1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,720 We've been in a series, if you've been around for the last 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:07,560 couple of weeks pressing in and pressing on, and we've been 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:13,400 looking at week 1, I set the scene of this coming season 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,240 being about digging wells. And if you were here, you'll 5 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:20,680 know that I brought a literal shovel, a large shovel and a 6 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,120 small shovel and had it on stage. 7 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:29,480 And and this invitation of the Lord in this moment that he's 8 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:34,400 calling us to dig the well of prayer in this place as we walk 9 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,280 between in this in between season, as we've said goodbye to 10 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,360 1 senior pastor and a chapter has ended and we're looking 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,680 forward to what God is going to do in the next chapter. 12 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,000 And I described prayer as being just quite frankly, hard work. 13 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:51,320 And we don't always feel like it, but the Lord calls us to 14 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:55,760 pick up a shovel and to use our prayer muscles, however weak 15 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,720 they might feel, and to just pray. 16 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:03,800 And as we do, He starts to form us, literally change our shape 17 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,320 because of our encounter with him. 18 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:11,080 And then last week, Richard did a phenomenal job of talking 19 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,560 about faith and what it is to stand in expectancy. 20 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:20,440 And he shared that story, which has stuck with me, of a group of 21 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,280 believers who stood in a nation that was experiencing drought, 22 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,920 calling on the name of the Lord to bring the rain. 23 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,680 And they meant it with a whole being. 24 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,040 And then there was this child at the edge that was also praying 25 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:39,040 that that child had an umbrella up ready and expected. 26 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:43,120 And that picture that that God moves and he comes through on 27 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,760 his promises. And actually, our posture is to 28 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,600 be like the child with an umbrella up ready for what God 29 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,280 is going to do. And so we've had a shovel and 30 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:55,160 we've had an umbrella. And I'm not going to lie, the 31 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,240 pressure was on this morning. I was like, what am I going to 32 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,560 come up with today? But we're going to dig into 33 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:05,040 another dynamic that helps us to persist in prayer this morning. 34 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:09,240 And so before I kind of kick in, I just want to pray and ask the 35 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:16,160 Spirit of God to be an honest Lord. 36 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:17,960 We thank you this morning. You're here. 37 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,880 We're so grateful that you gave us tastes of heaven, presence, 38 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:36,720 What kindness? And Lord, this morning as we dig 39 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:44,680 into Your word, we're not here just to come in and eat it and 40 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,000 walk out and look exactly the same. 41 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:58,080 We're here to encounter You changed by so worried where we 42 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,520 might have walls up this morning or or just the mundane of our 43 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,560 week. We've just rolled in and we're 44 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,120 just here and we're walking through the motions forward by 45 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,240 your spirit. I pray that you would tenderize 46 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:15,240 our hearts in this room. You'd help us to take off the 47 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:19,680 coat, the layers that would hinder us encountering you and 48 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,840 seeing you and allowing you space to speak to us. 49 00:03:27,950 --> 00:03:31,950 And I pray that everyone of us, no matter where we're at, would 50 00:03:31,950 --> 00:03:40,270 walk out of here with a taste of that living hope, a taste of 51 00:03:40,310 --> 00:03:45,110 your presence with us that empowers us to walk differently 52 00:03:45,350 --> 00:04:00,120 is coming. Well, a few years ago I went on 53 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,280 a bit of a crazy journey thanks to a wonderful friend and her 54 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,520 great ideas. And it was, we'd had Christmas, 55 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,160 we'd had New Year's, we'd enjoyed all the things that come 56 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,680 with that. And she had this great idea to 57 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,120 embark on a 30 day clean eating experiment. 58 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:20,800 In fact, my in laws are in the room this morning and they were 59 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:22,920 here that Christmas. And I think I convinced my 60 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:24,760 father-in-law to join me on this crazy journey. 61 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:30,160 But we did a 30 day clean eating, I don't know, diet, I 62 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,960 guess, but just that like purging of all the things. 63 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:39,040 So there was no sugar, no caffeine, no gluten, and I'm not 64 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,680 going to be like, there was a lot of other things on this list 65 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,520 of things that I thought, well, what on earth am I actually 66 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,480 going to eat? Like I was really excited when I 67 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:54,120 signed up and I got to the 1st of January and I was like, So 68 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:56,440 what is here that I'm going to eat? 69 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:01,600 And and so I embarked on it. I got myself prepped and I'd 70 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:06,880 shop for some things on the list that you could eat and started 71 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,240 on day one. No, and it's OK, I'm going to 72 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:11,800 feel grumpy. It's OK, I'm going to feel 73 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:16,200 grumpy and it and we embarked on this journey and basically the 74 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,840 first week I was a nightmare. I mean, I was every form of 75 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:23,040 hangry that you could possibly have and my poor family and my 76 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:24,720 work of colleagues. So I remember sitting in 77 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,120 meetings at while I'm harbourning like I just can't 78 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:28,560 focus. Like I'm so sorry. 79 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:30,520 I wish Don't put the caffeine in front of me. 80 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:38,000 And part of this regime, so to speak, was that they also had 81 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,440 protein shakes. And I'd never had a protein 82 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,640 shake in my life before this. But I remember the first day I 83 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,480 made this protein shake in great hope that this thing was going 84 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,800 to taste amazing. I had no one tell you that 85 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,360 protein shakes taste terrible. They're just awful like, and so 86 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,640 I made this protein shake and I was like, the texture is just 87 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,840 and I thought, oh Lord, I've got 30 days of drinking this. 88 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:06,360 Like, how am I going to make it? But I made made it through and 89 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:08,760 we just started to drink this protein shake, forcing myself 90 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:14,600 and, and I hoped that maybe I'd get used to the protein shake 91 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:15,960 and I'd come to love it. But you know what? 92 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,160 I never got to love protein shakes. 93 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,440 They are just gross. I'm going to put it out there. 94 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,000 I know they're great. I know they do wonderful things 95 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:24,440 for us, but I just never loved it. 96 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:31,360 And but what I did start to notice is that the protein shake 97 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,960 did what they said it would on the tin, which is it? 98 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:40,120 It did sustain me in a way that when I had to say no to all the 99 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,440 lovely things that I did enjoy, that I would consume this 100 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:45,600 protein shake. And no, that was a horrible 101 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:50,040 experience to get it into me. Once it was in, I didn't feel 102 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,080 hungry. And slowly over the course of 103 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:58,480 this 30 day, clean eating, the protein shake really, really 104 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,920 empowered me to do the thing that I'd set out to do. 105 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:08,680 And what I came to realise is that that even though we have to 106 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:14,840 do something sometimes that don't feel good, they actually 107 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,800 empower us to taste and see the thing that's really good for us. 108 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,400 And So what happened over the course of this 30 days is that 109 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:28,440 the things that like fruit and vegetables, like they came alive 110 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:33,080 in my taste palate when you eradicated the things that our, 111 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:35,560 our food culture has taught us taste good. 112 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,200 And suddenly these protein shakes were empowering me to 113 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,520 finally taste just how good a pear actually tastes when you're 114 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,000 not used to extreme sweetness and fake sugar. 115 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:53,240 And this morning we're going to tuck into something that if 116 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,400 there is a prop that I could have brought this morning, it 117 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,960 would be my protein shake shaker for you, OK? 118 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,280 Because what we're going to tuck into this morning is something 119 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,880 that like protein shakes are to clean eating. 120 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:13,960 Fasting is to pursuing God. We are going to talk about 121 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,040 fasting this morning. And I know it might be like, 122 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,240 wow, you've given us analogy where you're feeding yourself 123 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:20,520 and you're talking about fasting. 124 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,200 Claire, how does this work? Trust me, roll with me. 125 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,920 OK, we're going there. So what is fasting? 126 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:33,720 I mean fasting in a definition in the dictionary is essentially 127 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:38,679 to abstain from something voluntarily, voluntarily, yes, 128 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,080 to say no to something like food. 129 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,800 And in our health world right now, if you jump on any form, 130 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,640 especially as a 40 year old woman, let me tell you, I get 131 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:50,920 bombarded with intermittent fasting. 132 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:52,760 You should do this. It's really good for you. 133 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:57,400 There is like so much out there, the business world, they say 134 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,400 it's an incredible place to develop an app right now on how 135 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,800 to fast and to help people fast because it is beneficial to our 136 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,120 health, supposedly. But this morning I want to talk 137 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,640 about biblical fasting, which is a little bit different than the 138 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,840 way our modern world is unpacking fasting. 139 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:19,480 And This is why, because biblical fasting is yes, about 140 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:24,280 saying no, abstaining to something like food, but it is 141 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:30,200 in order to make space for something really good, God 142 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:39,280 himself to taste him in new ways to allow who he is to come alive 143 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:44,560 in our being. You know Dallas Willard, a great 144 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:49,600 a great theologian and brilliant on spiritual formation, he 145 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:52,760 defines fasting like this. He says that fasting has 2 146 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:59,560 dynamics, 1 is withdrawal and the other is appropriation and 147 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:03,400 you can never take one part without Part 2. 148 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:08,520 Any fast which is merely just about a withdrawal is not a fast 149 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,680 in the way of Christ. It's just merely A withdrawal. 150 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:19,040 Fasting is always about turning from one thing to another. 151 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:24,920 My way of putting that is to say that the fasting is about saying 152 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,520 no to something that we could say yes to. 153 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:35,280 In order to say yes to something that we literally cannot afford 154 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,520 to say no to, I'm going to say that again. 155 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,720 Fasting is to say no to something that we could say yes 156 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:50,240 to in order to say yes to the thing that we literally cannot 157 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:57,160 afford to say no to, because biblical fasting is an embodied 158 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:03,320 way of pursuing God. And that in order to little bit 159 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:08,400 is really important understanding because when we 160 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,680 think about it, like if I said to you, who's super excited to 161 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:15,800 fast, do you love fasting? You'd be lying to me if you 162 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,000 raised your hand in this room like the mass majority of us are 163 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,720 not going to be like, woo Hoo. I can't wait to say no to lunch 164 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,880 today, dinner, breakfast tomorrow. 165 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,800 And I'm going to tell you upfront, I hate fasting. 166 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,880 Like I am preaching to myself this morning I was like, Lord, 167 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,440 really? You want me to smoke on fasting? 168 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,640 I'm rubbish at this. I really, really don't like it 169 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,800 because we don't like putting ourselves in uncomfortable 170 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:53,280 places and being confronted with feeling of hunger or the laying 171 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,560 down of something that we love in our life. 172 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:00,560 And I think some of that is because when we think about 173 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:05,240 fasting, we actually think about it in a modern understanding of 174 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,640 fasting, which is it's all about saying no to something. 175 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,600 And what we forget is that in we're saying no to something in 176 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:15,960 order to say yes to something. It's like pulling up a being 177 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,240 offered a seat at a table of amazing things. 178 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:21,920 But someone walking over and saying, hey, do you want to come 179 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,120 sit at this table over? This is absolutely incredible. 180 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,920 And you're being invited to take your seat from here and go sit 181 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,200 at this table. The fable that God lays for us 182 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:38,800 with this abundant feast. Fasting is about taking a seat 183 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:43,000 at the most abundant table that you could ever imagine and 184 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:50,480 feasting there. Now, I say that, but I still 185 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,680 know that some of you are like, yeah, but you know what, Claire? 186 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:54,760 Fasting's not commanded in the Bible. 187 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,640 And you are right. Fasting is not a command in the 188 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,600 Bible. Like love your neighbor is or 189 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:04,240 you know, go into all the nations and make disciples. 190 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,480 Those are commands upon disciples. 191 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,120 And fasting is not a command in the Bible. 192 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,000 And I'm like brilliant. That means it's just for the 193 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,040 Super spiritual people. Sweep that one under the table 194 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,040 and forget that one. I'll, I'll, I'll go for worship. 195 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,160 I love worship, love walking in here. 196 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,000 That's great. I'll meet Jesus in worship. 197 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:26,720 We'll leave fasting for another day. 198 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:35,040 But what we discover in the scripture is that fasting isn't 199 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:41,000 for super spiritual people. Fasting is not an invitation to 200 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:46,080 religious performance. It's about becoming a person who 201 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:51,760 lives in the sufficiency of God. It's where inner transformation 202 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:58,040 happens and it empowers us not through external performance, 203 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,640 but it is effective not because of what we do, but because of 204 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:08,000 how God meets us in that place of saying come and make the old 205 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,760 self known of me, where we createspace for him to allow him 206 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:18,200 in to inwardly transform us. And fasting is seen throughout 207 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,400 the Scriptures, Old Testament, New Testament. 208 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,600 And what my hope is this morning is that you walk out of here 209 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:34,480 understanding that fasting is an absolute gift because it helps 210 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:39,320 us, it empowers us. And He's not commanding it of 211 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:43,120 you, but He's inviting you to come and taste and see just how 212 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:47,840 good he is. And He gives it as this gift 213 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:52,400 because He knows we need help. And I don't know about you, but 214 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,600 I need help. I need help to encounter Jesus 215 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:01,560 in deeper, more meaningful ways. I need help to taste Him and 216 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,440 experience Him and really taste Him. 217 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,760 Like I tasted that pear and I've tasted the apple. 218 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,960 I don't want the fake shallow taste of God, I want the deep 219 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:19,680 encounter of God that literally changes me and satisfies me in a 220 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,080 way that nothing else can satisfy me. 221 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,640 So it's really interesting to me that fasting is actually the 222 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:34,080 most unused practice of modern discipleship. 223 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:38,920 And John Mark Chroma offers a really interesting insight into 224 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,400 this. He says that we live in a 225 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:47,720 culture not only of food, but of excess, luxury and addiction. 226 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:54,480 And just to be clear here, you know that they say that 95% of 227 00:15:54,480 --> 00:16:00,320 us, the world's population, is addicted to something, not 228 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,840 Jesus, like addicted to something in our world. 229 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,120 And for many, as many as he goes on to say, for many of us, the 230 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:13,200 desires of our body have come to hold power over us consciously 231 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:17,080 or mostly unconsciously. And in the battle with our 232 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,760 flesh, we have become its slave and not its master. 233 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:31,320 Coffee, tea, sugar, social connectedness, even exercise, 234 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:38,280 essentially anything that has our devotion above our attention 235 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,760 on God. And so as I've considered this 236 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:48,440 culture that we live in in 2025 and and just like super honestly 237 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,560 looking at my own life, I am addicted to stuff. 238 00:16:52,560 --> 00:17:00,880 I am and man, I need help to get God back in the first position 239 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,680 in my life where He has my devotion and He empowers me to 240 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,960 overcome that stuff. Because in Matthew 4/4 it's 241 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:12,359 reminds us that we cannot live by bread alone, but only by 242 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,400 every word that comes out of the mouth of God. 243 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:23,440 And so if you are a disciple of Jesus in this room, I want to 244 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,079 suggest that every single one of us today needs to consider the 245 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,480 place that fasting might place in our journey. 246 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:35,000 As His disciple, He's inviting you to take the best seat at the 247 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:39,080 table this morning and to consider how he wants to help 248 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,400 you taste and see how good He is. 249 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:48,360 Now, there's a lot in the word about fasting, but I want to 250 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,280 highlight three things as I kind of meditated on this and 251 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,800 consider what the world might want to remind us of in this 252 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,240 season as Verso. There's three things I want to 253 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:03,000 look at this morning, and the first one is this, that fasting 254 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,600 empowers us to be wholeheartedly devoted to Jesus. 255 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:11,080 You know, I want us to look at Joel. 256 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:15,240 Joel is an amazing example. He speaks about fasting in Joel 257 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,840 chapter 212 and 13. Now Joel is a minor prophet. 258 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,200 His name means the Lord is God and he's giving a prophecy in 259 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,440 this chapter to the people of Judah. 260 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:33,280 He were experiencing a plague of locusts which on 1st read you 261 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:39,000 might think is an agricultural disaster, but at actually what 262 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,400 is happening here is this locust plague is speaking to something 263 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,760 much deeper going on in the people of Judah. 264 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,560 And Joel gives this invitation and it says this in Joel to you 265 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:58,280 12 to 13 even now declares the Lord return to me with all of 266 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,240 your heart with fasting and weeping and mourning. 267 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:08,720 Rend your heart and not your garments, for the Lord is 268 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:13,280 gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love, 269 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,920 and he relents in sending calamity. 270 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:20,560 Now what Joel is doing is he's speaking to this people that 271 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:26,640 essentially have drifted, they've drifted into scenarios 272 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,240 that that their attention is not on the Lord and he's speaking to 273 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,520 them prophetically and he's saying hello, you need to return 274 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:42,520 to me, return to the Lord, not to Joel, Say the Lord, how, how 275 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:48,720 is he calling them to be wholehearted, devoted, devoted 276 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:50,240 to God? How is he calling them? 277 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:56,480 He says to come ultimately with repentance, with mourning and 278 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,600 weeping. What, what are they mourning and 279 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:00,880 weeping? They're mourning and weeping 280 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,560 over their sin, their lack of devotion to the Lord. 281 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,200 He's calling them to repentance and how? 282 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:12,840 Through fasting and what I when I sat on this Scripture, I was 283 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:15,280 like, Lord, what? What is this dynamic about? 284 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:24,840 He's calling them to an embodied pursuit of God where they 285 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,200 repent, where they're weeping over their sin. 286 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,400 How often do you weep over your sin? 287 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,320 The things that have got your attention over the ward? 288 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:41,520 I don't weep over that enough. But he also calls them to fast. 289 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,120 And what we start to see here, and perhaps the Lord wants to 290 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:48,000 speak to us this morning, is that fasting helps us to ensure 291 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,920 our pursuit and persistence is wholehearted and not half 292 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:56,400 hearted. But fasting empowers us to walk 293 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:02,200 that out because it helps us keep the first thing first. 294 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,320 It helps us to keep a regular check on the kind of things that 295 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:12,080 maybe have taken place in our lives as the master instead of 296 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:22,220 us being the Master over them, we're on a lifelong pursuit. 297 00:21:22,460 --> 00:21:25,500 And what I love in this is that not only does he call them to 298 00:21:25,500 --> 00:21:29,740 mourn and weep and fast, it then goes on to remind us that who is 299 00:21:29,740 --> 00:21:31,780 doing that? The Lord who is compassionate 300 00:21:31,780 --> 00:21:34,260 and loving and kind. And he doesn't do that from a 301 00:21:34,260 --> 00:21:37,700 place of saying, get on your knees and repent of your sin. 302 00:21:37,700 --> 00:21:39,820 And, and he's doing it because he loves us. 303 00:21:39,820 --> 00:21:45,360 He calls us to fast because He loves us so much that He wants 304 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:49,480 to empower us to pursue Him as we are called and designed to 305 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:56,950 pursue Him. Because let's not forget, 306 00:21:56,950 --> 00:21:59,470 there's lots of good things and they're gifts from the Lord, but 307 00:21:59,470 --> 00:22:03,350 they can so quickly become more important in our lives than Him. 308 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,000 But I also love here that as they do this actually in in this 309 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,200 Scripture, it's like a prophetic declaration to the world around 310 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,640 them. And my word, does the body of 311 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:21,080 Christ in this hour need to prophetically declare that the 312 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,360 turning wholeheartedly to Jesus is the only way. 313 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,400 And church, that's you and me in this room. 314 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,720 We need to get serious about our devotion to Jesus because when 315 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:36,560 we do, we are pointing a world that is lost outside these warts 316 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,720 to say this is the only way. This is the only way. 317 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:45,040 In this hour. There is no other solution, no 318 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,280 other solution but Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the 319 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:51,960 life. And as a body of Christ. 320 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,240 It feels hard sometimes, but today I want to offer to you 321 00:22:55,240 --> 00:23:00,240 that fasting is a gift of the Lord that will help us pursue 322 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:06,840 Jesus wholeheartedly. Secondly, fasting, as I said, is 323 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:13,840 embodied prayer. Let's look at Ezra for a minute. 324 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:20,360 Ezra 821 to 23. It says this there by the Ahava 325 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:23,320 Canal. I proclaimed a fast so that we 326 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,600 might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe 327 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,120 journey for us and our children with all our possessions. 328 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,120 I was ashamed to ask the King for soldiers and horsemen to 329 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,960 protect us from the enemies on the road, because we had told 330 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,400 the King, the gracious hand of God is on everyone who looks to 331 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,280 him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him. 332 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,680 And so we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he 333 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:57,720 answered our prayer. You know, fasting is in bodied 334 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:02,200 prayer and in that fasting keeps us postured in expectation. 335 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,200 Building off last week what Richard unpacked around 336 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,360 expectation, I want to offer you today that fasting is an 337 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:13,080 invitation to help us stay in that posture of holding up an 338 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,640 umbrella in full expectation of what God can do. 339 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:22,400 And here in Ezra, we see Ezra, who is a leader who loved God, 340 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,040 who studied the word. He was a teacher of the word to 341 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:27,920 others. And here in chapter 8, he's 342 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:32,040 leading a group of Israelites on a long journey from Babylon to 343 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,960 Jerusalem. And they're carrying a large 344 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,680 amount of treasure, objects actually, from the temple. 345 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:42,720 And they need to be carefully stewarded and guarded on this 346 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:46,200 journey. But geographically, physically, 347 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,920 this particular journey is very hazardous and dangerous. 348 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,960 It's a super risky mission. And Ezra, I mean, man, he told 349 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:57,440 the king, we don't need soldiers. 350 00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,840 We don't need anybody to protect us on this journey. 351 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:06,640 Our God has it. Ezra had spoken out what he 352 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,360 needs to be true. And suddenly he's like, oh man, 353 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,160 now, now we got to walk it. Now we've got to walk it like 354 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:19,320 God is really who he says he is. And the realness of what is 355 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:27,400 before them settles on them. And what I love about Ezra in 356 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,400 this moment is he calls this group of people to fast. 357 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,560 Why? Because he knew God's promises, 358 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:34,520 but he didn't take them for granted. 359 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,560 I want to say that again, He knew God's promises that he did 360 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,960 not take them for granted. We know the promise of this 361 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,160 moment. God is writing a story here in 362 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,040 our church family. He has, He has promised, He's 363 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:54,120 LED, He's brought provision in our new leaders that are coming. 364 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:56,960 And we're reminded that he's called us to pursue his 365 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,480 presence, but he's saying to us, don't take my promises for 366 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,800 granted versus church family. We need to stand in this moment 367 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,480 pursuing his presence in full expectation of him encountering 368 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:12,320 us here in the in between. And if you think about this 369 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,920 journey, if you study this bit, you realise they walk a 900 mile 370 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,080 journey and Ezra's calling them to fast. 371 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:21,600 This seems like the most ridiculous thing of all things. 372 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,920 They're going to give up food as they encounter, go on this huge 373 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,280 journey of 900 miles, carrying heavy objects from the temple, 374 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:37,440 encountering huge risk. But Ezra knew God, and he knew 375 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:41,480 they needed to humble themselves and say that food for this 376 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:42,800 journey isn't going to be enough. 377 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,480 The only thing that's going to be enough is God and His 378 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:52,240 provision and His protection. I love these kind of examples 379 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,840 that you see even in the modern examples of like the stories of 380 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,600 the Hebrides revival, you find there were people who didn't 381 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:00,760 take God's promise of revival for granted. 382 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,680 There were women who just all they did through that revival 383 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,000 was fast and pray, petitioning God. 384 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:13,480 You know, I can't quite remember now. 385 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,040 Where are we at? 2025 S probably 3-4 years ago, 386 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:22,920 our oldest daughter, she got COVID quite badly in the October 387 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,840 and by the January she was super, super sick and we ended 388 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:32,400 up in Lister Hospital for 2 1/2 weeks flat on the bed, no energy 389 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,440 like super sick. And the doctors were doing lots 390 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,360 and lots of tests and they were trying to work out what was 391 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:41,840 wrong. And, and it turned out that that 392 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:45,440 it was discovered her thyroid was full of toxic goiters. 393 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,240 There was hardly any normal thyroid tissue left, which was 394 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:54,040 very unusual in AI think she was 1415 at the time when this 395 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,480 happened. And I remember standing in the 396 00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:59,480 hospital room with her and the doctor came in and they said, 397 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,400 well, we found all these goiters and we're not really sure what 398 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,720 they are and we're not sure if they're sinister or not. 399 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,880 And we're going to have to go down biopsies and all kinds of 400 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:10,840 things. And she was so sick. 401 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,960 And I remember standing there thinking, Oh my word, like what 402 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,960 is before us? And I remember walking into the 403 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:22,440 little parents kitchen and standing there and being like, 404 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,480 dear God, like help like this is not, this is not OK. 405 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,720 I'm not OK with this. I need to fix it. 406 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,000 How can I fix it? And I was like, I remember 407 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,560 having this conversation being like, I know I'm going to I'm 408 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,160 going to fast, I'm going to fast because if I fast, will you 409 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:42,080 listen harder to my prayer that I want this as the result, this 410 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,560 to disappear, this to be how I want the outcome to come. 411 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:52,920 And so I started to fast and the journey unraveled. 412 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:57,840 And it wasn't sinister, but she had a pretty horrific year and 413 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,680 she had to have major surgery, remove her thyroid. 414 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,000 She was a soccer player and a big dream. 415 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,720 And she had to give up all soccer for a year. 416 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:09,600 And it was a devastating journey in the midst of it. 417 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,960 But what was really funny is I didn't get what I wanted. 418 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,200 I didn't get the fix that I wanted, even though I'd fasted. 419 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,200 But I did encounter Jesus in the middle of it, and so did she. 420 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:28,760 And this is the kindness of God. My motivation was totally what? 421 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:33,120 We don't fast to manipulate God, OK? 422 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,760 We don't fast to convince Him that our answer is the right 423 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:41,200 answer. We fast because we want to 424 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:46,360 encounter Him and in that place we create room in our lives for 425 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,480 Him to sustain us. And in my story, the kindness of 426 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,240 God is that even though I walked in with this screwed up 427 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:57,160 motivation, like somehow I could manipulate the God of heaven to 428 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,880 do what I wanted him to do. Now hear me, God doesn't make 429 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:02,400 illness. I don't believe he causes 430 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,880 illness, but he's so kind that he meets us in these journeys 431 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,600 that oh, in these tension of the here and the not yet. 432 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:13,800 And in his kindness, he still met me and sustained us. 433 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,440 Because like in Daniel, when Daniel talks about fasting, the 434 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:26,360 reality is as Daniel 1012 says that God heard my whispered 435 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:30,000 prayer from the moment that that doctor walked in and started to 436 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,280 give me doom and gleam and then he sustains us. 437 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:37,480 And Daniel, Daniel talks about that he fasted for three weeks 438 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,520 and it's and it in verse 12, it says do not be afraid Daniel, 439 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:45,960 since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding 440 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,520 and to humble yourself before your God, your words were hurt 441 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:53,320 and I have come in response to them. 442 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,800 This is the deal. We don't manipulate God by being 443 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:02,960 religious and fasting, but we have a responsive God who hears 444 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:07,480 our prayer from the first utterance as we humble ourselves 445 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,560 before him. And in his kindness, He comes 446 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:14,120 and he meets with us and He sustains us and he keeps our 447 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:18,000 eyes focused on what He is seeing and what He is doing in 448 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,520 the midst of the stories that we are walking. 449 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:24,320 And we see more and more examples. 450 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:26,920 Nehemiah. He fast because he's not giving 451 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:31,280 up on the world around him, and he's pursuing God for a plan for 452 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,560 rebuilding a city. And he fasted and prayed for 453 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:38,920 many days, pursuing God's heart. Jehoshaphat is another one. 454 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,960 He called a fast for the people of Judah who were facing a great 455 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:47,360 enemy, and God gave them victory without lifting a sword. 456 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:52,760 Two Chronicles, 20, I could go on. 457 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:56,080 There are many, many examples, but this is what I want to say 458 00:31:56,080 --> 00:32:01,720 to you #3 that fasting is a lifestyle, not a one hit wonder. 459 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:07,760 If you look at Anna in the New Testament, Luke 36, she was a 460 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:12,240 prophet and she had been married for seven years and she'd lost 461 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:17,040 her husband and she went to the temple until she was 84, day and 462 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:23,200 night, praying and fasting. Her position, position and her 463 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:25,560 persist. Her persist, Oh my gosh, her 464 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:32,080 position and her persistence postured her that when Mary and 465 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,280 Joseph walked in with baby Jesus, she said this is the 466 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:40,320 Messiah because she'd humbled herself to see what God sees. 467 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,160 Jesus, he starts the first story of his adult life that we read 468 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,360 about is him fasting and praying for 40 days and nights. 469 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:53,560 And man, if Jesus is fasting and praying, maybe, maybe it needs 470 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:58,600 some of our attention. The early church fasted and 471 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,040 prayed twice a week for over a millennia. 472 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:09,760 It's only in recent times that fasting has fallen out of favour 473 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:15,920 in our discipleship rhythms. In Acts 13 and Acts 14 we read 474 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,160 about how the early church fasted as they were starting to 475 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:22,600 see the expansion of the church. Revival broke out. 476 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,600 The church multiplied. They sent out Paul and Barnabas 477 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,040 as they were commissioning new leaders. 478 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,680 Hello First O church, we are about to Commission new leaders. 479 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,160 What did the early church do? They fasted and prayed. 480 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:40,560 John Wesley, he was another man who believed that fasting and 481 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,280 praying was absolutely essential. 482 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,200 He said you could not teach the word if you don't fast or pray. 483 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:52,040 Man, that hit home for me. Fasting helps us to persist in 484 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,600 prayer because it gives us focus, it keeps us dependent, it 485 00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:00,800 keeps us postured in humility, it keeps us growing in spiritual 486 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:05,040 stamina, and it helps us to stand as one unified body of 487 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:09,880 Christ. Now I'm not this morning going 488 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:11,920 to go into how to fast because guess what? 489 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,480 You can Google a million ideas of how to fast. 490 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:20,120 It's not complicated. ChatGPT will help you too. 491 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,159 But the key here is to understand that biblical fasting 492 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:30,920 calls us to intentionality. It's a taking an act of 493 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,159 devotion. It's not about dieting, It's not 494 00:34:34,159 --> 00:34:37,159 about getting it all right. It's about making a posture 495 00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:39,600 towards Jesus and saying I need help to do that. 496 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,960 And so I'm going to say no to this thing because I want to say 497 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:48,880 yes to the thing I cannot live without, which is Jesus. 498 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:53,120 And I just want to throw this out here. 499 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,400 I, I, I read this as I was prepping. 500 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,800 I thought, man, oh, that's, that's good. 501 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:04,720 It's just a thought on how we fast and what we fast. 502 00:35:04,720 --> 00:35:08,440 In fact. So when you do hear people 503 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,560 fasting in our day and age and often at Lent, this is the key. 504 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:15,600 They'll be like, I'll give up social media or I'll give up 505 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:23,680 Netflix or I'll give up whatever it might be, just not food or 506 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,680 maybe a portion of food. And, and, and hear my heart in 507 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,200 this, like I understand there is nuance. 508 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,800 There are people that can't fast because of health reasons. 509 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:36,720 I'm not saying that fasting food is the only way, but it was an 510 00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:39,880 interesting thought to consider how many times we give up things 511 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,680 that are actually toxic already in our life and should be given 512 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:47,200 up anyway. And so I want us to think in 513 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,920 this room, if the word might be saying to us, I want you to give 514 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,920 up food because food was good and created for your sustenance. 515 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:58,880 And in in fasting food, you're actually making a declaration 516 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,560 that I'm giving out something good for even something better. 517 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,640 I'm not just dealing with something I should be dealing 518 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,680 with anyway. Fascinating isn't it? 519 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,560 But do you hear my heart in that I'm not suggesting that if you 520 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,560 give anything that will help you pursue Jesus is good. 521 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,800 But for some of us, I think we need that sharpened edge to can 522 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,040 to actually face it front on and say, actually, I'm going to fast 523 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:27,160 food. And So what does this mean for 524 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:29,760 us as a church? Brace yourselves. 525 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:36,560 Well, first and foremost, as individuals, I want you to 526 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:40,000 consider where fasting should play a part in your 527 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,920 discipleship. Is there things that need Spirit 528 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,040 of God to come in and keep a check? 529 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,280 Are there things that are stopping you from truly being 530 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:55,520 wholehearted followers of Jesus that are operating subtly in 531 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:59,640 your life? Are you in a season where you 532 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:04,920 want to pray, you want to be someone devoted in prayer, but 533 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,000 somehow you're a bit stuck and you just can't seem to get 534 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,160 there? Or are you in a season where you 535 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,480 need to see the Lord breakthrough in an area and you 536 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,440 are not saying to the Lord, I want this is the outcome, but 537 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:20,680 you're saying, man, I need you, Jesus in this season and I need 538 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,560 you to sustain me and I need you to help me see what you're 539 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:31,680 seeing. But as a church, we felt this 540 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:37,280 conviction of the Spirit to call us as a church to fast as one 541 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:42,360 body in this season, from now until January, maybe beyond, who 542 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:47,560 knows? Because we don't want to take 543 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:53,240 God's promises for granted. We want to be wholehearted in 544 00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:55,800 our pursuit of His presence in this season. 545 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:02,760 We want to be formed. We want to pick up our shovels 546 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,400 and start praying. And we want the Lord to help us 547 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:09,840 do that so that we become who He's creating us to be. 548 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:14,080 And so we want to invite you to join us. 549 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:19,360 We are going to start to fast on a Wednesday lunchtime because we 550 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:22,440 have space online on a Wednesday lunchtime. 551 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,360 And so whether you are in your office in London, whether you're 552 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:31,720 in your home in Hemel, whether you are at school or university 553 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:37,200 or anywhere you are, the invitation is to come and taste 554 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:41,400 how good God is together. And because we have space 555 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:45,760 online, that is a place that we can gather from wherever we are 556 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:51,360 corporately together as a church to pray and to worship and to 557 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:54,520 fast. And so I'm calling you versa, 558 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:58,960 church family, to consider if you will give your yes to 559 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:04,040 pursuing Jesus in this season by fasting corporately together at 560 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:12,960 Wednesday lunchtime. God hears our prayers and he's 561 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,760 breaking through in our families and our lives, and he's 562 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:22,080 informing us to be like Jesus and to pursue the love of a 563 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:26,680 Father that will sustain us at all times and in all seasons. 564 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:35,920 And as Galatians 69 says, let us not grow weary while doing good. 565 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:38,720 We're doing great stuff for the Kingdom. 566 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:41,880 Let's not grow weary in that. Let's not take it for granted. 567 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:47,080 But in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 568 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,640 And we are here to make spaces and places for people to 569 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:54,440 encounter Jesus. And I want to see hundreds and 570 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:59,720 thousands of people come to encounter the living hope, Jesus 571 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:04,160 Christ. And we need to be ready because 572 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,560 with that comes a whole multitude of things. 573 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,080 And we need to see what God is seeing, and we need to be able 574 00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:12,200 to speak what He is saying into people's lives right where 575 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:14,800 they're at. And so with that, would you 576 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:15,160 stand?