0:00 Welcome and thank you for joining us today. Now, for years I fasted the way most of us were taught to fast. Skip the food, wait for the breakthrough, check the [music] clock, break the fast. And somewhere in that cycle, I noticed something troubling. My stomach was getting emptier, but my prayer life was not getting any deeper. Have you been there? You see, you can do all the right religious motions and still walk away from the altar with same dry, [music] distracted, disconnected prayer life. Fasting had become a formula for me. A box I check. And boxes don't produce breakthrough. They produce burnout. So, a few years back, I stopped
0:45 asking how long should I fast and I started asking a different question. What is fasting actually supposed to be doing to my relationship with God? And that question cracked something open. And what I found was not in a fasting guide. It came from paying attention to scripture, to my own hunger, to the Holy Spirit nudging me in places I was not looking. And I want to share five shifts that completely transformed my relationship with God during seasons of fasting. And some of these surprised me, some convicted me, some exposed parts of my heart I did not know were there. And I believe one of them may completely change the way you approach the next fast. The first thing is that I stopped
1:30 asking God for things and I started asking him questions. You see, one of the biggest surprises during fasting was realizing how much of my prayer life revolved around request. Lord, open this door, bless this, protect this, provide that again and again and again. None of these prayers are wrong. None of those prayers are wrong, you see. Jesus himself taught us to ask. But one day during a fast I asked myself something uncomfortable. If God answered every prayer I prayed today, would I actually know him better or would my circumstances simply improve? That question stayed with me. So instead of filling my prayer time with request,
2:16 I started asking questions. Lord, what do you want to change in me? What do you see that I don't? Why do I react this way? What part of my heart still belongs more to fear than faith? Suddenly, fasting became less about information leaving heaven and more about revelation entering my heart. Questions invite relationship. Demands usually end conversations. You see, children who mature stop asking only, "What can you give me?" Eventually, they ask, "Tell me about yourself." That's relationship. And then I fasted my mouth before I fasted my stomach. One of the biggest surprises during
3:03 fasting had nothing to do with food. It had everything to do with my mouth. Most of us think the hardest thing to surrender during a fast is breakfast or coffee or sugar. No. For me, it was not. It was my words. One day I asked myself, "What if I fasted my mouth before I fasted my stomach?" So I made a a simple decision. For the very first hour of every fasting day, I would remain quiet. No unnecessary conversation, no scrolling, no complaining, no trying to fill every silent moment with words or music. No, no, no. Even my prayers became quieter. Instead of rushing into God's presence with a long list of request, I learned to sit there, to listen, to become aware.
3:50 Because here's what I discovered. Silence has a way of exposing what's really happening inside of you. When there is no music, no conversation, no distractions, you begin hearing the thoughts you have been drowning out for weeks. Now, that's uncomfortable, but it is also where healing begins. Fasting is all about healing. James understood the power of our words. James chapter 3 verse 5 to 6. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles, and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. Think about that. James compares the tongue to a tiny spark that can burn down an entire forest.
4:35 A few careless words can destroy years of trust. One complaint can change the atmosphere of an entire home. One cynical comment can weaken someone's faith. The tongue is small, but its influence is enormous. Then I realized, during a fast, it is possible to stop eating while you're still feeding your flesh. You can skip breakfast and spend the whole day criticizing people. You can avoid lunch while gossiping over the phone. You can deny yourself food, yet indulge in anger, sarcasm, pride, or even complaining. Your stomach may be empty, but your flesh is still being fed, and that
5:21 convicted me. Isaiah 58 makes this point so clearly. God rebukes his people because they were fasting, but at the same time, they were fighting arguing oppressing others, and living no differently than before. In other words, God was saying, "You are changing your diet, but you're but changing your heart." That is a sobering thought. Because fasting was never meant to be a hunger strike. It was meant to be [music] a heart transformation. Meant to be a heart transformation. That led me to start praying during my weakest hour. The third thing, you see, one thing I noticed very quickly during
6:08 fasting, my prayer life followed my energy. In the morning, I felt focused, disciplined, motivated. It's another day of fasting. The prayers flowed easily. The scripture seemed alive. I felt spiritual. But somewhere around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, everything changed. My stomach was reminding me that I had not eaten. My concentration became harder. My body wanted comfort. And if I am honest, that was usually the time I prayed the least. We have all been there. [music] Then one day I asked myself a question. What if my weakest hour is actually the most important hour to pray? So I changed my routine. Instead of avoiding that moment, I leaned into it. When my
6:55 body felt weakest, I stopped what I was doing and prayed. Not because I felt inspired. No. But because I felt dependent. And that's when I began to understand something about Jesus. In Matthew chapter 4, it tells us that Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness. Notice something interesting about the way Jesus fasted. The Bible does not say Satan came on day one or day 10 or day 20. It says, "Afterward, he was hungry." Matthew chapter 4 verse 2. That detail matters. The enemy waited until Jesus was physically depleted. Until his body was tired. Until his natural strength was gone. Why? Because
7:43 that's often when we are most vulnerable. Have you noticed that temptations feel stronger when you are exhausted? Discouragement sounds louder when you are emotionally drained. Offense feels more convincing when you are weary. The enemy often waits until your strength is low before whispering his lies. But Jesus teaches us something remarkable. He does not rely on his feelings. He did not rely on his feelings. He relied on the word. The wilderness did not reveal Jesus' weakness. It revealed what he depended on. The wilderness does not create dependence. It exposes it. Whatever you instinctively run to when you are empty
8:30 is what you have been depending on all along. For some people it is food. Others it is entertainment, social media work people conversations distractions. But fasting asks a different question. When everything else is removed, is Jesus still enough? Your weakest moment is often your clearest invitation to depend on God. Don't waste your moments of weakness wishing you felt stronger. Bring them to Christ. Sometimes the greatest prayer you will ever pray is not the longest one. It is just a simple Lord, without you I cannot do this. And something beautiful begins to happen. Fasting slowly stops being about what
9:16 you are giving up. It becomes about who you are drawing near to. Now, for me I realized I was not just fasting from food anymore. I was fasting towards someone. And that really encouraged me. So I stopped praying to God and started praying with God. Now, this may sound strange at first, but stay with me. For a long time I viewed prayer as something I initiated. I would come to God, present my request, say amen, and leave. And prayer felt like sending a message to heaven and hoping someone would read it. Then during one fast, I came across a verse that completely changed the way I prayed. Romans chapter 8 verse 26 to 27. Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in
10:03 our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us without groanings, which cannot be uttered. Now, he who searches the hearts knows that the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Read that carefully. Paul does not say that the Holy Spirit will intercede. He says he is already interceding. That stopped me in my own tracks. I realized I was not entering an empty prayer room. I was entering a conversation that had already begun. The Holy Spirit was not waiting for me to start praying. He is already praying according to the Father's will. My questions changed. Instead of asking,
10:49 "Lord, what do I want to say?" I began as, "Holy Spirit, what are you already praying about?" And that changes everything. You will realize that prayer is much more than presenting requests. Prayer is learning to agree with God's heart. You remember Jesus in Gethsemane. He prayed, "Nevertheless, not my will, but you as be done." Luke 22:42. Notice Jesus was not trying to convince the Father. He was aligning himself with the Father's will. That's what mature prayer begins to look like. Less persuasion, more agreement. Less trying to move God, more allowing God to move us. Many of us spend our prayer time trying to convince God to care about something
11:37 he already cares about. God does not need to become more compassionate. He does not need to become more willing. Prayer often changes us before it changes our circumstances. >> [music] >> It aligns our hearts with his. Start changing the way you pray. Sometimes >> [music] >> it will be quiet for a few moments before saying anything, you know? Because silence is spiritual in itself. Because you want your heart to slow down. >> [music] >> Then you will pray something like Holy Spirit, what are you doing in me today? What part of my heart [music] are you trying to transform? Who do you want me to pray for? What are you teaching me that I have been [music] too busy to notice?
12:22 You know what surprised me? My prayers became less rushed, less repetitive, less performance when I used this formula. There were moments when I had very few words, yet I felt closer to God than when I prayed for an hour trying to sound impressive with difficult English words and, you know, trying to pray long hours. Prayer is not about informing God. It is participating with him. The Holy Spirit is not looking for eloquent people. He is looking for yielded people. People whose hearts are willing to say, "Lord, teach me to pray. What is already in your heart?" And when I began praying that way, fasting stopped feeling like an obligation. It became a partnership with
13:08 the Holy Spirit. And that was meaningful. Now, the final lesson surprised me even more, and I'm going to share because I discovered that my hunger itself had become one of God's greatest invitation to pray. I let hunger interrupt my day. For years I thought hunger was the interruption. You know when you're fasting, you get hungry. I thought I can't wait until this feeling goes away. I wish I was not so hungry right now. Then one day I realized something. Maybe hunger was not interrupting my day. Maybe hunger was inviting me into prayer. That changed everything. Instead of waiting until my scheduled prayer time, I started letting every hunger pang become a reminder to turn my
13:56 attention toward God. Every time my stomach rumbled, instead of thinking, I need food, I would quietly say, "Lord, I need you even more." Sometimes, it was only a few seconds. No long prayer, no dramatic moment, just a simple acknowledgement. Jesus, you are my life. And something beautiful happened. My body became my reminder to seek God. The very thing that once distracted me began drawing me back to him. Use that formula. Hunger can become your teacher. One day during a fast, my stomach was rumbling. Almost immediately, I found myself walking toward the kitchen. I caught myself halfway there. I smiled. I said, "No, you can do this, pastor." I said,
14:42 "Lord, my body is reminding me how quickly I run to satisfy physical hunger. Teach me to run to you with the same urgency." That moment stayed with me because I realized something. Whenever we are hungry, we don't negotiate with our appetite. We respond. We make time. We rearrange our schedule so that we can have our meal time. We stop what we are doing and try looking for something that will satisfy us. What if we treated our hunger for God the same way? What if every longing becomes an invitation to seek him? Physical hunger comes in waves. If you don't immediately feed it, it eventually quiets down.
15:27 But spiritual hunger works differently. The more you feed it, the stronger it becomes. The more you pursue God's presence, the more you desire it. And David understood this. He prayed in Psalms chapter 42 verse 1 to 2. As the deer pant for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, oh God. My soul thirst for God, for the living God. People ask, "Does fasting change God?" No. God does not become more loving, more willing, more powerful. Fasting changes the position of my heart. It slows me down enough to notice what was always there. It teaches me dependence. It exposes idols. It reveals
16:12 destructions. It trains your desires. It reminds me that just as my body needs food, my soul need Christ. Jesus did not say, "Blessed are those who are full." He said, "Blessed are those who hunger." Because hungry people pursue. Hungry people seek. Hungry people discover. And maybe that's why fasting remains one of the greatest gifts God has given his people. Not because he needs us to stop eating, but because he longs for us to discover that he is better than anything we have temporarily laid aside. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding us that our deepest [music] hunger is for you. Create in us a greater desire for your
16:59 presence than for anything this world can offer. Teach us to seek [music] you with sincere hearts, to hear your voice more clearly, and to depend on you in every season of life. May every fast draw [music] us to closer to Jesus, transform our hearts, and deepen our love for you. Let our hunger become worship, our weakness become dependence, and our lives become a reflection of Christ in Jesus [music] mighty name. Amen. Fasting is not about changing God's willingness. It is about changing our awareness, our dependence, and our desire for him. I hope this encouraged you and strengthened you to engage in fasting. Don't forget to subscribe, like this
17:44 video, and drop in the comment section, I obtain the grace for praying and fasting in Jesus' name. God bless you.
