Fasting & Prayer January 3, 2010

As the pastor of the church, I believe the Holy Spirit has given us a mandate to be a “Place of Presence.”

A place where people can come and experience the tangible presence of God.

The elders have chosen a course for SCF that declares we as a people are pursuing the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on the earth. Matt 6:31-34 … do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. NKJV

Our only chance of surviving and growing as a body is for the Holy Spirit in us to draw people into the Kingdom. 1 Cor 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. NKJV

1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. NKJV

What are the dynamics of the Manifest Presence of God? 1 Kings 8:6 …the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place … NKJV 1 Kings 8:10-11 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. NKJV

Ezek 44:4 I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD; and I fell on my face. NKJV

Isa 6:1 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. NKJV Isa 6:4-5 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips …NKJV

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. NKJV

Rev 1:17-18 …when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. NKJV

Ushering in the Manifest Presence of God

Matt 9:15-16 And Jesus said …, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. NKJV

John 14:2-4 I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. NKJV

Lovesick for Jesus The first thing we understand about fasting is that it is birthed out of a lovesick heart that is desperate for Jesus

Ps 35:13 …for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart. NKJV

Humility The second thing we understand about fasting is that it brings us to a greater depth of humility.

Mark 9:28-29 … when He (Jesus) had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" 29 So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." NKJV

Increased Faith The next thing we see about fasting and prayer is an increase in faith.