Discipline of the Fast

Successful people are disciplined people

One of most critical areas of discipline is time-management

Actually, you cannot manage time

“Time management” is really self-management during the time you have

Time cannot be saved; once it is gone or wasted, you can never get it back

Regular people use their time for more immediate pleasure

& what is easy rather than what is necessary for success

Anything that’s hard or difficult, we tend to put off – Procrastinate

·       Disobedience in slow motion

·       In favor of tomorrow

·       Procrastination is the thief of dreams

Successful people have a wiser use of time – spend it differently, productively

We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.

Jim Rohn

Obedience vs Discipline

Discipline: training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.

We insist on Obedience without Self-Control

Discipline is giving yourself a command and following it up with action

Discipline is A Way of Life

We don’t have to be smarter than the rest; we have to be more disciplined than the rest – Warren Buffett

Jesus wants us to be Disciplined

Matt 28:18-20  NKJV

Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Disciples are Disciplined

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit

Satisfying our food appetite is an indicator of our discipline & self-control

Eve saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes – Gen 3:6

Esau sold his future for a bowl of oatmeal – Gen 25:30-34

Israel tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved – Ps 78:18

The first temptation of Jesus was to eat

The control of our food appetite is linked to the control of other passions

Ezek 16:49-50

Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride,

fullness of food, and abundance of idleness;  FOOD & TIME

neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.

NT Church brought judgement on itself at the Lord’s Supper… – 1 Cor 11

Fasting teaches us discipline & self-control

Serves notice to our body and our desire for ease: You don’t control me!

1. Fasting Aligns us with the Supernatural & away from the natural

·       The part of ourselves that we feed the most will be the strongest

·       While we “cover the mouth,” we must feed our Spirit

·       Fasting rearranges our priorities & consciousness & awareness & responses & impulses from the natural to the supernatural

2. Fasting causes Supernatural Reversals – 2 Chron 7:14

·       1 Kings 21:27-29

·       When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. 28 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son."

3. Fasting aids Supernatural Victory over the demonic realm

·       “This kind” does not go out except by prayer and fasting. – Matt 17:14-21  

·       Daniel’s angel broke through – Dan 10

4. Supernatural Revelation, Guidance & Strategy is Given

·       While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.“ – Acts 13:2

·       Then you shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry and he will say, 'Here I am.’ – Is 58:9

·        2 Chron 20

1 Cor 9:25–27

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable crown,

but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others

I myself should be disqualified.

Our bodies are terrible servants & don’t like being disciplined – Mt 26:41

What you want in 2020 you won’t get without being a Disciple

The distance between dreams and reality is called discipline