In our spiritual lives, what we do is we keep making bad turns and refuse to tell God we're lost. When we get off track, Dr. Tony Evans knows who can point us in the right direction. Anywhere you're going, God's been there before. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr.
Tony Evans. Navigating life can sometimes feel like driving a car without windows, uncertain where you are and fearful of what lies ahead. That sense of desperation leads people to seek direction from just about anywhere. But Dr. Evans reminds us there's only one truly reliable source of guidance, and today he'll show us how to connect with it.
Let's join him as he begins. Here we have in the book of Ezra A prayer for guidance. We find in verse 21, Ezra, the priest. Has proclaimed a fast. The Jews have been in captivity for a long time because of their rebellion against God.
But God had finally ended that time of discipline. And through the king of Persia had opened the door. Four of the captains to go back home. This was to reestablish their homeland under God. Many of these captains had built businesses in Persia.
They had developed careers in Persia. Their savings account were in Persia. They had their furniture and their beds and everything they owned that they were going to trek back. in order to reestablish home.
So it was. That as Ezra the priest looked at all the goods that they were taking back home. All the things that they had stored up and all the wealth. That was now to be placed in the reestablishment of the temple, he understood he had a major problem on his hands. And here's the problem.
How do I get this many people? From Persia. Two. Israel safely. It was an issue of safety.
but also an issue of direction. Because there were many roads you could have taken. And he wanted to know which road would be the safe road. There were bandits. that would meander the roads.
in order to prounce upon weak people. And he was afraid. He not only was afraid, he was ashamed. Look at verse 22. for i was a shame to request from the king's troops And horsemen to protect us from the enemy, because we had said to the king, the hand of our God is favorably disposed to all who seek him.
And his power. and his anger are against all those who forsake him. Since he had been bragging to the king, and rightly so, about the power of God, he didn't think he should go and ask the king for protection. He thought he'd go straight to God. Yeah.
He fasted. Why? Because he needed to make emergency contact with God because he needed emergency help from God in his decision. And all of us have faced a decision where we've had to make a choice about the best road to take. Let's look very briefly at Proverbs chapter 16, verse 9.
The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. You see, God has, let's call them three wills. God has his comprehensive will, and that means everything that happens. But you and I can't know his comprehensive will because you and I are not God. But then God has his moral will, that which he's.
Put in scripture and revealed to us.
Well, we can know that. But that still doesn't solve all our problem because Often there's a gap between his moral will recorded in the Bible and his comprehensive will, which is too big for us to know.
So, how do I cover the gap between God's comprehensive will, which is too big, and God's moral will, which is too narrow in terms of the fact it doesn't cover all the specifics, so that I will know his personal will? That is, I will know what's best for me right now in this given situation. He called a fast of everyone who would be involved. And this is a great deal. If you have a family decision to make, have a family fast.
If you have a personal decision, have a personal fast. If we have a church decision, call a church fast. If it involves everybody that it involves, he calls it on the fast. Most of us would love to have a road map to life. Let me tell you something that's better than having a map.
And that's having a guide that's gone this way before. A guide is better than a map. Anywhere you're going, God's been there before. So he fasts and prays to make contact with God. He wants a guide, not just a map.
And so they give up food. In order to gain Spiritual Connectedness. Secondly, The purpose of fasting. He says in verse 21. of Ezra chapter Eight.
He says that we might humble ourselves before God.
Now, we've already gone over this, but let me revisit it. Fasting is a way of humbling yourself. It is placing you low.
Now you say, what's the deal of giving up food and being humble?
Well, in order to give up food, you've got to sacrifice something important to you. Hunger. A person said when they were fasting the other week, I'm hungry.
Well, that's the idea. In fact, if you fast and don't get hungry, you're not on a fast. If you go say I'm a fast for dinner, but you eat enough at lunch, for lunch and dinner, you haven't fasted. You're supposed to be uncomfortable. In fact, fasting in the Bible is called afflicting the soul.
There's supposed to be a pain associated with it. Because, in the pain of the hunger, what you're doing is prioritizing the spiritual over the physical. You're saying the spiritual need for guidance is more important than physical need for food. Therefore, you have in that act humbled yourself before God and prioritized God. To put it another way, fasting is an act of dependency.
It's in 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 17. I came across this the other day. And I've forgotten it within the Bible. Samuel said, now listen to this, it is not true. Though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you.
As king over Israel. That's the best definition of humility. What's humility? When you are little in your own eyes. Humility is having a small view of yourself, no matter how big everybody else makes you.
It's okay if other folk puff you up as long as you don't puff yourself up. It's being small in your own eyes. That is distrusting.
Now, watch this: here's the application of guidance. Humility is distrusting your own ability and your own goodness. It's not having an elevated view of yourself that you don't need God anymore. And that's why fasting humbles you because you say, I need you, God. I can't make that decision on my own.
I won't make it apart from you. Let me tell you a group that's hard to humble: teenagers. Y'all. Because you know, when kids become teenagers, they get independent, right? You can't tell them anything, right?
Do I have a witness in the house? And when they have problems, They will often go to people who are as ignorant about the problem as they are. They're friends. and not to their parents who have been here before. Huh?
They go through this teenage independent thing.
Well, Christians are often like teenagers. We think we know it all, so we don't go to God who's been here before. Let me tell you another group of very prideful people. Men when they're lost. Any of you ladies know what I'm talking about?
I'm gonna tell us the truth. Shame and devil. I'm one of you. When I get lost. It's a man thing, right man?
It's a man thing. When I get lost. I don't want to admit I'm lost. My wife says, you're lost. No, I know where I'm going.
I know where I'm going.
So, in order to cover up that you know where you're going, you have to act more sure. See at first you may have been Look at that. But when they tell you lost, no, I know what I'm doing. Mm-hmm. No.
I know where I'm going.
No way I'm here.
So But now we know what we're really doing. We be looking at those signs longer and stuff. You know? Why don't you ask somebody? I don't need no other man telling me where to go.
Well, I think you are that I'm I I I'm I'm I you want to drive?
Okay. What? It's a pride thing. Yeah. In our spiritual lives, what we do is we keep making bad turns.
And refuse to tell God we're lost. Many Christians, in their pride, refuse to go to God for directions. We'd rather keep driving around the same block year after year. Yes. Rather than ask God for directions.
Dr. Evans will clarify what it takes to allow God to guide us when he returns in a moment with more from his series on biblical fasting. It's a powerful look at the often overlooked spiritual discipline that can light a fire under your faith. Right now, we'd like to send you all 14 full-length messages in this series as a way of saying thanks for your financial support of this ministry. Along with the complete fasting audio package, we'll also send you a special bonus, our Hope for the Hurting leader kit.
Perfect for both leading a small group study and for your own personal spiritual growth. In this Bible study, Dr. Evans offers spiritual principles for facing life's pains and hurts. The leader kit not only includes a copy of the Hope for the Hurting book, but also a study guide, printed content for six study sessions, access to teaching videos and session previews from Dr. Evans, and more.
Get the Fasting Audio Series and the Hope for the Hurting Leader Kit, along with our thanks. When you request them and make a donation online at tonyevans.org. Or give us a phone call at 1-800-800-3222. where a team member will be happy to help with your request. I'll repeat our contact information for you after the second part of our lesson and this.
On the Unbound podcast, Dr. Tony Evans sits down with guests, both renowned and emerging, for meaningful conversations you won't want to miss. I am so excited to be here with Gary Thomas, a famous The Craig. Rachel Myers, Amanda Bible Williams.
Well, hello, Dan Wallace, and welcome to the Unbound Podcast. Each week brings an insight that will expand how you see the world. Listen to the Unbound Podcast. You can find the new Unbound podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Let's return to Dr.
Evans now for more on fasting for guidance. It is the heart, not the head. that God responds to in guiding. Let me say that again. It is the heart, not the head.
It is not your academic knowledge. In other words, Too many Christians want to be smart grown-ups and not expectant children. I know the way I ought to go. I don't need to fast and pray about this decision. Here's the line that you often get.
God gave me a brain. Yep, he did. He gave you a brain so that through the Holy Spirit he can speak to your mind and teach you the will of God. When you are in a crisis, we're not talking about normal everyday decisions. Fasting was not a normal thing for just regular stuff.
Fasting came because it's deep. Serious. critical, a crisis, I'm scared, don't know where to go. Thirdly. the priority of fasting.
That goes back to verse 22. He went to God before he went to the king. If you look up in verse 15, he says, now I assembled them at the river that runs to Ahaba, where we camped for three days. It was a three-day fast. He says, for three days, let's get along.
And let's hear from God. In fasting, you want to know somebody who can see beyond the obvious. You know why we don't do this when we reach our crisis? We really don't believe it works. That's why we don't do it.
We believe I'm just going to be hungry for three days. You see, they had a big view of God. That's why they fast. A lot of us aren't seeing God intervene in our circumstance because we only have this small God that we deal with. We expect little, therefore we get nothing.
My great prayer is that God will never shrink before my eyes. That he will never get smaller. But that my big God will demonstrate his power. when we seek him with all of our heart. Anybody ever got a trip tick from?
AAA. You know, you go to AAA and you get a trip tick.
Now, what they do is they got this green pin and they outline the roots.
Now you can figure it out yourself, but They do the figuring for you if you a member. You say, I want to go from here to wherever. I want to stop at these places along the way. In a few days, they mail you or you can pick up your trip tick. It comes in a little booklet.
And let me tell you why I like the triptych. Because with it, you can travel a day at a time. You see? They outline it by sections. You don't have to look at the whole map.
And five, this highway versus that highway. They have a green line leading you the way.
So what you do is when you come to the end of the page that shows you the line, you just flip it over. And it shows you the next leg of the journey. God may not show you the whole map for your life. He may not let you see all the roads he's going to take you down. But if you walk by faith, he'll give you a triptych.
He'll lead you today. Then when tomorrow comes, you'll have a green root for tomorrow. Then when the next day comes, see, the Bible says don't worry about. Tomorrow? Today has enough trouble of its own.
You just need God guiding you step by step. Because we walk by faith. We don't feel by faith. We walk. Walk means you're moving.
So it's not that you stay still and do nothing and you wait for God to zap you. You say, God, this is the data I have. I don't know which way to go. Based on the data I have, this is the way I'm going to go. You must either lead me or build a bridge and transfer me over to another way.
Because we walk by faith. Small. Finally. The provision of guidance. The provision of guidance.
The end of verse 23 says, Or let me read the whole verse.
So he fasted and sought our God concerning this matter. It was very specific. And he listened to our entreaty. We got his ear. Why?
Because they fasted and prayed with a sincere heart. They just weren't not eating, they were pursuing God. And the pursuit of God got them an answer from God. He heard us.
Now, when it says God heard them, it didn't mean that they didn't plan. In fact, if you read the rest of the chapter, you'll see he organized them. He put the treasures in different places so it wouldn't all be in one place.
So trusting God doesn't mean you don't plan. It just means that you're trusting God to supersede the plan.
Now How does it work today? that I hear from God.
Well, I got good news for you. Listen to this now. You have to turn there, but 1 John chapter 2, verse 20 and verse 27 says this phrase. You have the anointing. I know a lot of people use the word anointing.
You have the anointing, the anointed one. In John chapter 16, verse 13, God says that God has given every believer the Holy Spirit. Hey, you know these new cars that are coming out? They have these built-in navigational systems. You can turn this baby on.
It'll show you where you are, where you're going, and how to get there. It'll tell you major landmarkers like schools and major places, municipal buildings. All of this is built into the car. And it's designed to, guess what, guide you. Guess what?
you have the anointing. God has built in to every believer the person of the Holy Spirit, who is your navigational device. He is the sovereign supernatural third member of the Trinity who's been given to lead you. God will lead you in One or more of these four things. First of all, As you use the word.
Hebrews 4, 12 says that the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword.
Now here's why, because it can divide soul and spirit. You say, well, what's important about that?
Well, your soul is you. Your spirit is God. The God part of you. But sometimes you don't know what's you and what's God.
Sometimes, man, you don't know whether it's you thinking or God talking. But he says the word of God can split the two up so that you can pick up the difference between this is God and this is me. It will help you to decipher, not because it will address your specific issue, but many of us knows what it is to need to hear from God and pick up a passage that God uses to address our need, even though it's talking about another subject. God uses the word to align where the spirit is directing us. God does speak today, and he speaks through his word.
Listen to me. Let me tell you something, folks. We're a Bible church, I believe in the Bible. I love the word of God, but the reason for the Bible isn't just for the Bible. Everybody been out anywhere to eat, restaurant to eat this past week?
Anybody going already? All right, you did.
Now you picked up a what? A menu. You pick up a menu.
Now, did you then say? Menu, I love you. Lord, have mercy on a menu. Oh my goodness, fried chicken, sweet potatoes. You know.
Whatever. Oh, and look at the way the words are written on the menu. Look, everything's capitalized. I wonder who printed the menu. I wonder where they send it out.
I wonder how much it cost. My, this is an interesting menu. Did you spend? Two hours? Studying the menu.
It's not because the menu wasn't important. But the menu is important for a greater reason than the menu itself. The purpose of the menu is the meal. And if you fall so in love with the menu that you miss the meal. You'll starve to death.
God didn't give us his word just so that we could talk about how much we know versus somebody else who doesn't have as much biblical knowledge as we have, who didn't go to seminary, who doesn't listen to as much Christian radio as we do. He gave us the word so we could fall in love with the author. You don't just read the Bible because of devotions. You read it because of the author who wrote it. And I don't want just the menu.
I want the meal. It's not enough to simply have the Bible and not eat the meal. Not what the author, the person who wrote the Bible. The goal of the menu is the meal. There are a lot of Christians who read the Bible who are still male marriaged.
Because they get high on the Bible. and that on its author. And it's the relationship that produces the guidance, not just the knowledge. That's the danger of being in a Bible church. Far be it from us.
that we fall in love with the Bible at the expense of Losing love for the author. You need the Bible. It's critical, it's foundational. Secondly, then. is you match prayer with the word.
That's why one of the great ways to have your time, if you're fasting in prayer, you open up your Bible, you read, you worship. and you pray let me show the connection between prayer and how prayer and the word work together If you buy a computer, they'll give you an owner's manual. You can flip through and study how to use the computer. but they'll give you thumbnails. They'll give you a technical support line.
If there's something not covered in the manual or something you don't understand in the manual, there is an 800 number. And that's for you to call. That's how praying the word works. This is the manual, how to live your life. But God says if there's some things in here not covered that you don't understand, you do have a telephone number.
It's 1-800. It is free. And when you call that number. I will fill you in on data that may not be clear in the manual.
Now don't ignore the manual. But I understand that sometimes you need stuff that you're not getting from the manual. In specific.
Well, you got a free line. It's available for Christians only. Mm. Dr. Tony Evans, wrapping up a message on fasting for guidance.
Part of our current 14-part series that examines the benefits of biblical fasting.
Well, as I mentioned earlier, the entire fasting audio collection is yours when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. And as an added bonus, we are bundling it with our Hope for the Herding leader kit. including Tony's Hope for the Hurting book, study guide, study session materials, teaching videos, and more. This is a special limited time offer, so don't wait. Drop by our website, tonyevans.org.
But let us know you'd like to take advantage of this exclusive deal. Or give us a phone call at 1-800-800-3222. where the friendly people on our resource team are ready twenty four seven to help you. Again, that's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
Sometimes it can feel like there isn't as much life in our Christian walk as there used to be.
Well, tomorrow, Dr. Evans will share ways to reignite our spiritual passion in order to bring about a revival not only in our lives, but through our lives as well. Don't miss it.
