My Motive for Fasting - Part I | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

would you stand with me right now you know that we're in a time of sacrifice the messages were preached sunday and i have called the church to a time of fasting and prayer leading up to the movement conference reality is reality is there were somewhere around eight months of fasting that took place today if you combined all the people in this church that was fasting all the hands i would say a conservative number would be six months many many days of fasting went together today for the movement conference and we're going to fast every wednesday i'm calling the church to a fast day every wednesday until the movement conference i want to invite your attention to the book of matthew chapter number 6 verse number 16. i'm teaching in reference to fasting jesus said in matthew chapter 6 verse 16 moreover when you fast now i don't want to keep you on your feet too long but i i do want you to know that is a win and not an if all right that's not all if you fast that's a win you fast so jesus is assuming that we're going to fast when you fast be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they that they may appear unto men to fast verily i say unto you they have their reward but thou you when thou fast anoint thy head and wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast but unto thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly have you ever thought about putting the two words together fasting and reward fasting and reward father i love you tonight i thank you lord for the season that you're taking this church in i thank you lord i believe that we're we are entering into a season of this church that's life-changing god i believe that there is a group of people that are going to go into this season prepared and because lord we are going to be prepared you are going to do things in our lives that we only dreamed of lord in the years the months to come things will happen in our lives that we will think that we have dreamed this but god it's all because we have followed you in this season of fasting and prayer anoint me tonight to feed your people in jesus wonderful name we pray amen and amen now when we begin to talk about fasting tonight or teach about fasting we have to understand number one what is our motive for fasting what is the motive for fasting because jesus in teaching us about fasting wanted first to inform us of those who fasted they did fast but they were fasting for the wrong motive i've often said you can do the right thing with the wrong motive and not get the full potential that god wants you to have from it these people were fasting jesus plainly said it they fast they went on a fast and they would disfigure their faces they would put on a show so that everyone would see that they were fasting and then they would perceive that they were spiritual and they would talk about so and so is fasting and how spiritual he is and jesus says you just got your reward boy what a reward for going without food and that is somebody thinks you're spiritual man that's not enough of a reward from me it's not enough of a reward to go without food he said but when you fast he said you're doing a different motive he said i want you to anoint your your head i want you to wash your face i want you um i i want you to appear as if you're not fasting because your father which seeth in secret your father which seeth in secret is going to do what reward you openly so there is in this fasting in this denying yourself a food a natural thing and denying yourself of food all for the purpose say why fast well here it is although it is simplistic although you might think well he didn't spend much time on that it's really the truth of it what is the purpose for fasting i want to draw closer to god that's it i want to draw closer to god i want to renew my relationship with him that's it so why are you going to fast because i want to draw closer to god why are you going to fast because i want to renew my relationship with him now i want everyone to listen to this next statement because it applies to everyone tonight if we'll all be honest look up here all right look up here it will all be honest you wanna be honest right we'll all be honest if you look up here now if we'll all be honest with ourselves we must all from time to time renew have a spiritual renewing in our lives i believe the old-timers called it praying through the old-timers didn't talk about sinners praying through they talked about them getting the holy ghost and selling out but when people that had the holy ghost any set number of years got a little on the fleshly side guess what they would say they just need a good praying through all right they just need a good praying through and so fasting fasting for all of us tonight because if we fail to have a spiritual renewal if your spiritual highlight is when you got the holy ghost however many years ago then what you battle is your walk with god becomes mundane routine and a ritual becomes a ritual because you've already had your mountaintop way back when you got in well i just don't believe that god wants us to have one utopia of a mountaintop experience and then from then on it be a decline in our lives believe that god calls the church just like he is now he calls us to a time of sacrifice he calls us to a time of prayer he calls us to a time of fasting because i want a renewal of my walk with god i want a renewal of my desire to live for god i want a renewal of my desire to be a soul winner i want a renewal of my purpose with with god you know even medical doctors medical doctors supports fasting medical doctors will tell you that fasting is a healthy measure for the body it gives the body a much needed rest and it cleanses the body of toxins things that are in your body that are poison things that are in your body that are not good that need to be removed and medical doctors say that fasting now if you're going to fast to not pray you're just on a diet all right i mean don't pull any of this stuff i'm fasting to lose weight well you're just on a diet plan all right you know you're just on a diet it's all your own so medical doctors say that a fast in the natural that you're giving your body a rest and you're also cleansing yourselves of toxins that are there now as goes the natural world so goes the spiritual world i believe that there can be toxins that come into the body when i'm talking about a body i'm talking about the individual and i'm talking about the church as a whole there can be toxins there can be attitudes and yes there can be spirits that we learn to live with we learn just to accept them and sometimes we can even dress bad spirits up as spiritual and a good fast a time of telling your flesh something that it needs to hear more of and i'm talking to myself tonight i don't know if you see my hands if body language is anything i don't know if you see my hands keep doing this right here because i'm talking to me tonight too all right i'm talking i'm talking to me tonight too that we can get things inside of us that we just need to tell our flesh no no flesh said several times those of you that were on fasting today your flesh said several times eat right but you said no because i want to get closer to god because it's kind of like noise the more you can turn your flesh down the volume of your flesh the more you can hear god speaking to you because the bible is the truth of god's word and the truth of god's word is god saw you today every time you had that hunger pain and you said no god saw that you were putting him above your needs and that pleases that pleases god we are fasting so that we can find lost joys you don't have to say man you could say it under your breath some have the joy of serving god it's no longer here some have lost their joy to come to the house of god they're mechanically coming because they're just programmed they've got their schedule set to be here on wednesday night they've got their schedule set for an hour and a half they've got their schedule set for this but to ask them do you really enjoy it if they'd be honest with you they'd say no i don't find any joy in it can i tell you that is not the will of god for your life and i believe it's through fasting that god can resurrect some joy in our lives and the joy of the lord is our strength the book of revelation chapter number 3 and verse number 14 is an interesting scriptures it's talking about the church of laodicea the church of laodicea is the last church that's mentioned the church of laodicea is mentioned among the seven among the seven churches it's interesting that is mentioned here the church of laodicea the church of laodicea the church of laodicea revelation 3 and 14. this church of laodicea the the word there laodicea comes from a word that simply means laity laity laity now laity is another way of saying members of a congregation all right laity and it's called the the the church of of laodicea i even did a little research on the name and and the name had changed several times throughout history and the final name for laodicea is simply the old camp the old camp and the reason you have this word leo is because the laity the laity ruled the church the people the people ruled now let's stop there for a moment can i tell you fasting is not a requirement it's a choice it's a choice so does god require me to fast no no now just hang with me now god doesn't require you to fast god has put a beautiful tool in your path for you to choose it you see everything that we walk with god should not be a heaven and hell issue i get so tired of that does it mean i'm going to be lost if i don't i mean when can we start doing something for god just out of love i i mean just out of line i open the car door as much as i can i open the car door for my wife i don't open the car door for her out of the fear of divorce i'm not running around there's oh let me get that door she might well lord god she might get a lawyer on me i'm gonna tell me to go over here no i do it cause i love her so why can't we have a mentality there's just some things i'm gonna do not because well it's fasting or heaven or hell issue no it's a choice that you can make and it's a choice that you can make to live with god's power in your life or you can live with less than god's power in your life no matter you but i want all the fullness of god's power because he did you remember the opening text he said that when we fast with the right motive that he's going to see us in secret and do what reward us so i want all that god's god i don't want to get to heaven and find out there was something that i could have had down here just choose it not always the easy choice most the things of living for god are not the easy choice but oh are they not the most rewarding choices that we could make unto the angel of the church of the laodiceans right these things saith the amen that means final say the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of god i know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot i would doubt were cold or hot now he just simply says i know what you're doing i know all your works i know all your programs i know all the things you're doing as a church i know all the things they ought to see that you're doing i know all of it but let me tell you something i have taken your temperature you're not cold and you're not hot you're lukewarm you're just somewhere in the middle of cold and hot now some believe that the lord is making this statement in reference to gold gold because a little bit later in the verse he begins to mention you can buy of me gold you can you could buy me gold um and it's it's believed that god is saying to them because there's only two conditions that gold can be worked with you can only work with gold when it's cold it's got to be completely cold when it's cold you can buff it when it's cold you can shine it up when it's hot when it's hot that causes the impurities of the gold to rise to the top and the goldsmith takes a fine screen and comes across the top and removes the impurities so he was saying to the church i wish you were somewhere that i could work with you i wish you were in a condition that i could work on you i wish you were cold that way i could buff you i wish you were on fire that way i could bring the impurities up but because you're somewhere in between there's nothing that i can do i want to go down on record tonight church to say i want to be either cold or hot oh i don't i never want to get to a place that the master potter cannot lay his fingers in my life and make indentions i never want to be in the place that god cannot reach down and take an old lump of clay and say i can mold it i can shape it i never want to get so strong stubborn minded and rebellious that i'm a hardened clay that goes out to the potter's field never to be worked oh god i want to be a man that god can lay his hands on my life and god can say i can still mold them i can still touch them how many want to be that kind of man or woman that god could speak to and say hey i i don't like what you're doing here i i don't like some of the things oh god speak to us lord he said i would that you were hot or cold so then verse 16 and now the reference could be made to a thirsty man a thirsty man a man that is thirsty and what he wants is a cold drink of water and he says so then because thou art lukewarm neither hot nor cold i will spew you out of my mouth i will spew you i i i i don't even want your taste i don't even want this oh i'll spew you out of my mouth here's the reason because thou sayest i am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing i'm rich i'm increased with goods and i have need of nothing you see god has nothing against us prospering but please first apostolic let's never take our prosperity and think that we're complete in our prosperity because if there's one thing we need more than anything we need our god we need our savior and we need him more than when we're just a church we need him every day of the week we need him all through the day we need our savior we need him we need him we need him i am rich increased with goods here's the problem and the attitude have need of nothing listen to god and know us not that thou art wretched and miserable poor blind and naked he said you have gotten so far away from me that you have forgotten your true need you don't even know how wretched you are you don't even know how miserable you are you you don't even know how spiritually poor you are you see it's one thing to have money in your pocket to be able to buy things of this world it's another thing to have an attitude in your heart that you can move the heart of god and by spiritual things i don't know about you but a prayer answered who could put a price tag on i that i i i when i think about the ability when i think about recently a mother that knew knew a mother that knew a daughter needed a touch from god a mother that knew that a daughter just needed a special touch from god steps out she's in a whole different state she steps out and begins to pray she knows her daughter is in a house of worship she knows her daughter is somewhere worshiping god and she steps out in a whole different state miles away and begins to plead with god god touched my daughter god you know she needs a healing touch god you know and before the night was over the mother would say the phone would ring and the daughter would testify of getting a wonderful touch from god that night during the service what kind of money what kind of what can put a price on that can i tell you tonight you may have enough money to buy all kinds of new things but sooner or later you're going to face something that money can't buy and you better be poor in the spirit so you can move the current oh my god you can move the currency of god we better get our mind off of dollar bills we better get our mind off the things of this world we better learn how to fast and pray and say no so that we can have the currency of god how many want to be able to say i rebuke you satan i rebuke you satan the doctors can give you a prescription but there's nothing like being able to say i rebuke you satan get out of my way step out of my home get out of this place oh i feel the holy ghost moving right now i believe first apostolic church wants to be rich in the spirit we want to be rich in the spirit oh my god would you just praise him with me for a moment tonight glory to god glory to god glory to god glory to god glory to god satan you are defeated satan you are defeated i'll have you know i'm the head and not the tale satan you cannot have my babies i dedicated them to god i gave them to you i raised them up in the house of god i sacrificed to send them to a christian school you think you've got their mind right now but you've not lost this battle i've not lost because i'm coming after my baby i'm coming after my daughter i'm coming out i may have to say no to a bunch of meals but won't it be worth it when they call you up on the phone and say mama i'm coming home i'm coming back to god this world doesn't have what i need this world is full of pain and misery come on give him some praise tonight yeah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah jesus you don't know you're wretched you're miserable you ever seen people that used to live for god out in the world let me tell you something you can jezebel it up all you want to but i can look right in your eyes and tell how miserable you are you can you you can flaunt all your wealth and all of your success your temporary success but if you were really honest with you with me tonight if you're watching before you get mad be honest with yourself you know how miserable you are you know how you think about yesteryears when you were in the house of god because you're poor you're wretched you're miserable you're poor you're blind you can't even see what's going on and you're naked i counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed that thy shame of thy nakedness do not appear anoint thy eyes with i said that thou mayest see now here's verse 19. here's here's the remedy here's how we go from wretched miserable poor blind to naked here's the remedy if you want to know the remedy if you want to know how to come out here it is verse 19. as many as i love i rebuke i just don't know if the lord you know according to brother carpenter i know the lord loves me all that much well he does if i'm rebuking you tonight the rebuke is here because as many as i love i rebuke and chasten be zealous here's the remedy be zealous therefore and repent get your zeal back that's what he's saying get your zeal back get the zeal that you had when you first got in forget this part if you ever have to come to me for marriage counseling forget this part but one of the first things i do when i'm doing marriage counseling i start asking when'd y'all meet when'd you first see him when did you first see her how'd y'all get together where was your first date where'd you go on your honeymoon and i'm going to tell you they can come there with arms folded like this sitting a little bit away from each other but if i can get them to start remembering when they first saw each other what she was wearing what he was wearing where they went to dinner oh you know because you know when you're in love me and chris carpenter had this we we're just in love well absolutely so when we were dating it was like where you want to go eat i don't i just want to be with you i just just wherever wherever you want to go i don't care just wherever you just want to be me and you but you know we got married and then it was uh i want chinese today i want i want mexican we had chinese last week you know are we the only ones that do that but what i'm saying is if i can get them to start reliving when they first met what attracted them then it seems like that we can start working from there we need to do the same with our walk with god don't you remember the first time you felt the touch of god how many how many remembers are not the first time you got under conviction when you went to church you wasn't planning on it were you somebody probably invited you or whatever you just kind of went to how many remember when you went to church with absolutely no idea that before the night would be over you'd be in the baptismal pool you had absolutely no idea you thought it was another church uh you just thought it was another place somebody invited you and you but all of a sudden in the middle of that service you can't stop doing this man something in the air in this church i don't know what they're doing what kind of cleaner they got around here then all of a sudden you felt something in your throat you felt something in your stomach right right right and the more the preacher stood there and said would you come would you come tonight if you'll take the first step god will take another and before you knew it before you knew it before you knew it you you'd stepped out of the seat and there you were making your way and you found your hands being lifted and you found sins being lifted off of you and all of a sudden you begin to speak in other tongues and the joy of the lord and a whole new life opened up to you and god filled you with your spirit and a new life opened up and it's a life of joy and peace and all of that but i remember going through the season of not wanting to lift my hands because i wasn't worthy enough with all of these righteous people that i was going to church with all of these perfect people i mean if they ever find out i'm who i am they'll throw me out the front door because all these people in this church are perfect so i had a hard time lifting my hands and then i stayed around a while and i found out that they're not perfect and then i might have went through a time with god's the only one looking at my praise tonight because i'm pretty spiritual because i know the dirt on everybody i know i know can i tell you if you know the dirt on everybody that means you're a garbage can oh let me tell ya i just i just know the dirt on about everybody well that means you're a garbage can then god don't want you to be a garbage can because i'm going to tell you something when we start knowing the dirt on everybody we start losing the joy of the lord that's why we need a time of refocusing and rededicating and and i'm going to tell you something gossip can be as appealing to your flesh as eating you may be seated i'm not going to tell you to take too fast gossiping i'm going to tell you to get delivered from it all right get absolutely deliberately god's not pleased god is not pleased with tell bearers god is not pleased with people that feel that they have the calling to tell everybody in the church so-and-so's life or how they perceive so-and-so's life you're not going you're not going to make it to heaven with that kind you see that's the flesh the flesh wants to do that because really what's behind it all the more i can run you down the more i build myself up see the more i can tell how fl how many flaws you got the better that i look god help us tonight church how many want to go to a season of saying god i'm refocusing back on you i'm talking about going back to that zeal he said you want you want your first love back he said be zealous you want your first love back go back to what attracted you to the church go back to those early days when when you can i can i can i can remember this when i couldn't wait for the next church service when i literally counted down the days to the next church service or oh man there's a revival coming or man there's a youth rally coming we need to get back to that time we need let me tell you we we god has prospered us god has blessed us but we can't allow financial prosperity to rebut to to rob us of a spiritual desire for the things of almighty god everybody that's got the holy ghost ought to be praising god everybody that's got the holy ghost ought to be worshiping god if you're not worshiping god right now and you've got the holy ghost if you're not worshiping god right now and you you've got the holy ghost you've received the holy ghost and you're backslidden you need to worship god everything needs to worship god i know you got a fine car to go out there and get in i know you gotta i know you got money in your back pocket but i want you to connect with something that money can't buy come on praise him tonight i love you god i magnify you god you're all together lovely lord god you've not answered every prayer that i prayed and i thank god you've not answered every prayer god you've not always made the way that i wanted you to make but god i thank you for the way that you have made you are great and greatly to be praised i am a sinner saved by the grace of god i don't deserve to be in this place but god by your mercy i am who i am tonight i am who i am tonight now you might be like brother randy cox tonight because of injuries of his shoulders he can't get his hands any any above this you know what if you can worship god tonight you ought to worship god and if that's if that's what you can give you go ahead and give god right now what you can give him go ahead and give him what you can give him right now come on be zealous come on be zealous that's how we're going to get our first love back we got to be zealous we got to we got to be let's give our first love come on give it give your first love right now praise him don't see this as another wednesday night bible study this is the first night of the renewal of our walk with god this is the first night of our renewal of the walk with god as many as i love as many as i love i rebuke i chasten as many as i love i rebuke i chasten be zealous get your zeal back be zealous and repent you you you want to know what zeal looks like you know would you like to really know what zeal looks like turn with me to john chapter 2 verse number 13. john chapter 2 and verse number 13. john chapter 2 verse 13 and the jews passover was at hand jesus went up to jerusalem and he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting and when he had made a scourge of small cords we would know this by the name of a bull whip when he made a scourge of small cords he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers of money and overthrew the tables and said unto them that soul doves take these things hence make not my father's house a house of merchandise and his disciples remembered that it was written the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up you know you want to know what zeal looks like you just saw it when jesus saw his house being misused there was something that rose up in him when he walked into his house and he saw the misuse of his house buying and selling and it was convenience you don't have to bring a lamb you don't have to bring a bullet you don't have to even exchange money for the half shekel we we have got the house of god all we've got stalls over here you can just conveniently come in and buy a lamb you can conveniently come in and exchange your coins and all of this and when jesus came in and he saw that you see what we see ought to affect our zeal whatever you see will affect your zeal good or bad the problem is we need a revival of zeal we need to understand there's some valuable things in our zeal when he was overturning tables they're used to him sitting on the mount teaching beatitudes they're used to him doing all this healing and all this teaching but he acts so far out of character makes a whiff i know he made the moon in the stars and the sun and i know that he made the green gray he also made a whip too and he drove him out he didn't ask him to leave single file he drove them out and he overthrowed the tables of the money and man they were watching him because they were used to him sitting teaching they were watching him and somebody said one of the disciples said don't you remember what the word says the zeal of thine house had eaten me up now let me tell you what what's going to happen a lack of zeal something is making you happy something is moving your emotions either god is moving your emotions or something of this world is moving your emotions when god moves your emotions the heavenly bank of blessings from heaven is open the vault the throne room is open but if we lose our zeal for god then something else takes its place you see as long as they were selling doves lambs bullocks exchanging money not one miracle happened matthew chapter 21 and verse 12 records this that john recorded but matthew brings some other facts to the table in matthew chapter 21 verse number 12 jesus went into the temple of god cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple over through the table of the money changers and the seats of them that sowed uh sold doves and said unto them it is written my house shall be called the house of prayer but you have made it a den of thieves now john stop there with just a few little changes of the word brother larry john stopped there but matthew doesn't stop there john stopped with the temple being cleansed you do see this don't you the temple is now clean cleansed there's no stalls there's no lambs there's no bullets there's no money changes going on it is now being cleansed and emptied because zeal of my father's house have eaten me up but follow matthew matthew goes on and the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them do you see that while they got the temple filled with everything that moves them financially no blind man is welcome no lame man is welcome they live lives blind they live lives lame but let zeal oh yes let zeal return back to your life let the zeal of the things of god return back to our life this church our church can't be a business it will never be a business we are about our father's business we're not here to have a daycare we're not here to have a school we're not here to have a tv program we're here for the zeal of our father's house have eaten us up and if we can be moved by every song if we can be moved by the music because that's jesus music that's jesus singing that's jesus worship i got news for you the blind are coming and the lame are coming and the lost are coming we got to keep this up we got too many of our children that are outside of the ark of safety somebody strike up the band somebody keep the prayer room hot somebody keep some fasting going on wait a minute and the lame the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them and when the chief priest and the scribe saw the wonderful things that he did and the children crying in the temple and saying hosanna to the son of david they were so displeased let me tell you what happened as long as business was usual in the house of god the kids were outside playing tic-tac-toe as long as business was usual in the house of god the kids were outside the temple doing whatever satan was leading them into doing the kids were outside the temple becoming winos the kids were outside of the temple becoming harlots the kids were outside of the temple becoming whatever the devil wanted because they had made the father's house a den of thieves but when somebody got it all cleared out satan had to let go of those kids because here goes a blind man maybe one of them kids had a daddy that was blind and they watched their daddy come back home and say i can see now and the kid said how can you see he said because i went in the temple he said that's business as usual down there so no it's not business as usual they're really worshiping god down there and here comes the kids in oh yes here comes the kids in and the i can't help it i i feel the joy of the lord i just feel like i just feel like serving hell notice hell this is only day number one this is only wednesday number one of our fasting we're coming after our children we're coming after what you've got you poisoned their minds i command you in the name of jesus take your thought hand off her mind she's coming home he's coming home they're coming home they're coming home i wish you'd help me tonight and the kids came in singing hosanna to the son of david and they were so displeased and he said unto them hast thou not hearst thou and they said unto jesus verse 16. you hear what they're saying jesus saith unto him have you never read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise can i tell you tonight that fasting is a flame to our flesh but it's the fuel of our flame fasting is the flame that destroys our flesh oh god knows we need our flesh destroyed oh god knows we need spirits and attitudes we need stubborn spirits we need ways of thinking broken us we we need that we need that fasting to melt it we need that fasting to melt it like the sun melts the snow we need that fasting to melt that flesh inside of us it is our flame now i want you to listen to this tonight fasting is a short-term discipline that yields long-term effects can i tell you all of those that fasted today don't you dare think that that's it well we just had a good sermon tonight wow can i tell you the meals that you missed today are going to give you spiritual dividends for weeks to come fasting's powerful i'll close with this tonight and i'll try just to skip through it real quick real quick second chronicles 20 verse number one through four it came to pass after this also that the children of moab the children of ammon and with them other beside the ammonites came against jehoshaphat to battle then there came some that told jehoshaphat saying there cometh a great multitude from against thee from beyond the sea on this side syria and behold they be in haiti tamar which is in jedi and jehoshaphat feared set himself to seek the lord proclaimed a fast throughout all judah judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the lord even out of all the cities of judah they came to seek the lord jehoshaphat called a fast because we don't have any power against these three armies we we are helpless anybody ever felt helpless we are helpless against his army so what does jehoshaphat do he calls a fast gets everybody together and he calls a fast verse number 15 god answered them and here's what god said god said hearken you all judah and you inhabitants of jerusalem and thou king jehoshaphat thus saith the lord unto you be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude for the battle is not yours but god's tomorrow go ye down against them behold they come up by the cliff zeke and you shall find them at the end of the brook behold before in the wilderness of jeruel you shall not need to fight in this battle set yourselves stand you still and see the salvation of the lord with you o judah and jerusalem fear not nor be dismayed tomorrow go you out against them for the lord for the lord will be with you fasting and they got that answer fasting and they got that answer they didn't even have to fight the armies witnessed them coming out praising god and the armies decided they had lost their mind and the three armies turned against each other and while the people of god were on a hill worshiping god the three armies that had come to kill them turned against each other and fought each other until they destroyed one another and now verse 24 and when judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness they looked into the multitude and behold they were dead bodies fallen to the earth and none escaped and when jehoshaphat and the people came to take away the spoil of them they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies and precious jewels which they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away and they were three days gathering the spoil it was so much tell me there's not great value in fasting they got together i don't know how many days they fasted i don't believe it was very many but god said there's so much power in fasting that i'll give you the victory and you won't even have to fight i'll fight the battle for you you're fighting your flesh you're fighting your flesh and god says if you'll fight your flesh i'll fight your battle for you if you will oh stand with me tonight stay with me tonight stand with me come on if you will fight your flesh i will fight your battles for you let's just close out this service with a praise and a shout and a glory oh hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah if you will fight your flesh he will fight your battle if you will fight your flesh he will fight your battle if you will push back the plate he will answer if you will say no to your flesh he will answer oh he will go where you can't go he will work where you can't work he will be your god oh if you believe it tonight would you just pray with me for a moment if you believe it tonight would you just pray with me for a moment if you believe it tonight would you pray with me he will fight if you will fight your flesh he will fight your battle oh hallelujah come on could we just pray for a moment could we just pray for a moment it seemed like tonight seemed like tonight that the lord several times had brought me back to our prodigal children moms and dads that are here tonight grandparents that are here tonight you have children and grandchildren that are breaking your heart why don't we on the end of this first day of fasting why don't we just have a have a have a unified prayer right now i don't want anybody praying for anything else other than the prodigals right now i want you to pray for anything else other than god to touch the prodigals tonight god ever prodigal out of this church god would you touch them right now in the name of jesus god you have seen how we went without food today god you have seen how we've not put one bite in our mouths today oh god you have seen how we've not put one bite in our mouths god oh god i pray over every lord you know how many graduating classes we've had you know how many graduating classes aca has had god i pray for every graduate of aca right now god you reach them reach them reach them reach them right now god lord i need you to reach them right now wake them shake them up god oh god touch them right now god oh god heal lord oh god touch their minds lord oh god reveal to them god in the realm come on right now we're not praying for anything else other than our prodigals to come home hallelujah do you do it jesus oh god hear my cry oh god hear my cry oh god attend to my prayer hear my cry oh god attend to my prayer hear my cry hear my cry oh god hear my cry oh god hear my cry oh god hear my cry oh god hear my cry hear my cry god i pray for our prodigals tonight oh god i pray by prodigals tonight hear our prayer god hear our prayer god lord jesus god sons and daughters god of parents that are here tonight sweet jesus touch them right now oh god move upon them right now oh god move upon them right now oh god move upon them right now lord in jesus name in the name of jesus christ god oh move upon them right now lord andreas hallelujah oh hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah oh mighty god mighty god mighty god oh lord in the name of jesus god father i pray right now now i want us to be in unison i want us to be in unity right now i want us to be in unity right now of all the men and women that james and ashley have been bringing to church through the different programs of true purpose and the different programs that they've been bringing the young men and the young women god to church young men and young women that are wanting to be set free that are wanting a new a a new start on life come on we're not praying for prodigals right now let's pray for all these young men and young women that have been coming father in the name of jesus father in the name of jesus i know that the adversary plays games of their minds he is the prince and the power of the air but jesus i pray right now that you would allow your spirit to go to those young men and those young women right now and god let the truth begin to permeate in their mind let the truth begin to resonate in their mind the devil tells them their trash but lord i want you to begin to tell them their treasure the devil begins to tell them they'll always be in this dilemma they'll always they've done too much but right now jesus would you touch them in their different homes god down on morganton road god down in vanor in the name of jesus lord i have fasted god i want you to touch these people lord i want you to minister to them oh god they need to feel your presence god they need to feel your word they need to know your word god anoint god anoint james god anoint ashley god anoint god god anoint lord brother nathan tonight god anoint all of those that work with to be free anoint brother and sister white tonight oh god oh god we need you lord we need to see all of them baptized in your name we need to see all of them filled with the holy ghost god but lord i'm not only asking you to fill them and baptize them but i want testimonies in the days to come that they've got completely delivered that they're absolutely delivered that they're back out in society and they're holding down jobs and their marriages have been put back together and their children have been given back to them from the court system lord in the name of jesus in the name of jesus fight our battle oh god i don't know why i keep looking at the clock the only thing i can think of right now is there a there there's there there is a day in september there's a day in september there's a day and a time of 9 11 and 9 11 will forever be scarred you can't hear 9 11 anymore without thinking about terrorism but we are about six minutes away from a 911 in a physical clock that's here i understand some of you men and women get up early in the morning if you want to be dismissed i totally understand that nobody's going to think bad but could we come to this altar and could we have a prayer for the lost until 9 11 and maybe it be our spirit of wreaking terrorism upon the enemy's camp the enemy's camp that's got our sons and our daughters oh the enemy that is lie the enemy that is deceived oh god i prayed for those families tonight god i may not call their names because i wouldn't want to embarrass be god that man right now lord move upon him god that woman god move upon that woman right now god move upon that man right now move upon that woman god not in the name of jesus oh god in the name of jesus lord you're not my might it's not my power lord hear my prayer tonight god we want to see him come home god i want to see him come home god i want to see him come home jesus would you feel their home right now with your presence oh it has been such a place for the enemy to rule but satan i command you tonight you do not have the power you do not have the authority because i come against you in the name of jesus christ tonight i come against you in the name of jesus christ you must let go you must let go oh god so that she can make the choice on her own god let them come to their right mind god let them come to themselves let them come to their right mind lord in the name of jesus tonight in the name of jesus tonight in the name of jesus tonight in the name of jesus come on come on rebuke hell of your family come on rebuke hell of your family come on join in this wednesday come on join in this wednesday next wednesday we're going to fast next wednesday's a fast day for the church it's a fast day for the church in the name of jesus we got three minutes to go we got three minutes to go to 9 11. we got three minutes ago come on let's fly these planes of prayer let's fly these planes of prayer into the towers that have our children oh god in the name of jesus not in the name of jesus lord that man and that woman come on get a prodigal on your mind tonight come on get a prodigal on your mind tonight god that young man god that young man and that young woman god oh lord touch them right now god that young man and that young woman touched him right now god lord that young man we got two minutes we got two minutes till 9 11. come on pray god you have been answering prayer god i thank you for able grooms that have come back to church god i thank you for abel that's found his way back god god if abel has found his way back god there's 50 more god that needs to find their way back lord oh in the name of jesus god oh in the name of jesus god we need you god we need you lord god we need you lord come on i need you lord oh we got two minutes to go two minutes till 9 11. let's go oh god i love you lord god my family to be saved god that young man that i'm teaching bible school that young man that i'm teaching a bible study to god that young man that i'm teaching a bible study to on monday god those young ladies the sister carbon or top bible come on we got one minute down we got one minute to go 9 11 one minute to go satan you've been trying to mess with minds around here satan you've been trying to divide us every way you could because you did not want to see this happen you did not want to see this happen oh mighty god mighty god mighty god come on put all you got into it right now put your prayer into it put your prayer into it don't let this prayer end on a whisper let it end on a victorious shout let it end on a victorious shout out i've got the victory i declare it i believe it i trust in it we're fasting we're praying it's going to happen oh unity unity unity yes lord it's going to happen it's going to happen it's going to happen it's going to happen it's going to happen it's going to happen minds are going to get clear the bones are going to come back together the sin you and the flesh is going to begin to grow miracles are going to take place because god is greater than any disaster god is greater than any disaster dad am am i wow if this is what the first wednesday of fasting feels like i believe god is getting ready chase i believe god's getting ready to blow the lid off this church right now through prayer through fasting if you didn't get on today's ben wang if you didn't if you didn't if you didn't join him with fasting you can do it tomorrow if you'd like you can do it tomorrow it's very very easy gotta make up your mind it's very easy it's very difficult it's just don't eat all right don't eat that's easy to explain the hard part is doing it god bless you dismissed in jesus name