God is calling us today as we will hear in the message in Joel 2: 12 - Turn to me with all your heart with fasting

Many times we focus on many different things, but we forget that the purpose of all worship including fasting is to change the worshipper. All of the focus of our praise

and worship and spending time in the house of the Lord, should be on the personal change to humble ourselves so

that Jesus can be honoured.

Fasting• Mat 6:3 But when you give• 5 Also when you pray• 6 But when you pray • 7 And when you pray • 16 And whenever you are fasting, do

not look gloomy and sour and dreary like the hypocrites, for they put on a dismal countenance, that their fasting may be apparent to and seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full already. [Isa. 58:5.]

• 17 But when you fast, perfume your head and wash your face,

• 18 So that your fasting may not be noticed by men but by your Father, Who sees in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.

Act 2:16 But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions (divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [divinely suggested] dreams.

Act 2:18 Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God's kingdom].

Act 2:19 And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoking vapor;

Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the obvious day of the Lord comes--that great and notable and conspicuous and renowned [day].

Act 2:21 And it shall be that whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord [invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord--Christ] shall be saved. [Joel 2:28-32.]

Act 2:22 You men of Israel, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man accredited and pointed out and shown forth and commended and attested to you by God by the mighty works and [the power of performing] wonders and signs which God worked through Him [right] in your midst, as you yourselves know--

Isa 58:1 Cry aloud, do not spare, lift up your voice like a ram's horn, and show My people their rebellion, and the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and one who did not forget the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in drawing near to God.

3 They say, Why have we fasted, and You do not see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and You take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and crush all your laborers.

4 Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness; you shall not fast as you do today, to make your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast and a day pleasing to Jehovah?

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed ones go free, and that you break every yoke?

7 Is it not to break your bread to the hungry, and that you should bring home the wandering poor? When will you see the naked and cover him; and you will not hide yourself from your own flesh?

8 Then shall your light break out as the dawn,

and your health shall spring out quickly;

and your righteousness shall go before you;

the glory of Jehovah shall gather you.

9 Then you shall call, and Jehovah shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am.

If you take the yoke away from among you, the pointing of the finger, and speaking vanity;

10 and if you draw out your soul to the hungry,and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light

rise in darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday.

11 And Jehovah shall always guide you and satisfyyour soul in dry places, and make your bones

fat; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.

12 And those who come of you shall build the old ruins; you shall raise up the foundations of many

generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of pathsto dwell in.

The purpose of fasting1. Firstly is to humble yourself, Ps 35:13Psa 35:13 …; I humbled my soul with fastings; Psa 69:10 When I wept and humbled myself with fasting, I was

jeered at and humiliatedMat 23:12 Whoever exalts himself [with haughtiness and empty

pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor.

2. Is to come closer to God. The scripture says in James 4:8 if you draw near to God He will draw near to you.

3. To understand God’s word more clearly, God always gives us a further, deeper understanding of His word.

4. To find God’s will and to receive direction in your life. Ezra 8:21.

Ezr 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a straight and right way for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.

5. Another very common reason for fasting is to seek healing.

Is 58: 8

Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily;

6. We can also fast when we need God’s intervention in some particular crisis, or when some tremendous problem has arisen which we can’t handle by ordinary means. There are many examples of this in the bible

2Ch 20:3 Then Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to seek the Lord; he proclaimed a fast in all Judah.

2Ch 20:4 And Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord [yearning for Him with all their desire].

2Ch 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court

How long should you fast

What happens during a fastMatt 6: 16And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy and sour and dreary

like the hypocrites, for they put on a dismal countenance, that their fasting may be apparent to and seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full already. [Isa. 58:5.]

Unpleasant physical reactionsDaniel said in Dan 9:3Dan 9:3 And I set my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and

supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes;

Different types of fasts

The disciples fastMatt 17:20-2120 He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack

of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

The Elijah fast1 Kings 19:4, 81Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came

and sat down under a lone broom or juniper tree and asked that he might die. He said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.

1Ki 19:8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

The widows fast1 Kings 17:16

The jar of meal was not spent nor did the bottle of oil fail, according to the word which the Lord spoke through Elijah.

The Daniel fastDan 1:8

But Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself by [eating his portion of] the king's rich and dainty food or by [drinking] the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might [be allowed] not to defile himself. [Num. 6:1-4; I Cor. 10:21.]

John the Baptist fastLuke 1:15

For he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord. And he must drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit even in and from his mother's womb. [Num. 6:3.]

The Esther fastIsa 58:8Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the

power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. [Exod. 14:19, 20; Isa. 52:12.]

Esther 4:16 & 5:2Est 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me; and

neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I also and my maids will fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.

Est 5:2 And when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and he held out to [her] the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the tip of the scepter.

Joel 2• Joe 2:1 Blow a ram's horn in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain; let all the

inhabitants of the land tremble. For the day of Jehovah comes, for it is near at hand;

• Joe 2:2 a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread on the mountains; a great people and a strong people; there has not been ever the like, nor shall there ever be again, even to the years of many generations.

• Joe 2:3 A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Yes, and nothing shall escape them.

• Joe 2:4 As the appearance of horses is its appearance; and as war horses, so they run.

• Joe 2:5 They shall leap like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle order.

• Joe 2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained; all faces shall gather blackness.

• Joe 2:7 They shall run like mighty ones. They shall climb the wall like men of war, and they shall march each one on his way, and they shall not break their ranks.

• Joe 2:8 And each one shall not press his brother; they each go in his paths. And if they fall behind their weapons, they shall not be cut off.

• Joe 2:9 They shall rush on the city; they shall run on the wall; they shall climb up on the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

• Joe 2:10 The earth shall tremble before them; the heavens shall shake. The sun and the moon shall grow dark, and the stars shall gather in their light.

• Joe 2:11 And Jehovah shall utter His voice before His army; for His camp is very great; for strong is He who does His Word. For the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can stand it?

• Joe 2:12 Yet even now, says Jehovah, turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.

• Joe 2:13 Yes, tear your heart and not your robes, and turn to Jehovah your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He pities because of the evil.

• Joe 2:14 Who knows if He will turn and have pity and leave a blessing behind Him, a food offering and a drink offering to Jehovah your God?

• Joe 2:15 Blow a trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn gathering. • Joe 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, gather the elders, gather the children and those who suck

the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her room. • Joe 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Have

pity on Your people, O Jehovah, and give not Your inheritance to shame, for a proverb among those of the nations. Why should they say among the people, Where is their God?

• Joe 2:18 Then Jehovah will be jealous for His land and pity His people. • Joe 2:19 Yes, Jehovah will answer and say to His people, Behold, I will send you grain, and wine, and oil, and you

shall be satisfied with it. And I will no more make you a curse among the nations. • Joe 2:20 But I will remove the northern army far from you, and will drive him into a barren and deserted land,

with his face toward the eastern sea and his rear toward the western sea. And his stench shall come up, and his ill odor shall come up, because he was doing great things.

• Joe 2:21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice. For Jehovah will do great things. • Joe 2:22 Do not be afraid, beasts of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness grow green; for the tree bears its

fruit, and the fig tree and the vine yield their strength. • Joe 2:23 Be glad then, sons of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God. For He has given you the former rain

according to righteousness, and He will cause the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month.

• Joe 2:24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. • Joe 2:25 And I will restore to you the years which the swarming locust has eaten, the locust larvae, and the

stripping locust, and the cutting locust, My great army which I sent among you. • Joe 2:26 And you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of Jehovah your God, who has dealt

with you wonderfully; and My people shall never be ashamed. • Joe 2:27 And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and no one else; and

My people shall never be ashamed. • Joe 2:28 And it shall be afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall

prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions. • Joe 2:29 And also I will pour out My Spirit on the slaves and on the slave women in those days. • Joe 2:30 And I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. • Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and

awesome day of Jehovah. • Joe 2:32 And it shall be, whoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be saved; for salvation shall be in Mount

Zion and in Jerusalem, as Jehovah has said, and in the remnant whom Jehovah shall call.