When You Fast.. P2 / Derek Prince

 

When You Fast.. Part 2        Derek Prince              source

 

 

 

 Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a1YxamUyvY

 

 

 

So, let's look at just a few examples, just two as the matter of fact. First of all, the day of atonement. In Leviticus 16:29-31, now, this is a lengthy chapter and it is the ordinances of the day of atonement where the Jewish people call it Yom Kippur and this is the most sacred day in 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 depended on that sacrifice. But, in the midst of the description of the sacrifice, 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 met God's conditions and humble themselves, and it is true with us, Christians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is complete, perfect. We can never add anything to it, we can never take anything from it, but if we were to benefit from it, we have to meet God's conditions just as surely as Israel did, and this is the condition that God's stated, 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 so no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who sojourns 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 solemn rest for you and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever."

 

 

 

Now the Jewish people have always understood quite certainly that the phrase, "to afflict your souls" means to fast, to go without food, as the matter of fact, on that day normally, they go without food or water. Let me define fasting as a matter of fact, just to be clear. My definition of fasting is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Often it's also from drinks, but generally speaking not so, and just how you abstain, it's up to you to decide.

 

 

 

But, what I want to point out to you is that, Israel was required to humble their souls in order to receive the benefit of the sacrifice offered on their behalf, and the Jewish people for about 3,400 years, have always known that "to humble their souls" meant to fast, and, as the matter of fact, this is an unbroken practice in the history of Jewish people from the time of Moses to this day, on the day of atonement, they afflict their souls by fasting. And in the New Testament, in Acts 27:9, "This day is called the fast," which is the New Testament confirmation that God understood that afflicting our souls is fasting.

 

 

 

It's bringing our souls into subjection. It is not allowing our souls to dictate our sores to God. It's submitting ourselves to God, and I pointed out in 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 ethereal, it's something very down to earth and practical, and when God says, "I want you to humble yourself one way, not the only way by any means, but one way." It's by fasting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

▲And then, we read about the returning exiles after the Babylonian captivity in Ezra chapter 8. Ezra was assigned a task to leading a group of exiles back from Babylon to Jerusalem. It was a 4 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 them, but they had many of the most precious vessels of the temple to carry back. The question was, how was he going to get safe passage? And this is the solution of Ezra.

 

 

 

We read Ezra 8, beginning of 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 our little ones and all our possessions."

 

 

 

How did they humble themselves? They proclaimed a fast. You see, it was a public fast concerned of all the 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 on the way, because we have 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 against those who forsake Him."

 

 

 

You see, Ezra put himself in a place by his testimony where he had to prove that he really meant what he said. He told the king, "Our God is the Almighty God, He is the God of Heaven. He protects us." Then he was assigned the task of leading the exiles back to this very dangerous situation, and he said, "I could have gone to the king and ask for an escort, soldiers and horsemen, but how would that fit in with my statement that our God protects people?"

 

 

 

See, that also happens to us, we testify and we have to live up to that testimony. And so he said, "I didn't choose the common 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 the story while he sums it up in the next verse, "So we fasted and besought 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 the spiritual way?

 

 

 

Now, it so happens that, 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 one country to country and place to place. I'd have to say that my first -- followed Ezra's example. While we had a journey to make, we fasted and prayed, 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. Alright now then, let's consider for a moment people under God's judgement. If the judgement 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 1 Kings 21, Elijah had a confrontation with Ahab, and he pronounced God's judgement on him.

 

 

 

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 Baasha the son of Ahijah," "Every male and every female in your family will be destroyed." That's God's judgement, and then it goes on to say in verse 25, "But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wide stirred him up."

 

 

 

 

 

 

So he was the most wicked king and God has pronounced judgement on him through the prophet Elijah. But, "Ahab feared the Lord," in verse 27, "Heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. (28) And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, (29) See how Ahab had 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 judgement on his day."

 

 

 

Now, fasting could do that for Ahab, what could it do for you and me as children of God? You see the potential? And then, in the story of Jonah and his message to Nineveh, we read now and 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 3:6, "The word came to the king of Nineveh; and 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 in the end of that, "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 mourning and God spared the entire city. And Nineveh was spared judgement for well over 100 years from that time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, if fasting would do that for Nineveh, what would it do for this nation? What would it do where people of God humbled themselves? Call out to Him?

 

 

 

▲And then to avert disaster, if you read the book of Esther, you read how Haman had succeeded in bringing a plot in which the entire Jewish nation in the territory of Kingdom of Persia was to be destroyed. And I suppose that every Jew on Earth on those days was in that kingdom because it consisted of a 127 provinces, extended from India to Ethiopia, and the decree had gone out. But there was in the king's palace, a Jewess, whose nationality was not known, Esther. And her cousin Mordecai sent a message to her said, "Don't think that you'll escape more than 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.

 

 

 

She said, (Esther 4:16) "Go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or 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 at 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 are fasting. 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 tried to keep this key out of 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 2 kinds of examples. I call it, the individual fast and the corporate fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the ministry of Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:4-5, He gives a list of the ways in which proved himself as a minister of Christ, and in 2 Corinthians 6:4-5, "But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God," and then he lists many different ways in which he commended as a minister of God, and he says this, "In much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;"

 

 

 

So Paul says, "One of the ways that I prove that I was a minister of Christ was by fasting." And then in the same epistle 11:23 and 27, he gives a somewhat similar list. He says, "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. (23) 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 proves to be 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 and nakedness."

 

 

 

So he says, "I fasted often." And notice he says, "Hunger and thirst is one thing, fasting is 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 deny yourself. That was one of the ways Paul proved himself as a minister of Christ, and I believe Christ ministers should prove themselves that way today.

 

 

 

▲I've spoken about my experience, but I'll just mention 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 normal Christian, I've given up on Christianity. I've turned my back on the church. I was looking for the answers to problems in other places. But when I was saved and baptized in spirit, and I didn't even know the words of what had happened to me. I had to read the New Testament to find out what had happened to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing, within, or 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. I didn't have anyone preach sermons to me. I would've known where to find fasting in the Bible, but I just had this inner conviction that I was to fast every Wednesday. And for the next four and a half years, throughout the rest of World War II, every Wednesday, I fasted.

 

 

 

I was in the desert on alloy with 10 other soldiers and we were just thrown together. I mean, when you are in a desert, there is only one place for shade, you have got to be there whether you like them or not, and I lived with those soldiers.

 

 

 

You know, we were in Egypt and Muslims got a month of Ramadan, you know that, when they don't eat? At least they don't eat on the daytime, they eat up a lot at night. They more than make up for what they don't eat during 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 can never get away from them, and I would say that I would have never made the progress that I have made if God hadn't shown me that key.

 

 

 

There have been times, I remember in Kenya, I was there for educational work, I said "I'm too busy to fast, got too much to do." So, for a few weeks, I didn't fast. The results were so disastrous that I've decided I could never be too busy to fast.

 

 

 

I'm talking about something I have experienced in this stand. I believe passionately in what I'm telling you.

 

 

 

▲Let's talk about corporate fasting in the New Testament. There are two examples from the books of Acts, Acts chapter 13. This is one of the most significant moments in history in the books of Acts. People have called this the Beginning of A Missionary Program.

 

20:17~

 

 

 

 

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, and it happened in the city of Antioch.

 

 

 

In Acts 13:1-4, we read this, "Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrach, and Saul." Who later became Paul.

 

 

 

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 ministered 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 worship the Lord and fast." 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 vocated from everything of their own efforts and waited for God to speak, and the way they vocated was to turn away from food. Who knows for how long, maybe a day, or 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 ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work which I have called them."

 

 

 

So they heard from God His strategem. You know one of the great problem of the church today is very seldom does the church get God's strategem, very seldom. We have our own plans, our own programs, our own systems, and most of it God has not initiated. And God is only committed to finish what He begins.

 

 

 

 

Paul said in Philippians 1:6 being confident at this very thing, 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 ends, but what He doesn't begins, He has no commitment to end. The important thing is to find out what God is beginning. What is God's plan? 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, "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, and laid hands on them, they sent them away." So they fasted again. The first time they fasted, they find God's will. The second time they fasted to commit those two men to carry out God's will.

 

 

 

And then the next verse says, "So, 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 say "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 14:14 it says, "But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul-." 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 indicates a scriptural way that we can institute apostolic ministry. How many of us can believe prophets and teachers? Can you believe that there are prophets and teachers in the church today? I certainly believe there are. If prophets and teachers wait on God in fasting, seeking Him, it opens a scriptural way for God to send forth the 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. If they were withdrawn 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 only had a group 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 person had to be appointed? Tell me. Elders, that's right.

 

 

 

That's when disciples become a church when they had elders, when they had governed them, and so they did this, we read in Acts 14:21. "And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconuim, and Antioch." Cities that they already have preached in.

 

 

 

(22) "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. (23) So when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord-."

 

 

 

How did they appoint the elders? How did they get the mind of the Lord to who is 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, fasting. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You see, the two 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 any other way in this age? Can we improve on those methods?

 

 

 

▲God has never asked us to improve, all He asked us 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? What are the Christians in Australia going to do with this key? What are 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?

 

 

 

Alright, now let me just point you to two conclusions. The first is in the well-known verse in 2 Chronicles 7:14. I call this "Hope for a nation." How many of you know what 2 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 7 steps, 4 steps that God's people have to take, 3 steps that God will take when we take the 4 steps. What are the 4 steps we need to take? What's the first one? Humble ourselves. Why? Because pride is a barrier to the answer to our prayers. The next thing is pray. God says, "Don't start praying until you've dealt with our pride." And then He says, "Seek My face."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's not just have a prayer meeting from 8 till 9:30, let's pray until you go into God's presence. And then it says, "Turn from your wicked ways." You say, "God, I don't think I have any wicked ways." God says, "Wait until you get into My presence and you'll find out." We experienced that in our church about 5 years ago.

 

 

 

One of the elder's wife had a word from the Lord, proclaimed a fast, but I'm not going to talk about it at the moment, a general fast, and it wasn't received with much enthusiasm. But eventually, I think the elders whom I was one was kind of ashamed in admitting what we have been to do something about this. And so we said, "We'll have certain period we'll fast and pray and we'll meet every morning 5 a.m."

 

 

 

Well, I wasn't there, Ruth and I were away when they started, and I understand that in the first morning, there were about 13 people. The congregation was about 500 at that time. The next morning, I think there were about 7, and it was going, the typical charismatic prayer meeting. The next morning there was about 4. But then, a brother, who is 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 details, but for the next, I think 6 weeks, we were meeting every morning at 5 a.m. and we spent most of the time on our faces, and the sins that were confessed were startling.

 

 

 

It was a nice, respectable church, but there were adultery, there was fornication, and 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 and with the light of His countenance, things look different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

▲What does God ask of us? 4 things: humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, turn from our wicked ways. How do we humble ourselves? By what? (Fasting) You got the message. 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 the reason for not fasting. He said fast the right way, not the wrong way."

 

 

 

Then God says, "I'll do 3 things if you'll do the 4, I'll do the 3. I will hear, I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land." How many of you would like to see their land healed? Has God shown you a way? Is there a scriptural remedy? I believe there is.

 

 

 

Let's turn to one final passage in the scripture, Joel 2:15. This is the passage that a sister had in mind when she talked about a "Joel's fast." "Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes;" and incidentally, those days we had children and nursing babies in their 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 areal example of this.

 

 

 

Let's go on. "Let the bridegroom to out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, Spare Your people, O Lord. And do not give Your heritage to reproach. That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?"

 

 

 

Notice if you follow, there are 3 categories mentioned: the priests, the ministers and the elders, and here is a responsibility of leadership in the church. "To set the example," "To take the lead."

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know who the leaders are? They're people who go in front. Sometimes, the ministers are leading from behind, that's not leadership. Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, took His disciples with Him, and then He took three and they stop, and it says, "He went a little further." That's leadership. It's 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 responsibilities of leadership.

 

 

 

Now, listen to the final statement, where in the same chapter, verse 28 (Joel). "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, our old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions;"

 

 

 

After what? After God's people have met these conditions. No, I know that Peter quoted that in the day of Pentecost and he said it took him to pass in the last days. But, that was not of total fulfillment, that was an anticipatory fulfillment, and it's very significant because in that passage in Acts 2, Peter quotes the Lord the same, "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 sister we haven't seen that, we've seen a sprinkling.

 

 

 

There are about 1 billion Muslims on the Earth that had 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 ever doubt with this now, it's an impregnable fortress to any natural approach. You have to meet it with spiritual means. What is God's program? Call a fast, sanctify an 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.