A Soul on a Stretch: The Fast That Breaks the Yoke
Dr RJ Sing, 54 min, from The Fast That Breaks the Yoke (2011)
Originally recorded as “The Fast That Breaks the Yoke: An Introduction (9 January 2011)”
Sermon outline
Fasting with prayer is a soul stretched out towards God: it breaks yokes, shatters strongholds in the mind and gives God permission to work in your life, so prepare for the church fast with your own expectation and not as a ritual.
Main text
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
- Isaiah 58:5-14
- Acts 12:5
Opening
The recording begins as he finishes announcing the church fast: it starts on Monday the 17th, with a prayer meeting every night from seven to eight. He explains that he has two Sundays and one midweek service to prepare the people, and names the series for the month, The Fast That Breaks the Yoke. After the video announcements and some video clips on giving, fasting and praying, he has the people ask each other, "Are you ready to fast and pray?" He says he will teach very simply as an introduction: he is not asking them to fast today but setting the platform for the 17th.
Setting the platform: if my people will humble themselves and pray
He reads God's promise to hear from heaven and heal the land, and says the land can stand for your marriage, your relationships or your finances. Then he reads how Jesus was led by the Spirit into forty days of fasting: the Spirit of God led Him into that spiritual discipline.
“That means if Jesus fasted, we should fast.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
- Matthew 4:1-2
The fast God has chosen: Isaiah 58 in the Amplified
True fasting is not mechanical. It looses the bonds of wickedness and breaks every enslaving yoke, and then your light breaks forth: everything about your life gets brighter, with healing, restoration, peace and prosperity. The glory of the Lord becomes your rear guard, a wall of fire around your home, marriage, finances and business. You call and the Lord answers, He guides you continually through the decisions that confuse you, and you become like a well-watered garden, green and flourishing.
Illustration: Look at a garden that is dry, with every plant withering, and then at a well-watered garden that is green and flourishing. This year you will be green and flourish in the courts of the Lord.
“You will be guided by the Lord. You shall be guarded by the Lord. And you shall be governed by the Lord.”
- Isaiah 58:5-14
- John 8:12
- Matthew 5:14
- Zechariah 2:5
- 1 John 5:14
Prayer without ceasing: a soul on a stretch
When Peter was in prison, prayer was made without ceasing by the church for him, so the church and its families ought to pray and fast together. He says the word can be read as earnest, and that in the original Greek it means to stretch outwardly. It is a picture word: the mind set intently on God and reaching up to Him for help with your vocation, your finances, the cancelling of debt and a word of wisdom from on high.
“It represents a soul on a stretch, of earnest and intense desire for God and the things of God.”
- Acts 12:5
Fasting is a neglected discipline
Fasting is a neglected discipline in the life of a Christian, and we get fasting and feasting mixed up. There is a time to be glad, make merry and enjoy occasions like a birthday with family, and there is also a time to fast. It is a dietary discipline too: if you can have control over your body and your diet, you can have control over spiritual matters. Simply put, fasting is spiritual self-denial, and biblical fasting takes in the whole person, mind, spirit and body.
“Fasting is a neglected discipline in the life of a Christian.”
Fasting and prayer shatter strongholds
Through the year, working and mixing with the world, we pick up ideologies that are not biblical and our thinking changes. A stronghold is a wrong way of thinking that Satan has fortified in the mind of a Christian. When you fast and pray before God it breaks: your mind thinks better, your light shines brighter and spiritual things are no longer hidden from you.
“A stronghold is a fortified place in your mind that is contrary to the will of God and contrary to the word of God.”
- 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
God is counting on you: give Him permission to work
God cannot count on those outside His kingdom to pray. Adam and Eve lost the authority God gave them and Jesus won it back, so it is the children of God who give God permission to work on the earth on behalf of humanity. When you pray and fast you give Him permission to work in your home, marriage, finances and workplace. The church is in the world but not of it: you have the spirit of Joshua and Caleb and not of the ten spies, and when a neighbour, a colleague or a relative is in trouble you are the one who stands in the gap. God is counting on every child of God, not only on the pastor, the elders or the leaders.
Illustration: His own habit in prayer: whatever he is touching, he tells the Lord, 'Come in.'
“I say, Lord, I give you permission to work with whatever I'm touching.”
- Colossians 1:13
- Ezekiel 22:30
- John 17:14-16
- Numbers 13:30-33
- Luke 8:18
What a fast is: individual, corporate and partial
To fast means to abstain from food as a religious observance, to afflict the soul and practise self-denial. Individual fasting is when you decide on your own to fast; corporate fasting is the church fasting and praying together, as in Acts 12:5. A partial fast means going without one or two meals a day or without certain foods, and it is not wrong to choose it, as long as you do not overdo it. Are we commanded to fast? Yes. As he turns to those who object to fasting his voice gives way, and he has the church stand and praise, calls it the devil objecting, and serves notice that the church will fast and pray.
“When we come together as a church and we fast and pray, something's going to change.”
- Acts 12:5
The purpose of a fast
He lists six purposes. It turns away the wrath of God, so that mercy comes where we have not been doers of the Word. It helps us attain spiritual objectives. It is an aid to prayer. It helps us mortify the flesh. It is an evidence of desiring special mercy from God. And it is an act of worship. Fasting also gives you confidence in God's Word: the overseas trip, the car or the house you never dreamed of becomes clear in your mind as something you can do.
Illustration: A retrenchment hanging over your head, a place on the firing list at work or an enemy working against you: as you fast and pray, God protects you with His glory and those things move away.
“Fasting amplifies prayer.”
- James 1:22
- 1 Corinthians 15:57
Did the early believers fast?
Yes. Jesus said His disciples would fast when the bridegroom was taken from them, and Paul writes that he was in fastings often. Jesus is not bodily on the earth now; He is here by the Spirit, and the bridegroom has not yet returned. So this is the time for the church to fast.
“So the bridegroom has not returned yet. We should fast.”
- Luke 5:33-35
- 2 Corinthians 6:5
- 2 Corinthians 11:27
The proper method of fasting: four things
Number one, a preparation: the right attitude and the right motive, fasting in secret and not standing in the market place to announce it. Two, a duration: scripturally a fast is anything from one day to forty, and the church has chosen seven days. Three, a participation: set your own expectation and spiritual goals and make a personal commitment, and do not just flow along because the church is doing it. Four, a cessation: cease partly from the activities of the world so that you can give your time to God.
Illustration: When he fasts he likes not to watch television. He does not say everyone must, but you can do away with a small luxury.
“Fast in your heart in secret. God will reward you big time.”
- Matthew 6:16-18
The dangers of fasting and what will oppose you
He names six dangers: ritualism, fasting only because the church does it every year, with no expectation and no intensity; asceticism, becoming so holy that you allow yourself no pleasure at all; the false fast; hypocrisy; extremism, the man who has never fasted two days and announces forty; and judgmentalism towards people who are not fasting. Build up gradually, one day, then three, five and seven, and do it scripturally. The natural and spiritual oppositions are hunger pangs, weakness, headaches, persecution and temptation.
Illustration: Ask some people whether they have an expectation or know why they are fasting and the answer is 'not really': 'Well, pastor, I'm fasting because my church is fasting.'
“Have your own expectations, have your own spiritual goals, write down your request, write down what you want from God.”
- Acts 23:12-14
- Matthew 4:2
- Psalm 109:24
Eight benefits of fasting
One, spiritual liberty. Two, divine guidance. Three, growth in grace, God's unmerited favour coming on you heavily. Four, increased faith and boldness. Five, the anointing of the Spirit grows on your life. Six, physical well-being. Seven, you overcome the carnal lusts and mindsets picked up from the world. Eight, coping ability: physical strength, mental strength and fortitude for the church, your business and your profession, so that where you were weary you rise with new strength.
Illustration: Some years back, while he was part of a church group, the Lord led him to fast and pray for two days. On the second night, worshipping in a home meeting, he saw as if on a movie screen a black cloud, a red cloud and a white cloud. The Lord told him someone present was bound by a demon, that there was enough power in the blood of Jesus to set that person free, and that the person would go free and praise God. A woman from another church stood up: under heavy oppression she too had been led to fast, and God had told her she would be delivered at that meeting. He lifted his hands and had barely prayed a few words when she was set free and stood up saying, 'I'm free.'
“Can you imagine when you pray and fast what power will come upon your life?”
- Proverbs 28:1
Putting it into practice
- Get ready for the church fast from Monday 17 January and come to the prayer meeting each night from seven to eight; give somebody a lift.
- Set your own expectations and spiritual goals, and write down what you want from God.
- Fast in secret with the right attitude and motive, and do not judge those who are not fasting.
- Build up gradually and keep a good balance; do not go to extremes.
- Lay down a small luxury during the fast so that you can give the time to God.
- In prayer, give God permission to work in your home, your marriage, your finances and your work.
Closing
He prophesies that something good is going to happen to the people and that 2011 will be a year of spiritual breakthrough, and says that the devil trying to take his voice away was a sign to him that God was in the house. He encourages everyone facing a wall or dire straits that fasting and prayer will loose them to do the work of the Lord. He then prays that the foundation laid today will turn every heart towards God, the Word, prayer and fasting.
Declarations he led
- Are you ready to fast and pray?
- God hears you.
- Fasting is important. Praying is important.
- It's you.
- You are commanded to fast.
- Thanks be to God who gives us the victory.
- You should fast.
In his words
- “It represents a soul on a stretch, of earnest and intense desire for God and the things of God.”
- “Fasting and feasting, we get that mixed up.”
- “When you fast and pray, it shatters strongholds.”
- “It is the children of God that gives God permission to work on the earth.”
- “Your prayers have power. Your fasting will have power with God.”
- “We want to serve summons on the devil this morning, to tell him we will fast and pray.”
Every scripture in this message
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
- Matthew 4:1-2
- Isaiah 58:5-14
- John 8:12
- Matthew 5:14
- Zechariah 2:5
- 1 John 5:14
- Acts 12:5
- 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
- Colossians 1:13
- John 17:14-16
- Numbers 13:30-33
- Ezekiel 22:30
- Luke 8:18
- James 1:22
- 1 Corinthians 15:57
- Luke 5:33-35
- 2 Corinthians 6:5
- 2 Corinthians 11:27
- Matthew 6:16-18
- Acts 23:12-14
- Matthew 4:2
- Psalm 109:24
- Proverbs 28:1