Relate Community Church
Relate Community Church
Stretching Out || Week 1
January 2, 2025 | Stretch Out | Week 1
Why do we fast?
Fasting is giving up something important (for a period of time) to gain something more important.
1. ____________ with God.
Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Joel 2:12
Prayer ___________ us to God
Fasting ___________ us from the world.
Together the __________ are unrivaled.
Come close to God, and God will come close to you. James 4:8
2. ____________ over your flesh.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Fasting intentionally _____________ my flesh so that I can intentionally
________________ my spirit.
3. ______________ in hearing God’s voice.
Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments. Exodus 34:28
Prayer is a conversation that involves both ____________ and ____________________.
4. _______________- for greater things.
5. _______________ over the impossible.
And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” Mark. 9:28-29
Discussion Questions:
What stood out to you this week?
Do you have experience fasting? If so, how did it go for you?
Name some things that can potentially draw us away from Jesus or simply distract us from our calling?
What will your fast look like during the 21 Days of prayer and fasting this year?
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Now give it a little beat, hit it Woo Ow, let yourself go, come on.
Speaker 2:You should have stood up and worked. I was hoping y'all would start to work out and stretch and that was that's the point. I'm glad you guys came to church today and I don't want to take too much time getting started, but it means a lot to me that you're here. Those who are watching online, it means a lot to me that you're here, those who are watching online. It means a lot to us that you clicked and chose to worship, or walked through the rain and chose to come out and worship this morning. It's a good way to kick off the year. Tell your neighbor I'm glad you're here and you look fine. Relax, there you go. Some people were already saying I got all wet and it's okay. If you got a little bit wet, it's just water, that's okay, awesome.
Speaker 2:A couple of quick things before we dive into the message, and I hope that you have your ears open and your eyes open, ready for a word to kick off the brand new year and 21 days of prayer, and it's going to be very good. We're not just kicking off a new year and 21 Days of Prayer, but also a brand new series today called Stretch Out, and the reason that it's called Stretch Out is because I wanted to challenge you, not just in this series so the series will end in a few weeks but this whole year. Every year we look for a word that kind of categorizes and themes what we're looking for and how we're pursuing God, and what one word kind of defines our focus a little bit. And that word for our year this year 2025, is everybody say it with me stretch, stretch. Because I think there's some things that God has for us that are a little bit further than the table beside the couch. Sometimes you have to get up and go get it. Sometimes you have to stretch yourself a little bit. Sometimes it's a faith stretch, so I really don't want to get into it fully right now. But this series, this message today, is really the beginning of that, because comfort and progress never go together and we're looking for progress. We want this to be the best year that we've ever had. We want blessing and favor, whether that's a financial thing, a relational thing, a health thing or, in our faith, obviously, our spiritual walk. We want it to be the best year and that requires that we do a little bit of stretching at the beginning. So that's why we're going to stretch here at the beginning of the year, we're seeking God's best for 2025. How many of you can say amen to that? Good, good, good.
Speaker 2:Pastor Angela already told you about the Connect card, but she may not have mentioned that the Clicky Binders are back. So if you are a fan of the Clicky Binders, if you're a fan of taking notes, then this is your time. You've been begging for them back. We typically take a break during holiday series and that type of thing, but you can still take notes and the new notes are out there. And a brand new thing that is new today brand new today and that is the notes that we usually give you guys can be found in the church app, but they're evolving and now you can click this QR code, take a picture of it and it'll take you right to the church app. If you're not on the church app, get on the church app. Not only will it give you all of the announcements and keep you up to date and communication for everything that you need for the church, but today's notes are in there and the blanks are in there so that you can fill them in, send them to yourself and then keep up with all of them that way if you're that person.
Speaker 2:So, as a reminder, 21 Days of Prayer, there's all kinds of resources on the table out there for you. One of those resources certainly is our Pray First guide, our prayer guide. If you're one of those people that says, pastor John, I'd love to pray, I just I don't know how to pray. If you're one of those people that says, pastor Sean, I'd love to pray, I just I don't know how to pray, like many of us, you might be comfortable saying the prayer for lunch or for dinner or for a meal, but like praying for an hour on a Wednesday night, what does that look like? This makes it super easy because there's some templates, there's some prayer guides, some things you can pray over, lists of things you can pray over, scriptures. There's things for you to pray.
Speaker 2:Learning part of 21 days of prayer is teaching yourself to pray more, better, deeper, reaching for the presence of God in your life. And, along with the prayer guide, is your pray first bracelet reminder. So every time you look down at your arm you'll remember to pray first. Actually, it's a twofold reminder Number one, pray. Number two it reminds you to stretch. Okay, they said, don't say that, I'd say I'm going to say it. So let's dive in today's message, and I won't tell you exactly what it's about, but it is about 21 days of prayer and it is about stretching out a little bit, stretching yourself a little bit, preparing for what's to come.
Speaker 2:So today I want us to kind of dig in a little bit to the prayer and fasting. I want us to talk about fasting. If this is a topic that you're not super comfortable, familiar. Maybe it's like you've never fasted, maybe you have fasted a little, maybe I'm asking you to stretch outed, maybe you have fasted a little, maybe I'm asking you to stretch out a little bit, stretch yourself just a little bit. And why? Because fasting is important. Fasting is something that should be synonymous or run parallel to. Every single believer, every child of God, every Jesus follower, every disciple should be praying, reading their Bible, spending devotion time, spending time with God. But one thing we like to leave off that list, because we hate it, is fasting. Let me tell you why it's so important.
Speaker 2:Every decision, every major decision in my life has come through times of devotion, times where I'm trying to get away from the noise of the world and lean into the presence of God, and the biggest moments of my life can be defined in those prayer and fasting seasons. I remember this church was built out of one of those exact moments in 2017. Angela and I were in the middle. I was serving at a church, I was in the middle of a prayer and fasting. During the first week of those 21 days of prayer and fasting, I was happy. I was like in one of those places in life where all the planets align and everything seems good. So if you would have asked me hey, what do you believe in God? For? What do you need God? To answer, I didn't have a list of God. I'm desperate for you in this area, because I liked where I was. My bills were paid, my kids were doing well, my family was doing well, my everybody's healthy. It's like that rarely happens, right? But in that moment I thought you know what I'm going to seek God. I'm going to believe God for something more. I'm going to believe God for God. Where do I'm going to believe God for God? Where do you want me? Where do you want my family? What do I need to hear from you that I'm not hearing? So I'm happy where I am.
Speaker 2:The very first week of that, 21 days of prayer and fasting. During the first seven days, I felt like God was just speaking to me, he was impressing on me you need to leave where you are, where you're happy, where you're comfortable, and then I want you to go start a church. And while that is exciting, it's also very terrifying. I didn't even know exactly what that meant. I didn't know how to proceed with that. So the very first thing I did was I went to talk to Angela about it, because I don't want to do it alone. We're going to go together.
Speaker 2:And then you know what she told me. She said I don't think so. And then you know what she told me. She said I don't think so. My big reveal God gave me this message I feel like we're supposed to go start a church. She just very plainly I don't think so. That's not what I. I'm not hearing that.
Speaker 2:And so I went back to prayer. I said I better go back and pray some more. Maybe I heard wrong. No, I knew I was hearing right. But I said, god, if this is something you want me to do, I need you to speak to her too. I need you to give her the same impression, the same message. And you know what? The very next week, second week of 21 Days of Prayer, she came and told me you know what? You were right. I feel like God does want us to leave where we are, the safety, the stability of the comfort zone that we're in, and go start a church.
Speaker 2:And so, from that moment on, the vision of this place even though we were portable for six and a half years, even though we were unsure of exactly how to start, we kicked off, started in the house and then, quickly, we were in the movie theater and that led us to this place and, thank God, we have our very own home place, our own home building, our own location, but another time. So this is a moment in time in 2017, again, we're in 21 days of prayer and fasting, but from the moment the church was started, I thought, hey, we're going to need of prayer and fasting, but from the moment the church was started, I thought, hey, we're going to need a building one day. So I was kind of looking, shopping, like we could buy this building. We could buy this building. We're looking around like praying God, where are we supposed to be? But I knew that there's a difference between taking an option and finding the God option.
Speaker 2:And so whenever I was praying, I'm like, all right, god, I'm not going to just jump on any building, even if it looks amazing. I want to know that. I know that. I know that I'm hearing from you and that this is our building, because this is a God deal. That's where I want to be. And so I had friends who God had given them buildings and they didn't even have to pay for it. And so, in fact, a couple of months ago, pastor Derek Earhart was here and his church in Sugar Land. Someone came to him and said look, you guys need a new building. Let's find a building and I'll write a check for it. That said God. If that can happen, I want that deal.
Speaker 2:So when I'm saying God deal, I'm saying if God's in it, I'm in it. The Bible says unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain. So there are things that God wants to do in your life that if you're doing something on your own, the point is be with God and what he wants to do and the things go the way they're supposed to go. And even if I'm in prison or if my life seems like it's falling apart, if I know that. I know that, I know that God's in it and he's working in it, then it's all going to work out.
Speaker 2:So in 2018, during the 21 days of prayer there, I felt like God was telling me this is the year where the building's coming, because I had felt like I wanted the building to come before that. But I started telling Angela, I started telling our staff I think a building is coming, and then, a month later, I had two confirmations of other pastors basically speaking to us and saying hey, I feel like the Lord wants me to tell you in prophecy that your building is right around the corner and that you need to start looking for it, and that he's about to reveal. It's hidden, but he's about to uncover it. And within one month from that, in March, we found this building and within 10 or 15 days, we closed on this building and then paid for it in cash. So, amen, but if we're just walking in the dark and if we're just looking for the next answer, and if we're just walking in the dark and if we're just looking for the next answer, and if we're just reaching out and touching things and making decisions inadvertently, I could be anywhere, but I might not be where God wants me to be. The point of the 21 days of prayer is to refocus our hearts and our minds and our eyes and our ears, to hear and see and know that I am where God wants me to be. And it's not always comfortable, but let's start listening for the voice of God.
Speaker 2:So fasting is giving up something important. Write this down. Fasting is giving up something important for a period of time to gain something more important. So it's like I'm emptying out space so that I can put something else in there. That's the way it goes. So what does that look like? What do we give up? For you?
Speaker 2:It might be food, that's the obvious one and it might not be like all food. Maybe you're doing a full fast. That would be like water only. Maybe you're doing not just water but protein shakes, and there's all kinds of variations. Maybe you're doing food but you're not doing all food. You're cutting out certain things sugars or sodas, or candy or sweets. Maybe it's a Daniel fast, that's a biblical fast. Maybe it's not just food but electronics, or we would call that a soul fast. Maybe you're getting rid of social media for 21 days, or maybe it's Netflix or movies or video games, you name it.
Speaker 2:There's some part of you that you might even be feeling like right now, that little tap on the shoulder of your heart is saying you should give up this and you're ignoring it. Right now You're saying I'm not giving up that, I need chocolate cake. Maybe it's an activity that you participate in, maybe it's pickleball, if you're just like you're the pickleball king. I'm not saying you have to, but there's some things that you love that you need to put on the shelf for 21 days so that the lord can speak to you because those things are out of the way. What, um? How long? What's the time frame depends.
Speaker 2:So biblical fast could be 21 days. It could be just during the day. Some biblical fasts are until sunset. You're fasting during the day, you're drinking water during the day or liquid, and then at the end of the day, six or so sunset, you're having a meal with your family, and then it could be you decide. You decide what this season looks like for you. It might be a whole 21 days of. Some of you are doing for seven days one thing and then you're shifting gears. I would say don't try to get like if you're planning to do a water fast. Just a word of advice If you're planning on doing a water fast, don't decide I'm going to do salad for a week or two and then I'm going to do a water fast. Don't make it harder progressively. Make it softer progressively, so that you're starting with your water fast and then doing the other things because it's difficult, the other way around. So it could be 40 days, it could be.
Speaker 2:Sometimes we pray until something happens Amen. Sometimes you just got to. I'm not going to move from this place and I'm going to fast until a breakthrough happens, and that's ultimately why we fast. The answer to why do we fast is for breakthrough, and the breakthrough might be because I'm desperately in need of God to answer prayer, and it might be that I'm so comfortable that I'm kind of stuck in a rut and I need God to help me get out of my comfort zone. And so it's I need to. Sometimes we need to comfort the oppressed, and sometimes we need to oppress the comforted. Sometimes I'm in a place where I'm too comfortable. I need to be kicked a little bit in the pants and I need to push myself. If you understand what I'm saying, say amen. That was a little weak, but I'll give it to you. So five reasons why we fast, five reasons why we fast Moses, david, esther, paul, the disciples Fasting is something that Jesus' followers do, and so you just have to try and figure out.
Speaker 2:If maybe you're someone who you fasted a little bit before or you're used to. Hey, every year I participate in the fast and I always give up sodas. I would just oppress you for a second. Go a little bit deeper. If you do the same thing every time, I would say how's that working for you? Let's go a little deeper. Maybe, instead of just soda, you need to give up something else. Tack something to it, make it a little bit more stringent on yourself, because our level of expectation and our hope or our faith level of what we expect from God or what we expect from ourselves, needs to raise up a little bit, because I believe that God's expectation of us is higher than we have currently. Have it set.
Speaker 2:So you were not created to just be a person that goes to church. Listen, church is great. I love church. Not many places I would rather be than here at church with you doing God things. I love it.
Speaker 2:But you were created to connect with God, which brings us to our first reason why we fast, and that is to connect to God. It's a connection with God and why connections matter Connection your ability to connect and hear from God matters so much. The Bible says that he's our shepherd and we are the sheep of his pasture. We are his sheep and his sheep will hear his voice and they will not follow another. But if you can't hear his voice, then you're dependent on someone like me or someone like a small group leader. Well, I have leaders that hear from God for me. Wait a second. You are a disciple. You should be a Jesus follower to the point where you can hear his voice. I'm here not to hear his voice for you. I'm here to show you how to listen to his voice and part of that is dialing in listening and finding that frequency.
Speaker 2:About three months ago I was invited on like a once-in-a-lifetime fishing trip and I like fishing, but I've never been fly fishing and someone a pastor friend invited me. He said look, this is a really big deal, but it's all paid for. You don't have to pay a dime. He said just show up. It's in Montana, it's on the Little Bighorn River in the Crow Indian Reservation and it is like once in a lifetime, beautiful Fly fishing and it's going to be amazing. He's like please come. And so I said, reluctantly, I said, okay, I'll go.
Speaker 2:What I did not know is that whenever we got there for those three days, that when we went into the Indian reservation on this camp that we were at the, there was no Wi-Fi, there was no internet connection, there was no phone connection, and so they were telling us, as they picked us up from the airport and drove us in now look, if you need to make an email or text or anything, make it now, because in just about 10 minutes it's gone. And so that was a moment of realization to me that I haven't had for a long, long time to completely be without internet. It was maybe worse than fasting, I don't know, but it was because there's important things to check right. I'm like I don't know if I can do this. I may have to sneak away somewhere, but I didn't. I made it to the very end, and then I thought you know what? I need to ask to borrow a computer or something because I need to check my flight information and check in on. So the day before we left, like 24 hours before my flight. We still got the whole rest of the night.
Speaker 2:I asked them and they said oh, listen, just don't tell anybody. But if you'll get your phone, there's a hidden Wi-Fi. You can't see it. You can find it only if you search for the name. It'll pop up. So he gives me all the information. I log in and I tried to keep it a secret, but those kinds of secrets don't last very long. And so the other pastors that were staying there there was about 20 of us as soon as they realized I had internet because I got to check things, they realized that, wait, that's not email, he's not taking notes, that's fantasy football. Wait, a second. Within just about 10 minutes, they realized something's going on here and they said listen, you better tell us or we're going to kill you and hide your body. So I had to share the Wi-Fi how to get it, and we had a moment there.
Speaker 2:But listen, some things. What would happen if the church, what would happen if the people of God decided that I can't be disconnected from God anymore and I'm going to fight for my connection? And if I have to do whatever I have to do, I'm going to get connected to God, whether it means I have to go on a 21-day fast where I only drink water, or I have to dig into my Bible. Some of you guys have decided I'm going to read the whole New Testament in 21 days, or I'm going to read my Bible and spend an hour a day in prayer. Or what if we decided that I can't be disconnected from God anymore and it's worth whatever the fight it is to start the year off? Right?
Speaker 2:But some part of you has to say okay, I'm dissatisfied with where I am and I'm willing to hurt myself, I'm willing to make myself uncomfortable for 21 days so that I can be closer to God. I'm not asking you to put yourself on a cross. I'm asking you to take up your cross metaphorically, and stop eating a meal a day. Stop doing something that just satisfies your flesh eating a meal a day. Stop doing something that just satisfies your flesh.
Speaker 2:Joel, chapter 2, verse 12, says this turn to me now, while there is still time, give me your hearts. This is God speaking to his people. Like it's time to lean into God. And then he says this come with fasting, weeping and mourning. What does that mean? That means that in order for me to get closer to God. There has to be part of me that's broken. There's a brokenness that, when I empty myself, he says okay, now I can fill you, I can take the place that you have cleared out and I've got something for you. Now is the time. Don't wait till everything is just right. Don't wait until everything is just right before you stop making excuses. Let's get back to the passion that maybe you had before, or get back to that level of faith. Write this down Prayer connects us to God and in August we'll do 21 days of prayer, no fasting.
Speaker 2:In fact, we call it 21 days of prayer and feasting because we're going to forget about the fasting. Just once a year we do a big corporate fasting. But prayer connects us to God, we're leaning into God, but at the same time, january fasting disconnects us from the world. So while I'm pushing away from the world, I'm pulling closer to God. And what happens when we do both of those things together? Now, all of a sudden? There's no secret. It's not like a hidden, supernatural, spiritual secret. No, this is right out in the open. If you read your Bible, it becomes very clear. Prayer and fasting are necessary, and when we do those two things together, breakthrough happens. So together the results are unrivaled. Like nothing else you do as a believer can put you in the place that prayer and fasting can do, and some of you just now, at this point in the message, you're thinking well, I might consider it. Let's just commit ourselves to it. Okay, I'm in, but we need to decide what that looks like. So James 4.8 says come close to God and he will come close to you. So at the same time we're leaning into the presence of God and we're reaching for more of the Holy Spirit, we're also emptying ourselves of the things of the world. Number two not only does it give us a connection to God, but number two control of your flesh, control over your flesh. We've talked a lot this last few months, this last fall leading into. We've talked a lot about body and soul and spirit and which one of those gets to be in control and how you operate as a human, the way that you were made.
Speaker 2:A lot of you guys know that for the last few years three years or so I've been on a health journey. Angela and I have been working to get healthy, like working out, eating right, and I can tell you that 90% of the time I do really well, and every day my normal snack is I eat an apple every day and I love it. But New Year's Eve we were invited over to Pastor Jason and Stephanie's house, and there's always a spread of all kinds of delicious food, and at one point it was almost a joke. I said I don't see any cookies. Can we get some cookies? Are there any cookies? It was kind of a joke, but I kept asking. So Stephanie just says oh, we don't have any cookies, but I can make some. And I said wow, that is like just for you to offer to make cookies that fast. It was like within just a few minutes, there were fresh baked cookies on the table. They were hot. I went to pick up one and it just melted in my hand and I didn't Thank you. It was a beautiful moment. So I ate four of them.
Speaker 2:That's not the story, though. What happened was what usually happens whenever you do something like that and your body acclimates to certain things. And so the next day, new Year's Day, I'm just living my life, I have my apple and I thought I want a cookie, but I told myself not today. So just kicking off the new year with the right habits and the right appetites and feeding the right part of me right? That's very difficult to tell yourself no, especially when you can go get a cookie, especially when it's minutes away from being fresh out of the oven. But the spirit part of us needs to say wait a second, I've got to get control over my flesh.
Speaker 2:Watch this 1 Corinthians, chapter 9, 24 says Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize, like there's a way to run and win and there's a way to run and lose. And if we're eating cookies or loading up on the things of the flesh, we're not winning, we're losing. And some of us feel so good about losing. Why do we feel so good about losing? Because we're comfortable, Because we can still go to church on Sunday mornings and we can still say I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, I'm a Jesus follower. It's not that bad. I see people who are doing a lot worse than me. Yeah, they're losing worse than you, but you're still losing.
Speaker 2:Everyone who competes in the games goes into a strict training. They do it to get the crown that will not last. If I'm a runner, I'm running for a prize, a medal, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever, and it's like spiritual training. There are some things that some of us are very weak spiritually. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimless. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. God has a prize for you and the only way we get it is by reaching and stretching ourselves and training ourselves spiritually and physically to go deeper into his presence and to reach for the things that he has for us, so that we don't just caught up in whatever else the world is doing. So I might have to tell my flesh no, not today, we're not doing that is doing. So I might have to tell my flesh no, not today, we're not doing that.
Speaker 2:Fasting intentionally starves my flesh so that I can intentionally feed my spirit. So what are you starving and what are you feeding? Because whatever you're feeding is winning. Whatever you're feeding is in control of your life If you're feeding yourself food and technology and social media and whatever else your flesh says. You know what I could really do for right now. I could go for whatever we need to start cultivating some spiritual appetites. You know, when you drink more water, your body starts wanting more water. Man, I'm thirsty. Man, I need some more of god's word. Man, I need some more prayer time. I need some more time spent with god's presence. I need some, some more time in worship. This is setting the pace so that over the next 21 days, when we get into day 22, day 23, month two, month, three, six months in of the year, we have the best spiritual year that we have, because we've set the pace spiritually and now we're hanging on to the things of God. So your body and your soul and your spirit are contending for who's in control, and this is saying, in 21 days, that I'm going to put my spirit in control.
Speaker 2:What if your body reflected the condition of your spirit? What if we look at you? We can say, oh, you've been Pastor Sean. You've been doing pretty good physically. You've been eating an apple every day, you've only had a few cookies. You've lost weight. You're stronger, you're more mobile, like we could take it. Your blood pressure is good. I could do all of those tests. But what if, spiritually, I could look? What if my body reflected my spiritual condition on the outside? Some of us would need to go to the hospital right now, and that's sad to think.
Speaker 2:Matthew, chapter 4, verse 1,. Jesus was led into the wilderness and tempted by the devil. After 40 days and 40 nights he was hungry. So his body was saying give me some food. I need some food. But another part of him said no, that's not what I need. Watch this, it says. The tempter came and said to him if you're the son of God, tell these stones to become bread. And he could have done that. He had the authority to pick up a rock and turn it into bread. It wasn't that he didn't have food or that food was not available. Sometimes there are a lot of food available.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I go to meet up with people during the fast and they're eating something. That's not easy. But sometimes you have to say you know what I'm taking a break. But sometimes you have to say you know what I'm taking a break. Jesus answered. It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God, what you feed grows and what you starve dies. What you feed grows and what you starve dies. So, for the next 21 days, it may be that you need to starve your music appetite. You need to starve your movie appetite, your Netflix appetite, your social media appetite, your appetite for the opposite sex dating appetite, gaming appetite. I don't know what your thing is. Maybe it's an addiction, something that you, your phone, your TV, something that it might be telling you, the Holy Spirit might be telling you you need to give up this for 21 days, and you again, you're ignoring it, but you're starting to listen. Maybe it's food, but something.
Speaker 2:Five reasons why we fast. Number three clarity in hearing God's voice. You know what? Sometimes we're confused about what God wants. If I was to ask you, what does God want for you this year, you might say I don't know. That's confusing. I really don't know what he wants me to do. Let me tell you something God is concerned and cares about everything that concerns you, so all little details in your life. He has opinions on all of those things, and if you don't know what those opinions are, it's not because he's confused, and so this is about.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm going to fast and clear out some of that spiritual brain fog and I'm going to get some clarity. I want to see what God wants. Okay, I'm going to show, I'm going to give you an example and then we're going to wrap it up with the last two pretty quickly. But I want you to understand what this is like, getting clarity, and so we're going to look at a couple of things, but this might reveal some of the ages of the people in the room. Let me just ask you how many of you guys had one of these. It's called a record player, and if you, you can raise your hand, if you can still lift your arm that high, I don't know, just kidding. Come on, a record player. Now, if we were to push, play or turn on, move the little needle over and start it playing, it might sound something like this, and you might remember this song.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, wait a minute, mr.
Speaker 2:Bozeman. All right, it's a great song. At some point it was probably at the top of the charts back in the 19. I'm not going to say I don't know. You raised your hand. You're telling on yourselves. You know when that song was in the year I graduated from high school, maybe I don't know. It's a great song, it's good to listen to.
Speaker 2:Maybe some of you guys grew up with not a record player, but how many of you remember a tape player In the 1980s? You could put it right up here on your shoulder and if we were to push play it might sound something like this Okay, a lot better. Maybe you like this song better than the last one, but it's a great song, top of the charts. It could have been a masterpiece. It was a masterpiece. Right, it's up there. You might say one of the best.
Speaker 2:But maybe some of you came along whenever tapes were on their way out. Maybe you had a Discman CD player. There you go and if we were to push play, what would it sound like? All right, turn it off, turn it off. I did not have that CD, but I did have a CD player like that in my Jeep when I was a teenager and it had a tape. It plugged in the tape into the tape player and if you hit a bump it skipped or stopped. It was not a good setup, but it worked.
Speaker 2:Some of you might have come along a little bit later when the iPod came out and you could just push, play and listen right from there and load up thousands of songs, and it might have sounded something like this All right, that's good, we'll turn it off. All right, that's good, and we'll turn it off. But again, top of the charts, great song. And then finally, if your house is like my house, you just walk in the house and you say Alexa, play worship music. Good, good, good, all right. So any one of those things great songs. They're at the top of the charts. Everybody loves those songs. But what happens when we get so many great things going on? You could have too much of a good thing right. All of a sudden, if we decide, okay, let's turn all five of them on at the same time, what does that sound like? I'm fine, I'm fine, I can listen to all five at the same time. That's what we say. I'm good, I'm not overwhelmed, it sounds great, I love it. They're the five best songs. They're all top of the charts. I love them. I gotta have all of them in my life.
Speaker 2:But at some point we need to turn some things off because we can't hear the thing that we need to hear and listen. In the middle of all of that noise that we have from our lives, how's God? God's not gonna come and slap you and say, listen, I got something big for you. He's going to whisper and you're going to miss it because you got five other things going, or 10 other things, or 20 other things, and you have so many plates spinning that when the Holy Spirit whispers something, you have no clue. So, turning the volumes down on everything, you think being hungry doesn't do anything. But I promise you, as someone who has done fasting and prayer, when you start to fast, your ears start getting real big. You start hearing everything, even the smallest little thing, and the Holy Spirit starts telling you something and you are in tune Because your body's not in charge anymore. Exodus 34, verse 28,. Moses was there with the Lord for 48 days and 48 nights without eating bread or drinking water, and he wrote on tablets the words of the covenant, the 10 commandments, some things that God wants to download to you, but you gotta get still and quiet in his presence. Maybe you're wandering in the desert, maybe you need some answers, maybe you're too comfortable.
Speaker 2:Prayer is a conversation that evolves with speaking and listening. We are very good at speaking. God, I need this God, I need this God, I need this, I need this and I need this. But if you're like me, growing up, the most important person in the room gets to speak the most Number four. We do need clarity, but this is also a time of consecration, consecration for greater things, meaning that I believe there are things coming ahead that we're unprepared for, that we don't know about. God has great things for you. God has great things prepared for you Plans, designs, purpose but if we're not in the right place and we can't hear it and we have no idea, we could miss it altogether. Fasting is boot camp for battles you don't even know you're going to face. This is a level of faith that says okay, god, I believe that you have great things for me. I believe that you have purpose for me and I know that it's bigger than I currently am and I need to stretch myself so that I'm prepared for it.
Speaker 2:Everybody loves the prayer of Jabez because Jabez says God bless me, bless my house, give me more than I already have. But you know what else is in the prayer of Jabez? He says I want you to expand your tent, I want you to pick up your tent pegs and I want you to make your capacity bigger. That's not easy to do because it requires that you work a little bit. We would love to just say God bless me, give me all the things I don't have. But I'm going to sit right where I'm at and I know that I'm pretty full already and my capacity is only so much but just dump it on top and I'll catch it. That's kind of like our prayer. Sometimes it's just like this Hail Mary, god, save me, god, bless me, god, and we're not willing to put in any spiritual effort. This is that is what fasting is, and some of us, god can't give us what we're asking for because we're not spiritually prepared for it.
Speaker 2:And finally, number five, it's conquest over the impossible. Many people in the room are facing impossible situations right now and if I was to ask you, what do you need God to do? You're just like I don't even know what would solve this, because it's impossible. I just need God to show up. I need God to be in the middle of this and do the impossible, do what only God can do, and that is 100% a good reason to fast and pray, 100% a good reason to fast and pray.
Speaker 2:In the Bible, in the book of Mark, a father brings his son to the disciples who has a demon that's oppressing and possessing and it's causing him to throw himself into the fire, it's causing him to gnash his teeth and it's hurting the boy and they don't know how to stop it. And so the father brings the boy to the disciples. The disciples pray for him and the disciples can't cast out the demon, they can't help him. He's still dealing with the issues. And finally they have to bring the boy to Jesus and say, jesus, the disciples couldn't help him, can you pray for him? So Jesus lays hands on him and he's healed. And then the disciples wait until they're in private and they ask Jesus, it was embarrassing. We prayed for this boy and nothing happened. Why Jesus? And this moment is very telling that it says when they had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately why could we not cast it out? And Jesus gives him the answers. So he said to them, this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.
Speaker 2:In other words, there's some things in your life that you're trying to contend with. You're trying to ask God. I need you to show up here, lord. What is the solution here? What is the? What is the answer to the prayer? How do we proceed? What's the direction? What is this for my business, for my family, for my health?
Speaker 2:God, I'm at a brick wall and I don't know how to get around it, and it's not just a simple thing. Where's the God deal at? Where's the God answer at? Where's the miraculous? Where's the deal at? Where's the god answer at? Where's the miraculous? Where's the? Sometimes you can't get past it until you're ready and willing to pray and fast through it.
Speaker 2:So there's some things that you need to overcome. There's some things that you need to overcome. There's some things that maybe it is a physical addiction, maybe it's a spiritual addiction or an emotional thing that you're wrestling with and every day you wake up and you would love to leave that and move into 2025. Let's hold one second. You'd love to move into 2025 and leave some things behind. You don't know how to do it. You've you wrestle, you may have tried to give it up before god. I'm gonna stop this.
Speaker 2:God take this away from me. I want to slow down for just a minute because I I need you to hear me that there's some things that the lord wants to take away from us. But we have to be willing to crucify the flesh. We have to be willing to say okay, I'm willing to be uncomfortable for a little bit so that my life can be better than it's ever been, so that I can walk in my purpose, so that I can walk in the design and the destiny and the spiritual aptitude and the blessing and the favor that God wants me to step into. It requires that I do something I've never done before. So can we make a dedication and commit ourselves?
Speaker 2:I believe that God wants to do something in this church. That requires that we are more than we currently are. I don't mean more people, I don't mean more money. I mean that, spiritually, that we are ahead of where we are now. That's why we need to stretch. Would you stand up on your feet? It's not a secret. It's not something that we have to unveil, some secret thing. No, kobe Bryant said this. He said I don't get bored with the basics. So can I just say as a church, we need to stick to the basics. Let's pray, let's fast, let's worship in god's presence, let's do what we haven't done. Let's do it like we've never done it, so that he can take us where we've never been. Amen, I want us to worship for a minute and then we'll come back and pray, but in this time, I want you to make a commitment reach for what does god want me to give up? What am I believing for? Let's worship, to do whatever you want to.
Speaker 1:To do whatever you want to. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Shake up the ground of all my traditions, break down the walls of all my beliefs, cause your way is better, your way is better. Shake up the ground, unform our tradition, break down the walls, unform our beliefs. Yes, your way is better, yes, your way is better. Shake up the ground, unform our tradition, break down the walls, unform our beliefs. Yes, your way is better. Shake up the ground, unfold my tradition. Break down the walls. Unfold my religion. It's your way to spend. It's your way to spend. Shake up the ground, unfold my tradition, break down the walls. Unfold my religion. Is your workspace, your workspace, and I will make room for you, lord, to do whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to, and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to, oh.
Speaker 2:So let's make this 21 days of prayer and fasting count. Let's dig in, let's go deeper, let's stretch ourselves. I want to pray for you and I want us to make this commitment together it's not just one person that we have 100% commitment to some level. So let's pray, god. I thank you that you will bless our efforts and you'll take us somewhere in 2025 that we've never been spiritually, that we'll have the best year that we've ever had, that fathers and mothers and husbands and wives and children will be blessed like never before. We'll have favor upon us, god, because we have your spirit, your anointing, covering us before and behind us, protecting us and leading us and giving us God. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Let us be clear spiritually that you can give us direction for this entire year and helping us to make decisions of cutting things off and adding things so that we can be who you made us to be, so that this year looks like you want it to look like, in Jesus name. Thank you, jesus. And maybe today you're here and you've never made the first commitment to follow Jesus and give him your life, and we can say that prayer together.
Speaker 2:The Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That means that we don't have to pay for our own sins. That means that my life, I can look forward to eternity in heaven with him. I can walk with him on this earth and he can lead me and I can be a disciple of Jesus. That doesn't mean you're joining a church. That means that you are joining a family of the body of Christ. I won't call you forward or ask you to embarrass yourself, but I would just say this If you'll say this prayer with me, confess these words out loud. In this simple prayer, you're taking the first step to a spiritual journey that God wants to take you on from this moment into eternity. Would you just bow your head and close your eyes, right where you are? And if that's you today and I would invite everybody in the room, those watching online would you say these words with me Dear Heavenly Father, today I give you my life. I invite you to come into my life and lead me, forgive me of my sin, make me whole, breathe new life into me and from this moment forward, I will follow you In Jesus' name. Amen, amen.
Speaker 2:Let's give it up for everybody who said that prayer. If you said that prayer for the first time, I'd love to talk to you after service or even meet you and meet the pastor so we can talk for a few minutes. Otherwise, I'm going to invite the prayer team to join me up here at the front. If you want to pray with someone before you head out, to join me up here at the front. If you want to pray with someone before you head out, they would love to pray with you for a short prayer of faith. Otherwise, you can stay and worship with us. If you have to go, we understand. I'll just miss you. In the name of Jesus, we'll see you Wednesday night and again next Sunday. God bless.