Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday April 21, 2010

Download | Duration: 00:43:21

With Prayer and Fasting

Isaiah 58

1 Declare to Israel their sins.  The historical context is the Day of Atonement.  Could it be that I saw them fasting/said to himself, “Finally, they are doing something right.”?  But then the Lord told him to go and rebuke them.  This is tough – they are finally doing something they should be doing – fasting – but they are doing it wrong.  Normally, I rebuke them for doing the wrong thing and not doing the right thing, but now he has to rebuke them for doing the right thing wrong.  They might cry out, “We can’t get it right.”   

The Lord deals w/ us in the depths.  He is an inside God.  He doesn’t want some, but all of you and God isn’t a God who settles for some, but presses for all. (pushy God) My office needs straightening/ordering.  I want it 2b straightened/ordered – but I settle for the way it is. Which also means I settle for the way I am.  God doesn’t settle.  Prophets don’t settle.  False prophets settle.   

2 Sin: obedience w/o submission/religious motion w/o spiritual emotion – settled for an outward response w/o an inward response.

3a Store w/ OPEN sign displayed, but door is locked when you try to enter.  When this happens, you go away.  THEM: OPEN sign, but closed.  They experience God rattle their doors/go away.  Why doesn’t God honor our ritual?  They fasted on the outside, but never humbled themselves on the inside.   

Note: they are truly perplexed by I’s message and are now truly engaging God and prophet.  When spiritual life consists of nothing but ritual, spiritual life will shrivel – because God’s not in it.  It is a wonderful moment when you become aware that God isn’t paying attention to your ritual/not settling for your locked door.  Teachable moment

3b-5 I’s answer: context - Day of Atonement – fast/humble soul.  Driven (exert demanding pressure) v resting/striking w/ fist v raised to God.  It’s all about you… still filled w/ lust.  To humble yourself is to empty yourself, but you’re still full.  Inwardly: driven/ambitious.  Outwardly: sackcloth/ashes/bowing.  God is an inside God and not just an outside God.  They only knew an outside God.  They knew that they could please one another w/ outward service – there were performance standards they were supposed to meet/exceed.  Their worth was measured by performance standards.     

The lordship of Jesus isn’t measured by your conformity to performance expectations, it is measured by your conformity to His nature.  The lordship of Jesus isn’t measured by how long you pray/ how often you attend church/how much you give/how often you read your Bible.  Mt. 7 – depart from Me I never knew you.  They never knew Him!

After rebuking them for fasting in the wrong spirit, I lays out the truths and principles of the kind of fast that God does honor.   

the power of fasting

What is the advantage of fasting?  How does fasting enable prayer to be more effective?   

I have struggled w/ the subject of fasting because I didn’t understand the logic of fasting.

    * How could abstaining from food affect my spirit?
    * Growing up, I was baffled by Catholics who didn’t eat meat on Fridays.  I couldn’t make the connection between food and faith.
    * I knew that the moral dimension affected the spiritual dimension, but how does the physical dimension affect the spiritual dimension?
    * Is prayer offered on an empty stomach more powerful than a prayer said after a big meal.  Does God delight in my stomach cramps?  Do I show God how serious I am by foregoing the texture and aroma of food?
    * Do I have to stay away from food to be holy?  Isn’t He more pleased when I stay away from sin?

Along with these questions, I struggled w/ my own desires and lack of discipline in not wanting to forego the comforts of food.

On top of this, we know that it is not prayer offered w/ fasting that commands God’s attention, but prayer offered w/ faith.

    * The condition of the heart is still the greatest factor in the offering of prayer as our reading of Is. 58 demonstrates.
    * The individual who fasts three days a week and offers prayer w/o faith is not heard whereas the one who has never fasted and offers prayer w/ faith is heard.

How does fasting enable prayer to be more effective?  Fasting is a matter of focus –

    * The sun shining through a window will warm this room.  The sun shining through a magnifying glass will burn this room up.
    * The same sun – but the shape of the glass affects the light from the sun differently.
          o One diffuses, the other concentrates
    * Fasting, in faith, exerts a unique pressure upon your heart that results in concentrated prayer.
    * Fasting serves as a two-way magnifying lens allowing us to focus certain concerns before the Father and allowing God to speak and deal w/ us in a concentrated fashion.