Fasting
Pastor David Murphy | January 2nd, 2022

1 Thessalonians 5:23 NASB
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Ephesians 6:10-20
The battle in the physical realm is won in the spiritual realm.

WHAT IS FASTING?

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Biblical fasting is the restriction of food for spiritual purposes.

TYPES OF FASTING in the Bible?

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Complete Fast
Normal Fast
Partial Fast

WHO SHOULD FAST?

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Matthew 6 NLT v.16- Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

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WHEN SHOULD WE FAST?

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Time of REPENTANCE
BREAKING of sinful Habits and strongholds 
SPIRITUAL preparation, 
DIRECTION

WHAT SHOULD WE FAST? 

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WHAT IS PRAYER?

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Matthew 6:5-15 NLT Jesus is teaching.
5 “When you pray…..9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven,  may your name be kept holy. 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven
11 Give us today the food we need, 12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. 14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

WORSHIP and PRAISE 
SUBMISSION to GOD’S KINGDOM RULE
PETITION
REPENTANCE & FORGIVENESS. 
PROTECTION

WHAT IS PRAYER?

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Relational communication with God.

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WHEN DO WE PRAY? 

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If the request Is wrong he will say NO, If the time is wrong he will say SLOW, If we are wrong, he will say…GROW, Time, request and we are right, he says…GO
 
WHY SHOULD WE PRAY & FAST

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Matthew 17:14-21. NASB.
14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15 “[f]Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured[h]at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith [i]the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 [[j]But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]

UNBELIEF means there is NO CONNECTION with GOD. 
  
PERVERSE means being CONNECTED to influences of this World. 

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PRAYER connects me to God. 

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FASTING disconnects me from the World.

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FASTING…
reveals your dependence on God. 
            Seeks forgiveness
            Reminds me of the eternal
            Creates a space for God to do the supernatural.

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