An Action Plan
AN ACTION PLAN
9/29/24
We are going to deviate from our current walk through the book of Acts because I feel that God wants us to continue in the vein we have been in for the past few weeks but mostly last Sunday and Wednesday night. God has been exposing some hefty prayer concerns, and I feel that He would like to continue His direction in this manner this morning.
Last Sunday, He expressed to us His desire that we live a fasted life. This is not just a rote symbolism of obedience that we do once a year. But this is something that is commanded to us by God. Fasting is a part of the Christian lifestyle, and if it isn’t, it should be. It’s all part of the Action we must take as a son or daughter of God Almighty.
I have a flashlight here. I know that a flashlight can produce enough light to let me see in the darkness. The manual that came with it says so, and I have experience turning on a flashlight to guide my way. But lying there, it is useless. It’s just a pile of plastic and metal until I make the required action to turn it on. If I push the power button, now I am able to have light.
The same thing happens in our Christian walk. We know without a doubt that God answers prayer. That He moves on our behalf for our good. The Bible that is God’s manual to us tells us so, and we have experience of Him moving in our midst. We’ve seen Him answer some pretty big prayers in our day. But faith that it could happen or *has happened before isn’t going to accomplish much without our ACTION.
We have to do something! We have to open our mouth and pray. Sometimes He requires us to do an action like the lame man who was told to get up and walk. In the natural, he could never walk, but faith plus action produced a miracle in his life.
We can spend our days complaining about situations in this world and in our lives - looking at the flashlight and waiting for light to shine - or we can do something about it and put our faith into action.
Faith is synonymous with action: In Hebrew, faith is only expressed as a verb, because it never exists apart from action. In the Bible, faith is the integration of actions and belief.
Read James 2: 17-23
He created the laws by which we live; he instructed us on how to live our lives to create an atmosphere of righteousness on earth. One of the things He told us to do is fast. Did you know that the Bible talks about fasting approximately 70 times?
The Jewish people didn’t wait around and wonder if they should fast; It was just a part of their Christian walk. If Jesus is our example and He fasted, it stands to reason that we should also.
Last week, I gave you the reasons why we should fast. This week I want to talk about what it entails.How do we fast? It’s more than just abstaining from food and drink or an activity. It is an action that partners with faith to obtain a desired result. Let’s look at a passage from last week that shows this exemplarily.
Isaiah 58: 6-7 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the [b]heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are [c]cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
God’s people fasted when they needed his help, his direction, his mercy, his favor, and his victory. I know without a doubt that we all need the same today. So it’s time to take action.
The Lord gave me an acrostic to help us remember this principle and help us begin to change situations in our sphere of influence. God put you in the middle of the family you’re in, the street you live on, the job you work, the church you attend, the town you live in…all of it is part of God’s plan in your life. He knows how hard it is to live in this fallen world. Jesus came himself and knows it all. Fasting is a tool he used to strengthen himself and frankly, he expects it from you as well.
ACTION
The A stands for awaken and admit there’s a problem.
Ephesians 5:14 For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Romans 13:11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
We cannot play church any longer. I guess they’re just going to call us radical, strange, peculiar, weird, or whatever else they deem to throw our way because of how seriously we take our stance in all things of the world.
You must awaken to what’s going on and what time we are living in. You must open your eyes and see the importance of your choices in life. I don’t care if it’s seemingly too hard. God didn’t ask you to do the easy…He just asked you to be obedient, even if it’s hard.
The C stands for confess and repent.
Many times the Jewish people mixed repentance with fasting. As you begin to fast, God will open your eyes to areas of your life that require repentance. Ask God to bring these things to your awareness and when He does, confess them and seek forgiveness.
Sin is a barrier that blocks the voice of God. It is true that God may not hear or respond to our prayers when there are sin barriers in our lives.
Psalm 66:18, If I regard iniquity (sin) in my heart, the Lord will not hear.
Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
But the good news is this: a fast will make you very aware of exactly where there is sin and what you need to do about it. There is always the offer of forgiveness where there is confession, repentance, and a sincere effort to correct the wrong.
The T stands for tehillah - singing a new song of praise
Psalm 96:1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Three Psalms start with precisely these words — Psalms 96, 98, and 149 — “sing to the Lord a new song.” As does Isaiah 42:10 (“sing to the Lord a new song”) and Psalm 33:3 (“sing to him a new song”). And Psalm 144:9 adds its voice, “I will sing a new song to you, O God.”
In 2 Chronicles 20, when the armies of Ammon and Moab were invading Judah, Jehoshaphat was outnumbered and afraid. He prayed and proclaimed a fast. When it was time for battle, he put singers out in front of the army to praise and worship God as they went to war. When they started praising, the enemy turned on one another, and God gave Jehoshaphat an astounding victory. God can do the same thing for you today!
They had just come out of a fast. There is a connection between fasting and praising. They came out singing! And when they did, the enemy turned on one another and devoured each other. There was so much plunder, it took Judah three days to pick it up.
The I stands for Intercession.
Do you remember the story of the four guys who dropped their paralytic friend through a roof in order to be healed by Jesus? They carried him across town and knocked on the door of the home where they knew Jesus was teaching.
The Bible says the home was so full of people eager to hear Jesus’ message, even the doorway was blocked. These 4 friends were determined to persist in helping their friend. They did whatever they could to get their sick friend to Jesus—even if that meant carrying him to the roof of the house and cutting a hole through the branches and dried clay above where Jesus was teaching.
Jesus showed the house full of people that day that He has authority to both forgive sins and heal bodies, and he did both for the paralytic whose friends carried him to Jesus.
This is intercession. It’s working and sweating and not stopping—forsaking all seemingly impossible roadblocks because people need Jesus.
The Bible is filled with accounts of men and women fasting as a means of earnest intercession. Fasting is a tangible way we can declare our utter dependence on the Lord. It can also be a way we lay others at the feet of Jesus.
Nehemiah 1: 4-6 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love [a]You and observe [b]Your commandments, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.
In fasting, we are saying to God, “Our spiritual need is greater than our physical discomfort and the supply for both comes from You alone.” We fast because He listens.
Let’s lower the physical and spiritual needs of others on a mat before Jesus, trusting and remembering that He has all authority in heaven and on earth, to heal our bodies and forgive our sins.
The O stands for Obedience
When you declare a fast, be obedient to what God has asked you to do. Your flesh is weak and it may be hard to fulfill your obligation, but you need to remember that He wouldn’t ask you to do anything that He won’t help you accomplish.
Biblical fasting is a meaningful, spiritual practice and an act of obedience to God.
1 Samuel 15:22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
Isaiah 1:18-20: "If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword"
1 Peter 1:14 - As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
Isaiah 1:19 - If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
Luke 6:46 - “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
God didn’t specifically require and command a fast as a rule per se’. But he did institute 5 feast and fast days every year for the people. And the Bible tells repeatedly how His people fasted to get His attention and His listening ear. It was obviously important to Him and His relationship with his children.
If God has asked you to fast, be obedient!
The N stands for Nazarite
A Nazarite is an Israelite consecrated to the service of God. As such, they vowed themselves to God and had to abstain from certain things.
This vow required the nazarite to:
Abstain from wine and all other grape products, such as vinegar and grapes.
Refrain from cutting the hair on his head.
Not to become ritually impure by contact with corpses or graves, even those of family members.
I have always been captured by the devotion to God that was evident by those who voluntarily chose this path; knowing very well that denying the flesh and all its pleasures does not come naturally. It was a vow of holiness signified by separation from pleasures and pursuits that was centered on devoting oneself to the Lord. It could go on for a couple of days (30 being the least) or years.
People like Samson and John the Baptist were appointed by God from birth. John the Baptist, was empowered to prepare the way for the Lord. Samson was empowered by his vow to deliver the Israelites from Philistine oppression. They were set apart and kept themselves holy for a certain task that they were called to complete.
Today there is a new generation of people taking a Nazarite vow. It is not exactly the same as vows that came before Jesus, as under the new covenant, we don’t need such. However, the modern Nazarite are people who take holiness very seriously.
1. Just as the Nazirite was to avoid wine which is able to intoxicate and either make a man drowsy and forgetful of things or inflame his passions so the believer must be a very temperate person, holding back from certain enjoyments in order to remain sober and alert and ready to serve. He must keep himself sober, everything under control. The Christian is always on duty and so he abstains from whatever will distract him from the task in hand - to serve the Lord.
2. Just as the Nazirite's hair was not to be cut, which spoke of a certain bodily neglect and even some public shame so the Christian is to be decidedly otherworldly. They do not dress like the world necessarily, especially if it is displeasing to the Lord. They remember modesty and decorum. They will probably avoid all of the different piercings, perhaps refrain from adding to tattoos, and following every fashion trend. Their focus is not on appearance, but it is on the things of God.
3. Thirdly, just as the Nazirite was to avoid all contact with the dead so the believer must let the dead bury the dead and avoid all contact with anything that would defile him or draw him away from the purity that the Christian life demands. He doesn’t focus on things of the past but looks forward to the future and his calling.
Lou Engle, in his book Nazarite DNA, interprets these three vows in a modern context as being about 1) choosing to fast from certain permissible pleasures in pursuit of God as the greatest pleasure, 2) be willing to be radically and noticeably set apart from the culture, and 3) avoiding the defilement of anything that would lead to spiritual death.
Set yourself apart.
John 15:19 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Closing / Prayer
Faith in God is enough to get you into heaven. All it takes is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth a man, was crucified, buried, and rose again in three days. He walked among people who witnessed his resurrection before being taken away up into the clouds from which he will return again to take us with him to our eternal reward. Yes, it is enough; however, as a Christian…our faith requires action.
Remember the flashlight at the beginning of the sermon. It’s definitely a flashlight, there’s no denying it, but what good is it if you don’t turn it on to produce light. We must be useful - a holy usefulness - doing the work of our Father. Part of that is practicing the act of fasting.
How do we fast?
A - admit there is a problem
C - confess and repent
T - tehilla (worship)
I - intercession
O - obedience
N - Nazarite (holiness and set apart)
