Episode Overview

Episode Title: And When You Fast | Ezra 8:21-23
Speaker: Philip Anthony Mitchell, Lead Pastor, 2819 Church
Date: January 5, 2026

Theme:
This episode delivers a heartfelt and urgent call for a week of prayer, fasting, and spiritual consecration to start the New Year. Pastor Mitchell, drawing from personal spiritual experiences and deep biblical teaching, exhorts the 2819 Church community—local and global—to forsake distractions, humble themselves, and seek God's face. Using passages from Ezra, Acts, Joel, and Matthew, the message powerfully lays out the biblical pattern and purpose of fasting, the urgency of spiritual awakening, and a corporate invitation for transformation.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. A Wake-Up Call for the Church and the Nation

• Pastor Mitchell recounts a sobering vision from God at 3 a.m. that pressed upon him the nearness of the end of the age and imminent dangers facing Christ’s followers (05:57).
  • Quote:

    “It was like I could hear an audible voice saying to me, 'Philip, my son, we're very close to the end.' … If it’s true that we don't have much time left… I thought about all of us who are Christians who are wasting our time busying ourselves with all of these things that's not going to matter a hundred years from now.” (06:14)

• The vision compels a heartfelt plea for personal and communal repentance, spiritual vigilance, and sobriety about eternal priorities (08:28).
  • Quote:

    “I'm seeing all of us running around like hamsters on wheels. We're busy doing this and busy doing that, doing everything other than the things God has called us to do. … If the bride of Christ in America, if she does not wake up, if she does not pray, if she does not repent… we will be held captive in our own country by a radical ideology.” (08:28 – 09:45)

2. Personal Intercession: Pleading for Salvation and Holiness

• The Pastor shares vivid emotional moments, weeping over his family, his church, and the wider Body of Christ (11:58).
  • Quote:

    “I wept for my children. … Pleading with God for the salvation of every friend I know who is not saved… pleading for you that God would work into your heart a desire for purity and a desire for holiness.” (11:58 – 13:58)

3. What Biblical Fasting Is—and Isn’t

• Biblical fasting is defined clearly:

  • “Fasting is the abstinence from food for a period of time to turn one's heart fully towards God in prayer, devotion, and seeking his face.” (14:15)
  • Not just abstaining from social media or personal pleasures:

    “That’s lame. That’s bottom shelf. That’s American biblical. … If it don’t hurt your flesh, it’s not a fast.” (14:15; 35:29)

• Outcomes and Benefits of Fasting:

  • Heightened spiritual sensitivity and clarity
  • Deliverance from bondage, habitual sin, and physical ailments
  • Deeper intimacy with Christ

4. Examples of Corporate Fasting in Scripture

• Ezra 8:21-23: A fast for protection and provision; God responds when people collectively humble themselves and seek His face (17:06).
• Acts 13:1-3: A fast for divine guidance; God speaks clearly during seasons of collective fasting (18:45).
• Joel 2:12-13: A call to return to God in humility, even for those in active disobedience, through fasting, weeping, and mourning (23:54).
  • Quote:

    “Even in your rebellion, return to me, said the Lord. How? With humility, don’t return with pride and arrogance. Return to me...with fasting and with weeping.” (24:01 – 26:11)

5. Jesus’ Expectation: “When You Pray… When You Fast…” (Matthew 6)

• Jesus assumes that His followers will regularly practice both prayer and fasting:
  • “He did not say if you pray, He said when. He did not say if you fast, He said when.” (32:49)
• Instructions on the posture for fasting: Not for show, but for intimacy with God (30:07–31:42).
• The reward for private prayer and fasting is left open-ended by Jesus, but is sure to be rich and personal (28:22, 31:42).

6. Practical Call: Seven Days of Prayer and Fasting

• Start: Monday morning
  End: The following Sunday with communion
• Two biblical options outlined:
  • Total Fast: Abstain from all food (recommended only if healthy and led by the Spirit)
  • Partial Fast: Pattern after Daniel—the removal of certain foods, or limited eating windows (36:28)
    • Emphasis: Fast as the Spirit leads, with personal honesty and humility
  • Quote:

    “Everybody… I dare I say, I'm calling America, the whole bride, to slow down… to take the first week of the year, these next seven days… to tell your flesh you have no authority over me.” (37:03 – 37:39)

7. Mindset and Heart for the Fast

• Avoid legalism, pride, or complainers’ spirit—focus on what you gain, not what you lose (37:59).
• Motive: Seek God’s face, not just His hand (37:59).
• Possible fruits: spiritual deliverance, answers to prayer, clarity for life’s direction, healing, restored relationships, personal holiness (39:41–42:03).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “Wake up the bride in this country, and we better stand on business and we better pay attention.” (10:27)
• “When you fast, you have more spiritual clarity. People have fasted and seen God move mightily in their life… their bodies have been physically healed during their fast.” (15:18 – 16:10)
• “There really is no excuse not to go… God calls his people to pray. So everybody is called to pray… the Lord calls everyone to fast.” (32:45 – 32:49)
• “Before we give birth to Ishmael’s, before we start doing all these things this year that you put on your vision board, some of you got a whole vision board of everything you want to do that you never even prayed about… let the spirit of God lead you.” (34:26 – 36:28)
• “If it don’t hurt your flesh, it’s not a fast. You gorging yourself on fast food all week while you're not watching TV and calling that a fast. That's American. That's not biblical.” (35:29)
• “Turn your plate down. However, the Spirit leads you. Turn your sin down. Turn down your plate and turn down your sin. Bury yourself in the scriptures.” (42:37)
• “We coming after your face. We coming after your heart. We coming after your will. We coming after your word. We want all of Jesus this week, more of him and less of you.” (44:39)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Vision and Urgency for the Church/Nation: 05:57 – 10:39
• Personal Intercession and Plea: 11:58 – 14:15
• Definition of Biblical Fasting: 14:15 – 16:51
• Scriptural Models for Corporate Fasting: 16:57 – 24:01
• Invitation for All (including spiritual outliers): 26:38 – 27:15
• Jesus’ Instruction on Fasting/Prayer (Matt 6): 27:28 – 32:49
• Practical Instructions for the Corporate Fast: 34:26 – 38:00
• Heart Posture During the Fast: 37:59 – 40:57
• Encouragement and Vision for Breakthrough: 40:57 – 44:36
• Prayer of Consecration Over the Church: 44:36 – 47:40

Flow and Tone

Pastor Mitchell’s tone is deeply passionate, urgent, vulnerable, and loving—moving from a prophetic warning and personal brokenness to confident, scriptural guidance and hope. The language is direct, not watered down, interspersed with moments of humor, challenge, and deep pastoral care.

Actionable Summary for Listeners

• Accept the Call: Participate in seven days of prayer, fasting, and consecration.
• Choose Your Fast: Total (abstain from all food) or Partial (abstain from certain foods or limit eating windows)—as led by the Spirit.
• Prioritize: Major on time with God in the Word, prayer, and worship; minor on complaining or self-pity.
• Encourage One Another: Share scriptures, testimonies, and support fellow church members.
• Expect: Guidance, breakthrough, deliverance, new intimacy with God, and clarity for the year ahead.
• Remember: The main reward for fasting and prayer is deeper relationship and intimacy with Christ (29:44).

Final Charge

“Who's with me for that? ...Lord, we’re going to seek you this week. Lord, we coming after you this week. We coming after your face. We coming after your heart. We coming after your will. We want all of Jesus this week, more of him and less of you. Seven powerful days of consecration. All of him and less of you.” (44:39)

For more details and resources, visit 2819church.org.