Fasting for Needs

For some of us, God can't meet the need because we operate in fear and not in faith. Dr. Tony Evans says we need to move on our belief in Christ. And when you do it, because it was an act of faith, you will see the hand of God. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Do the answers to your deepest needs sometimes feel just out of reach? Well today, Dr. Evans offers practical insights that can help bring them closer, as he takes a look at the biblical practice of fasting.

Let's join him as he begins. One of the primary reasons that you ought to fast is that there is a crisis need in your life or in the life of someone close to you. Needs come in all shapes and sizes, but when I talk about a need, I'm talking about a crisis situation where you are in desperate need for God to address an essential need of life. We're introduced here to a lady who we've gotten to know over the last year, a little bit intimately, the widow of Zarephath. Elijah the prophet has been serving God and now he's running from Jezebel. God lets him know that he's going to take care of the prophet Elijah. I'm going to take care of you Elijah. He tells him, for example, in verse 4 of 1 Kings 17, and it shall be that you shall drink on the brook and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there. I like that. We haven't even got to the widow of Zarephath and God already tells you I get a bird and the birds will cover your back if you're in my will.

I have commanded the ravens to take care of you. That's good news because you never know how God's going to come through. You don't know through what channel. Sometimes God comes through in the weirdest ways, you know.

He is past finding out. So don't try to speculate on how God's going to do, what God's going to do. Just know God can do all that he promised to do. He then commands the ravens in verse 6. The ravens obey and bring him food.

God tells his prophet, his preacher, in verse 9, arise go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.

Don't miss that. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you. So God had told this widow woman, who we're going to discover is impoverished, to take care of the preacher who was ministering for God. Now it is in this context that we're going to learn a few principles related to prayer and fasting and I want to start off with your perspective or your focus. When you're entering into, as many of you are, fasting and praying for a need in your life or some other thing based on what we've talked about thus far, a burden or deliverance or whatever it happens to be, at the core of that act is faith.

Faith is a confidence that God is able to do and to meet the need that you bring before him. He comes to the lady. He says in verse 10, may I have some water? She goes and gets some water and then he says to her, may I have a piece of bread out of your hand?

Bring me bread and water. Now look at verse 12 and you can put your name in here. But she said, as the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in a bowl and a little oil in the jar.

And behold, I'm gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son so that we may eat it and die. Brothers and sisters, what we have here is a contradiction. Verse 9 says, I have commanded the widow to take care of you. So she already had the message to take care of Elijah. But when Elijah shows up and push comes to shove, practical matters get in the way. She goes practical on God. She says your request is not practical. God doesn't always function practically.

When he speaks, he wants to know, do you have enough confidence in his word to step out on what he says when it's not practical? Preacher, I don't have any bread. I just have flour.

So I haven't even got around to making this little, whatever little bread I can make. I have no bread, but she had flour. So what she had was the raw material to produce what God had commanded. She had what she needed to do what God said.

But it wasn't practical. She was down to a last dime. In other words, her circumstances were now governing her decision. Her fears were overruling her faith.

Or let me put it another way. She heard what God said, but at the same time, she focused on what she could see. And what she could see did not match what God had said. Look at verse 13. Then Elijah said to her, do not what? Do not what? The reason that she was talking the way she was talking is because she was scared.

She was scared to step out on what God said because of the practicality of her situation. So he says, do not fear. Go ahead and make your little last cake. Make it, but bring it to me first.

And afterwards, you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor the jar of oil emptied until the day the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth. So she went and did according to the word of Elijah. Please notice the shift in the woman's response. Elijah says, make me some bread. She says, I can't. Let's get practical. But then the preacher speaks the word of God into her life and builds up her confidence to help her take a step she was unable to take on her own.

Many of you have needs, but you will never see the supernatural hand of God because you will not willing to step out on faith. He says, do not fear. I know you're scared, lady. It's your last meal.

That's practical. Go ahead and bake the bread. Go ahead and do what God says do and believe God's Word that God will take care of you. Now, why am I repeating that?

Here's why. Some of us know the right thing to do. Many of us know what God wants us to do, but every time we go to do it, Satan throws up a block, and that block is usually thrown up in our heads. This is not going to work.

I can't do this. This block, the partition we talked about last time, it comes up in our brain, and he stops us from doing it. If you want to tear down Satan's authority in your life, the way you do it is by going ahead and doing what God says in spite of how you feel because he told the woman she was already scared. When you obey in faith, it knocks down the wall of doubt.

Not go back and think about it. Not even go back and pray more about it because you already know what God wants you to do. Sometimes you don't need to pray. Sometimes you need to put on your shoes and act on what God says. The proof of your faith is your step, not your thought. Oh yeah, I know what I should be doing. Yeah, I'm gonna pray that God helps me.

No, no, no. He's already commanded you, and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So what he wants you to do is take the step. Act on what God has said. Once Satan sees you, act on what God has said.

He loses his power. As long as he keeps you thinking about it, he's got you. Dr. Evans will explain how fasting builds commitment and confidence when he comes back in a moment with part two of this message from his series, Fasting the Key to Spiritual Victory. 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, as our gift, all 14 full-length messages in this series on CD or digital download as a way of saying thanks for your financial support of this ministry.

Along with a complete fasting audio package, we'll also send you a bonus, the Cultivating a Year of Kindness Perpetual Flip Calendar, your 365-day companion to becoming contagiously kind. These daily reflections will help you develop a passion for kindness in your life as you're motivated and encouraged with insights from Dr. Evans, short prayers, and inspiring Bible passages. Visit us today at tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222 to take advantage of this special offer. That's online at tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. Well, Dr. Evans will return with more of our message right after this.

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tonyevanstraining.org. Explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. Verse 15, so she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household, her son, ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted, nor did the jar of oil become empty according to the word of the Lord, but she had spoken to Elijah. Now, this is a fast, folks. This is the worst kind of fast. When you're down to your last meal, you're fasting. Okay, that's a fast.

When you have to give up your last meal, that's a fast. But the Bible says God took that flour and it just kept on coming. Now, it doesn't tell us how God did it, but it says until it rained, God kept food coming. For some of us, God can't meet the need because we operate in fear and not in faith. You say, but I can't stop my fear. You may not be able to stop your fear, but you can start your walk of faith. And when you start your walk of faith, your fear will be overruled by your action of faith.

It is the action that produces the confidence, not the discussion. And when you do it, because it was an act of faith, you will see the hand of God. This story reflects a bigger principle.

Turn your Bible to Luke, book of Luke, chapter 6, verse 38. Now, watch this principle. Give and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaking together, running over.

They will pour into your lap, for by the standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return. Most important word in the verse, it. Give and it. Give and it. What does the it refer to? The it refers to what you gave. To put it another way, give and the thing that you gave will be given back to you.

The it. The widow needed food, so what did God ask her to give? Food. He asked her to give the it that she needed. Right now, she didn't need friends, she needed food.

She didn't even need a job. Right then, in her emergency situation, she needed food. Give and it, the thing you give, will be given back to you. You must be willing to act in faith in the same arena of need. If you have a need right now and you're fasting and praying, if there is something in the area of what you're requesting that you can give to somebody else, God says, give that to somebody else.

Help somebody else, like she helped Elijah, and it will be the thing you gave given back to you, but not like you gave it. It will be given, pressed down, in good measure, shaken together and running over. Now, what does that mean?

Everybody quotes that. What does that mean? That referred to grain in the bag.

When the farmer put grain in the bag, he would press it down, shake it together so that all the creases would be covered by the grain so he could get more grain into the bag. In other words, when you give to somebody else what you need God to give to you, when God gives to you what you gave to somebody else and he puts it in his bag, he's going to shake it, press it down, cover all the blank spots so he can get as much in your bag as you can handle. Give and it will be given to you. God considers how you do others when you want him to do for you.

And a lot of us want from God what we're not willing to give to somebody else. Ecclesiastes 11, cast your bread on the surface of the waters and you will find it after many days. So you put it out and don't worry, God's not going to lose it.

It's coming back. Divide your portion into seven or even eight, for you do not know the misfortune that may occur on the earth. If the clouds are full they pour out rain on the earth and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, when the tree falls there it lies. He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. In other words, if you focus on circumstances you'll never see this principle work in your life.

If you say it's too windy to go out and sow then nothing's going to grow. If you're looking at the circumstances, if you're being practical then you will not see the hand of God. Now watch this, verse five. Just as you do not know the path of the wind or how the bones are formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. In other words, don't try to figure God out.

Don't get a headache. God, how you going to do this? You just do what he told you to do. Now, so he said, now look at verse six. Sow your seed in the morning early and do not be idle in the evening for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed or whether both of them alike will be good. You don't know what God's going to do.

You don't know how he's going to do it. So you just sow your seed and you trust God. And when you act, the Bible says, in a crisis, God will be there for you. Psalm 50 verses 14 and 15 and verse 23. When you act and when you pray and you are serious about the action and the prayer, he says, you will see the hand of God. Fasting and prayer that is giving up of something for the benefit of another, even though it makes you awkward, is like priming a pump to get water. You have to put a little bit in to get a lot out.

Come on, some of you from the country, you know what that's like. You go to the well, you start doing that out of nowhere, nothing happens. But you pour a little water in there, it expands the leather.

The leather gets expanded, it catches on. When it catches on, it pulls up the water. When it pulls up the water, the water keeps on coming.

How long does it keep coming? As long as there is water supply. And I want to tell you, God's got enough for everybody. He's got enough for everybody, but you don't prime the pump.

You don't want to put in to get more out. Somebody else has been there before and seen what God can do. Oh, there's so many stories of it in the New Testament, in the Bible. Hannah couldn't get pregnant, so guess what she did? She went before the Lord, fasted and prayed, and told God, if you give me a baby, get this now, I'm going to give the baby back to you to serve you. So if you give me something physical in my belly, when it comes out of my belly, I'm going to give it back to you so he can use the physical life that you put in my belly to serve you. And the Bible says, and when God heard a prayer, he put something in her belly. And when it came out of her belly, she gave it back to God and he became known as the prophet Samuel.

There's a widow woman in the book of Luke, the Bible says, who gave her last pennies that she had. She gave all she had. Why didn't she stay home and eat a last piece of bread?

Because the last piece of bread would only last one day. She figured, if I give it to God and prime this pump, he will do a lot more for me than I can do with two pennies that I keep to myself. Oh, there's so many stories. Ruth wanted a husband. She wanted a husband. What she did was gave herself to a relationship because she wanted a relationship. So she became to Naomi fully a relational servant to her mother-in-law. Her former husband had died.

And when she gave herself to a relationship, she got a relationship. Andrew found the young boy who had the two fish and five barley loaves. He said, Jesus would like you to fast, to give up your lunch and turn it over to him. He turned his lunch, which means he had nothing to eat.

That's a fast. Turned it over to Jesus. Jesus prayed over it. And now 5,000 men and women ate off of his one lunch. But that's not the good news.

Let me tell you the good news as far as the kid is concerned. He gave up two fish and barley loaves. But the Bible says when Jesus Christ prayed over it and it became enough to feed 5,000, watch this, everybody ate until they were full and there was stuff left over, which means that if the boy would have kept his lunch, he would have only had lunch.

But because he gave it to Jesus, fasted over it, and turned it over to Jesus Christ, he ate more than the lunch would have given him and had something to take home for dinner as well because he gave himself to the Lord. Over and over again, the principle is clear. If you want something from God, give the thing you want to God and believe that if you give it, the thing you gave will be given back to you. But when it comes back, press down.

Good measure, shaken together, running over, exceedingly abundantly above. All you can ask or think, to God be the glory. Don't give up, church. Don't quit.

Don't become frustrated. He's able to meet your deepest need. Dr. Tony Evans, wrapping up a message on fasting for needs, part of our current 14-part series that examines the benefits of biblical fasting.

The series is called Fasting the Key to Spiritual Victory. And as I mentioned earlier, the entire collection is yours when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. And as an added bonus, for a limited time, we're including our inspiring Cultivating a Year of Kindness Perpetual Flip Calendar, good to be used in any year. Be sure to take advantage of this unique resource package while you still can. Just visit tonyevans.org to get the details and to make your contribution and request. That's tonyevans.org. Or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you.

The number again, 1-800-800-3222. A person's character impacts so many important aspects of life. And Dr. Evans says it's the ultimate requirement for a prospective mate. On Monday, he'll talk about the dangers of lowering your standards and describe how God can guide you toward the love of your life. I hope you'll join us.