Latest / The OneCry Podcast / #171 "When You... Fast"

Transcript

#171 "When You... Fast" · The OneCry Podcast

0:01
God has hardwired something here, that in fasting, we embrace desperation.
0:09
We embrace the fact that I just need you, God.
0:12
But it also provides this opportunity for us to get clarity,
0:17
I think, Bill, on what's really going on.
0:20
Welcome to the One Cry Podcast, a nationwide call for spiritual awakening.
0:26
The goal, accelerating the movement of God through sharing revival truth, stories, and reports.
0:36
Welcome to the One Cry podcast. We are so glad you're joining us today.
0:42
I'm Bill, and this is Kyle Reno.
0:44
I'm not Bill Reno, Kyle Reno. I'm Bill Ellis, and that's Kyle Reno.
0:49
Yeah, you are. That's a popper. We are brothers, but we're brothers from another mother. That's true.
0:56
So it's so great. Hey, Kyle, we've been tracking down this beautiful passage
1:02
in Matthew 6 where Jesus is saying, when you.
1:07
Right. In other words, I have a kingdom life for you, a revived life, a life with no anxiety.
1:15
But there's some things you've got to participate. And one of those is giving.
1:20
One of those is praying. And then, you know, there's some words that just when
1:27
you hear the word, you kind of recoil.
1:30
Like, let's talk about that. For instance, like Brussels sprouts.
1:38
Liver. Liver. I can smell my mother couldn't liver.
1:43
Oh, man. Every Thursday, she thought we had to have this certain amount of blood, you know.
1:49
And so. salmon patties bro salmon patties
1:52
my grandmother that's what i oh man yeah and
1:56
and and you know uh uh marathons some people get all hyped about it but they
2:06
don't realize that they're weird they're just weird true but uh marathon here
2:11
for an athlete two a days oh good grief come on.
2:17
I got a taste in my mouth when you said it.
2:20
I'm going to barf. I'm going to barf. A little of some salt tablets.
2:25
But, you know, here's a word that sadly most Christians recall from, fasting.
2:35
Man. And Jesus said, whenever you fast, in other words, he assumed we would be doing this.
2:44
In our life. And so we're going to talk about that today because fasting is
2:49
a great key to a revived life and to a spiritual power and to movements of God.
2:57
And I know, Kyle, you've seen that a lot in your life, haven't you?
3:01
You were introduced to it pretty early. Yeah. Yeah.
3:05
By God's grace. And just remind our listeners, maybe if you haven't been with
3:09
us the whole journey and you're getting to know us some still.
3:11
I didn't grow up in church, didn't grow up around things of God whatsoever.
3:16
And so everything at 19 was new. And so every word, every aspect,
3:20
every spiritual discipline.
3:22
And some of that was I came to Christ in the middle of a little R revival,
3:26
a real move of God in a local church and was seeing so many lives change, mine being one of them.
3:34
But things that I came to believe as normative in the Christian life,
3:39
I didn't find out until later, was not true everywhere.
3:43
And one of them was fasting. And like when, well, the church I came to Christ in,
3:49
that prayer and fasting and the pursuit of God's presence and the belief that
3:55
the good news of Jesus can save anybody's life and that needs to get to the
3:58
ends of the earth, like it was just hardwired into the groundwork.
4:03
And so when I come to know Christ and I'm going to eat lunch with a buddy and,
4:08
you know, he said, well, I ain't gonna eat today. And I'm like,
4:09
why aren't you eating? Well, I'm fasting.
4:11
I have no idea what that means. Like, what do you mean when you say that?
4:16
But what I found is it was a when you part of the Christian life.
4:21
And that's what Jesus is saying.
4:23
It's not like there are, and we'll talk about this, Bill. I mean,
4:27
you're going to talk about fasting.
4:28
There are seasons that God will call you to extended fast. And we'll talk to
4:34
you about that in a minute.
4:35
But there is always the opportunity to fast.
4:39
Like there is seasons where God will say, give me 10 days, give me 21 days, give me more even.
4:46
But when Jesus thought about fasting is that there's also decision moments.
4:50
You know, I'm going to give God a morning. I'm going to give God a meal.
4:55
I'm going to give God a couple days to really seek his face.
4:58
So I just want to say this and then just I want to talk about the,
5:01
because I do, Bill, man, if the Lord would grant a few things,
5:04
I'd love to change to see the conversation around fasting change.
5:09
And I think that's what Jesus is doing right here. It says, verse 16.
5:14
And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure
5:20
their face that their fasting may be seen by others.
5:24
Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.
5:27
But when you fast, when you fast, anoint your head, wash your face,
5:34
that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your Father who is in secret.
5:40
And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5:45
And I think here's the spirit of it, is that the Lord is saying,
5:50
hey, man, don't let fasting be this external show.
5:54
Like, look at me, I'm gulped, I'm a mess, I'm starving, You know,
6:00
I'm surviving is what that looks like for the sake of some kind of penance before
6:06
God or notoriety in front of people.
6:09
Instead, Jesus changed. He goes, no, no, no, man, wake up, wash your face.
6:15
Get your life in order, your look in order, and walk into your Father's presence
6:21
who knows that you are giving him undivided attention and know that God rewards that.
6:29
God rewards that. So he's changing the conversation around it.
6:33
Not that people can't know that you're fasting.
6:36
Man, you're going to have spiritual friends and buddies that I'd encourage you
6:38
to let them be an accountability even in that or just know what God's doing to you.
6:45
What the Lord is saying, man, let's change the conversation around this.
6:50
I love this thought, Bill, and I'll kick it to you. I like even the physical
6:55
when Jesus is saying this, hey,
6:57
wash your face, anoint your head, it's the thought of, you know you need something,
7:03
a fresh season spiritually in your life.
7:06
Right. And so you're even approaching this on the outward and like,
7:10
hey, man, new day with God right here.
7:13
I'm walking into his presence prepared to meet with him.
7:17
You know, if you approach it like he says not to approach it, you know,
7:25
by griping, and complaining and trying to show everybody how spiritual you are
7:30
and that you think fasting is going to earn you some brownie points with God.
7:36
And a gloomy face, it shows, one, you don't have the right motivation.
7:43
It's all about you. And number two, you're not getting there.
7:49
Because the purpose of fasting is to lay aside other things so that you can
7:56
encounter God in a new way.
7:58
And in his presence is fullness of joy. That's right.
8:01
Right? Right. So if I'm gloomy now, I'll have to admit, Kyle,
8:05
in the first few days, if I'm on a bit of an extended path,
8:10
I'm a bit of a grump because I love eating and I don't. But it's you know what that is?
8:17
Usually it's my flesh dying. Exactly right.
8:20
I mean, it's just it's the denial of self that we don't like,
8:24
but it's so necessary and so healthy to go through.
8:28
You know, when God takes us through different things to break us and to loosen
8:34
our grip on the things of this world, that's painful at first.
8:40
But if I still have a gloomy face after
8:43
several days and I'm griping and complaining, I'm not getting to God.
8:48
And that's the point of fasting ultimately. Yeah,
8:52
I think one thing is declaration to decide to fast, which I would encourage
8:58
you to make a decision to give God a meal a day that where you're making a declaration.
9:04
Every fast is a declaration. God, I realize that I need you more than I need this next meal.
9:14
And the truth is, God made my body to need a physical meal and that you're going
9:18
to return to eating at some point.
9:21
But what you're saying is, but
9:23
I know on a soul spirit for the good of the whole being, I need you more.
9:29
And I think, Bill, what you just said is so true that fasting has a way of telling
9:35
your flesh you're not in charge. Yeah.
9:38
Yeah, you're not in charge. I am rightly aligning my spirit soul with the Lord,
9:44
making a decision to put to death my flesh and all of its wants and desires
9:50
all the time, and saying, Lord, here's my life again.
9:55
Here's my life. You're saying to your flesh, you're not in control.
9:59
You're saying to God, you are in control. You are in control, yeah.
10:03
Which is, it permeates every part of your life. So I love, man,
10:07
and you just think about, Bill, all the things that God's taught you about fasting.
10:11
He's teaching me about fasting. And I've learned from others that I love this
10:15
statement that fasting is just another way of feasting.
10:19
Wow. It's another way of saying, love a great meal.
10:24
I do. And listen, I love a great meal. But, Lord, I love to delight in you even more.
10:32
Wow. That I want to taste and see that the Lord is good.
10:39
When you think of this, Kyle, of...
10:43
What are the benefits of fasting?
10:47
I mean, one of them you just said is just to love the Lord. It's just to get
10:52
more intimate with him and it's to lay aside.
10:55
It's to give time, you know, like a meal.
10:59
But but instead of just turning on the TV and, you know, going mindless is you're
11:05
spending that mealtime in prayer or in the reading of the word of God.
11:09
What are some of the just the great feasting
11:14
that's a great statement it's another way
11:17
of feasting what's the feast that comes
11:20
from fasting yeah well one and
11:23
this is our heart i just think the experience of his presence you know like
11:27
there there is something that happens when draw near to god and he'll draw near
11:32
to you you know and i would encourage i remember bill we could we could spend
11:37
a whole episode on fasting fails, I'm sure. Yeah.
11:41
Yeah. And the Lord loves that, I think.
11:45
Would that be the episode where I told about extended fast and not paying attention
11:52
to everything I read about eating, drinking enough water and ending up with
11:56
kidney stones in the hospital? That'd be that one.
11:59
That would be some really good practical information.
12:03
Yeah. But one of mine was, is that I was given the Lord several days,
12:08
and yet I was not eating, but I was also not communing with God.
12:16
And so it's the whole point. And as clear as I can hear from the Spirit of God,
12:23
the Spirit of God said, Kyle, fasting without prayer is starving.
12:30
And I had no reason to think that other than that is dumb.
12:40
It's spiritually dumb. Like the
12:42
whole point of laying aside a meal was to actually have a moment with God.
12:49
And so an encouragement, practical encouragement, if fasting is new to you,
12:54
don't just decide, I'm going to skip lunch.
12:58
I also make the decision, I'm not going to eat lunch, but I'm going to go to
13:02
this park and I'm going to walk this trail and do nothing but commune with God.
13:07
Yeah. And, you know, there are so many incredible things. I don't know about
13:13
you, Kyle, but my experience, I've done all kinds of lengths of fast.
13:22
But in the early moments of fast, of a fast,
13:27
there's uh usually kind
13:29
of a purging and a death
13:32
to my flesh we talked about all that kind of stuff things
13:36
don't it takes a while but there
13:40
comes a point in an extended fast where everything
13:44
gets incredibly clear you're you're
13:47
literally i think physically your brain gets
13:51
very clear because it's not having
13:54
to be used to work on absorbing all that food you know but but there's something
13:59
about about that fasting time that you just start thinking clearly and that's
14:05
when to me i hear the lord in ways that i've never heard him and i can't,
14:13
Most of the, not all, but most of the greatest spiritual moments of my life,
14:21
many, I would say, have been accompanied with fasting. Oh, no doubt.
14:25
I've been seeking the Lord about this and, you know, we're praying for revival
14:32
and a time of extended fasting, open the gate for that, you know.
14:36
So just the benefits of that, discernment, clarity, intimacy with God, you know, a renewed.
14:45
And here's another benefit is just realizing I don't need this other stuff.
14:51
You know, some people do fast from media and that kind of thing.
14:55
I know a family that you know this family too, Kyle, that every August they
15:02
do a complete media fast for a month.
15:05
They're kids, no TV, no, no, you know, just minimal phone, no Facebook, none of that.
15:13
And it just, the dad told me one day, he said, it just resets our family.
15:19
And we talk to each other. We play board games.
15:23
You know, it just is a beautiful thing.
15:27
Yeah. Well, I think, man, why, if he said when you, it should ask,
15:34
why should I? Well, one, he said so.
15:37
It would be a good start. But the other is because God has hardwired something
15:42
here, that in fasting, we embrace desperation.
15:47
We embrace the fact that I just need you, God.
15:51
But it also provides this opportunity for us to get clarity,
15:56
I think, Bill, on what's really going on.
15:59
Like that there's something about I read this just fascinating study that came
16:04
out secular organization, university hospital conglomerate of universities come
16:10
together to study fasting.
16:12
And actually right now is pretty trendy in culture, you know,
16:17
like different kinds of fast, you know, like, yeah, yeah, it's very trendy, which is interesting.
16:24
You know, like we're starting to understand that there's actual physical benefits
16:28
even to fasting, you know, inside of it.
16:32
But one thing that it showed, which is so and I think this is true in a human body.
16:36
I think this is even more true spiritually.
16:39
That fasting provides this opportunity for your body to kill things that you don't need.
16:46
Like thing it like your body
16:49
moves into this right defense of
16:52
saying hey i don't need those cells in my body that's actually
16:56
harmful for me it like awakens an
16:59
aggression in your body to to get
17:02
rid of things and i thought man on a
17:05
spirit level fasting it awakens
17:09
in in your spirit man oh dude
17:12
that's gotta go like this that like this
17:15
oh that way of thinking that act that action i've told you this story so many
17:20
times bill but one of the greatest breakthroughs in my life that i believe has
17:27
shaped probably the last 14 15 years of my life was on a fast,
17:34
where the Lord really showed me my pride.
17:38
And I'm not talking about, like, I knew I was biblically aware of my struggle
17:43
with pride because I'm a person.
17:46
I'd had moments where God had convicted me of my pride, but on a fast,
17:52
things got quiet enough long enough for God to speak with a clear voice and
17:59
show me the root of pride.
18:01
And allowed me to repent at a level I had never repented, like a guttural.
18:07
Like, God, I realize that this is permeating every part of my life.
18:12
And it's a driving motivation around my ministry, my marriage,
18:18
like what I really want out of this.
18:21
And for me, and Bill, you've had that, it changed the battle.
18:26
It changed the battle. It doesn't mean I never struggle with pride again,
18:29
but it changed the battle.
18:31
You know, I don't know any man.
18:35
You read, I read a lot of biographies of great Christians and that stuff.
18:43
There's some things that are just, you're just waiting as you're reading the
18:47
book because you know it's coming, you know,
18:50
and one of them is this moment is coming where God is going to use whatever
18:57
means possible to bring that person to the end of themselves and to see their pride.
19:05
And, you know, Kyle, I've told you about a time and I had never thought about
19:10
it until this exact moment.
19:12
I had just come off a 10 day fast and we went into this meeting And we,
19:19
our church desperate, we were in trouble and we needed the Lord. And I was a young pastor.
19:24
I didn't know how to get there. And I sat on the front row and I said, God, speak to me first.
19:33
And about three days in, I found myself as the guy was preaching on my face on the floor.
19:41
And God just showed me the groundwork of pride.
19:45
And it's just like, Bill, you know why you do this? You know why you're upset
19:48
when your wife doesn't comment about your sermon? That's pride.
19:51
You know why you want to always weave yourself into the conversation,
19:56
tell everybody what you've done. That's pride. That's pride.
19:58
That's pride. That's pride.
20:00
And it was the most...
20:03
It was the most beautiful and hard moment, but I've never been the same since
20:09
then. I hope I never will be.
20:12
But, you know, I never thought about that, Kyle. That came after a 10-day fast.
20:17
Well, I think that's what God knows spiritually is if I get you aligned long
20:23
enough and get you focused, that there's this opportunity for freedom.
20:30
And then it changes the battlefront. And so, I mean, we should do it because
20:34
he said do it. We should do it because it's going to help you.
20:38
Like, God's not trying to—I think that that's what Jesus is trying to destroy.
20:43
God's not trying to hurt you with fasting.
20:45
You know, he's trying to help you.
20:48
Like, he's trying to do something you can't imagine or fathom.
20:51
But on the other side of it, and I'm telling you, Bill, you know this,
20:55
in every great movement of God,
20:58
like, I can't imagine how many things God's allowed me to see,
21:04
be a part of, that from God's perspective has a direct correlation to some season of fasting,
21:11
some moment where we've set apart our church or our people.
21:16
For me, now when I know moments are coming in my life or in the life of our
21:24
church, I'm thinking, golly, we've got to fast our way into that.
21:28
I'm going to give you a perfect illustration. I mean, like this is just real-time talk.
21:34
We got a big season starting in the lives of our men here in our church.
21:38
Going to start two Tuesdays from now.
21:40
And I just felt from the Lord, I'm going to give mornings next week to fast
21:46
and pray, you know, and send a text to my men's leader saying,
21:51
hey, I'm going to, if you desire to, do that.
21:54
And so I'm just going to take my morning breakfast meals and really focus and
22:00
fast and pray, because this is what I, building faith, I'm like,
22:04
one, I know God sees that. He sees it.
22:08
He hears it. He hears it. And I need him.
22:12
I need him. We need him. And so I say that, say, like, over time,
22:17
when you, God will put in you faith in what he does through fasting.
22:22
Right. You know, I once heard James Dobson of Focus on the Family,
22:28
you know, say that when his children were born.
22:36
I think he and his wife both decided to take every Friday until they got out
22:43
of their home and fast. And he did it.
22:47
And he did it. And he was just talking about the correlation between that.
22:52
I think he had a boy and a girl and what he felt like God had done in their life.
22:58
And he said, you know, you'll never know the one for one correlation.
23:02
But I said, I can't believe that God would not hear the prayers of a mother
23:10
and father who would give up their meals to pray for their children.
23:17
And what a beautiful thing.
23:21
Would you ever regret that? Would you ever come back and say,
23:24
oh, I wish I had a cheeseburger every Friday. That would have been so much better
23:30
versus look at my kids walking with the Lord, you know.
23:35
So I think practically, Kyle, just for a minute, because I think what is going
23:44
to come out of this, I hope, is that God would lead us into new times of fasting.
23:50
And I know there's some practical steps. You know, you just need to hydrate
23:55
well. You need, you know, I'm at a stage it's, it's interesting.
24:01
I'm at a stage that I've never been in with some health things in my life that
24:06
I have to really be careful.
24:08
Yeah. Right. Yeah. I can't, you know, this used to, when I was young and they
24:12
said, go to your doctor, check with your doctor.
24:14
I thought, and, and, and so I didn't do that. I really didn't need to do it
24:22
as much, but I have to now.
24:24
And I have to moderate things or maybe do other different kinds of fasts a little bit.
24:31
But I know they're practical, and there's a lot out there you can read about
24:36
that. But don't get all hung up in that.
24:39
If God tells you to fast, just do it, man.
24:42
Just do it and be careful and drink plenty of liquids and et cetera.
24:50
Yeah, be wise. I told you there's great resources, and we've done some other
24:53
podcasts even around this in the past.
24:56
I encourage you. And it's not about the type, the time necessarily,
25:02
all that. It's the Spirit.
25:04
Hey, Lord, I want you, so I'm going to give you this morning,
25:07
this day, if the Lord speaks to you about giving specific days, all those things.
25:12
And then I love, I heard a guy talk about the freedom of fasting.
25:17
You know, like there's a, God said, if, for me, one of the greatest things I
25:21
asked a guy to practice, because I'm like, boy, so what does that mean?
25:24
I mean, like, can I drink anything?
25:26
And the guy said, if you can get it through the straw, go for it, big guy.
25:30
And for me, honestly, though, that was the best thing I could have heard.
25:36
Because it didn't make it about what was going in my body. How you were doing
25:40
it, yeah. Yeah, it made it about being with God.
25:43
And so, man, I would encourage, and Bill, maybe you can lead us to pray,
25:47
because this is what I know.
25:51
The Lord is speaking to each of us and when you.
25:55
Yeah and and there's there is a out of
25:58
this podcast is a practical application of this
26:01
call in charge by the lord that i just know is going to mean a lot for you your
26:07
church and your community so bill lead us to pray for it well let's let's join
26:11
in prayer together and father you you said a lot to us over the last three or four weeks uh.
26:21
A lot to me and in these podcasts, when you give, when you pray,
26:29
when you fast and you have a lot for us.
26:35
But, Father, we want to come and and say, Lord, we want to do all of these things
26:43
that you tell us to do unto you or because we love you.
26:48
And because you deserve all of our resources given back to you.
26:55
Lord, you own all the money in the world and you want it in circulation to bless
27:00
our lives, bless the lives of others, and to glorify God.
27:05
You want us to pray because you know that prayer is the capital of our relationship with you.
27:14
And we won't have a relationship if we don't pray.
27:17
And you want us to fast because, Lord, you want us to take us into deeper levels
27:23
of intimacy and deeper levels of power to accomplish things for your kingdom.
27:31
I pray we wouldn't resist that. I pray we wouldn't chalk these up as.
27:36
Well, that was four more podcasts I've listened to and I've got a little more spiritual knowledge.
27:42
I pray, Father, that we would be responding to what you tell us.
27:48
And if we're not giving or if we're giving to be seen by men,
27:52
we would repent and begin to follow your prescriptions for giving.
27:59
If we're not praying, Lord, morning prayers, everything prayers, intensive prayers.
28:04
Lord, we would come and begin to pray. And if we're not fasting.
28:08
Lord, you would lead us into God-initiated fasts that would be a blessing to
28:16
us and a blessing to our families.
28:20
Lord, I think of that story about the Dobsons praying for their kids.
28:25
That may be the whole point of this podcast for somebody is you want to take
28:33
some mom or dad to a whole new level of intercession for their children.
28:40
And you know that their children are going to need that with things they're
28:46
going to face in the days and weeks and months and years ahead.
28:51
So, Lord, if that's what you're telling us to do, I pray that we just do it.
28:56
Give us the grace to do it. We know we can't do it without your grace and the
29:01
empowering of your Holy Spirit.
29:03
So, Lord, thank you for your word.
29:06
Thank you that, Lord, this is not stuff Kyle and Bill are telling us.
29:10
This is what this is what Jesus said.
29:13
These are literally your words to us.
29:16
And, Lord, we want to pay heed to them and follow you.
29:21
And and we thank you that you have invited us into this great adventure.
29:27
And we don't need to see these as duties, but as delights to know you more and serve you better.
29:36
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
29:39
Amen. Amen. Well, Kyle, thanks so much.
29:43
What a joy this has been to walk through this little passage in Matthew 6.
29:50
And and and we pray that you'll just come back week after week to one cry dot
29:58
com and the one cry podcast.
30:00
And it would it would be a blessing if you'd tell somebody about the podcast.
30:05
And I think if you if you're being helped by it, I bet you they might be helped by it, too.
30:11
So let people know. And of course, we're on every podcast platform.
30:18
You can find us anywhere, just One Cry podcast.
30:23
And I hope that you join us. And the One Cry movement, which is a movement to
30:30
just seek revival and spiritual awakening and stir up the church to cry out together.
30:37
Music.