← GrowLeader Podcast with Chris Hodges
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Hey, everybody, and welcome to the Grow Leader podcast, where we grow leaders that grow churches by helping them reach their full potential. My name is Matt. So glad to have you with us here today. Here in Birmingham, Alabama, the Grow Leader team and Church of the Highlands are in a season of 21 Days of Prayer and fasting. And as always, I want to make sure you know, you're invited to join us for that at 6:00am Central Time or on demand, any time of the day. And we'll link to that in the show notes of the episode today. Now, fasting is something that's being talked about more and more, more than ever before in culture, and it's often misunderstood. And we know this when we as leaders understand fasting biblically, we can help people understand that fasting is an invitation. It's not a burden. In this episode of the Grow Leader podcast, Pastor Chris shares a message highlighting Jesus assumption that fasting would be a normal part of our spiritual lives. And he offers some clarity that can help us as leaders guide the people we lead into healthy rhythms of prayer and fasting. Let's get started right now.
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But I really want to just explain something that for many Christians in all denominations, all walks of life in the Christian faith really don't know a whole lot about, or they have a huge number of misconceptions. And at the same time, fasting's mentioned more than 75 times in the Bible. And I'm gonna just show you a few of those places, and then we're gonna answer four questions, and then I'm gonna show you five of the nine fasts that are in the Bible. So that's where we're going. Okay, let me start right here with Jesus himself, in fact, John's disciples. This is so funny. I laughed when I actually put this in my notes because, you know, Even back, even 2,000 years ago, the church was picking on the church. You know, John's disciples came in and they were basically complaining. He says, hey, how is it that we, John's disciples and the Pharisees are fasting, but your disciples don't fast? You know, always somebody complaining. But anyway. But Jesus answered, how can the guest of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? And mourn, by the way, is a good word for you to just put in your head. Cause I'm gonna explain to you why you need to be kind of in that mindset whenever you're fasting. The time will come when the bridegroom will, will be taken from them, and then, then they will Fast. So he says, soon as I go, I want you to fast. And then there's another place in the New Testament or in the Gospels that I wanna show you. And I've taught on this, so I won't teach it a lot, but you may remember it's in Matthew 17. It's also found in the Book of Mark where the disciples had tremendous success seeing people healed and saved and just, you know, the ministering in a great way. But then they encountered a boy who had a demon, and they were not able to get this boy healed. And so Jesus said, oh, you unbelieving and perverse generation, bring the boy to me. And I've taught you this. If you've been around, you can go back and watch some of the messages that start our fast from previous years. But the disciples couldn't heal the boy. And so Jesus said, oh, bring him to me. And then, of course, Jesus prays for him and he gets delivered. And so the disciples, embarrassed, bring Jesus off to the side and say, why could we not drive it out? And Jesus said, oh, I needed to tell you this, that nothing is actually impossible for you. But this kind, everybody say, this kind. Yeah. So this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. So he said, I forgot to tell you, there are some things that require a little bit more depth of your faith, of your experience, in order to see it become a reality. And I'll explain why in just a second. And by the way, this is where I would like to point out to you too, that a lot of the times, if not most of the times, fasting was always connected with prayer. So you need to make sure that you pray and fast. Not just fast. If you're just gonna fast for a lot of people, you're fasting because you gained a lot of weight over Christmas. And you don't need a fast, you need a diet. All right, everybody. Okay. You need Jenny Craig anyway. So is she still around? Anyway? All right. And so the way I like to say it is a diet changes the way you look, but a fast will change the way you see. So it's going to change your perspective, it's going to give you insight. And again, I'm going to show you in scripture the biblical precedent for all of that. All right, let's go to another example in the New Testament Church, and I just want to show you one there again, are many. There are actually 75. I'm only going to show you three here. But while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting the Holy Spirit said, set apart from me, Barnabas and Saul for. For the work to which I've called them. So they're basically having a commissioning service or an opportunity to send out people from their church to be missionaries or to do missions work. And so after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. So this was the custom that even when you did anything as important as sending someone off to do something for the work of the Lord, they fasted and prayed to do that. So we had these 21 days once a year. But you would need to know that this was a common practice all throughout and almost for every occasion. And I want you to consider that. I want you to be involved in what we're doing as a church with 21 days of prayer and fasting. But I want you to think through the idea that what if for this situation, maybe we need to pray and fast before we do that? Maybe before you buy that house, before you take that trip, maybe before you make that decision. I don't know what it is, but you're gonna interject this. And I'm not talking about 21 days. I'm just talking about setting apart some. Cause what's gonna happen is your spirit's gonna connect with God's spirit and you're gonna get confirmation about what you're doing. In fact, one more. The Apostle Paul fasted regularly in weariness and toil, sleeplessness often, and hunger and thirst and fastings often. In fact, I have studied great biblical leaders and historic church leaders, and fasting was. It wasn't even like, again, a 21 days in January kind of a thing. They would have done something like that. But most of them fasted every single week. I had that practice for a long time where I had one day a week that I fasted. I've tried to fast the first three days of every month, and then we had these 21 day times. I've studied people like John and Charles Wesley, the founders, basically the founders of the Methodist movement. They actually fasted. Both of them fasted two days a week. And they said the reason why, just to keep their flesh under control. So I want to teach you about fasting, and I want to do it by answering a few questions. Okay? And the first one is, and this is my favorite part of the message, I think. And that is like, why? Why does God want this? And this is where a lot of people actually have bad theology, because they think that God wants us to mourn, as in be unhappy and be suffering and be in pain. And you've been such a naughty little boy and girl. You need to, like, you know, prove your love to me in this way. God, listen to me, everybody. Listen to me. The wrath of God has already been satisfied through Jesus on the cross. You don't have to do anything else to earn the favor of God. Yeah, go ahead and put your hands together and give God praise for that. All right, Let me say it this way. You never have to pay for anything ever again with God to get God's favor on your life. He's not looking for that. Fasting isn't about punishing the body. It's about putting every part of us in its proper place. And that's. This is what I want you to like to. If you don't remember anything else about this message, this teaching, this theology, is what changed my life. When I understood that we are triune beings. Triune. The tri meaning three. There are three parts of us, and we are the only part of creation that has three parts, not just one. Some of creation only has one. Like trees just have the tree, right? Animals, they have a different part. They have what you see. Like the tree has the body. But of course, animals have emotions and things, things like that. But we're the only ones that have a third part. So I'm gonna explain these to you. The body, which is really the flesh. So I'm only adding this to your notes so that when you read the Bible, the word flesh is used a lot. And it's not talking about your skin, flesh, it's talking about your bodily appetites, okay? So it's talking about what your flesh craves. And it's all throughout the New Testament. And if you don't understand that, you don't understand the fact that you have a part of you. Watch this. That is very alive. It wants a lot of things, some good, a lot bad, right? And it's the flesh part of us. And that's why the statement I made about the Wesleys, they fasted two days a week to keep their flesh under control. The soul is defined as your mind, your will, and your emotions. So this is the happy, sad part. This is your thinking. This is your rebellion. This is your agreement. This is everything. That's your mind, your will. I will do that. I won't do that. All right? That's all that. And there are parts of the living creatures who have that. I mean, Tammy and I raised dogs for a long time. We don't have any dogs anymore. To God be the glory, great things he has Done. Okay. We're grateful we have grandkids now. Okay. So anyway, we don't have dogs anymore. But we had. I mean, our dog very clear. When she was in trouble, she tucked her tail. When she was happy, you know, wag the tail. Right. Cats. I don't know about them. I don't know if they have any emotion at all, anyway. But in fact, when I put this in my notes, it reminded me. It's not in my notes, but it reminded me of a Boudreaux joke. Do you want to hear it, yes or no? Okay, so this one's really funny. I don't think I've ever told you that. Boudreaux had a dog at Thibodeau came over one time. And then Boudreaux was watching a movie, and the dog was sitting there on the couch. And when the movie got exciting, the dog stood up real tall and looked concerned. And when there was a happy part, the dog wagged his tail. And it was the sad part. He tucked his tail. And Tito says, man, Boudreaux, it's just amazing to see how your dog is enjoying, like, how he's enjoying this movie. And Bujo said, yeah, I know. Because he hated the book anyway, so that's stupid. That isn't it. But it's funny. I don't care what y' all say. All right? So. But it's the spirit part. It's the spirit part of us. It's the part of us that's like God, okay? This is the part of us that connects with God. This is the part that humans alone have that bear this image of God. Genesis 1. We are made in the image of God. What does that mean? Does that mean that God looks like me five foot nine and shrinking? No, it's that we have this spirit part of us. And that's the part of us that connects with God. This is the part of you, by the way, when you say, jesus, will you be the Lord of my life? Immediately. Immediately. That part of you is made perfect. Holy and righteous. Okay, here's the catch. You got to see. These two have to catch up, okay? They don't get perfect. Holy and righteous. So you still have habits. You still have addictions. You still cuss a little bit or you kick the dog, or, you know, you've got some things right, or you've got some hurts or some wounds or some addictions. So the process of Christianity, we call it regeneration. So there's salvation, which is a moment. You're going to heaven, you're going to heaven. Right? Okay. And it's past, present, future, God has paid for your sins, but now the other two parts of you are being transformed into his likeness. Second Corinthians says, we're having this process. Okay? So that is the Christian life. I hope all of you are on that journey. I hope you're all on the journey of. I'm letting this part of me affect these two parts of me. Okay? Now think about it with me. How would you get this one to have great influence into these two? How would you do it? And I would like to say to you, and this is where I'm getting into fasting, it happens. It has a better chance if it's the strongest of the three. In fact, let me say it this way. Whichever one is the strongest of the three is gonna rule your life. Still gonna go to heaven. But there are some people who their body is calling all the shots. And you're that person. I'm just gonna say it. You're the person that every Sunday says, God, I'll never do that again. And you do that. You eat it, drink it, click it, smoke it, whatever it. Right. And you don't want to. But your body is so strong that it's dominating. If you want to read it in Bible text, put this in your notes for you note takers. Go read Romans 8 now with this understanding. Because it says those who are led by their flesh, it'll eventually kill you. But those who are dominated by the spirit have life and peace. It goes through a whole argument of that. I want you to see that there are some people. And by the way, by the way, when your body's in charge, it has disregard for the other two. Meaning that when your body's in charge, if I want to eat and just tear up my body, we know it's going to hurt your emotions, you know, it's going to hurt your self esteem. And it destroys soul and doesn't even care. It destroys spirit too. Right? And the opposite. When soul's in charge, when it's totally in charge of your life, depression is more important to you. It'll kill body. Cause I don't care what body thinks, I'm in charge. So what do we want? We want spirit to be in charge. Okay, Put this in your notes. If you're a note taker, the one that is fed is the one that is in charge is because it becomes the strongest. Watch this. And whatever ones are starved become the weakest. So what fasting really is is getting to a place where we say you Know what? We're always on this journey without 21 days. You're always on this journey of letting this be so strong that it influences these two. Watch this. But fasting puts it on hyperdrive. Fasting just allows you to accelerate the process because you're actively. And this gives you the spirit of what fasting is, okay? Because if you don't, it'll drive you crazy. If you're just on, like, a glorified spiritual diet, okay? But what you want is you're asking ourselves, what can I do to deny the cravings of my body? And what can I do to deny the cravings of my soul, right? And even in the areas where we lose, and a lot of us are losing in this game, this king of the hill, if you will, of who's in charge of your life when you lose. Watch this. You lose your dominion. So you still go to heaven, but you have no authority here on Earth. The very first sin happened by satisfying a craving. They ate that. They didn't just believe in the apple, they ate it, they consumed it. In the story of Jacob and Esau, Esau lost his birthright because he wanted that soup so bad. Are you following me? In the days of Noah. Go read it. In the days of Noah, they wanted to party and carry on so much, and it cost them, right? And even Jesus said to the rich young ruler, or to the fool, he said, you say, oh, I've got plenty. Eat, drink, and be merry. But you didn't know this, this very night, your life would be demanded of you. You were letting the wrong part of you rule your life. Are y' all with me? Everybody? So my little working definition, and I've never shared this before, because this is the new part of the message of fasting is fasting is denying the fleshly appetites of the body and reordering the desires of the mind, will, and emotions so that our spirit becomes more responsive to God. And if you really want to know what fasting is, this is what fasting is. It gives us a season to say, you know what? I'm not gonna watch the news for a month. I'm not gonna be on social media for a month. I'm not gonna read anything but God's word. I'm not even gonna read books, even if they're just fiction. Just fun, you know, fun books. I'm gonna take some time and try to clean out every part of the body and the soul. And, of course, food is at the heart of fasting. Food represents the cravings and. And when we can just say no, and you're gonna be just fine. Cause I've already laid up for many years. I think I could do a 40 day fast. I've got storage, right? You know what I'm saying? Look, we're gonna be fine. And when we just say no, what? I'm not gonna do that. And it's just a powerful way to let this more responsiveness take place. Here's another question I wanna answer, and that is, when should we fast? And of course, we fast here at Highlands on 21 Days of Prayer. We. But I wanna communicate something to you that I've never shared with you before. And that is, it is important that we start the year with 21 days of prayer. Cause we're communicating the priority that God has first placed in our life. And by the way, if you've not started with this, this is only day four. If you've not started with this, you can start now. There's no shame in jumping in on day five or six or whatever. You could start, hey, everybody start. Come jump in with us. If you hadn't jumped in already. And by the way, if you've already messed up, I'm sorry, God, jump in. He forgets it. You can move on. Everybody. All right. Okay. Yeah, thank God for that. But I want to encourage you to actually integrate fasting all throughout the year. I want you to consider, you know, I wonder if in certain situations, even if it's for a meal or if it's for a day or maybe three days, like, hey, for this situation, this is so big. Hey, honey, we're going to fast. We're going to. And Tammy and I have done that regularly over Almost this May, 40 years of marriage. Everybody. Right? Yeah. Come on. Had to throw that in there a little bit. All right, all right. Here's another question. And that is, how should we fast? And you have taught. I have taught on this more recently. I do it very quickly, usually at the beginning of the year if you want to go back and watch some. But I want to give you three different kinds of fasts. And that is what we call a complete fast or a total fast, which, by the way, is very, very doable. It's not as hard as you think. And when I mean complete fast, you're either on just water or you're on juices. But you're denying yourself chewing. And I'm not. Please don't take any of this. Like, man, I'm the standard that everybody needs to follow. I am not. But for 20, 30, 40 years, almost. This is what I did. I did complete total fasting. And it's very, very doable. And you go study it yourself. When I was 19 years old, I actually did a study for a science. I had a science class at lsu and I asked the professor if I could write a paper. We all had to write a paper on a topic. And I said, can I study fasting? He said, sure. And that's when I learned not just the spiritual benefits or the medical benefits, and they're becoming more widespread and widely known. Now go do your own study. It's unbelievable, the medical benefits. In fact, I think in some ways it's God's health system, because your body will actually go and attack the things that could eventually kill you. And it's just amazing. Go study it yourself, okay? There's plenty of tools to do that. Now. You don't need my instruction, but always get medical supervision. Don't be a hero in all this and just use good, plain sense, okay? You don't have to be a hero in all this and get crazy with it. I think I even got a little too zealous with it in the earlier years of my 20s and 30s. And anyway, just be smart, okay? Cause we don't want the natural side of it. We want the spiritual side of this and the meaning of it. The second kind of fasting is what we call selective fasting. And this is where you're either selecting meals or selecting certain food items to fast. So I'm gonna fast the meals during the day, but I'm gonna eat the evening meal. That'd be a selective fast. Or I'm gonna select foods. Like, I'm gonna give up cauliflower for a month. No, I'm not talking about that. And honestly, if you want the true spirit of fasting, anything that you truly crave, that's what you should fast. So if it's sugar, if it's caffeine, if it's. I don't know, if it's. Whatever your favorite thing is, that would be a good thing to fast. Fasting certain foods or certain meals and then last one. And I think. I'm not sure I think I coined this phrase. A lot of people talk about it now is what I call a soul fast. And what a soul fast is, is to remember that we're not just trying to deny the body, we're also trying to deny the soul. And so that for some of you, like, you need to get off of all media for these 21 days, like, I'm not gonna. There is no Netflix or I'm not gonna watch. And I'm gonna purify my mind from those things that it desires. Are y' all with me? Everybody. Some of you. You need to get off of social media for a month. A lot of people do that. They'll sign off. They'll. They make a final post and say, I'm signing off. You know, but look in my eyes and hear this. We're not looking for easy. And you shouldn't expect it to be easy. That's all I wanna say. You and God talk. You decide, okay? And I'm gonna tell you what is gonna happen. The devil's gonna attack you, okay? And he's gonna. And it's gonna. And you're gonna think you're dying. You're not. You're gonna be just fine. In fact, it's gonna help you a lot. In fact, the way I like to say it is you never die from what you eat. I mean, what you don't eat, you die from what you do eat. Selah. Here's the last one. And this is where it can get a little preachy, maybe. And we'll have a little fun with this. And that is, what shall we fast for? And this is where I wanted to do a study for you. There are actually nine different fasts in the Bible, and I don't have time to give you all nine. I wrote about them in my book, Pray first if you want to get all nine. But I want to give. I think I have time for five, and we'll see what happens. I'm going to let you out right on time for sure. But I want to give you what. I've already referenced the story. I'm calling it the Disciples Fast. And the Disciples Fast in the story that I told you about the boy who had the demon, that was freedom from a bondage where the devil has a hold on you and you can't get him to let go. And you love God and you prayed and you got counseling, and it just won't let go. The Bible would call that a strong man. But also, I'm not just talking about bondage. I'm also talking about freedom from sin. For a lot of us, we have what the Bible calls a besetting sin. And a besetting sin is, especially for those who've been Christians a long time, you've got like 90% or more of the sin list under the blood of Jesus, and it's never had another part of your life, but you just got those two or three. And it could be something like anger or patience, or it could be something like. I don't know what it is. It's your. The devil doesn't even have to work very hard to get you to do it. And you're. It's not even a. God wants it out, you want it out. And what does the Bible say about that? Well, I've already given you the fast that's in Matthew 17 if you wanna go read. When Jesus said, look, this kind, if you're trying to really break a strong sin or, or bondage, this kind comes out only by prayer and fasting. But I love Hebrews where it says, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, I need some of you to take serious that it's time to throw off everything that hindering you. And wouldn't it be great if this was the year and that the sin that so easily entangles. And if you do it, it's gonna give you the ability to run your race with perseverance. The race marked out for you. Because Jesus wants to be the author, the pioneer and the perfecter of your faith. And sometimes that's never gonna happen until you say, I'm gonna fast. And we're gonna break this. Cause some strongholds only break when you fast and pray. You need to know that. And fasting truly is one of the best ways. If you've been around 5, 8, 10 years or more, you know this story. It's the funniest story. It's the best story. It's one of the best stories that happened in the first year of the church. The very first year of the church. I'm teaching fasting. Nobody knows anything about it. There is only about 300 of us on a Wednesday night like this and nobody knows anything about fasting. And so anyway, I teach, I think I taught a lot of this material. And I talk about the triune being. And after the service was over, this guy jumped out. He's a college age, early 20s guy stepped out and he goes, pastor Chris, man, that was really good. I'm gonna fast, I'm gonna fast. Marijuana. I'm like, Yeah, I actually think that'd be good, you know. And I walked away thinking, lord, surely he's not on day 22 gonna go, you know, whatever, you know, like. And I prayed for him. I didn't even tell him, I said, I prayed that it wouldn't be something that he fasted, it'd be something that he'd never allowed in his life ever again. And sure enough, he came up on day 20, he goes, I'm never going back to that, you guys. There's only 300. I don't know, you know, so it's only a few people. And of those 300, I bet half of them are still in the church. Others have moved off to other cities or whatever. But that brother is still in the church. He stopped me just the other day and said, still free. In Jesus name can we give God praise? I think it's so cool. Okay, by the way, Isaiah 58 is considered the fasting chapter of the whole Bible. So if you want to go read a whole chapter on fasting in the Old Testament lens, that's what it says. Is this not the kind of fasting I've chosen? To loose the chains of injustice, to untie the stuff that's got you all tied up, the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and to break every yoke, every bondage out of your life. The. That's what it's for. And some of you ought to be fasting, saying, I'm just sick of being this way, having this attitude, this mindset, this addiction, this habit, whatever it is. Here's the second one. Are y' all with me? Everybody? And that is the Ezra fast. And the Ezra fast is the fast that is the restoration of what the devil has stolen or is trying to steal from you. So here's how the story goes. And I don't have time to. Cause I'm running out of time. Go read it yourself. But basically, Ezra had to bring 7,500 pounds of gold and 24 tons of silver from where he was to Jerusalem, knowing, watch this. That between where he was and Jerusalem were bandits and thieves and robbers. Okay? And by the way, you have stuff, and I hate to tell you this, but you have bandits, thieves, and robbers who's trying to take it from you? The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. So just think about that. So knowing he had to take a journey, the same journey that all of us in this room are on. You have things, and the devil wants it. He have kids. The devil wants my kids. He ain't having my kids. Not having my grandkids, he's not having my possessions. It wasn't for him. It was so that I could be a blessing to the world around me. And I'm not letting him steal it in Jesus name. But Ezra was so serious about it that he proclaimed a fast. Watch this. So that we might humble ourselves. There's that mourning concept. And mourning truly doesn't mean oh, it means just humble yourself and saying, God, I can't do this without you. I can't beat the thieves without you. Humble yourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey. Did you know that there was biblical precedent for you to fast just for a safe journey and for us and our children with all of our possessions? So Tammy and I have done this many, many times. The Ezra fast literally brings the restoration of what the enemy tries to steal out of your life. Okay, another first year story. And it's a funny one too. I mean, literally, I think this is actually a second year story. Cause we had the little office complex on Highway 280 where the Lloyd's was, for those of you guys who know Birmingham. And it was right back there, a little storefront. It only had 230 seats. And so we're having our morning prayer. We're so excited just to have any space whatsoever. And we're praying. And I'll never forget this lady on the first day came up and she goes, hey, I'm believing God that I've been barren, I've not been able to have children. Doctors said we can't have children and I want kids. She said, tears coming down her eyes. I said, okay, we're gonna believe God. And I think it was like almost toward the end. I think it was day 15, 16, 17. And I'm up there just praying. And she was a kneeler, and she knelt. And all I can remember is she was in what was then in the small auditorium, this section over here. And I'll never forget. I'm just pacing. We're doing that 25 minutes on our own. And I'll never forget, she popped up like something happened, and she ran up. She goes, pastor Chris, I think I just got pregnant. I said, I didn't see anything. You know what I'm saying? She goes, no, no, no, I'm telling you, I think. I just. I think. I think I am. I think I either have already conceived or got supernatural. I don't know. And I said, well, why don't you go talk to your doctor, you know, and just see. And sure enough, she went to the doctor that day and she's pregnant. And watch this. She not only had that one first son, they had four sons. God opened up her wound and what was stolen had been restored back to her. Beautiful story. Whoo. I just love it. All right, this is a good one too, because some of you guys are in a decision making situation. You don't know what to do. And so we call this The Paul fast. And the Paul fast is for wisdom for the future. Okay? Anytime you're facing major decisions, and if there's any one thing that I fasted the most for, it would be okay. During the transition process, you have no idea how many days I fasted. Lord, are we getting this right? Are we getting the timing right? Are we? You know, even my role at Highlands College, I mean, I knew, I felt this in my heart. I didn't know, but I always confirmed big decisions with fasting. Now, the story of the Apostle Paul, you go read it in Acts, chapter nine is when he gets converted. He's on the road to Damascus. God shows up. Paul, why are you persecuting me? He gets gloriously saved and called into ministry. And then the Bible says that. That in verse nine, that after that Damascus road encounter, for three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything. He was actually fasting. And while he was fasting, this guy named Ananias who became his mentor, that nobody knows, but probably had the greatest influence on the Apostle Paul to mentor him, just shows up at his house. And the Bible says that Ananias went to the house and entered it, placing his hands on Saul. He said, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on that road as you were coming here, has sent me to you that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately, something like scales fell. So scales didn't fall from Saul's eyes. Something like scales fell from his eyes, and he got up and was baptized. So he literally. It was the moment that he got the vision to end up writing almost two thirds of the New Testament to plant churches. All the scales dropped off. And the vision for ministry and his outreach to the Gentiles happened after this time of fasting. Now, as I told you, if there's been any one thing that I've fasted, it's like, I don't know what to do. I don't know what the best decision is here. And I've told this story ad nauseam. And so I'll just give you the very Cliff Note version that that's what happened. I was in the most desperate place of my life in the year 2000, when Tammy and I were still in bat rouge. And I just knew. I was so confused, I don't even know how to explain it. I was calling it depression at the time, and I realize now it wasn't depression. It was a lack of purpose. Selah on that, too. By the way, sometimes we call it something and it's really, it's not what's in you, it's what's missing in you. And for me, I just didn't have any purpose. And God was actually making me uncomfortable on purpose. So I do something about it. And I did my first fast, my first real, I mean, my first water only fast was in January of 2000. This church was born February 2001. And it was on day 17 of that fast. I've only had three open visions in my life. Meaning that I'm seeing something so clear, it's as if I'm really seeing it for real. And the Bible calls that an open vision, where you're not just seeing it in your mind. It's like I had my eyes open, I could. And what I saw is the exact thing I'm seeing right now. I saw this auditorium shaped like this. This is the only auditorium that is this shape because this is what I saw on that. If there's any auditorium that had to be built to what I saw, it was this one, right? The first one. And so I saw it. I saw it this size, every part of it. And I saw myself from this vantage point. I didn't know where, didn't know what city, didn't know anything. I just saw this. And immediately all this joy came in my heart and a vision came inside of me and I shared it with my pastor. And the long story short, Tammy and I moved here on December 26, 2000, the day after Christmas, with everything we owned in a little trailer, and came to Birmingham and didn't know a single person. And in a few, just a couple of months, it was crazy to start on February. You don't do it that way. And we found some people to help us launch the church. 400 came in the first service. And the rest is God's story, not my story. I should never be credited 1 ounce of what happened here to God. God receives all the glory for what he's done for 25 years here. But some of you, you're in a conundrum. You're in a decision making moment. Maybe fasting is for you. Number four is the Daniel Fast. And Pastor Blake here at Grants Milk prayed this victory over the enemy, like we're gonna. And why didn't he pray? We take our stand against you, our enemy. Why? Guess what, everybody, you have one. I don't know if I believe that. That doesn't make him go away. Okay, you have one. And the fast is in Daniel, chapter 10. And by the way, it's the 21 day precedent that's found in this story. In the third year of Cyrus, King of Persia, this is when Daniel was in today what is modern day Iraq or Babylon in the Bible, a revelation was given to Daniel, who was called. His Babylonian name was Belteshazzar. Its message was true and it concerned a great war. So basically God came and said, I don't think you knew this, but there's a war going on in a realm you cannot see. Everybody look in my eyes. There's a war going on in a realm you cannot see. That's just a fact. It's the second heaven. There's these heaven. There's three heavens mentioned in the Bible. The first heaven is the stars. Second heaven is where this war goes on. And the third heaven is where we're gonna spend eternity. That's for another day. But there's a war going on there, a great war. And the understanding of the message came to him in a vision. And so at that time, I, Daniel fasted. There's that word again, mourn. But what he means is he humbled himself and didn't eat for three weeks. That's where we get our 21 days. By the way, he says, I ate no choice food. So one of the options of fasting is not total food. In his case, he didn't eat anything he desired. He only ate things he really didn't want to eat. So maybe he was on like a fruits and vegetables fast. I don't know what it was. People have tried to define this Daniel fast forever. We just know it's no meat or wine. But it could have been. Today they define it as no meat, sweets or breads. There's all kind of. Look, it is. It's just you're no choice, okay? So just don't pleasure yourself. Let me say it that way in what you eat. And I used no lotions until the three weeks were over. Watch this. And again, the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. So at the end he came and he said, do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed. And he said, peace, be strong now. Be strong. When he spoke to me, I was strengthened. In fact, he goes on to say, from the first day that you fasted, I started fighting the Prince of Persia and there was a war going on. And I've come to tell you he's been defeated. In Jesus name, he's been defeated. He's been defeated. And I don't have time for this tonight again for another message. And we've taught some on this that Prayer is not just you talking to God. Prayer is also confronting the devil. You gotta learn how to confront the devil in spiritual warfare. And here's the last one. You know, when the music plays, that's the cue for it. You're done. It's like the Academy Awards, like, get off the stage. Okay, so I only have a few more minutes, but this is a fun one. And this is the Samuel fast. And I'll save this for last because Pastor Mark has asked us to make this a highlight of our fasting year. So this is one of the ones of these nine that we're actually focusing on in our fast. And that is because we need revival. Our nation has never been more divided, more chaos. It's, it's bad. I think it's real bad. But you ready for this? God does his best work when all that happens because people, God, it's hard to touch people when they're satisfied and happy. It's when they're miserable that they go, God help us. God help us. And we're seeing that we're seeing. I can't call it revival yet. Some are calling it revival. It's not revival yet. It's probably an awakening's happening. I think it's the first drops of revival. But we're seeing 2025 was an unprecedented year of people waking up and saying we need God. The leading demographic in the church now. And this hasn't been true in over 50 years. The leading demographic or 20 year old males. What's that all about? Yeah, what is that all about? Right? We're seeing the first drops of revival. So why is it a Samuel fast? Well, Samuel took over from a guy named Eli and Eli disregarded God. He disregarded God so bad that the Ark of the Covenant was stolen. And the Bible, and I'm just going to say it like it says it, the Bible called Eli, Eli fat. And it wasn't just he was physically overweight, but in the Bible it was more than a statement of his physical appearance. It was his. It was a sign of indulgence that I'm going to satisfy myself in every way and I'm going to do whatever my body wants to do. He had a body in charge of the triune being. And then Samuel became the new leader and he knew the nation was in shambles. So Samuel, if you want to read about it in Samuel 7, said to all the Israelites, if you are returning to the Lord, or if you want to return to the Lord and see God moving to your land, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods. Watch this and the asterisk and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only. And he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. And on that day, they fasted and they confess their sins that we have sinned against the Lord. And by the way, this is where it's even important to confess of the sins that you didn't commit. But our nation has, which means in some ways, it is us. And every year I've said, God, forgive us for murdering unborn babies. Forgive us for racism and prejudice. Forgive us for injustices. Forget. Are y' all with me? Everybody forgive us of those. So I'll close with this story. You may or may not know this, but Abraham Lincoln was a fast. He fasted and he called the nation four times to a fast. The last of the four fasts was in 1863 and immediately following, of course, not only did the Civil War end to God be the glory, but also following that season, there were some unprecedented things that happened. Like in just 19, in 1867, just a few years later, Russia sold Alaska to America for $7.2 million. That's 2 cents an acre. How many know that's a good deal? For the next 28 years, the federal government would have a 28 year straight running surplus of the budget, no deficits. Some of the best inventions happened immediately after those four fasts. Like some of the greatest inventions in American history happened right in the that season. After that, it was for a fast. And my favorite thing that happened right after that fast was, of course, the south was decimated. And we were in reconstruction because the war had tore everything apart. And during Reconstruction, this little old town called Birmingham sprung up in 1871, actually. And it became so prosperous. Its minerals and its, of course, the steel. And you go study it yourself. It grew so fast and so prosperous like no other city in America. They end up calling it the Magic city. Horrible name. Because it wasn't magic. It was God. It was God. And I still think there's a redemptive calling on this city and this state for the glory of God. I believe that. And did you know that to this day, Birmingham is per capita the most generous city in America to charities and nonprofits. What's that all about? That was long before Highlands, by the way. That's been going on. Why? Because there was a redemptive calling on our amazing city. I think honestly, even Highlands, I feel so much like I stepped into something God was already up to. He's answering the prayers of people that were here long before we were. And we're just kind of. We're just kind of the ones out there reaping the harvest, you know, but we didn't plant the seed. And I think again, we ought to give God all the praise for what he's done in our city. Yeah. And that's why probably the best fasting one is this, that if you'll pray now, people called my name will pray and humble themselves. That's fat. That literally is talking about fasting and pray. Seek my face, Turn from your wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven. I will heal your sin and forgive your sin and heal your land. And so when I'm praying for you, this is what I'm praying. In fact, stand up on your feet and I'll pray it for you before you go home. Wouldn't you love to have freedom from sin and bondage? Father, I'm asking for the people of God, this will be the year that our addictions, our habits, our attitudes, the. The plague that happens in our minds, the uncontrollable things that we don't even like is broken. In Jesus name, God, I'm asking for the restoration of what's been stolen, our finances, our family. You're not having our kids. And I thank you, God, you're bringing the stray back home. God, I'm asking for wisdom for our future, Lord, that you would help people who need to make important decisions. And God, they're so big. It's like the one you led me to, that I had no idea how big it was that God, you would lead us. I pray, God, that you're giving us victory over every evil attack of the devil in Jesus name and Lord, we're praying for revival in our nation. Lord God, let America come back to God. Let this be the year where literally we have unprecedented church growth and people coming to Jesus. And there's a revival that sparks it all around the world and ushers in your return, God. And we will give you all the glory, God, as we step into this fasting season, even if we're starting it tomorrow or restarting it because we already kind of slipped, God, I'm asking God that this be the most important 21 days of our life. And again we give you all the praise and glory in Jesus name. And everybody said a good oh, I couldn't love you more. Everybody.