Self-Denial & Fasting in the Life of a Disciple Becoming a Follower of Jesus - Session 2.1 16 January 2013 Group Exercise 1 Select a group facilitator for tonight: The person at your table with the birthday closest to today. Role of a table facilitator is to: keep the conversation moving around the table assure everyone at the table has the opportunity to participate in the conversation not talk more than the table participants Role of table participants is: assure everyone has the opportunity to participate by monitoring their own talk time (the Holy Spirit speaks to every person at the table; be aware there may be someone He is speaking to and He wants you to hear what they have to say) bring themselves fully to the conversation be attentive to and supportive of participants comments not be judgmental of anyone s contributions be open to sharing your thoughts and feelings (it may be exactly what the Holy Spirit wants others to hear) Questions for Discussion: Why do you think the Holy Spirit led you to Following Jesus training tonight? What are you seeking from Following Jesus training? Introduction: Welcome to our journey together in becoming a follower of Jesus. Thank you SO MUCH for considering these 13 weeks of the Following Jesus experience. Many Christians want to enjoy a fruitful, victorious Christian life. They want and need better spiritual disciplines. They have a desire to spiritually grow. If you want to grow in your faith and walk with Jesus, these weeks are designed with you in mind. We have begun praying that God would hand-select the people He wants to participate. Thank you for praying and considering being one of these handselected people who follows Jesus down a new path of spiritual growth.
Key Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him. Objective: This Coming Week s Reading: Matthew 1-3; Proverbs 14-21 The purpose of this session is to introduce the principle of self-denial and practice of fasting in the life of a New Testament Christian. Key Definitions or Concepts: 1. A key New Testament discipline every follower of Jesus practiced was the discipline of fasting. At the beginning of this Spring Semester, we want to encourage you to consider doing it. In jest, we have all heard the phrase, "I'm humble, and proud of it!" How can we really live in humility? We are called to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8). The opposite of humility is pride. "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." This principle is so important that we find these exact words in the writings of both Peter and James (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6). 2. When it comes to the kind of attitude God seeks from us, Jesus teaches us clearly we are NEVER to be confident of our own righteousness (Luke 18:9). A focus on our own righteousness always leads to pride. We all need the mercy of God, because at our very best, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). If we want to leave our place of prayer "justified before God" (Luke 18:14), we must humble ourselves. One of the New Testament ways we do that...is through the practice of fasting. 3. David writes, "...I humbled myself with fasting" (Psalm 35:13). In our generation, we are constantly bombarded by media telling us we deserve the best the world has to offer! We are trained to be consumers, but consumerism is NOT the path to spiritual power. The gateway to supernatural power is to bow our hearts in humility before God through worship, thanksgiving, praise, prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting is the gateway to great spiritual breakthroughs. 4. On March 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln famously appointed and proclaimed a National Day of Fasting, in the following words: Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of
nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation. And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart this day as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion. All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
5. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, declared about fasting, "Let fasting be done unto the Lord with our eyes fixed alone on him. Let our intention be this alone, to glorify our FATHER which is in Heaven. This is the only way that we will be saved from loving HIS blessings more than Him as the Blessor." 6. What are the results of fasting? What happens practically when we as Christians fast? More than any other spiritual discipline, God uses fasting to reveal the things that control us. If we want the benefits of becoming like Jesus, of deeper spiritual growth, we must begin letting God weed out of our lives things that hold us in bondage. 7. Many times people cover up what's really inside with food, gadgets, busyness, etc. When we begin to practice spiritual fasting, the real center of our affections begins coming to the surface of our minds and hearts before the Lord. For example, if we're controlled with pride, that will be revealed. We ve already noted in Psalms 69:10, David says, "I humbled my soul with fasting." If you are controlled by anger, resentment, unforgiveness, physical habits, uncontrolled spending, credit card debt, etc.it is fasting that God uses to help keep us spiritually balanced in life. It is very easy in our culture to crave and desire things we really don't need, until we are enslaved by them. 8. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:12, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything." Fasting is one way God helps us to develop spiritual selfcontrol (Galatians 5:22-23). Human desires are like a river. They tend to overflow their banks. Fasting helps keep our desires in their proper spiritual channels. If you don t think you are controlled by something, stop for a month. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 9:27, "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. 9. Our fasting is to be Christ-centered, Christ-motivated, and practiced as a New Testament spiritual discipline (Matthew 6:16-18). It is not something we do for a show or to impress someone else. It does not prove our piety. Whether it is a meal, a day, a week, a Daniel Fast or however God leads you, when you fast in quietness, and it is just between you and God as an act of worship, you will begin to feel spiritual power flowing into your life. 10. Paradoxically, when we spiritually fast we find ourselves less hungry for food (the longer we fast) and more hungry for God. The more we fast, the hungrier we get for Jesus. As we fast and pray more we find our hunger for God satisfied. Then we soon become more hungry for the things of God and His Presence. Fasting makes us hungry for God, then it satisfies us and then it makes us want Him more! 11. This is the paradoxical truth Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. We hunger and thirst for God s righteousness to fill us and govern our lives. He answers our cry and our hunger with His satisfying righteousness! The paradox is,
when we walk in this satisfied righteousness for awhile, we become even hungrier and thirstier for more of Jesus. And the glorious, divine cycle continues. 12. This is also true with prayer. The more we pray, the more we want to pray. The more we fast and pray, the more we want to fast and pray. The hungrier we get for God, and as God satisfies our hunger by filling us with Himself, the more we want of Him! 13. Hunger for God may be a new concept to you if you are just beginning your spiritual journey. God wants us passionate for Jesus. Fasting is God s chosen method to both answer and meet our hunger for Him. God uses fasting to fuel our appetite for Him. We praise God for this wondrous cycle HE has created to aid our spiritual growth! 14. There are other results of fasting in our lives. Biblical fasting is MUCH more than health dieting, but there are great physical benefits to regular fasting. Dr. Allan Cott, a secular writer, is one of the world's leading authorities on fasting from a medical standpoint. His book entitled Fasting: The Ultimate Diet, was published by Bantam Books. He contends fasting has a multitude of physical benefits. Here are benefits Dr. Cott and others in the medical community attribute to regular fasting: a. Fasting helps individuals feel better physically and mentally. b. Fasting helps individuals gain control of appetites that are out of control. c. Fasting breaks bad habits and leads to healthier eating. It especially aids individuals breaking sugar and sodium additions. d. Fasting can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. e. Fasting reduces tension, improves sleep and can help individuals lose weight. f. Fasting can help end dependence on smoking, drinking and drugs. g. Fasting gives the whole "system" of our body a rest. Water/juice fasting that goes for 10 days or more gives a person an almost "brand new" digestive system - stomach lining, gastric juices, motility and digestive capacities...leading to regenerative healing. h. Fasting helps shrink the stomach, which is normally the size of a clenched fist. Many stomachs have been greatly stretched through overindulgence. i. Fasting sharpens the senses, quickens mental processes and can boost selfesteem. j. Fasting intensifies our concern for hungry, starving people throughout the world. 15. Do not believe the lie of the evil one (John 8:44) that fasting is only for "monks" and is bad for you. We encourage you to develop a spiritual understanding of fasting and strengthen your fasting resolve. Jesus said, "and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:18). In Hebrews 11:6, the Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that HE exists and that HE rewards those who earnestly seek HIM!" Jesus said when we fast in secret, the Father will reward us openly. Trust Him!
16. If you feel the Lord is leading you to practice fasting, here are some physical suggestions. First, common sense says that certain people, for physical reasons, should NOT fast. Diabetics, expectant mothers, heart patients, if you have hypoglycemia or if you have any other questions about your fitness to fast, you should talk to your doctor. 17. If you have never fasted for an entire day, here are a few tips to help you prepare. You will not experience any real hunger. We've simply trained our stomachs like a spoiled child and it will cry for a little while. It won't hurt you to give up a day of meals. Most people are physically helped in wonderful ways. It is a medical fact that regular fasting gives us an opportunity to flush the poisons and artificial food preservatives out of our system. One of the goals is to master our stomach, not to be its slave (Philippians 3:19-21). 18. You will find your body will begin to rid itself of toxic poisons. You will develop a coating on your tongue and you may have bad breath, so keep some breath mints around. If you're an avid coffee or tea drinker, you may struggle with a headaches, but they are mild and will usually go away. You should also drink lots of water. Once you get over the initial small hunger pains, you ll feel great as your body flushes the poisons out of your system. Prayer and fasting does not guarantee a spiritual awakening among us or certain results from God. But it does put us all into a position where God can speak and powerfully work in and among us in fresh ways. Group Exercise 2: Keeping the same table facilitator, discuss the following questions: In what ways can fasting help you realize what you seek from Following Jesus training? How might this change you? How might changing you influence others around you to seek Jesus? Praying In Groups: Beginning with the group facilitator and moving clockwise, offer sentence prayers for your group participants. This may include Jesus opening their eyes and ears to what He wants to say to them, that they become fully devoted followers and disciple-makers, that they gain understanding of the purpose He has for their lives and fully live into that purpose, and that He protect them and their families. If someone is not comfortable offering prayers tonight that is okay. Simply say pass as the opportunity comes around to you. We encourage you, and are praying for you, to trust Jesus, overcome your fear, and step out to pray out loud. Your prayer does not have to be lengthy; simply share from your heart.
The Commitment We Ask For 1. The first two weeks are orientation and getting acquainted. At the end of the second week, we will ask participants to make a decision about the remaining 11 weeks. 2. Once we begin, we ask for consistent attendance during the 13 weeks. This is not only for your benefit, but for the benefit of everyone around you. Each week builds on the previous one. We certainly want to give grace in the case of unavoidable absences relating to work, illness or serious emergency. In other circumstances, three unavoidable absences are allowed. If you have to miss four times, we encourage you to participate at one of the tables designated for this group. 3. Memorization of all assigned scripture verses. 4. Participate in sharing about how you are applying what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. 6. Complete the assigned Bible reading each week. 5. Make an honest attempt to pray with a prayer partner each week. 7. Read the lesson handout before coming to the training session. We will put all lessons on-line in.pdf format so they can be easily downloaded and printed. To the best of my ability, I will commit myself to the next 11 weeks of Discipleship Training. I will do my best to faithfully attend each session and wholeheartedly attempt to apply what the Holy Spirit teaches me during this time. Signature Print Name Date