FASTING UNTO THE LORD!
National Day Of Fasting
In 1995 U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield presented a resolution designating
Monday of Thanksgiving week as "National Day of Fasting." He and Stan Mooneyham,
President of World Vision International called on all Americans to experience
hunger willingly and to reevaluate their own life-styles and habits.
—Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
Lincoln Proclaims National Fast Day
Abraham Lincoln wrote an address to the nation during the Civil War that was
at least as important as the Gettysburg Address. It was his proclamation for a
national fast-day, by which he did designate and set apart Thursday the 30th day
of April 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer.
Lincoln wrote: "It is the duty of
nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of
God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured
hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the
sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that
those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
"The awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a
punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of
our national reformation as a whole people.
"Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel
the necessity, too proud to pray to the God that made us. "It behooves us, then,
to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and
to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
—The Bible Friend
—Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
I. The purpose of Fasting in a Christian’s life.
- Isaiah 58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?
wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in
the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
- Isaiah 58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist
of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be
heard on high.
- Isaiah 58:5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict
his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and
ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
A: This is the purpose of God’s fast!
- Isa 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and
that ye break every yoke?
- Isa 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the
poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover
him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Fasting On That Day. An officer in the Turkish War told his men that if they
died in battle, they would sup with Christ in Paradise. The officer fled. When
asked why he did not wish to sup with Christ, he said that he was fasting that
day.
—Martin Luther "Table Talk"
B: Fasting will brings
Blessing afterwards.
- Isa 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health
shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the
glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.
- Isa 58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and
he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the
putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
- Isa 58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the
afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as
the noonday:
- Isa 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and
like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
- Isa 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be
called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
- Isa 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure
on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,
nor speaking thine own words:
- Isa 58:14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee
to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of
Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
1. I have
heard how that when some people fast they see visions, angels etc. However, when
I fast I have visions of fried chicken, buffets and if I sleep I dream about it.
However, I can truly say that afterwards, I seem to feel the closeness of the
Lord. I know He is there all the time, but I seem to become more award of Him.
Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
II. Fasting is a call to all
people, with a special call to ministers
- Joel 1:13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of
the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the
meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
- Joel 1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and
all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry
unto the LORD,
A. Fasting prepares us for ordaining other ministers.
-
Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to
continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the
kingdom of God.
- Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and prayed
with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
III. What are we to do with fasting?
A. Prayer goes hand in hand with fasting?
B. If we fast without prayer then is good for only losing weight.
- Jer 36:6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from
my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the Lord’s house
upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah
that come out of their cities.
IV. We need to call the people to a regular fasting day.
A. Even the Pharisee fasted twice a week.
- Luke 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
V. Fasting does not give us power to heal the sick or cast out demons.
God's Word does that. Fasting brings us in the place where we can believe
God’s Word. We are drawn closer to the Lord.
- Matt 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
- Matt 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I
say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto
this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing
shall be impossible unto you.
VI. How should we look and carry on during a fasting time?
A. We should have a sweet and forgiving heart.
- Matt 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses.
- Matt 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad
countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to
fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
- Matt 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven.
- Matt 6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is
in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
C. We do not go around and brag on what we are doing for the Lord.
VII. Fasting can bring special blessing from God.
- Acts 10:30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this
hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood
before me in bright clothing,
A. God remembers our fasting; it’s like laying up treasure
- Acts 10:31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are
had in remembrance in the sight of God.
Give Me New England!
For three days Edwards had not eaten a mouthful of food: for three nights he
had not closed his eyes in sleep. Over and over again, he had been saying to
God, "Give me New England! Give me New England!" and when he arose from his
knees, and made his way into the pulpit they say that he looked as if he had
been gazing straight into the face of God. They say that before he opened his
lips to speak, conviction fell upon his audience.
—J. Wilbur Chapman
VIII. There are many kinds of fasts.
A. Some one says I get headaches from fasting. It means you need to fast
more.
B. Fasting will help you lose weight or it will help you gain weight. It cleans
and corrects the body. Nature tells us to fast. A animal will fast when it is
sick.
C. How long? It is like prayer or any thing else. We must practice. The Jews
fasted from sundown to sundown. We have a hard time to go from sundown to
sunrise.
D. There is the Daniel fast. No fats, no sugars. Not as easy today to do as you
think. Good up to 21 days.
E. Fast always with lots of water. Jesus hungered after 40 days not thirst.
Water cleanses the body.
Water Prolongs Fast
A man lying quietly in a cool room could live at most 12 days without water,
but given water he could fast for more than two months. —Encyclopedia of 15,000
Illustrations
F. Build your self up. Start with fasting only one meal. The journey begins with
one step.
G. Remember as with everything new, be careful. If you have health problems
check with your doctor. There are people who need to eat every couple of hours
for their health. We must use wisdom.
God bless you and yours!
On behalf of this generation,
Your friends in the service of Christ,
Tony
and Marge Abram
Abundant Life Crusades
If we could be
of more help or if you want more information please visit:
www.tonyabram.com or
www.abundantlifecrusades.com
Home
|
The Good News
|
Tony's Sermons
|
Some Thoughts
|
The Team
|
About Us
|
Support Us
|
Contact Us
Web Pages and HTML Sources are
©Copyright 2002-2024 |
Web Development: Digital Smiles
