Bakersfield First Assembly

Bakersfield First Assembly

Bakersfield First Assembly

Bakersfield First Assembly

Mark 4:35

Bakersfield First Assembly

Bakersfield First Assembly

Acts 18 & 19

REBUILD MY HOUSE!

THE POWER OF FASTING

“… rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the

LORD. Haggai 1:8 NLT

Fasting is abstinence from food or drink for a specific period of time while

focusing on prayer and fellowship with God.

FASTING IS WHEN YOU DENY NATURAL DESIRES

FOR SPIRITUAL PURPOSES.

TYPES OF FAST:

- Partial Fast: Daniels Fast (Vegetables Only)

- Liquid Fast: Water, juice, smoothies etc.

- Full Fast: Water Only

- Absolute Fast: No Food / No Water

- Private Fast, or Corporate Fast

Do not deprive each other [of marital rights], except perhaps by mutual

consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves [unhindered] to

prayer, but come together again so that Satan will not tempt you [to sin]

because of your lack of self-control. 1 Corinthians 7:5 AMP

1) FASTING POSITIONS YOU FOR VICTORY

Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord; and

he proclaimed a period of fasting throughout Judah. 2 Chronicles 20:3 NASB

(853 BC)

12  Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great

multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes

are on You.” 2 Chronicles 20:12 NASB

15  … ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is

not yours but God’s. 2 Chronicles 20:15 NASB

You will not even need to fight. Take your position; then stand still and watch the

Lord’s victory… Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you. 2

Chronicles 20:17 NLT

Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer burnt offerings

and grain offerings, I will not accept them [because they are done as obligations,

and not as acts of loving obedience]… Jeremiah 14:12 AMP

“Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile,

when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really

for me that you were fasting? Zechariah 7:5 NLT

“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.

Tell my people Israel of their sins! 2   Yet they act so pious! They come to the

Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a

righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to

take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me. 3  ‘We have

fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very

hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond.

“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep

oppressing your workers. 4  What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and

quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5  You

humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads

like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with

ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?

Isaiah 58:1-5 NLT (711)

4  Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting

like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Isaiah 58:4

ESV

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the

straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7  Is it

not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your

house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your

own flesh? Isaiah 58:6-7 ESV

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring

up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall

be your rear guard. Isaiah 58:8 ESV

2) YOUR LIGHT SHALL BREAK FORTH

3) YOUR HEALING WILL SPRING FORTH SPEEDILY.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here

I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and

speaking wickedness, 10  if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the

desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom

be as the noonday. 11  And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your

desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a

watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Isaiah 58:9-11

ESV

4) WHEN YOU CALL, GOD WILL QUICKLY REPLY. “HERE I AM”

5) HE WILL GUIDE YOU.

6) RESTORE YOUR STRENGTH.

12  And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of

many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of

streets to dwell in. Isaiah 58:9-12 ESV

12  Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be

known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes. Isaiah 58:6-12 NLT (711

BC prophet to Judah )

7) FASTING BRINGS INSIGHT AND UNDERSTANDING

So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and pleading,

with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Daniel 9:3 NASB

22  And he instructed me and talked with me and said, “Daniel, I have come now to

give you insight with understanding. Daniel 9:22 NASB

In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. 3  I did not eat

any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment

at all until the entire three weeks were completed. Daniel 10:2-3 NASB

In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. 3  I did not eat

any tasty [hamad] food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any

ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. Daniel 10:2-3 NASB

HEBREW WORD

Hamad: desire, desirable, to greatly desire

10  Then behold, a hand touched me and shook me on my hands and knees.  11  And

he said to me, “Daniel, you who are treasured, understand the words that I am

about to tell you and stand at your place, for I have now been sent to you.” And

when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 

And he says to me: Daniel, man greatly desired, attend to the words that I am

speaking to you, and stand on your station, for now I have been sent to you. And

when he speaks with me this word, I have stood trembling. Daniel 10:11 Literal

Standard Translation

8) WHEN YOU FAST DESIRABLE THINGS, YOU BECOME DESIRABLE TO

GOD!

Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set

your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God,

your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. Daniel

10:12 NASB

13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in my way for twenty-

one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I

had been left there with the kings of Persia. Daniel 10:13 NASB

13  But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my

way… Daniel 10:13 NLT

12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against

the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces

of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 NASB

For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and Satan

hindered us. 1 Thess. 2:18 NASB

Now as soon as he spoke to me, I felt strengthened… Daniel 10:19 NASB

9) FASTING INCREASES ANGELIC ACTIVITY

11  Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 4:11 ESV

Are not all the angels ministering spirits sent out [by God] to serve (accompany,

protect) those who will inherit salvation? [Of course they are!] Hebrews 1:14 AMP

10) FASTING RESULTS IN EXPLOSIVE POWER

Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around

by the Spirit in the wilderness  2  for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And

He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.

Luke 4:1-2 NASB

And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an

opportune time. Luke 4:13 NASB

And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him

spread through all the surrounding region. Luke 4:14 NASB

11) FASTING ENHANCES YOUR ABILITY TO HEAR

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers… 2  While they

were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me

Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  3  Then after

fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Acts 13:1-3

ESV

When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with

fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Acts 14:23

NASB

12) FASTING LEADS TO A REWARD

16  “Now whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for

they distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are

fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  17  But as for you, when

you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,  18  so that your fasting will not be

noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who

sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:16-18 NASB

Acts 16 & 17

A Portrait of The Bread

He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night. 40 The people

asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41 He

opened the rock, and water gushed out; It ran in the dry places like a river. Psalms

105:39-41

(John 6:26-27)

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting

life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on

Him." John 6:27

"Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from

heaven to eat.'” John 6:31 (NKJV)

Because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation. 23 Yet He had

commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven, 24 Had rained down

manna on them to eat, and given them of the bread of heaven. 25 Men ate angels' food;

He sent them food to the full. 26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; and by

His power He brought in the south wind. 27 He also rained meat on them like the dust,

Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; 28 And He let them fall in the midst of their

camp, All around their dwellings. 29 So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them

their own desire. Psalms 78:22-29 (NKJV)

the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these

stones become bread." 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by

bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:3-4

Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

Matthew 7:9 2. ...if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

"When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments

did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." 20 "Also, when I broke the seven for the

four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they

said, "Seven." 21 So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?" Mark 8:19-21

(NKJV)

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply

the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 2 Corinthians

9:10 (NKJV)

He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the

little dogs." Matthew 15:26 (NKJV)

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your

iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Psalms 103:2-3

"This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.

51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread,

he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the

life of the world." John 6:50-51

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are

spirit, and they are life.

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The

bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though

many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. 1 Corinthians

10:16-17