What are you Fasting FOR?

• We know from the other Gospels that Jesus fasted during the 40 days in the wilderness

Matthew 4:1-2 (ESV) ¹  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

Luke 4:1-2 (ESV) ¹  And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness ²  for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.

What Is Fasting?

• Fasting, according to the Bible, means to voluntarily reduce or eliminate your intake of food for a specific time and specific purpose.

• “Denying Yourself”… instead of using the word “fast,” sometimes the Scriptures use the words: deny yourselves. It also means to go without food.

The point not what Jesus fasted FROM.

The point is what he fasted .

Mark 1:14-15 (ESV) ¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Luke 4:14 (ESV) And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

The Benefits of Fasting

• Fasting Releases the of the Holy Spirit

               Matthew 17:21 (NIV) This kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.

• Fasting Provides Time for
• Fasting Exercises Your Faith – Which God Honors
• Fasting Helps Us Receive Direction from the Lord
• Fasting Deepens/Aids in Repentance
• Fasting Us More Solidly in the Lord

Today I’m asking you to join me in a common fast:

FOR the Unsaved and Unchurched

That God will move in their lives,

and they would come to Christ.

& Friends & Family Palm Sunday

(Service & Picnic)

Did you know 200 Muslims recently gave their lives to Jesus at the same time?)

https://www2.cbn.com/news/world/all-them-had-same-vision-divine-intervention-jesus-appears-gazans-dreams

I suggest

• as a church we pray and fast on Wednesdays, that these people to come to Christ
• And break our fast together at the Pot-Luck Wednesday evening, then have Bible Study and communion

The Prayer Web Handout (available from Church)

Church,

• We know what we are fasting FOR – that our unsaved and unchurched friends would come to Christ
• Figure out what you’ll fast FROM
  • For most of us, it will be food – for a meal or 2 or 3
  • Some of us can’t do that, so fast something else
• Prepare to invite them to join you to
  • learn of Jesus on Palm Sunday,
  • and to stay for a great picnic with a great extended family here at All Souls