because when you're fasting, you're feasting on Jesus. You're saying that, Lord, I'm removing myself from these distractions to feast on you, to feast on your word, to feast on your truth, to make room in my life for you to step in that I'm looking up to you. And in that moment, rather than making room for the Lord, I was making room for distractions. And so even if you're fast might be food, even if maybe it's not social media, you have to make room for Jesus. You have to recognize that. Okay, for a certain amount of time, I should eliminate other channels of information because I'm making room for the Lord in this time right, And so be certain to make room for the Lord. Because even when you think about it, right, when Jesus did a forty day fast, he could have fasted anywhere, but for some reason in the wisdom of God, he was led into to an isolated place. He was led into the wilderness. Now I'm not saying when you fast, isolate yourself, but I'm saying that the principle of that is that he was, He took himself outside of distractions. Right. And so even when. You're saying that God, I'm consecrating and setting time to seek, you remove yourself from certain distractions. Right. So if there's a time. Period in the day, you know, just say okay, Lord, even if you have to go to work, if you have to live your normal life, right, even Jesus will say, annoint yourself. Don't look like you know, you over here tripping, you know, don't look like. It's not about a show. It's not about for people to know. It's not about you wearing rags and just like, oh my gosh, I'm tied. You know, it's not about that. Right. So you can go about your normal day. You might go to work, you might do all these things. But at some point in the day, make room, make more room for Jesus. Right, Because even in fast and you're saying okay, God, intentional that during this time, I'm going to press in deeper into you. And the third thing I want you to understand is to stay up right. What do I mean by that? Proverbs twenty four and sixteen says this. It says, though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up Now, even as I talk about commitment, you might think I'm talking about perfection, that you know what, at no point should you ever just even look at that candy bar. Right, there are moments and that this is understandable. There are moments that you might, even in the beginning stages, you may give in, right, you might just you might lose focus and you're just It's just like what happened with Peter and Jesus. At first, Peter is walking on water because he's looking at Jesus. He's doing the impossible. And then life is coming at you so much, and Peter is listening to the waves and listening to the waves, and at some point he shifts his focus from Jesus to where the noise is and he looks at the noise, and he looks at the waves, and he begins to drown. Sometimes that happens even when we're fasting. We're looking at Jesus and the noise of life is happening. And it's so interesting because even science suggests that there's certain things that we eat that are linked to how we feel. That sometimes when you're feeling depressed or you're feeling anxious, you turn to you know, load up on carbs. You know, when you're feeling lonely, you might tend to load up on sugar. And so you could be in a fast and then life is coming not you, and all kinds of noise is happening. And as much as you want to look at Jesus, you just want to take a sneak peek at where is all this noise coming from, and you look away from him, and next thing you find yourself breaking your fast. But what I want you to understand is that you can stay up. Jesus did not see Peter drowning and leave him there. He didn't say, wow, Peter, look at you just drowning to your death. No, he went and he got him, He helped him. He said, Peter, let me help you up. And he's like, why did you doubt? And so even if you go on a fast and you have a moment where you lose sight of Jesus and you start looking at the world again, and then you start you break your commitment, you don't have to break it fully, right, You don't have to say you know what, because at the end of the day, God is looking at your heart. So I'll give you an example Let's say you said you know a Lord for seven days, no sugar for seven days, no sugar. I I'm not gonna give in to this. And day four you. Just start feeling a little lonely, or you start feeling whatever, and you don't even recognize that your habits are really triggered by things going on in your brain, and you're just feeling lonely, and all of a sudden you can't stop thinking about sugar because now you're looking at old text messages and different things, and you know things you should not be looking at. And you have you know, Swedish. Fish shatn't know mentos something I'm thinking of a candy that is universally understandable. Right, you have some twigs right, tuble around something. Right, It's not about you on the third day to say, ah, man, I mess this up. This is all done, and I'm just you know, filled with shame and guilt. No, when you come back to the awareness that, oh my gosh, what did I just do, get back into your fast, just go even in prayer, just say Lord, have mercy on me in this moment. Right, I gave in, But Lord, I'm still laughter you. My eyes are still on you. I'm gonna fulfill and finish out what I had spoken to you. That is why the mercies of God are made new every single day, because the Lord is aware that we would always be in need of his mercy. And so stay up, if you fall, if you trip, get back up and finish what you have said that you are gonna do before the Lord. Right now, some key things that you need to expect when you're fasting is one, you're gonna you're gonna have a renewed closeness with Jesus right It's gonna renew your intimacy with the Lord. And as a result of that, you're going to become more sensitive to spiritual things. And so when you're going on a fast, you know, be more intentional about journaling your dreams, journaling your visions, the ideas that come to mind that may seem random, write them down. The things that you might be having a conversation with someone and they say something in passion, but it stands out to you in such a unique and powerful way, write it down because your spirit is very sensitive and it's trying to tell you something. And some of these things are insights and strategic direction that the Lord is actually making. Known to you. And so when you're fasting, because you're getting closer to Jesus, you're getting closer to the world, You're getting closer to breakthrough, you're getting closer to victory. You start to experience it in your life. You see your proximity to Jesus also begins to show up in your life. Because you have closer proximity to break through. You start seeing things shaken up in your life. Because you have closer proxim to discernment and understanding, your discernment heightens. Right. You start going. Into places and you're like, oh my gosh, something is different. You see someone that you're and you maybe you're on you're rushing out and the Holy Spirit is pulling on you. Hey, go talk to that person, Go pray for that person, Ask this person what's going on in their life, and whatever the case, you begin to be led that way. And the beauty of this is that when this is this is your lifestyle, when there is a culture of this, it never leaves you. Right. That is why fast and can also be worship. That is why there's sometimes you're fast and not because you need a breakthrough, not because of anything you just want to get closer to the Lord. You just say, you know a lord. Wants want a day every month before the first day of the month, I'm going to fast just to I just want to get connected to you. I want to set this time aside as part of my sacrifice, as part of my worship. And you never you stay in this place of sensitivity and clear and understanding, right, and so you should have an expectation for that. You should have an expectation that being closer to Jesus means I'm closer to everything he represents. Right, And so when you're thinking about what does Jesus represent, then begin to look at the ways of the Holy Spirit, the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Right, that the Holy Spirit can manifest himself in faith, in miracles, and understanding, in knowledge and wisdom. That means I'm having a closer proximity to wisdom, understanding, knowledge about my life, about my community, and so on and so forth. Right, when you're fast, and you're also going to experience brokenness. And this is the good brokenness. This is not like broken out of negativity or trauma. This is the brokenness, This is the soberness of your spirit. Right when you are you come into this sober state of surrender before the Lord and the Holy Spirit begins to reveal to you areas in your life where you know where he starts to convict you, areas in your life where you have to come into a place of repentance. Right. And repentance literally is to turn the other way that you are embracing something that it's not leading you in the manner, in the way or nature of Christ. Right, because when you're fasting, you're also it's a transformation in your life. It's to transform you even more to the image of the Lord. And so if there are things in your life, if there's unforgiveness, right, if there's bitterness, right, if there are certain things that you do in the dark, the Lord begins to highlight it, and he says, look, my son, my daughter, this area right here. You may have not been sensitive to it, you may have not had any conviction about it, because for a season you seem you were actually far from me, even though though you thought you were close to me. And the closer you get to me, I'm going to reveal to you things that you need to turn away from. And it's important for you to recognize this is not about shap or guilt. This is about action. Right. The Lord is revealing it to you so that you can take action and turn away from it. And you turn away from it by his grace, right, it's by his strength. He's strengthening you. The Lord is not revealing things about your life so that you can feel bad about yourself or wonder, oh my gosh, why didn't I know this before? No, it's about action. Right, So when you start fasting, be you know, have the expectation that you're going to come into a deeper sense of brokenness, brokenness before the Lord, when you begin to see the areas of your life that you're like God, I didn't recognize that the way I spoke didn't honor people. I didn't recognize that I had this unforgiveness in my heart. I didn't recognize that, you know, this thing that I did, I never apologized about it. You know, I didn't recognize that, Oh, like, you know what's going on in my family that have held this against this person? Right, in a fast, you might be led to actually call call family members and talk to them and say, you know what, I apologize. You might be led to let things go. You might even be led to go into therapy. You never know how the Lord wants to work it out. Because you see, there's a side of the Holy Spirit that said that calls him a counselor, and the Holy Spirit will begin to counsel you about the things that you must do in your life because it's about you becoming more like Jesus. Right, And so one of the key things that before we pray, I want you to understand, even as it comes to fasting. You know, if you're fasting food, or you're fasting whatever, social media, whatever distractions or delights in your life, is that you have to understand that fasting is about focusing on Jesus. Fasting is about saying yes to the Spirit. And so it's not more about, oh my gosh, I just have to deny myself. And this time it's not depressing, right, it's not the folks should not be about I'm saying no to my appetites. No, the focus is in this moment, I'm saying yes to the Spirit of God. I'm saying yes to this. And so what I want you to do is flip the script, right, don't think about fasting from a place of denial, think about fast and from a place of proximity to Jesus. Think about fast and from the place of in this moment, I'm getting closer to my breakthrough. I'm getting closer. That's why we experience breakthrough when we fast sometimes, because we're getting closer to the source of all breakthrough. Right, And so flip the script. Don't look at it like punishment. Look at it like, oh my gosh, this is a time I can set aside right to return to my first love. This is a time that I could set aside as worship, right to go deeper in my faith and go deeper with my relationship. So it's such a beautiful thing. Right, this has been even just this teaching, and there's so much more to even unpack. But I believe that this is where for now the Lord would have me stop. And I really believe that for many of you listening, that it is going to also prompt you to go into a season of fasting. And so I want to pray with you. You know, one of the things that the Lord had put on my heart to pray with you concerning is for fresh encounters with Him, fresh encounters with Him. Right that this is not just gonna be Many of you, maybe you fasted before and it just felt like this religious activity, it just felt like you were just you know, trying to check off the marker. But no, fasting it brings you, is an activity that brings you into the economy of just divine possibilities, spiritual possibilities. Right. It's a spiritual thing, right. It's not the one about weight loss that we will be doing. No, no, no, no, no no. Right. And so I'm gonna pray for you that even as you go into a fast, for those of you that are like, you know, a Lord, I actually believe that you're calling me to fast even before we get into this new year, or maybe you're gonna be fasting at the top of the year, whatever the case might be. But I'm gonna pray for you that you're gonna have fresh encounters with Jesus. You know, the way the Lord moves, it's so beautiful. One of my best friends something recently happened in her life that I just loved so much. She had been out of town for a while, and when she got back home, she was getting ready to go to church and just about to you know, head on out I should. I may even give I don't know. You might see a picture of this, you might not, but we'll see how it goes. But she gets in her home and she's like, you know, she's changing, she's getting ready, and she goes to the mirror. She lives by herself, and there are two handprints on her mirror, and it is the right hand of a person that was on her mirror twice right. And it's so detailed. I mean, even if you put your hand on the mirror, it's not that detailed. And in the middle of the hand was a hole. Like it was. It was so mind blowing. And when she sent me the photo, the first thing I recognize, I'm like, first of all, there's a hole in that hand, and it's two right hands. And in the scripture we see how the Lord constantly talks about the right hand, the right hand of God, right the right how his right hand upholds us. And I was just like, oh, my Lord Jesus was in your home, and even to the point that he left his handprint on your mirror. How beautiful is that? And there were so many amazing things that ministered to her, and she just had this powerful moment of encounter with the Lord. The Lord is still moving. This just happened two weeks ago, right there. I remember there are things, There's so many encounters that I could share with you for you to recognize that having desire and encounter with the Lord is real. It's not just something that it's like for those people or this happened in biblical times. I've had experiences where I've met the Lord, where he is coming to my home, and there are things that don't it feels like what just happened. I've had experiences with angels of the Lord, and there are so many more experiences I desire to have. But it's about these fresh encounters with God. Sometimes the Lord may come to you even in a dream and begin to speak to you and pour out to you. You want to desire that God, even as I come before you in this fast and I want you to be intentional. Right, maybe you're dealing with an addiction. I want you to be intentional. Lord, I need you to help me break this addiction. Maybe you need breakthrough in your life. There is something that the Lord has spoken to you about there, and maybe you need financial breakthrough, maybe you need a relational breakthrough. And you're gonna say, God, I'm gonna present this before and I'm gonna fast Maybe you're just fastening to grow closer to the Lord. Lord, I'm coming before you, that you would use me, Lord God, as a conduit of your power, of your glory in my community, in my family, whatever it is. I want you to write that down and set a time. Don't just you know, be random, abod it, No, say you know what, from from this day to this day, this is exactly what I'm doing as my sacrifice to the Lord. You know, Solomon, we read. The scripture about how the Lord came to Solomon in a dream and when he met Solomon, he said, Solomon asked me anything, I will do it for you. But what we don't always remember is that prior to this there was a great sacrifice that Solomon had given before the Lord, and in response to that sacrifice, it was so pleasing to the Lord that he met him in a dream and he said, Solomon asked me anything, and it will be yours. And what the encounter from that dream was Solomon's reality in when he woke up in his his in his present life, right in his wake in life. And so what I'm saying to you is that even as you're in your fast, your sacrifice that you're laying before the Lord, have an expectation for encounters with the Lord. Have an expectation to grow in him. Have an expectation to grow in your spiritual walk that even as a result of this, you're going to have more spiritual maturity, that you're going to grow in discernment. Have an expectation that Lord, when I even even when I'm praying for people, that I will grow in the prophetic, that I will grow in your wisdom. Have an expectation of the Lord, have an expectation for him to show up. And if he doesn't move the way you thought, don't feel discouraged, because one thing that you can send into your future is your prayers. Sometimes what you think that you're like, God, do this now, What is happening in the spirit realm is that it is planted as a seed and it is sent into your future for a harvest that you would experience at a later time. And so maybe your desire may not happen in the now, but God has marked you to have that harvest in five years. So no prayer is ever wasted before the Lord. That is why we thank God so much for grandparents, because we see the fruit of their prayers in our lives. You can send a prayer into your future, and so when you're fasting, you're praying right fast than in prayer, and so things may not happen the way you want it to now, but God has seen it as a seed planted for a harvest that has been marked, so it's never wasted. So you humble your soul, you have a desire, have an expectation, and just let God be God however he wants to move, trust him right and to let us pray. And even as we pray, before we pray. You know, maybe you're watching this and maybe you stumbled on it, or maybe a friend sent it to you and they're like, you need this message, and all of a sudden you're like, God, I want to know this God, I want to really know him. I've dabbled into so many things because I was looking for some kind of experience. But I didn't know that I could have this in God. I didn't know that I could have this. And the one who laid, who gave his life for me, God is after you. God shows you. God said yes to you, even before this moment, that you will say yes to him. And so if you are, if you're listening to this, if you're watching this and you know that the Lord has convicted your heart and he's saying, look, come to me, right because he already said yes to you, and all your darkness and all the things that you felt like he will turn his back on. You know the darkness is not dark to him. He will meet you wherever you are, but he will pull you to become who you are. And so if you're listening and you know that God has his hand on your life, but you've been running, I want you to take this moment and say yes to Jesus. And you're gonna see a Curer code on the screen and I want you to scan that so we can get in touch with you. But we're gonna pray one. I'm gonna pray that even for those who are saying that, Lord, I want to fast, I want to go into this season of fasting and prayer that you would have fresh encounters with the Lord. And if you are here. And you're just like you know what, Lord, I've been running from you, and I want to start by saying yes to the God of my soul, the savior of my soul, the lover of my life. I want to say yes to you. Then I'm gonna pray for you as well. And so, Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord Jesus for this moment. We thank you Lord for what you are doing. And we just thank you so much for your people, your sons and daughters that are watching this message. Lord God, I thank you as they are saying yes to you. I thank you Lord that you chose them before they even knew who you were. You said yes to them, You called them, and you appointed them for a purpose. And so Lord in there yes to you. I pray that they would also have fresh encounters with you. They would know who is this Jesus, who is this lover of my soul? Who is this person who is the one who gave his life for me? That I would experience victory. I've been looking in all the wrong places, not recognizing that I didn't have to do all of that. I didn't have to abuse myself in that manner to find something that will satisfy me. I didn't have to sell myself in that manner to find something that will satisfy me. I just needed to find him. And I'm praying that in your yes to God, that you would have such a powerful experience and encounter with Him that it would keep you rooted in your faith and so holy Spirit. We thank you, Lord, you are the great teacher. And I thank you Lord that for everyone who is saying yes to You, that Lord you will build them up as they get plugged into community, a community of believers that are here to be with them and help them in this walk with you. That Lord, that you would anchor their lives. In the mighty name of Jesus and Heavenly Father, I thank you for everyone who is saying that Lord, I feel called to this fast that Heavenly Father, I thank you for fresh encounters with you. I thank you, Lord God, that they will come to know you in a way that they've never known. They would grow in wisdom and knowledge and understanding in the way they've never known. I thank you that in proximity with You, they will come into the proximity of their breakthrough, proximity of love, proximity of transformation. O God. I thank you, Lord God. There were hard hearts that Lord God, you will give them a heart of flesh. I thank you, Heavenly Father, that where there was bitterness, that you would uprooted old God and fill it in with your love and with your understanding. Heavenly Father, I thank you that your children will move in joy. I thank you that they would move in gladness. I thank you that they would be free. Lord God. I'm even seeing, Lord God, where people are being set free from the bondage of unforgiveness. In the mighty name of Jesus. I thank you, Lord God for your grace that would help them. And I thank you Lord for those who are saying, God, I've been dealing with this addiction. It's a hidden addiction. And as they call upon you, Lord God, I thank you that you would meet them at their place of need. And I thank you, Heavenly Father for people. Oh God, I'm just saying that there are so many medical reports that I'm seeing in front of me, and Heavenly Father, I thank you because you are the ultimate physician. You are the great physician. And what the doctors do not have the understanding or have not figured out, what science cannot solve, Lord God, you have an answer for it. And so as they say that Lord help me in this area. There is no way for me. I don't know how to get out of this. I don't know how to come against this sickness. Lord God, that Heavenly Father. They will meet you and know you as a healer in the mighty name of Jesus. And I thank you, Oh, Heavenly Father, you're even showing me, Lord God, there's someone and and you have been there. There was an infirmity that happened to you, and it caused you to be bound to a wheelchair. And the Lord is showing me that you don't have to accept that all you need to do. And I'm praying for you, Heavenly Father, I thank you because as you are revealing this young lady, Oh God, I thank you Lord that as she calls upon you, because for so long she's held so much biddenness against you, that where were you when this happened? But Lord, I thank you that this would be a space that she would invite you into her life. Oh God, And say, Lord, step in and let me experience you as a healer. Let me experience you as a waymaker, because I see that this is a young lady who has such a passion for dance, and there has been so much biddness and resentment because of. What took place. Lord, I thank you that she have a fresh encounter with you and they would be understanding even behind the experience. And I thank you, Heavenly Father, that she will dance again in the mighty name of Jesus. And so, Lord God, we thank you. Have your way, Oh God, do what only you can do. These are just words if they are not backed up by your spirit and by your power. And so Lord God, we thank you for every testimony that is going to be on the other side of this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen, Family,