Fast & Pray THE BIBLICAL WAY

[Music] hello this is David Igor Hernandez and you are watching Spirit Church here on the Encounter TV network fasting is probably the most neglected spiritual discipline for the average believer and there is a reason that the enemy wants to keep you from fasting and praying I'm gonna teach you what the Bible says about prayer and fasting right now but first Steven Moctezuma is here with me he's gonna lead you in some very anointed worship and then we're gonna get right into this message prepare your heart through worship here is Steven moccasin I give myself away I give myself away so you can use me I give myself away [Music] I give myself away so you can use me Oh [Music] Oh [Music] Oh [Music] Oh Oh [Music] Oh I give myself away I give myself away so you can use me I give myself away I give myself away sorry chaos [Music] here's a spiritual truth for every natural act of faith there is a divine reaction the Bible is very clear that when I step out in faith in obedience to the Word of God that God responds with power the scripture says in James chapter 2 verse 17 even so faith if it has no works is dead being by itself faith moves things in the spirit realm faith removes the stubborn barriers whenever you feel spiritually stuck or stagnant carry out an act of faith faith has the power when it is enacted to cause you to become unstuck it causes something to be stirred inside of you faith breaks through the difficult barriers in the spiritual realm so when the scripture teaches us that we are to fast and pray and it makes it very clear here actually in Mathew chapter 6 verses 16 through 18 and when you fast don't make it obvious as the hypocrites do for they try to look miserable in two shelves so people will admire them for their fasting I tell you the truth that is the only reward they will ever get but when you fast comb your hair and wash your face then no one will notice that you are fasting except your father who knows what you do in private and your father who sees everything will reward you so here we see Jesus telling us that we are too fast he assumes when you fast it's something that you are to practice regularly when we are told to fast we may not understand all of the spiritual dynamics behind that I don't know why fasting works I've read it the concept of fasting I I've studied it all throughout the scripture and though I've looked for the why I've only come to understand the what I know that fasting works but I'm never able to see exactly what is going on in the spiritual realm when I fast so I take it by faith and I respond to the Word of God by saying if Jesus says it's something that I'm to do I will do it if the scripture tells me that it's something that I'm to do then I will do it and I will experience the benefits of prayer and fasting even though I don't understand the mechanism itself so there are examples all throughout Scripture of what happens when you act in faith in the natural realm for example Moses parting the Red Sea Israel shouting down the walls of Jericho Elijah calling down fire from heaven and so forth there are many examples in the Bible hundreds thousands even of people stepping out of faith in response to the Word of God and seeing powerful results so the same is true when we fast again we may not understand why it works but we know biblically speaking that it works and that should be enough for us to step out in faith and take God at His Word and experience the power of prayer and fasting so looking again at that portion of Scripture we read in Matthew we see that we're to do it regularly Jesus says when you fast we're to do it privately Jesus talked about not doing things publicly for the sake of being celebrated by others now here I have to interject this point we have to avoid superstition sometimes it's required that weak fast corporately sometimes it's required that we fast as a group you'll see it all throughout scripture people fasting as a group at the same time for a common purpose now if you're going too fast with the group at the same time for a common purpose then you have to tell people that you're fasting Jesus wasn't saying keep it a secret or else it has no power Jesus was warning us against wanting to pray and fast specifically with the intention of being celebrated by other people being esteemed as super spiritual it's not like a birthday wish where if somebody knows what you wish for it doesn't come true that is superstition but again we do have to avoid that extreme of being motivated of doing these things so that others will look at us and celebrate us so we're to do it in faith we're to do it prayerfully but the more basic question really at this point is what exactly is a fast well in its strictest most traditional definition fasting is simply abstaining from food for a certain period of time in order to devote yourself more to prayer and the word now that is a very simple definition but I want to look at the different types of fast all throughout scripture so you can kind of get a better idea of what this is so number one there's the food fast Matthew chapter four verse 2 we read after fasting forty days and forty nights he was hungry now there's no mention here of Jesus being thirsty and the devil didn't try to tempt Jesus with water he said if you are the son of God caused this stone to become bread he tempted him with food because he was hungry he was hungry because he was fasting food now here I have to interject the side point and this is somewhat of a tangent but I think the question will come ups and this is a good place to address it people often ask me when fasting is it ok if I do so if I you know get vegetables and blend it up and drink it well here's the thing when it comes to fasting the whole idea is giving up the cravings of the flesh that we might depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit and focus more on devotion to pray around the word so really if you're gaining nutrition if you're gaining energy from anything even if it is liquid you're really kind of really how should I say this you're you're missing the whole point if I'm gaining energy from something I'm not depending upon God so juicing is just another form of eating at least in the perspective of the fast so there's the food fast which is number one there's the food and water fast we see that in Esther chapter 4 verse 16 and Ezra chapter 10 verse 6 we see that they fasted both food and water there's also the dietary fast now I'm a little bit more traditional I wouldn't consider this an actual fast I consider it a diet but still it's in the scripture so I'll read it to you Daniel chapter 10 verse 3 says all that time I had eaten no rich food no meat or wine crossed my lips and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed so Daniel abstain from certain types of food but fasting can actually go beyond food first Corinthians chapter seven verse five says do not deprive each other of sexual relations unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer so from that scripture there we can infer that fasting goes beyond food fasting can really be anything that your flesh craves it can really be anything that distracts you from prayer now to what extreme you want to take this it's debatable but here we see very clearly that fasting is defined biblically speaking as giving up food giving up food in water giving up certain types of food and giving up certain things that the flesh craves for a given period of time with the purpose or the intention of devoting oneself to prayer and the word now for how long should you fast here are some things to consider typically whenever you see a fast in the Bible that goes beyond three days it's a food fast why because the human body cannot go more than three days without water on average I mean some people have gone longer some people weren't able to make it to even that point but the point is we have to be wise we have to read the scripture again I emphasize when you read the Bible when it was a food and water fast you'll notice that it typically didn't go beyond three days and there's a reason for that in fact I read a story about a pastor who died after fasting for thirty days both food and water he was trying to do what Jesus did and though that was a noble goal I don't think he took into account the fact that Jesus only fasted food so I'm not trying to shame anyone there I'm using that as a cautionary tale that you might approach this with wisdom that you might approach this and really maintain your health while doing in this is another reason that we as believers should take care of our bodies and live healthy lifestyles so that fasting can be a regular part of our spiritual walk so here are some examples of lengths of fast there's the partial day fast that's in judges chapter 20 verse 26 there's a one day fast that's in 2nd Samuel chapter 1 verse 12 there's the three day fast that's in Esther chapter 4 verse 16 there's a one week fast that's first samuel chapter 31 verse 13 there's a 21-day fast that was in Daniel chapter ten verse three and then there's the 40-day fast that's in Matthew chapter 4 verse 2 now what's interesting to me here let's read Matthew chapter 4 verse 2 again scripture says after fasting forty days and forty nights he was hungry now this is interesting I want you to really pay attention with this to what the scripture says after fasting forty days and forty nights he was hungry in other words it could be saying here that he wasn't hungry for the entire forty days meaning he was supernaturally sustained he knew no hunger for that 40 day period it was only after the forty days when the tempter came that he became hungry and began to desire food I don't know about you but I want to get to that level spiritually to where when I am fasting I'm not even hungry that's a whole different level which leads me to my next point there is also the supernaturally sustained fast and here again I have to caution you I am NOT giving you health advice and I am not telling you to go beyond what God is telling you to do you need to be wise when it comes to these sort of things but Moses in Exodus chapter 34 verse 28 fasted for quite a while this is what the Bible says Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights in all that time he ate no bread and drank no water and the Lord wrote the terms of the Covenant the ten commandments on the stone tablets this is interesting for a couple reasons again you notice Moses was sustained by the presence of God alone now you notice that Moses fasted both food and water but this is one of the only occasions in the Bible where someone fast food and water beyond the three-day point and it was a supernatural sustaining power that kept Moses from dying and withering away so what's the conclusion we see the partial day fast the one-day fast the three-day fast the one-week fast the 21-day fast the 40-day fast and the supernaturally sustained fast we see that you can fast food you can fast food in water you can fast in a dietary way and you can fast things that the flesh craves in order to devote yourself to prayer and the word so the conclusion here is that you need to go as your lead there is no right or wrong way to do this now I know many harshly condemn those who do for example social media fast and well I personally don't believe that a social media fast is necessarily biblical that doesn't mean that it's not spiritually healthy to put away things for the purpose of devoting yourself to the prayer to pray around the word that can never be a bad idea and it can never lead you astray and you have to be careful that you balance things let's go back this for a second and read first Corinthians chapter 7 verse 5 remember this is the verse that was describing abstaining from sexual relations for the sake of fasting let's read the rest of that verse but the Bible says afterward you should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control so there we see that at some point the fast does have to end there has to be a balance in the way that we approach these things you can't just say I'm fasting people for three years and not talk to anybody that wouldn't be spiritually beneficial you can't just say I'm fasting food for the next three months you would die unless of course God very clearly told you and you better be sure to do that so how often should we fast now we've gone over what you can fast we've gone over the different lengths of fasting now I want to look at how often you should fast now some records which are not Scripture seem to indicate that the practice of fasting was done twice a week indeed that point seems to be affirmed in Jesus's parable when we read Luke chapter 18 verse 12 I fast twice a week and I give you a tenth of my income but we aren't given a clear command in scripture on how often we should fast so my opinion and this is this is the part I'm an interjection which is my opinion my opinion is that the believer should fast at least quarterly I think the believer should at least fast four times the year now I'm not saying that's the Bible again everything else I gave you was Bible what I'm giving you now is my opinion because after looking at it again we see some indication that fasting is to be done twice a week but there's no clear command in scripture on how often we are to do it as New Testament believers so I don't want to be dogmatic where the scripture isn't clear I want to give you now my opinion so let me be very clear I want to be faithful to the word I want to be very clear now I'm giving you my opinion on how often you should fast my opinion is that you should fast quarterly at least now how long those fast should go and what you should fast personally I think you should fast food that's the traditional way to fast no I didn't say go eat fast food I said you should fast food and drink water only that is the traditional New Testament fast that we see most often practiced in the New Testament now as far as the length again you have to go with how the Lord leads you you have to also see where you are in your physical health you have to balance the word the wisdom of the word with the direction of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit will never contradict the word God is not going to ask you to do something that's going to kill you because your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost it's something you're to take care of so let's recap again and then we will conclude this message here the different types of fast you can fast food you can fast food and water you can fast in a dietary manner and you can abstain from things that the flesh craves all for the purpose of devoting yourself to prayer and the word you can fast really any length of time we see the examples in scripture are a partial day fast a one-day fast a three-day fast the one-week fast a 21-day fast and a 40-day fast and then of course there's the supernaturally sustained fast all of these must be approached with wisdom and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you see the Word of God so it's a consistent lifestyle really Luke chapter 2 verse 37 says this then she lived as a widow to the age of 84 she never left the temple but stayed there day and night worshiping God with fasting and prayer there we see an 84 year old widow who makes fasting and praying a regular part of her life so be led of the Spirit look at what the Word of God says as long as you're fasting you're heading in the right direction my suggestion to you is that you should fast I know it's not something that we necessarily want to practice because it really does I would say contradict what we desire and that's the whole point now next week I'm gonna talk to you about the benefits of fasting or what happens when we fast but I wanted to lay just some groundwork for you to have on how to fast and pray in general with biblical truths and that is it for the lesson I want to pray with you now I want to pray that God would guide you and give you wisdom as you now make a commitment to begin to make fasting a regular part of your walk with God Father in the name of Jesus I lift that one to you now who desires to go deeper in the spirit and I ask you Father that you would cause them to have wisdom and discernment but they would walk with you and Lord that they would make it a practice Holy Spirit stir them unto this spiritual discipline in the name of Jesus we pray I want you to say it because you believe it say Amen and that is it for the lesson I want to welcome now the new members of Spirit Church there you are up on the screen we love you we are praying for you I always say that because I always mean it if you like information on how you can join the spirit family go to David Hernandez ministries.com slash Spirit Church when you join the spirit family you're going to get a brand new teaching from me every single week via email as well as a worship song from Stephen montezuma and the best part you can reply to that email for prayer support from our ministry staff now to the comments and these comments are from last week's teaching the double portion anointing if you haven't watched that teaching I recommend that you go and watch it now that teaching covered the relationship between Elijah and Elijah here's what's interesting did you know that Elijah had a servant so my question was why did Elijah receive the double portion anointing and not Elisha's servant I took a look at that question on last week's edition of spiritual so go check that out while you're at it be sure to subscribe if you're watching this on youtube click that notification bell so that you can receive all the notifications of when our content comes out and if you'd like me to potentially read your comment on next week's edition of Spirit then go ahead and leave a comment in the comment section right now so here are the comments from last week's teaching the double portion anointing Daphne Chang writes to your brother David although I'm a Catholic I love listening to your sermons I am praying for you and thanking our Heavenly Father for you and your church greetings from Europe Edith Diaz writes great jobs Steven and Nick such a beautiful song Pastor David your teachings never fail to be so informative thank you for always sharing your knowledge with us I have learned so much through your ministry thank you the next comment - writes thanks for this message Pastor David it has opened my eyes about the anointing of God god bless your ministry and the final comment says god bless you brother David for being so faithful in delivering these anointed messages I watched them over and over I felt an anointing as I listened today I believe that God is touching lives through this ministry all over the world in fact we see the evidence of that 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Channel: David Diga Hernandez

Views: 82,858

Keywords: fasting, fasting benefits, fast and pray, fast and prayer, fast and pray for breakthrough, fasting and prayer, biblical fasting, biblical fast and prayer, biblical fasting and prayer, praying and fasting, praying and fast, praying and fasting sermon, how to fast and pray, how to fast christian, daniel fast, daniel fast sermon, david diga hernandez, god, jesus, holy spirit, encounter tv, how to study the bible

Id: syeYJL-NjdI

Length: 25min 20sec (1520 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 16 2019