FASTING THAT PLEASES GOD
Keith O’Connor
Woodland Church
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
A. C. T. S.
A – Adoration
C – Confession
T – Thanksgiving
S – Supplication
(Matthew 6:5-18, NLT) “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
F. A. S. T.
1. F – ____________ on God
(Matthew 6:17-18, NLT) “But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
(Psalm 1:8, ESV) “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”
“The key to a true spirit of worship is worshipping God in Spirit and Truth, worship reflects a heart that is fully focused on the greatness and goodness of God. Worship moves you out of yourself to get you closer to God, perhaps closer than ever before. Focus on Him and His glory. Your worship has nothing to do with you; it has everything to do with God.” -Elmer Towns
2. A – ____________ from Food
“Fasting: a believer’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes”
-Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
(John 6:27, ESV) “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
3. S – ____________
(Psalm 42:1-2, NLT) “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?”
(John 7:37-38, NLT) “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
4. T – ____________
(Psalm 34:8, NLT) “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!”
(1 Peter 2:2-3, ESV) “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
- Private or Individual
(Matthew 6:16-18, NLT) “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
(Daniel 10:2-3, NLT) “When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three weeks. All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.”
- Corporate
(Acts 13:2-3, ESV) “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
(Acts 14:21-23, NLT) “After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.”
Growthwork
- Start Small
- Plan what you will do instead of eating
- Try different kinds of fasting
- Keep the focus of your fast on God