THE WHAT AND WHY OF BIBLICAL FASTING Pastors JF & Ashley Wilkerson
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Matthew 17:14-18 NIV 14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
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UNBELIEVING - not connected to God; not trusting God
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PERVERSE - too connected to the world; too connected to things that aren’t of God.
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Matthew 17:19-21 NASB 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
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Problem: UNBELIEVING and PERVERSE. (Maybe Put these in columns? However you think)
Solution: PRAYER and FASTING.
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PRAYER connecting with (and to) God.
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Fasting helps to disconnect us.
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BODY - keeps us connected to our PHYSICAL / FLESH
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SOUL - keeps us connected to our EMOTIONS / WILL
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SPIRIT - keeps us connected to GOD/THE HOLY SPIRIT
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Isaiah 58:8-9 NIV Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
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Questions:
1. Are there areas of your spiritual life where you feel like something is missing? Are there areas that you are desiring more of a connection with the Lord and everything He has for you? Have you sought the Lord on the reason for this? Why or why not?
2. Do you regularly ask the Lord to search your heart and life for things or connections that aren’t pleasing to Him? What have you done about those? What accountability do you have in place to help you walk that out?
3. When you think about humans being triune beings (meaning having 3 parts: Body, Soul and Spirit), which of those 3 is the strongest in your life right now? Why do you think that is? Why does this matter?