"A FAST FOCUS"

"FASTING" TEXT: Isa. 58:1-14

The discipline of fasting and prayer is not well understood today

The practice of fasting with prayer is found all through the Bible,

Yet in our modern culture it is not emphasized much.

As Christians we should know the proper way of fasting.

It is a discipline in the Christian life that can have a great impact.

Fasting should not be done to manipulate God.

Nor should it be done to impress others. (Isa 58:1-4)

A brand new lawyer in his brand new office on his first day in practice sees a prospective client walk in the door. He decides he should look busy, so he picks up the phone and starts talking: "Look, Harry, about that deal. I think I better run down to the factory and handle it personally. Yes. No. I don't think 3 million will swing it. We better have Rogers from Seattle meet us there. OK. Call you back later." He looks up at the visitor and says, "Good morning, how may I help you?" And the prospective client says, "You can't help me at all. I'm just here to hook up your phone."

Mt 6:16-18 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

A fast is a private passion,

Can be called for a group to refocus attention and desire on something spiritual.

What exactly is a fast?

Have you ever wanted something so bad that all the routine stuff of the day means nothing, only the desire to fulfill that need? As kids we often found this true just before Christmas … the idea of opening those gifts made us ignore our desire for food or anything else, our desire for gifts outweighed any other desire.

In a sense, this is what happens when we fast … our desire for God or a burden becomes so great that nothing else seems to matter.

Food, drink, entertainment, and anything else becomes secondary to the burden or desire for God. In this situation our focus is single … and nothing else seems quite as important.

Es 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

This is the idea of a Biblical fast.

Why is it important?

One Man Said, "I have never met a soul who has set out to satisfy the Lord and has not been satisfied himself. "

1. To draw us closer to God.

How should one be done?

Jon 3:5-10 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

What is the purpose of a fast? (Isa 58:6-14)