To enjoy spiritual power and spiritual victory, you need spiritual resources, not human prescription. Dr. Tony Evans says that requires a deliberate decision to have faith. Your choice to trust God or not to trust God is a choice. It's got nothing to do with how you feel.
This has to do with deciding whether he's worthy to be trusted. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Most of us say we trust God, but we still like to keep a few backup plans in place. Today, Dr.
Evans explains why that kind of faith often leaves us stuck. and how real deliverance begins when God becomes our only option. Let's join him in the book of Matthew as he shows how fasting and prayer can allow God's power to break through long-standing strongholds in our lives. Jesus has just taken Peter, James, and John to the Mount of Transfiguration. On this mountain, chapter 17, verse 1, a high mountain it's called.
He was, verse 2, transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun. His garments became as white as light. Jesus Christ was transfigured, that is. There was the zipping down of his humanity and the revealing of his deity.
When they descended the mountain And came down, they discovered. There were other mountains. You know what that's like to come to a worship service on Sunday morning and have a mountaintop experience. only to leave church and hit the valley of despair. Because you run into mountains you can't handle.
A mountain is being locked in to a situation that you don't want to be in. That was the situation in Matthew 17. We have a young man here. Who has been bought to the Lord, verse 15. Mark tells us he couldn't speak.
Mark tells us he couldn't hear? Mark tells us that he would. foam at the mouth, he would go into convulsions, he would have epileptic fits. And let me tell you. Prove positive when you know you got a mountain.
You've got a mountain one when you want to get rid of it, but can't. Verse 16. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him. Even folk can't help you. Secondly, the confusion about mountains.
Part of the problem Was that they were looking at the external activity of the boy. to determine The diagnosis of the problem. Anybody throwing himself in a fire, they had fires all over Israel out in the open, and he just sees a fire and go dive into it. Anytime you do that, you're going to have scars. If you jump in the fire, you're going to have burns on your body.
So he's been scarred up from his mountain. Anyone got any scars from your mountain? Scars, because you've been cut up. By the situations you are in. But from the text, we discover that the things he was doing on the outside was because of a spiritual problem he had on the inside.
This boy was demon-possessed. And my point about your mountain is simply this. If we're going to move the visible mountain of your fruit, we're going to have to get down to the invisible mountain of your root. Many of us have been trying to chop down mountains that are seen without addressing underground what is not seen. And if you try to fix a big mountain that you see and don't know that underneath the ground is the foundation of that mountain.
then what you're doing is messing with the fruit when your problem's at the root. That leads to a third point. the confidence regarding mountains. Look at what Jesus says in verse 17. All unbelieving and perverted generation.
That's not what you'd call a compliment. How long will I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to me. Or to put it in ordinary English, I'm tired of you folks.
How do you think Christ feels about us? when he sees our powerlessness due to lack of faith. Verse 20, because of the littleness of your faith, for truly I say to you, if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it shall move, and nothing shall be impossible to you.
Now that's deep. He says, if you have enough faith. You'll talk to the difficulty in your life, Mountain. And the mountain, the difficulty. will submit.
He says the problem is related to little faith. When you have little faith, the lie of Satan is more believable than the truth of God. You see, great faith sets no limit on what God can do. That's great faith.
Now. He then tells us something that has led to a lot of confusion. Perhaps even in this room. If you have faith. as a mustard seed.
You shall be able to say to this mountain, get out of here. Say to this drugs, leave me alone. And the mountain will move.
Now that's what the Bible says. And either you're going to believe the Bible or you're going to believe your experience, your circumstance, your feelings, or your situation.
So we got a contradiction. He condemns them because they have little faith and then tells them, but all they need is little faith in order to move a mountain. You follow me? Turn to chapter 13. Verse 31.
And he presented another parable to them saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. When a man took and sowed in his field, and this is the smaller than all the other seeds, but When it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants. Becomes a tree so that the birds of the air can come and nest in its branches.
Now watch it. When you take a teensy, weensy, eency. Bip. Mustard seed. Plant that bad boy in the right soil.
Its external shell splits. When the external breaks and opens up. The internal expresses itself. And what was held hostage? on the inside by the hard shell on the outside is now free to express itself That no-nothing seed becomes a 15-foot plant bigger than all the other plants in the garden, although it started as the smallest seed in the garden.
And not only does it get bigger than all the other plants in the garden, other birds can come and sit down and rest on it because it's so strong now. He does not mean that you have to have tiny faith. He says, if you take the tiny faith you have and plant it right. stripping it of its external shell. What has been held hostage on the inside will begin to express itself on the outside.
And you're going to find out not only can you grow and not only are you a 15-foot Christian, but other folk can rest on your life too. That's how strong you are. Your choice to trust God or not to trust God is a choice. It got nothing to do with how you feel. This has to do with deciding whether he's worthy to be trusted.
He says in verse 22, he says, But if you can do anything, take pity on us. I use the word if. I'm going to change my word. You can. He says, Lord, I choose to believe.
By an act of my will, you can do it. But please help my unbelief. Because he changed his perspective, God moved. To enjoy spiritual power and spiritual victory, you need spiritual resources, not human prescription. When you have a mountain, you bring the mountain to Jesus.
He said, Here's my mouth. My God's son, your disciples can't fix it. I can't fix it. Doctors can't fix it. And it needed to be fixed, and you can fix it.
And even when I said you can fix it, I have some doubt in my heart, but you're so big, you not only can fix my son, you can fix my doubt.
So I'm not only trusting you to fix my son, I'm trusting you to fix my doubt about your ability to fix my son.
So I'm coming to you about father and son. I am laying myself on you. And he says, when you do that. You'll be able to speak to the mountain. What's the mountain?
The problem. and the mountain will go away.
Now you know our problem? The mountain is talking to us. See, we getting this wrong. Who talking to who? The difficulty is saying you can't stop this.
The difficulty is saying you can't stop using that language. You've been using that language all your life. You can't stop taking that drug. You've been taking these drugs all for 10 years now. How you going to stop?
You can't stop doing this. How you going to stop? The mountain does all the talking. But he says, if you get me in the right perspective, we can switch the conversation. And when the mountain says you can't stop, you can look back at the mountain and say, no, you're a fool.
Because you don't tell me what to do anymore. I tell you what to do. And right now you want to cuss. But since I'm running the show, let me say to your cussing tongue, shut up. You're not even going to talk right now.
I'm taking over the conversation. You can tell the drug desire of your body, you are telling me that I have got to take some crack cocaine. I got to put a needle up in my arm. But let me tell you something because the mountain will no longer talk to me. I am talking to the mountain.
You're not getting nothing. You're not going to pop no pill. You're not going to shoot no junk in your arm. And the reason you're not going to do it is because I'm running this show from the inside out. You're not running it from the outside in.
You take over the conversation. I think the text says, you will be able to say to the mountain. The difficulty. You will set the rules. It's a new ball game.
When Dr. Evans returns in a moment, he'll walk us through moving our faith from theory to victory. Don't go away.
Sometimes you need a spiritual lifeline to get through the day. The Unbound podcast with Dr. Tony Evans dives into timeless truths and offers hope for daily struggles. Listen to guest speakers like Dan Wallace. God said, my grace is sufficient for you.
That's a huge lesson for us to understand. It does not matter how much I suffer. I know that God is there. He's going to bring me into his kingdom for Christ's glory. Listen now to the Unbound podcast.
Look for the new Unbound podcast with Tony Evans on his YouTube channel or on your favorite podcast platform. Today's message from Dr. Evans is part of his series on fasting. a two-volume collection that digs deep into the surprising relationship between food and faith. Bible-based fasting could be the key you need to unlock revival, free you from burdens, and guide you toward the future.
There's a lot packed into this series, and all 14 messages are our gift to you. when you make a contribution to help support our work here at The Alternative. And for a limited time, along with the audio messages from this series, we'll also send you our Hope for the Hurting leader kit. including the Hope for the Hurting book, study guide, printed material for six study sessions, teaching videos, and more. This study unveils God's purpose and power during times of suffering.
and helps us realize God is working on our behalf in ways we might not easily see. This is a great package for a small group study or even for your own personal growth. To request your copy of the Fasting and Hope for the Hurting bundle, Visit us today at TonyEvans.org. Or call us at 1-800-800-3222. where one of our friendly team members is ready to help with your request.
I'll repeat that contact information after the second part of today's message. Here's Tony once again. You say, well, wait a minute now. I am not where you talking. I want to be there, but I'm not there yet.
How do I get from where I am to where you're talking right now that this stuff that's been plaguing me for all these years, I can begin to have victory over? Let me close. With Matthew 17. And by the way. I want you to notice something.
It's back in Mark 9. I'll summarize it for you. When Jesus told the demon, come out, the demon resisted. The demon tried to link, hold on tighter to the boy.
Now, if the demon resisted Jesus. When Jesus said, Be gone. You think he gonna just jump out because you talking? Yeah.
So I'm going to tell you now. When you start taking this approach of faith. The demon gonna hold on tighter because he's been used to running the show. And you know how there's husbands when we come back home and we neglected being the right kind of husband, and then we come home and talk about we're gonna lead again? And our wives say where?
You know, I've been running it, I've been taking care of this house for all these years. You just can't come back in here talking about you're gonna be the leader. Anybody married anybody like that, you better put your hand down. Because the wife has been used to running it so long.
Okay? That's how the devil is. He's been used to running you so long.
So once you say new rules, I'm talking, I am setting the agenda. He's going to hold on tight. But that's your cue. That you didn't mess with it. That's your cue.
If it gets worse, when you make this decision, you know you want it. You didn't got him now. The mere fact it gets worse say you done shook up the boy. Every other time. When he held on tight, you quit.
This time is another time, and all kinds of hell is breaking loose in your life. Why? Because he knows this is not like the other times. It's different time. And so he says in verse 21 of chapter 17.
For this kind Does not come out. Except by prayer. and vasty. That brings us back to our theme. This mountain This thing that's this difficult.
This problem that's been in your life this long. This problem or sin that Satan has had control of this long. doesn't come out by going to church on Sunday. Doesn't come out just because the pastor or the pastoral staff or the counseling center all have their place, but it doesn't come out just because you talk to them because the disciples can't handle this one. It's too deep.
It's been there too long. Satan has too much of a stronghold. He's created too much of a fortress. This kind, you got to dig out. And it comes by fasting and prayer.
Fasting and prayer says, I have no human option available. Fasting and prayer say that when you control what you eat, you move in the strength of that decision. Listen to me. When you say no to food. And your stomach is hungry.
Now, let me tell you, some of you probably did this, so let me clarify this right now. You did not fast if you ate enough at lunch so that you didn't feel hungry at dinner. That is not a fast. If you don't feel it. You didn't fast it.
Because you really didn't sacrifice it. Fasting has to do with Going through the pain. of the body because you're trying to crack the shell.
so that there can be the freedom of the spirit. It is going through the agony. Of course, your stomach is hurting when you're fasting. Of course, your stomach is upset. But fasting says that I am going to wrestle through and deny you.
Now, in order to deny your body dinner or whatever fast you happen to be on or meals all day, whatever it happened to be, what you had to do was weaken the flesh. See the the flesh gets weaker because the flesh is hungry So it is now weaker. But when the flesh becomes weak. It gives the opportunity when feeding the soul for the spirit to become stronger. You see, we don't express our spirits because we're so into satisfying our flesh that the free spirit is not free to become a mustard plant.
But once you begin denying in fasting the craving of the body, what you do is get in the position where you are telling the flesh what it can do and what it cannot do. Flesh, you are not eating dinner today. Flesh, you are not being satisfied with television today. Flesh, you're going to do what you are not free to. You're not going to do what you used to be free to do because I right now am telling you no.
Now, watch this. God is saying when you can say no to food, you are saying no to the flesh. Any other addiction you have is an addiction of the flesh.
So once you get used to telling the flesh it can't have everything it wants to have, whatever it wants to have it, you just now have to shift that from food to drugs, food to sex, food to lying, food to cotton, food to anything else, because you're moving in the strength of your decision. You are wrestling for the control of your life. And the choice to go against that force that enslaves you. Because you can control the physical, you now have been freed up to control the spiritual. That's why fasting is important.
That's why you fast till you get a breakthrough.
Some of you are fasting for difficulties in your life and you want to know, Pastor, how long do I fast? Till you get a breakthrough.
Okay, you do a meal a week or a day a month or three days a month. Depends on how bad off you are. If it's bad enough, you'll fast hard enough.
Okay, I'm gonna share with the singles. We have a sermon we're gonna do, fasting for your mate. There's a story in the Bible of a man looking for a mate. And he thinks he's founder. See, I think that's the one.
And he goes to a house. Sits down at the table. To talk to the girl's father. And The father brings out some food. And the man says.
I cannot eat till this matter is resolved. It put away food. Hell he found the right wife. We're gonna have a lot of skinny folk running around here.
Okay.
Now you want to know where that passage is, don't you? I'm not gonna tell. I'm not going to tell you. You got to keep coming back while I preach.
Okay? You fast, so you get a breakthrough. James 4 says, When we humble ourselves before God, which fasting is. We saw that fasting is humbling yourself. When you humble yourself before God, he gives greater grace.
He gives greater strength, greater power. Dr. Evans will return in a moment with a final thought to wrap up today's message. First though, I want to let you know that this lesson is called Fasting for Deliverance. and is available both individually and as a part of Tony's two-volume series, simply called Fasting.
As I mentioned earlier, you can get all 14 full-length messages in this collection as our gift in appreciation for your donation to this ministry, along with a special bonus, our Hope for the Herding leader kit. That includes the Hope for the Hurting book, Bible study, study resources, teaching videos, and more. Visit tonyevans.org today to get all the details before time runs out. Again, that's tonyevans.org. or call us at 1-800-800-3222.
Our resource center is open 24-7. That's 1-800-800-3222. Dr. Evans will return to wrap things up in just a moment. Uh This October Journey Through Israel with Tony Evans.
We're going to gather together with many of our friends to survey the sites of the Holy Land. We're going to go to the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee, the Garden Tomb, the Garden of Gethsemane. We're gonna open God's word together and watch its truth leap off of the pages of scripture as we walk where our Lord walked and see. God, give us new excitement about His greatness and about the truth of His Word. It's an unforgettable experience that'll change the way you understand scripture.
Space is limited, so visit tonyevans.org today to get all the details and register before it's too late. That's tonyevans.org. 10 wonderful days in the Holy Land. Looking forward to meeting you as we tour Israel together. They say everyone has baggage in life.
But the load you're carrying might be heavier than it needs to be. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans reveals how fasting can help lighten those burdens. Right now, though, he's back with his final word for to day. I I like to watch the Olympics and I like to watch the high jumpers.
And they get way back. Stay it down. Take off. turn sideways, lift themselves up. Strong muscular legs.
that take them seven feet high. And that's fine if you got a seven foot mountain. But what happens when you have an 18-foot mountain? You need a different approach. See, if you're just a high jumper.
And you got an 18-foot mountain? And you get back as far as you can get. Go to church every Sunday. Have devotions every day. I'm gonna get way back here.
Get all the counseling I can get. And you just take off and you just make your way and you leap. We're gonna all watch you make a fool of yourself. Because you won't get across that bar. Ah, but in the Olympics.
When those high jumpers see an 18-foot mountain. They get a poll. Mm. They're called pole vaulters. And get that poll.
and run down with that pole. Stick that pole in a hole in the ground. And count on the poll. to lift them higher.
So they can cross the bar. that has been 18 feet high. If you got a mountain that ordinary Christianity won't get you over, why are you still trying to jump in your own flesh? What you need is a pole. You need something you can dig in and lean on and push on that will propel you over the mountain of your life so that you clear it and stop knocking it over.
What you need is fasting and prayer. That is the pole vault. to boost you over the mountain bars of your life. That is what God is calling you to be. That is what he is asking you to do.
That is the call. of fasting and prayer.
