Derek Prince - When You Fast (not if)

in this session I'm going to continue with some of the secrets of answered prayer in fact I'm going to deal with one specific major key to effective praying and although this key is clearly presented throughout the Bible from the Old Testament right through the new I think the majority of Christians are unaware that it exists and I think the failure to use this key that I'm going to be speaking about it's one main source of ineffectiveness in the body of Christ no doubt you're wondering what the key is and let me say that when I when you hear it you're not likely to say praise the Lord I want to turn a game to the Sermon on the Mount and where Jesus is giving instruction about how to pray and I want to take two parallel passages the first one is in Matthew chapter 6 verses five and six and Jesus says and when you pray you shall not be like the hypocrites and then he describes how the hypocrites act and then he says in verse six but when you pray pray in this way so he uses the phrase when you pray twice the first time he starts with a negative don't pray like the hypocrites but he doesn't finish there he ends with a positive this is how you ought to pray and we have actually devoted the last session to analyzing the pattern that he gave us but now I want to move on in that same sixth chapter two verses 16 and 17 and here he introduces another dimension of Prayer and he says moreover when you fast do not be like the hypocrites but he doesn't stop with the negative a lot of people think that's where he ends but he goes on the next verse but when you fast and then he tells us how to do it in a way that's acceptable to God now I think you could see there's a close parallel between what Jesus says about praying and what he says about fasting first of all he says when you fast then he says don't do it this way do it that way too but to my way of thinking the phrase when you fast indicates that Jesus expects his disciples did I say Pro fast when you pray Jesus expects his disciples to pray how many of you would agree that those words indicate Jesus takes it for granted that we as his disciples will pray he doesn't say if you pray but he says when you pray and I imagine that most of us here tonight would agree that the Lord expects us as Christians to pray regularly said Ryan okay now we go on to the next stage and he doesn't say if you fast he says when you fast what does that indicate it indicates that he expects us to fast in just the same way as he expects us to pray is that logical are you with me even maybe reluctantly but still you're with me well don't be reluctant I agree that the subject of fasting is not easy to say praise the Lord about but I want to tell you when you discover what's in this subject you will say praise the Lord you will say thank you God for giving us this key see Jesus words about praying and about fasting are acts exactly parallel when you pray don't pray this way but pray that when you fast don't fast this way but fast that way so Jesus puts praying and fasting on exactly the same level my conclusion is that if he expects us to pray he also expects us to fast and I'm so glad that I have one great predecessor in the ministry that arrived at the same conclusion actually there were many of them Luther arrived at that conclusion but the one I have in mind is John Wesley and I read John Wesley's journals years ago and they stared me and stimulated me and he said something to this effect I am persuaded that if a Christian has understood the need to fast and does not practice fasting he will backslide just as surely as a Christian who has understand understood the need to pray and does not pray and John Wesley would not ordain to the Methodist ministry any man who did not commit himself to fast every Wednesday and Friday till 4:00 p.m. that was a basic requirement for being a dame to the Methodist minister you might say well what's the purpose of fasting is it just to make life hard for me to deny me pleasure my answer would be no doubtless there are a number of purposes but I'm going to deal with only one and that is it is a God appointed way to humble ourselves and I will show you this very very clearly our description see the greatest single specific barrier to getting an answer to our prayers is pride and anything that will get that barrier out of the way will fullest facilitate the answer to our prayers God has been speaking to me personally just lately about the awful dangers of primed and Ruth picked up a little book when she owned it but we really not paid much attention to it by Andrew Murray who is one of those preachers of a previous generation who's still feeding the people of God today how many of you've read at least one book by Andrew Murray that's most of the people here that's remarkable I don't know whether you know this little book it's entitled in the original the humility of our Lord it's been republished with a simpler title I think simply humility and I read this just a few weeks ago and it really spoke to me personally about my own life I've hated pride for years but I got a new vision of how vicious and how evil pride is and how it keeps us back from all the blessings that God intends for us this message runs through the Bible it's a universal truth it was not demonstrated first on earth you know the first demonstration of the evil of prime what was the first seen in the history of the universe tell me fry yes who committed the sin Lucifer that's right an angel in heaven and if that pride of pride as a sin could break out in heaven and cause an angel to lose his place how much more susceptible are we likely to be depressed pride - pride as sinners here on earth let me give you just three passages of scripture that deal with pride and with humility the first is in Luke 14 and verse 11 and it's the end of a parable where Jesus speaks about how to act when are you invited to a banquet in Luke 14 and I mean we get to invite it to banquets nowadays sometimes I think I was at one yesterday and Jesus said how he's so practical he gives such simple illustrations first of all I want to point out to you that God never says he'll humble us he always tells us to humble ourselves I tell people God can humiliate you that only you can make yourself humble don't pray God make me humble because it's not a scriptural prayer and furthermore you probably regret regret the results of that prayer few weeks or months later when you find yourself in the most humiliating situation you think God how did I get here that's have you prayed you pray so Jesus says when you're invited to a banquet don't walk up to the head table and sit at the chief place because you'll be embarrassed when somebody comes along and says but the speaker's going to sit here you take a place that over there in the corner so Jesus says when you go take the lowest place very wise when you are at the bottom there's only one way you can go that's up I don't know whether you know that prayer by joy a charm Bunyan what's his name for John Bunyan this has been with me for years he that is down need fear no fall he that is low no pride he that is humble ever shall have God to be his gun see when you're on the floor you're safe there's no lower you can go very rarely do i minister in a large public gathering like this without first taking my place on the floor on my face before God and I can tell you before this meetings Ruth and I were there for quite a long one that's where I feel really safe it's on the floor so jesus said at the end of that parable if you don't want to be embarrassed avoid the situation don't sit at the top table sit in the lowest place and there's only one way you can be asked to go and then is up and then he sums it up with these this words in Luke 14 11 for whoever exalts himself will be a beast but he who humbles himself will be exalted that's universal in other words it applies throughout the universe it applies in heaven for us on earth the great demonstration of this truth is Lucifer and Jesus Lucifer was a created being but he reached for equality with God he slipped and fell Jesus had equality with God he humbled himself even to the death of the cross and the scripture says God highly exalted him it says in Philippians 2:9 therefore God highly exalted him why did God exalt him because he humbled himself and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted I can promise you exaltation if you'll humble it there are no exceptions I have a series of messages which has this title the way up is down the lower down you go the higher opulent there's no exceptions to that but I want to speak about humility as an essential condition for effective prayer and I want to take a number of statements to this effect let's look first of all before we do that in James chapter 4 verse 10 they're just two other passages that we look at James 4:10 humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up notice humble yourselves don't ask God to do it you do it God will do the lifting up if you do the humbling and then a very similar passage in 1st Peter chapter 5 actually Ruth and I proclaimed this before the previous message verse 6 therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time and the previous verse says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble so if you are coming to God in prayer with your pride God is resisting you and guess who can push harder you cannot get close to God in prime this book of Psalm says the Lord knows the proud afar off and that's where he keeps there is no access to God with pride and so anything that enables us to humble ourselves is a priceless blessing even if it isn't always enjoyable at the time and one of the biblically appointed ways to humble ourselves is by fasting now I'm going to show you this right through the Bible I want to start with the statement by David a very simple statement in Psalm 35 verse 13 when he says I humbled my soul with fasting I think the modern translations mostly say I humbled myself but the Hebrew says I humbled my soul why do you need to humble your soul well your soul is the arrogant part of you it's the self-assertive part it's the egoistic part your soul has got three main functions the will the intellect and the emotions and it expresses itself in these phrases I want I think I feel and God says what you want isn't important what you think isn't important what you feel is an important what's important is my will and if you're going to align yourself none of my will you've got the deal with your soul and one way to deal with your soul is to humble your soul with fasting I remember years ago I preached this kind of message in Washington DC and there was a lawyer there Christian law and he got the message and he said I'm going to do it so tomorrow I'm going to fast and what he did he had a miserable day every time he walked past a restaurant he could smell the food every time he walked past a confectionary he would stop and look in the window it was just a miserable day so at the end of the day he gave his stomach a lecture and he said now stomach you've made a lot of trouble for me today you've caused me a lot of unnecessary discomfort so for that I'm going to punish you I'm going to fast tomorrow as well see that is humbling yourself it's bringing it into subjection let me say this the stomach is a wonderful servant but a terrible master who's the master in your life you or your stomach it's a good question it's a question we all have to face believe me people in the ministry are not exempted from that question I've fought the Battle of my stomach many times but when I get the victory I get blessed not always immediately not always dramatically but in one way or another I come under the blessing of God and then if I become arrogant god withdraws his blessing I say God what's happened and he gently indicates some way or other you've become proud and self-assertive again you want your way you're letting your will and your soul talk and it's got to be brought into subjection to my will and my word and my waves so let's look at just a few examples just to as a matter of fact first of all the Day of Atonement in Leviticus chapter 16 verses 29 through 31 Leviticus the sixteenth chapter verses 29 through 31 now this is a lengthy chapter and it's the ordinances for the Day of Atonement what the Jewish people call Yom Kippur and this is the most sacred day and the Jewish calendar from then until now and it describes the way that God ordained the sacrifice to make atonement for Israel's sins and everything depended on that sacrifice the whole future and destiny of the nation depended on that sacrifice but in the midst of the description of the God also requires a response from his people and the response he requires is that they shall afflict their souls that's the usual translation but the word translated afflict is frequently translated humble so God requires his people to humble their souls and this is a very significant truth the sacrifice was something they could not arrange it was outside their power to provide it came entirely from God's grace but they could not benefit from the sacrifice unless they meant God's conditions and humbled their souls and it's true with us as Christians the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross it's complete it's perfect we can never add anything to it we can never take anything from it but if we are to benefit from it we have to meet God's conditions just as surely as Israel day and this is the condition that God stained in verses 29 and following of Leviticus 16 this shall be a statute forever for you in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all whether or native of your own country or a stranger with surgeons among you for on that day the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord it is a Sabbath of rest for you and you shall afflict your souls it is a statute for ever now the Jewish people have always understood quite certainly that the phrase to afflict your souls means to fast to go without food as a matter of fact on that day normally they go without food or water let me define fasting as a matter of fact just make them my definition of fasting is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes often it's also from drink but generally speaking not so and just how you abstain it's up to you to the son but what I want to point out to you is that Israel were required to humble their souls in order to receive the benefit of the sacrifice offered on their behalf and the Jewish people for about three thousand four hundred years have always known that to humble their souls meant to fast and as a matter of fact this is an unbroken practice in the history of the Jewish people from the time of Moses to this day on the day of atonement they have flicked their souls by fasting and in the New Testament in Acts chapter 27 and verse 9 this day is called the fast which is New Testament confirmation that God understood that afflicting our souls is fasting it's bringing our souls into subjection it's not allowing our souls to dictate to us or to God it's submitting ourselves to God and I pointed out the last talk that God is down to earth when he speaks about the response he wants from us to the message of His grace it's present your body it's not something high-flying and ethereal something very down-to-earth and practical and when God says now I want you to humble yourselves one way not the only way by any means but one way is by fasting and then we read about the returning Exxon's after the Babylonian captivity in Ezra chapter 8 Ezra was assigned the task of leading a group of exiles back from Babylon to Jerusalem it was a four month journey in those days and it lay through territory where there were brigands and robbers and enemies of Israel and not only did Ezra have women and children with him but he had many of the most precious vessels of the temple to tarry back the question was how was he going to get safe passage and this is the solution of Ezra yeah we read the Asthma a beginning in verse 21 then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him the right way for us and for our little ones and all our possessions how did they humble themselves they proclaimed a fast you see it was a public fast that concerned all of God's people and then he comes out with this really interesting statement I was ashamed to request from the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way because we had spoken to the king saying the hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him but his power and his wrath or against all those who forsaken you see Ezra put himself in in a place by his testimony when he had to prove that he really meant what he said he told the King our God is the Almighty God is the God of heaven he protects us then he was assigned the task of leading these exiles back through this very dangerous situation and he said I could have gone to the king and asked for an escort soldiers and horsemen but how would that fit in with my statement that our God protects people see that often happens to us we testify and then we have to live up to our testimony and so he said I didn't choose the carnal way I didn't choose the world's way I chose the spiritual way to seek God's protection not from soldiers and horsemen but by fasting and humbling ourselves before God and invoking his protection you read this story when he sums it up in the next verse so we in fasted so we fasted and entreated our God for this and he answered our prayer and you read the rest of the story they came through safely without a loss without an accident and in many many situations we are confronted by two alternatives shall we take the carnal way or shall we take the spiritual way now it so happens I can testify from experience because I became the adoptive father of a large family in a very difficult situation and we have moved from non country to country and place the place I'd have to say that my first wife and I Lydia followed Ezra's example well we had a journey to make we fasted and pray and praise God our family survived intact in the midst of tremendously dangerous circumstances in the midst of war and famine we survived I want to testify God's Way works it's practical it's not something theoretical all right now then let's consider for a moment people under God's judgement if the judgment of God were to be proclaimed upon the nation of New Zealand and we wanted to avert it and that could easily happen I don't believe it's far away what could we do we could fast and humble ourselves before God see there was one outstandingly wicked King in Israel called Ahab I don't know whether you remember the story of Ahab but he married Jezebel and he led Israel into idolatry and every kind of wickedness and in first Kings chapter 21 Elisha had a confrontation with it with a ham and he pronounced God's judgment on him and it's God says to him in verse 22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of bosch and the son of a hind you every male and every female in your family will be destroyed that's God's judgment and then it goes on to say in verse 25 but there was no one like a hab who sold himself to do wickedness in the side of the law because Jezebel his wife stirred him up so he was the most wicked King and God had pronounced judgment on him through the prophet Elijah but Ahab feared the Lord in verse 27 heard these words he tore his clothes puts a cloth on his body and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about mourning and the word of the Lord came to Elijah saying see how a hab has humbled himself before me because he has humbled himself before me I will not bring the calamity in his days but in the days of his son now there is a man singled out as the most wicked king of Israel up to that time God's judgement was pronounced on him and his family but when he humbled himself with fasting God said I won't bring the judgment in his name now fasting could do that for a hand what could it do for you and me as children of God do you see the potential and then in the story of Jonah and his message to Nineveh we read how he walked into the city a very wicked violent evil city and he proclaimed that in 40 days the city would be destroyed now that was a message from God how did the inhabitants of Nineveh respond it says in Jonah chapter 3 then word came to the king of Nineveh he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes he caused the whole city to fast even the animals fasted and it says at the end of them then God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God relented from the disaster that he had said he would bring upon them and he did not do it a Gentile City notorious for its wickedness heard the message of one prophet once repented with fasting and morning and God spared the entire city and Nineveh was spared judgment for well over 100 years from that time so if fasting would do that for enemy what would it do for this nation what would it do where people have gone humbled themselves call out to him and then to avert disaster if you read the book of Esther you read how hey hey ma'am had secured succeeded in bringing a plot in which the entire Jewish nation in the territory of the kingdom of Persia was to be destroyed and I suppose every Jew on earth in those days was in that Kingdom because it consisted of 127 provinces and extended from India to Ethiopia and the decree had gone on but there was in the king's palace a Jewess whose nationality was not known Esther and her cousin Mordecai sent a message to it and said don't think that you'll escape more than all the other Jews in the king's palace because who knows if you're there for such a time as this and Esther rose to the challenge and she's saying go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me neither eat nor drink for three days night and day my maids and I will fast likewise and so I will go to the King which is against the law and if I perish I perish you read the rest of the story further edict was issued the whole situation was totally reversed and it ended up in a triumph for the Jewish people and the preservation of the Jewish nation what changed history what was the turning point when God's people fasted see I think it would be almost impossible to exaggerate the potential for fasting to change the course of history it's no wonder that Satan tries to keep this key out in the hands of God's people he's afraid of it now there are many examples in the New Testament of fasting I just want to take two kinds of examples what is it I call the individual fast and the corporate fast and out in the Ministry of Paul in 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 he gives a list of the ways in which he approved himself as a minister of Christ in 2nd Corinthians 6 verses 4 and 5 but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God and then he lists many different ways in which he commended himself as a minister of God and he says this in much patience in tribulations in needs in de-stresses in stripes in imprisonments in tumults in labors in sleeplessness in fastings so paul says one of the ways that I proved that I was a minister of Christ was by fasting and then in the same epistle chapter 11 verses 23 and 27 he gives a somewhat similar list he says are they ministers of Christ I speak as a fool I am more and then he gives a whole list of ways in which he proved he was a minister of Christ and in verse 27 this is part of the list in weariness and toil in sleeplessness often in hunger and thirst in fastings often in cold a mega news so he says I fasted often and notice he says hunger and thirst is one thing fasting as another hunger and thirst is when you can't eat because you don't have anything to eat fasting is when you could eat but you denying something that was one of the ways that Paul proved himself as a minister of Christ and I believe Christ ministers should prove themselves that way today I've spoken about my own experience but I just mentioned this after all it's not much use preaching if you don't practice it when I was saved I was just I had been a nominal Christian I'd given up on Christianity I turned my back on the church I was looking for the answers to God's problems and other problems in other places but when I was saved and baptized in the spirit now I didn't even know that of words for what had happened to me I had to read the New Testament to find out what had happened to me one thing within I think a month God just made it clear to me that he wanted me to fast every Wednesday I didn't read Wesley's journals in those days and I had no one to preach sermons to me I wouldn't have known where to find fasting in the Bible but I just had this in a conviction that I was too fast every Wednesday and for the next four and a half years throughout the rest of World War two every Wednesday I fasted it I was in the desert on a lorry with ten other soldiers and we were just thrown together I mean when you're in a desert there's only one place for shaved you've got to be there whether you like them or not and I lived with those soldiers you know that the we were in Egypt and the Moslems have a month that they call Ramadan you know then when they don't eat at least they don't eat in the daytime they eat up a lot at night and they more than make up for they don't eat in the daytime but my fellow soldiers called Wednesday Ramadan because you can't fast in secret when you're just living with people continually all the time I mean you never can get away from and I would say that I would never have made the progress that I made if i hadn´t if God hadn't showed me that keep there been times I remember in Kenya when I was there an educational work I said to myself I'm too busy too fast got too much to do so for a few weeks I didn't faster the results were so disastrous that I decided I could never be too busy too fast I'm talking about something that I've experienced and Stan I believe passionately in what I'm telling you let's talk about corporate fasting in the New Testament just two examples from the book of Acts in Acts chapter 13 this is one of the most significant moments in the history of the book of Acts people have called this the beginning of a missionary program actually the word missionary is not New Testament the New Testament word is apostolic and this is the first sending forth of apostles in the record of the book of Acts then it happened in the city of Antioch in acts 13 verses one through four we read this now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers Barnabas Simeon Lucius Mannion and so who later became poor so there were five men who were recognized as prophets and teachers the next verse says as they ministered to the Lord and fasted how did they minister to the Lord by fasting by turning away from every activity and simply being in God's presence and waiting for him to speak the New International Version says as they worshiped the Lord and fasted this is one of the most crucial points in the history of the church how did it come about did they sit down and think of a plan or work out a system no they vacated from everything of their own efforts and waited for God to speak and the way they vacated was to turn away from food who knows for how long maybe in a day maybe in two days I don't suppose it was lengthy but they just took time off from every other occupation and distraction in order to hear from God and God spoke it says as they minister to the Lord and fasted the Holy Spirit said now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them so they heard from God his stratagem you know one of the great problems of the church today is very seldom does the church get God's stratagem very seldom we have our own plans our own programs our own systems and most of it God is not initiated and God is only committed to finish what he begins Paul says in Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will see it through Jesus says I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end what he begins he'll end but what he doesn't begin he has no commitment doing the important thing is to find out what is God beginning what is God's how can we hear from God and the early church set the pattern they took time off from everything including eating they said we have to hear from God and they heard God said now I have a plan I want you to take two men Barnabas and Saul send them out they didn't send them out immediately listen it says then having fasted and prayed they laid hands on them and sent them away so they fasted again the first time they fasted to find God's will the second time they fasted to commit those two men to their carrying out of God's will and then the next verse says so they being sent out by the Holy Spirit and the word sent out there is a beautiful Greek word which means sent and accompanied the Holy Spirit didn't just said go he said go and I'll be with you and that's the beginning of apostolic ministry at that time they were called prophets and teachers but in the next chapter of Acts chapter 14 verse 14 it says when the Apostles Barnabas and Saul when did they become apostles when they were sent out by the church you see an apostle is a sent out one this is tremendously important because it give indicates a a scriptural way that we can institute apostolic ministry how many of us can believe for prophets and teachers can you believe that there are prophets and teachers in the church today I certainly believe there aren't if prophets and teachers wait on God in fasting and seeking Him it opens a scriptural way for God to send forth apostles how many of you believe there can be apostles in the church today it's a good thing because they put in the church to perfect it for if they were withdrawing the church would never be completed so the most decisive moment in that period was the sending forth of those apostles what brought it forth tell me in one word I didn't hear you that's right now they won many people to the Lord in the cities they visited and then they had to establish churches first of all they just had groups of disciples and then they needed to make churches what was the point of transition from just a group of disciples to a church what persons had to be appointed tell me elders that's right that's when disciples become a church when they have elders when they have government and so they did this we read in acts 14 in verse 21 when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples they returned to Lystra Iconium and Antioch city cities they'd already preached him strengthening the souls of the disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God so when they had appointed elders in every Church and prayed with fasting they commended them to the Lord how did they appoint elders how did they get the mind of the Lord as to who was to be the elders did they have an election yes but it was God's election how did they find God's mind what was the key I didn't hear you asking thank you you see that too decisive appointments in the work of the church are apostles and elders and in the early church both those appointments were arrived at through prayer and fasting why should we expect do it any other way in this age can we improve on those methods God has never asked us to improve only Soulstice is to follow you see here is a key and I'm placing it in your hands what are you going to do with it what are the Christians of this nation going to do with this key one of the Christians of Australia going to do with this key one of the Christians of Britain going to do with this key South Africa the other nations that are represented here do you think God has changed do you think we have found a better way all right now let me just point you to two conclusions the first is in that well-known verse in 2nd chronicles 7:14 I call this hope for a nation hope for a nation how many of you know what 2nd chronicles 7:14 says many of you do praise God I could quote it by heart but I won't God speaks and he says if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land there are seven steps four steps that God's people have to take three steps that God will take when we take the four steps what are the four steps we have to take what's the first one I didn't give you humble ourselves why because pride is a barrier to the answer to our Prince the next thing is praying God says don't start praying until you've dealt with your prime and then he says seek my face let's not just have a pre-meeting from 8:00 to 9:30 let's pray until you get into God's presence and then it says turn from your wicked wings you say God I don't think I have any wicked ways God says wait till you get into my presence and you find out we experienced that in our church in Fort Lauderdale about what five years ago one of the elders wines had a word from the Lord to proclaim a fast but I'm going to talk about in a moment a general fast and it wasn't received with much enthusiasm but eventually I think the elders of whom I was one were kind of ashamed into admitting what we better do something about this and so we said we'll have certain period will fast and pray and we'll meet every morning and I think 5:00 a.m. was it well I wasn't there Ruth and I were away when this started and I understand the first morning there were about 13 people the congregation was about 500 at the time the next morning I think they were about 7 and then it was going you know the typical charismatic prayer meeting the next morning there was about 4 but then a brother who was not an elder got a burden from the Lord and he spent 24 hours weeping and things changed and when Ruth and I got back I said whether we like it or not this is from God we better get involved we don't want to miss God and I can't go into all the details but for the next I think six weeks we were meeting every morning at 5 a.m. and we spend most of the time on our faces and the sins that were confessed were startling it was a nice respectable Church but there was adulterer there was fornication there was alcoholism didn't come out till we were in God's presence don't say to God I have no wicked ways to repent on that probably simply tells you how far you are from his face in the light of his countenance things look different what does God asked of us for things humble ourselves pray seek his face turn from our wicked wings how do we humble ourselves by one you've got the message that's right now you can fast and be very proud jesus said don't fast that way that's not the way to fast that's the way the hypocrites fast but he didn't say that's a reason for not fasting he said fast the right way and not the wrong way then God says I'll do three things from if you'll do the four I'll do the three I will hear I will forgive this sin and I will heal their land how many of you would like to see your land healed has God shown you a way is there a scriptural remedy I believe there is let's turn to one final passage of Scripture Joell chapter 2 this is the passage that the sister had in mind when she spoke about a Joel fast Joel 2:14 blow the trumpet in Zion consecrate a fast called a sacred assembly gather the people sanctified the congregation assemble the elders gather the children and nursing babies and incidentally in those days we had children and nursing babies in that meeting almost every morning and the little children were disappointed when their parents didn't wake them up to take them to the fast to the prayer I mean it was a real example of this let's go on let the bridegroom go out from his chamber and the bride from her dressing room that the priests who ministered to the Lord we between the porch and the altar let them say spare your people our Lord and do not give your heritage to reproach that the nation should rule over them why should they say among the peoples where is their God notice if you follow their and there are three categories mentioned the priests the ministers and the elders and here is a responsibility of leadership in the church is to set the example to take the lead you know who leaders are there people who go in front sometimes the ministers are leading from behind that's not a leadership Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane took his disciples with him and then he took three and they stopped and then it says he went a little further that's leadership is to go a little further I heard a pastor once say I have to run to catch up with my people that's not leadership here's a responsibility of leadership now listen to the the final statement where in the same chapter verse 28 and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your young men shall dream dreams your old men shall dream dreams young men men shall see visions afterward after what after what after God's people have met his conditions now I know that Peter quoted at the day of Pentecost and he said it shall come to pass in the last days but that was not a total fulfillment that was an anticipate or a fulfillment and it's very significant because in that passage in acts 2 Peter quotes the Lord is saying I will pour out of my spirit some of my spirit and that began on the day of Pentecost but in this passage God says I will pour out my spirit not some of my spirit but I will release my spirit on earth on all flesh brothers and sisters we haven't seen that we've seen the sprinkling there are about 1 billion Muslims in the earth that have never been touched by the Spirit of God how are we going to reach them what will release the Spirit of God I tell you if you've ever dealt with Islam it's an impregnable fortress to any natural approach you have to meet it with the spiritual means what is God's program call a fast sanctify assembly let the elders the priests and the ministers set an example and God says in my time when you've met my conditions I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh I believe that's the solution and I don't believe there is any other and I believe God has shown us in Scripture the way shall we just bow our heads before the Lord for a moment and ask God I want to ask God that you I want to ask you that you'll ask God to show you if this is from him Ruth and I were with David and Dale Garrett just recently in Hawaii close friends of ours and they very graciously and wonderfully prayed for our meetings here and they said they felt that God wanted to speak to New Zealand I'm inclined to think this is God's message to New Zealand let's just pour our hearts before the Lord just briefly for a few moments

Channel: Salt Light

Views: 480,225

Rating: 4.7803426 out of 5

Keywords: Sermon

Id: W6slylYvxpM

Length: 55min 32sec (3332 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 15 2013