Leadership Lesson #5 - Understanding Fasting

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   We're going to welcome everyone to Byron Gray School of Ministry today. This is leadership. We're going to cover today the topic of fasting. So I've entitled this understanding fasting. So students, we do have some students in here with us today. And so you can take your Bibles or however you're going to do this, but we got a lot of scriptures to go through today. So we're going to start on the subject of fasting. We are not in the book of Job. Now, the reason I felt it was important to go back to the book of Job is because most Bible scholars believe that Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible, that it probably predates even the writings of Moses, the first five books of the Bible. And so it's very important that we get ahold of that. Now we're going to read something here because we know Job was in the midst of a trial. Job was allowing him to be tested. Satan, God allowed Satan to attack his family, his children, his income, his livestock, everything, and then even his health. And he couldn't understand it because Job was a righteous man. He loved the Lord with all of his heart. He feared the Lord. He was a godly man. He was one of the most godly men ever. In fact, God mentions him through other prophets, saying Job and Daniel were special people. So Job was very special, but he's in the midst of this trial. And I think God allowed it because, you know, he's going to allow us to go through difficult times, satanic attacks, friends not understanding what we're going through or where we are or what we're learning or what God is trying to teach us. And so, anyway, this is just a very important passage. Let's read Job. This is Job 23, and we're just going to read 8 through 14. You can read the whole chapter as you so desire, but I figured here was a good place to start. Verse 8. So Job 23 verse 8, Behold, I go forward, but he is not there and backward, but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him, he hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him. Boy, how many Christians feel like this sometimes? I'm seeking the Lord, but I can't seem to find him. He seems so far away. You know, we love the times when we feel his presence and he feels close and we feel that peace, his peace, his joy, his strength. But there are times that God will hide himself or make himself where we don't perceive him. And so Job was saying in the midst of this trial, not only am I being attacked on every side, not only am I going through all this, but I can't seem to find the Lord in all of

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   this. And so this is when we walk by faith and not by sight. But he goes on to say this, he said, though I can't perceive him, I can't feel him and all this stuff. Verse 10, he says, but he knoweth the way that I take. So he says the Lord knows that I'm going to follow him. And when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept and not declined. Now listen to this. Verse 12. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Now, this is something I want you to really get a hold of, is that it's obvious that Job, going way, way back, understood the principle of fasting. And fasting is really one of the first principles you need to get in it is Job talks about I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. When you love God and you love his word, I'm going to tell you, you should find times that you're praying or studying or seeking him and that his word and his presence and his revelation and that process of seeking him becomes more important to you than even eating. I know that there have been times where I've been studying all day seeking God and it wasn't that I was trying to fast not eat, but it was just that his word and time with him, I just got lost in it and realized, you know, after a whole day had passed, I wonder why I was feeling kind of hungry. And then all of a sudden I realized I haven't eaten all day. I think Job is sharing that, but I think he's also sharing how that there should be seasons that seeking him, seeking his word, seeking time with him and seeking to know him better should become more important to us than our regular schedule of three meals a day and snacks in between, right? Living, you know, again, we live, so sometimes I get tired of having to eat. You know, sometimes it's like, Lord, why didn't you make us where we have to eat so often, you know, I get like, you know, the body gets tired, it gets hungry, it gets feeling weak and weird. It's like, I got to go eat something. You know, I mean, so we live around that. So fasting is really, really the main purpose is breaking free from constantly having to take care of the needs of the flesh and our regular routine and really that interruption. And that's what Job is really expressing here. He's like, I've esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. But anyway, I bring this up because it's very important to know that for somehow, even though we don't have much revelation on it,

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   even in Genesis and other places, it's obvious that God maybe through Adam and Eve, maybe through Enoch, maybe through Methuselah, maybe through Noah. But it's pretty obvious that going way, way back, they understood how important it was to fast and to seek God with seasons of not just prayer, but also fasting, especially in times of trial or crisis or attack when you're under attack, spiritual warfare. But anyway, let's continue here. So just showing you some of these things, going back into the Old Testament, just pulled up, you know, typed in, fasted, just the word. And you see going all the way back to the days of the judges. It says here, then all the children of Israel, this is Judges 2026, then all the children of Israel and all the people went up and came into the house of God and wept and sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until even and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So again, this was a season of them being in trouble. And what did they do? They came seeking the Lord with fasting. That's all the way back in the book of Judges. Then in the book of Samuel, they gathered together to Mitzvah and they drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, we have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mitzvah. So fasting was connected to repentance and humbling yourself and admitting where you've sinned or you've made a mistake or maybe you've just become fleshly. So fasting is connected with actually humbling yourself and dealing with sin, dealing with the sins of the flesh. Samuel 31, 13 here, they took their bones and buried them under a tree and Jabesh and fasted seven days. This is when Saul and Jonathan died and they fasted and mourned because they understood that there was the judgment of God was taking place and it wasn't good. So they fasted. So fasting is connected with mourning. It's connected with repentance, humbling yourself, chastening yourself before God. Here's a few more verses. You go into the Kings and it came to pass. This is 1 Kings 21, 27. It came to pass when Ahab heard those words that he rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went softly. These were words of judgment that came to him from Elijah, the prophet Elijah. And even the wicked King Ahab humbled himself and fasted and sought God's mercy and God had mercy on him. If you read this story, you'll say God had mercy and delayed his wrath and judgment upon Ahab, he said, because Ahab humbled himself with fasting. I say this about fasting.

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   Fasting is a way to demonstrate your faith in the fact that you need to deal with your flesh, okay? That you need to stop and recognize, wait a minute, I've been getting a little too, so for some people it may be sin, sinful things, or some people it just might be just fleshly things that are maybe not so much sin, but they're just distractions. And sometimes we just neglect the Lord because of distractions. But anyway, fasting is a good way to do that. Of course Ezra, when they were seeking God's wisdom and direction and his help in the midst of all of that going on and rebuilding the temple and returning from Babylonian captivity and all the challenges that they face being surrounded by enemies and internal problems, that's what Ezra says, 823. So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he was entreated of us, meaning that as a group, and let me just say this too, there's public fasting where God's people are called collectively to fast together by leaders. That fast, there's no way to hide the fact you're fasting there, everybody knows you're fasting. And then Jesus talked about when you fast, about hiding yourself and not making it known, that's private when you're doing it privately. You can't hide it if you're doing it with a group, right? But anyway, I notice it says we fasted and besought God and he was entreated of us, so they received their answer. God intervened for them, but it was fasting and prayer. So this is in the book of Ezra. Nehemiah, when he heard that Jerusalem was still in ruin and desolation, it says, and it came to pass when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days, plural, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. And then God moved and had the king ask him, why are you sat? And the door opened up for Nehemiah to tell him what was on his heart and provision came forth and the king made the decree and Nehemiah was able to come back with a blank check and all the supplies he needed and start rebuilding Jerusalem, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. So fasting and prayer gives you favor. God moves through that over and over and over again. The book of Joel, we're still back in the Old Testament. And again, it seems like the people in the Old Testament, the Old Testament people of God, and even the wicked, some of the wicked understood the importance of fasting and seeking God. You think about Jonah, you think about the Ninevites fasting. I mean, did Jonah go? The prophet tell them, y'all need to fast.

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