by Dr. Tony Evans

The Urban Alternative

"We sacrifice a desire of the flesh because we have a greater need of the Spirit. One of the primary reasons that you should fast is that there is a crisis need in your life or the lives of someone close to you."

There was a story of two lumberjacks. One was quite older than the other. And the younger lumberjack was somewhat proud of the fact that he could chop down a certain number of trees quicker than the older lumberjack. Even though the older lumberjack was known for his speed he felt an urge to challenge the younger one. So he proposed a challenge to see who could cut down the most trees in one day. So they began, and the younger man was chopping down one after another and would not stop, he was determined. He knew it looked pretty good for himself when he noticed the older lumberjack would chop for only one hour then take a fifteen minute rest. But when the end of the day came the older lumberjack had cut down 1/3 more trees than the younger lumberjack. Somewhat miffed the younger man asked, “how could it possibly be that you cut more than I after I saw you taking breaks all day and I cut furiously all day.”
The older lumberjack said, “It’s quite simple, every time I stopped and sat down, I sharpened my axe.”

A lot of us have been working hard, but with dull axes and wondering why the trees aren’t falling. We’re going to church and serving and studying the bible but aren’t growing in our spiritual walk with God.
That’s what fasting and prayer is all about. It’s about sharpening the axe of the inner man so we can gain spiritual victory.
Remember the story of the young man the disciples could not heal? Jesus told them.
Matthew 17: 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
This isn’t something that you do because Tuesday is the fasting day, this is something you do when you are in a crisis situation and you need a huge spiritual breakthrough, although it is a great idea to do it on a regular basis.
Jesus said this mountain can only be moved, this tragedy can only be reversed, this circumstance can only be overcome by prayer and fasting.
We hear a lot about prayer but rarely do we hear anything about fasting. This could possibly change the course of your life.
Jesus said that in His absence, fasting was to be a priority.
Matthew 9:15 for example, And Jesus said to them, “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.
That is, in Jesus’ absence fasting would be a way to make that connection with Him. Since you can’t go to Jesus right now and sit down with Him and have a verbal conversation face to face, God says there’s a special way you can make a spiritual link with Him when you need to, and He says “and they will fast.”
Fasting is a way to get through the gateway to God in the crises of life.
1.) In the bible, fasting occurred during the burdens of life that demanded a spiritual breakthrough; emotional burdens, relational burdens, circumstantial burdens, physical burdens, ministerial burdens, directional burdens or what have you.
Fasting is the deliberate abstinence of physical gratification to achieve a spiritual goal. It’s a denial of the flesh to gain a response from the Spirit.
It’s renouncing the natural to invoke the supernatural. It’s saying “no” to yourself in order to hear a “yes” from God.

Zechariah 7: 5-6 “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? 6 When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?

When you eat, who do you eat for? I can guarantee it’s for nobody but you. You do not eat with me in mind, and I don’t for you either. When I eat, I’m concerned for three people only; me, myself and I.
I become an obedient servant to myself. I even eat when I don’t need to eat.
But when you fast, God says that’s for Him because that’s when we get His attention. Food satisfies us, but fasting satisfies God.

When we are hungry we put something inside of us to satisfy the cry of hunger. When we are fasting, we are saying “the cry of my soul is more important than the cry of my belly.”
The reason we get God’s attention when we fast is that we are putting more importance on the inner man than we do for the outer man.

Look at this closely;
When God created Adam He made him out of dirt. Our body is worth about $23.75. If we gave value to our flesh and blood, it’s cheap. But when God made man He breathed into him the breath of life then he became a living soul. Our value is not in our bodies but in our souls.
What many of us do is overstuff the body and starve the soul. We eat when we’re hungry, we eat just cause it’s time, we even eat just ‘cause something smells good.

We keep feeding the cheap part of us and neglecting the valuable part of us and the way we feed the soul is by NOT eating. Because what you’ve done when you fast is you’ve placed the soul on a higher priority than the body.
You cannot build a skyscraper with the foundation of a chicken coupe. You need to get way down deep to build a good foundation.
The question becomes, are we willing to give up that which satisfies the flesh for an investment in that which builds a spiritual fortress.

Some people in sales will go all day not eating because they’re so busy trying to close the sale. Students will skip meals when they’re trying to cram for exams. You won’t stop to eat because making that deal, or passing that test is so important. We’ll skip lunches in order to meet a deadline because making the deadline is more important than the meal.

Isaiah 58: 1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
'and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?'
"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Why do we fast? To make your voice heard on high!
Why do we fast? To make your voice heard on high!
What do we do when we’re hungry? We go out of our way to satisfy the hunger. We make sandwiches out of things that aren’t even sandwichable. We are desperate to feed ourselves. When we fast we are desperate to make our voices heard on high.
Read verse 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

It is a humbling experience to fast. Jesus said, "Man does not live by bread alone but by every word from My mouth"

That’s why I like 1st Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We’re spirit, soul and body, not body, soul and spirit. If you think you’re body, soul and spirit you’ll live your life from the outside in rather than the inside out.
Your spirit is that part of you that gives you the ability to communicate with God. Your soul is that part of you that has the ability to communicate with yourself. Your body gives you the ability to communicate with your environment, your five senses.
The reason we have messed up bodies is because we have messed up souls. And the reason we have messed up souls is because we’re not under the control of the spirit. When the spirit is healthy it exercises the soul and when the soul is healthy it shows through in our bodies.