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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Passion Project - Full, But Not Satisfied- How Fasting Brings the Kingdom
In The Passion Project, Pastor Kelly Kinder explores the reality of feeling physically full yet spiritually empty—and how biblical fasting can reignite our hunger for God. Kelly, known just as Kelly when he dives into Scripture, draws from passages like John 4 and Matthew 6 to demonstrate that giving up physical sustenance positions us to receive the far greater nourishment of God’s presence and power.
Kelly begins by distinguishing fasting from merely “not eating.” Instead, it’s the intentional act of refocusing our attention on the Lord, echoing David Mathis’s insight that fasting is a tool designed to channel our “holy discontent” in a fallen world. Throughout history, from the early church’s twice-weekly fasts to present-day disciple-making movements abroad, believers have embraced this practice as a catalyst for revival. Kelly notes that such devotion cultivates an environment where we “partner with God to bring the kingdom into our midst.”
Digging deeper, Kelly identifies four key benefits of fasting. First, it creates opportunities for kingdom encounters, as seen when Jesus prioritized His Father’s will over food in John 4. Second, it carries a special reward. Drawing on Matthew 6, Kelly points out that Jesus promises God’s reward for those who fast sincerely. Third, fasting fuels spiritual power over opposition. Kelly highlights Jesus’ words about certain challenges that can only be conquered “by prayer and fasting,” illustrating how addictions, shame, and unbelief often loosen their grip when confronted with this discipline. Finally, fasting paves the way for the kingdom to expand beyond us. Kelly asks if our churches might remain stagnant because we haven’t tapped into the dynamism that comes from persistent prayer and fasting.
By weaving in practical considerations—like examining motives, choosing a specific type of fast, and clinging to God’s promises—Kelly paints a clear picture of how to step into this life-changing practice. The heart of the matter isn’t legalism but longing: are we hungry enough for God to temporarily forsake lesser appetites? As 1 Corinthians 4:20 reminds us, the kingdom is about power rather than mere talk, and fasting is one avenue God uses to unleash that power. If you’re yearning for deeper spiritual breakthroughs—for yourself, your family, or your community—Kelly challenges you to pick up this ancient practice and rediscover a form of worship that can reshape your faith.
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God's doing some really great things, and over these next 21 days, I just hope you have the same expectancy that's in my heart. God's going to do greater things, and a lot of the things that he does are dependent on what we do, because he's looking and waiting for us to respond to what he's already shown us and taught us in his word. Today, we want to talk about fasting, and fasting goes along with prayer, and I don't want you to. I can kind of hear those inward groans. It's like, oh, this is hard and it is, but it's kind of this idea that we're giving away something of ourself to pursue God himself, and so this is a really, really important thing. I want us to pray and ask God to help us in these next 21 days. Would you pray with me for that? So, father, we're thankful today that we are here with you and you're here with us. Lord, we know that you've called us to this purpose and, lord, the things that you've got in store for us over these next few days as we pray and as we fast, not only for our personal lives, but so many other things all the way, including to that of other nations, lord, we ask you to do a work in us, lord, don't leave us the same as we pursue the things you called us to do. Lord, just honor what our response to your word is and just reward us, lord, as we're going to see today, and Lord, we ask for that in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
Kelly Kinder:Well, let me ask you a question. Have you ever finished a meal and felt physically full but you weren't satisfied? How often we sit and we have that meal and we get done and we go I want something else, and we don't really always know what that is. We're just not satisfied, and you know that can be true in the physical realm, but that also can be true in your spiritual life as well. And what God does in us is he calls us to have a hunger for something that we don't often see, but we have a struggle sometimes with food, and sometimes we call it emotional or psychological eating, don't we? There's a reason that drives us to those things, and really eating can really be thought of in some ways as kind of an anesthesia of sadness. We don't know what that sadness sometimes is, and in the same way, god has caused us to have an emptiness in our soul that makes us long to know what he wants to show us, and that's more of himself. He wants to have a relationship with each one of us, and you know. Question for you this morning do you know that God has made us hungry for Him, he's made you hungry for Him, and Jesus said it like this blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied, and that's a promise from Him.
Kelly Kinder:And I was reading a book this past week, john Piper. His book called A Hunger for God, and if you let me recommend that book to you. You can find it online and it's actually a free download, a Hunger for God by John Piper, and he writes this there is an appetite for God and it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry and to say, with some simple fast, this much oh God, I want you.
Kelly Kinder:Our appetites dictate the direction of our lives, whether it be the cravings of our stomachs, the passionate desire for possessions or power, or the longings of our sports. For God, our spirits for God. But for the Christian, the hunger for anything besides God can be an arch enemy, while our hunger for God and Him alone is the only thing that will bring victory. You know, and I think this time for us is a really special time. So I don't want us to ignore what God has for us this season, especially as we talk about fasting. And in the brief time we have today, I just want us to understand that biblical fasting really what it is, and I want us to talk about how this biblical practice can really help us advance the kingdom, not only in our lives, but in the lives of this nation, community, this world.
Kelly Kinder:So let's start with just a simple question what is biblical fasting? We hear people fast. Fasting is common to all religions and in a lot of places. But let me just give you this simple definition going without food for spiritual purposes. Going without food for spiritual purposes and I would just say that's not really quite enough because we need to hone that a little bit. And the best definition that I have seen in my life is a little bit more complete. Let me read it to you.
Kelly Kinder:This is by David Mathis. He says Fasting is an exceptional measure designed to channel and express our desire for God and our holy discontent in a fallen world. It is for those not satisfied with the status quo, for those who want more of God's grace, for those who feel truly desperate for God. This morning, I just ask you are you hungry? Do you know what you're hungry for? And if you know what you're hungry for, which is the God that you can know? Are you hungry for Him? You know the thing that I'm realizing now more than ever and I shared on this message a couple of years ago, same subject I'm just realizing how really deeply significant this spiritual practice is. I didn't really. I learned a lot this week as I was preparing for this message. This is something that's highly significant, maybe more significant than you've ever considered. It was and is for me.
Kelly Kinder:I would go so far as to call it a secret weapon of transformation. Secret weapon of transformation. And here's why Because throughout history, every spiritual movement, from the early church on through modern revivals, it, has been fueled by prayer and fasting. Think about that. Every movement has been fueled by prayer and fasting, and that's not just a, that's not a coincidence, it's a divine principle in how God really brings about and Patty said it this morning breakthrough. Are you looking for a breakthrough? It might be a breakthrough in a struggle that you have, or relationship you have, or just some something you're dealing with right now that you can't seem to get past, and if we can just come to see the value of this practice, it holds and it began to practice it more than just this 21 days. This is just an emphasis, but it should be a lifestyle for us.
Kelly Kinder:I think we can begin to experience power, favor and breakthroughs in our desire and our walk with Christ. And when we combine it with prayer, biblical fasting, it opens doors that are closed, it demolishes strongholds that we struggle with and it helps us defeat the enemy, helps us accelerate the kingdom of God. So here's the thing, here's what I want you to get this morning. When we pray with fasting, we partner with God to bring the kingdom into our midst. When we pray with fasting, we partner with God to bring the kingdom into our midst. When we pray with fasting, we partner with God to bring the kingdom into our midst. So let me just tell you four ways that this can happen for us, and each of these kind of hopefully will kind of get us and allow us to get into the flow of God's grace, because we're getting in a position for Him to do things in our lives. As we look at this Number one, four ways, fasting brings the kingdom.
Kelly Kinder:Number one the purpose of fasting is to propagate a kingdom encounter. The purpose of fasting is to propagate a kingdom encounter and for my thinking this week, my mind is drawn to the story that most of us have heard out of John, chapter 4. And it's the example of Jesus' encounter, or rather the woman's encounter with Jesus at the well, the woman at the well in John 4. And many of us, as I say, know the story and what has happened in this encounter. And in verse 3 of chapter 4. It tells us that Jesus and his disciples were traveling through Samaria and they stop at this well, there, in the town of Sychar, and it says they were thirsty. Jesus wanted a drink and so did his disciples, the woman it was at midday and the only person there was a woman, and women didn't go out at midday to gather water. She was there because she had a reputation in the town and she didn't want anyone else around while she was gathering water.
Kelly Kinder:But the disciples and Jesus show up and in verse seven and eight, this marvelous encounter is in which Jesus sees this woman and this woman's true spiritual condition. It's revealed to her by Jesus in verses 7 and 8. Listen to this. It says A woman from Samaria came to draw water and Jesus said to her Give me a drink. And then it says in parentheses in verse 8, for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Underline that this was not an accident.
Kelly Kinder:Jesus let them to go get gold in town to get food. He's setting something up, as we'll see later on. He let them go and he has this private conversation with this woman while the disciples are in town getting food. In that conversation that he has, it moves from the topic of obtaining physical water to obtaining spiritual water for her thirsty soul. And in the course of this conversation, jesus he sort of reads this woman's private thoughts and she's kind of wondering how does he know all this? And he reads the thoughts by the Spirit and he tells her she talks about her husband and Jesus said well, actually you've had five husbands and the one that you're, the husband you're living with now, is not your own. She's working on number six.
Kelly Kinder:And in the course of conversation, jesus is revealing to her that what she has sought to fill her empty soul can be found, can be filled by this living water that Jesus offers her, and he does that the same with us. What we give ourselves to sometimes makes us all the more empty when the answer for us is to find our answer in a person whose name is Jesus. So she's attempted to fill her emptiness with failed relationships. Ultimately, she realizes that the answer to all her problems, after they get to this end of the conversation, is standing right in front of her. And Jesus said I who speak to you, am he. Well, that's just the first part of the story, because meantime, this woman with shameful reputation, she, realizes that the one that she needs to find her answers in is Jesus. She leaves her water pot down there and immediately she carries her personal testimony into town. And what is it? Verse 25, verse 26,. It goes on. And she said come see a man verse 29, who told me all that I ever did. And she's gone into town with that testimony and everybody's going. We have to come hear this, we want to know all the details. So they follow her back out of town and back to the well, and just about that time the disciples come back in and they go. What in the world is going on? And so, for our purposes.
Kelly Kinder:Today, I want us to look at this second part. It's kind of a backstory to what Jesus has set up from the beginning and, because it's relevant to our topic here, it's about this woman's encounter and the city's encounter with Jesus, and it's the catalyst for the encounter. We read it in the follow-up to these verses, in 31 through 38. It says there when then, just then, his disciples came back, they marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said what do you seek or why are you talking with her? So the woman left her water jar and went away into town, said to the people come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of the town and were coming to him.
Kelly Kinder:Meanwhile and it's here I want to focus the disciples, who have now returned with a pile of groceries, were urging him. Who have now returned with a pile of groceries were urging him Rabbi, eat something. And he said to them I have food to eat that you do not know about. And so they're wondering does Jesus have a peanut butter and fish sandwich tucked in his robe somewhere? Who brought him food? We've got all this food, and why did he even send us into town if it's not needed? So what just happened here? And, as I said, jesus is setting this up. What has happened is Jesus has set this up as a lesson for the disciples. They've totally misunderstood what this was about. This is not about physical food. He says I have food you know nothing about.
Kelly Kinder:Jesus is inviting these disciples to seek a deeper understanding of who he is and his mission. He's drawing them in, causing them to ask what is he talking about? And in the process he's revealed where their minds were and the level of their spiritual awareness. And sometimes I think of that when we think about these disciplines of the Christian life and think they don't really matter that much, and I can kind of just lay those aside. Jesus is teaching them and I want you to see watch as Jesus realigns their focus to spiritual matters rather than physical needs.
Kelly Kinder:He says in verse 34,. Jesus said to them my food is to do the will of him, who sent me to accomplish his work. And here it is that Jesus' words take a sort of an odd turn. Have you ever been reading a Bible passage where you read it and then it comes the next, very next thing. It says something that totally doesn't seem to connect. Well, this is where John is trying to show us something. Notice what he tells the disciples, because he ties this object lesson of the woman to the principle he wants them to understand.
Kelly Kinder:Verse 35, do you not say there are yet four months, then comes the harvest. So what's he saying? He said well, you know, if you're going to get a harvest, you have to do the work first Cultivating the soil and watering the soil and providing all that it needs to bring a harvest. Whatever you're doing, you can't harvest without planting a seed and you can't harvest without doing the work. Corn just doesn't pop out of the ground without anything happening. You've got to do the work. So he says look, I tell you verse. Next verse, I tell you lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Kelly Kinder:And Jesus is basically going on to point out to them that he has done the work. He's gone without food and he's prayed. And while not directly related to fasting you don't see that term we know that he's gone without food in order to do something that God has done through this woman. The whole town has come out for it and he's pointed out the results of the fasting, and that's why I say in this point the purpose of fasting is to propagate a kingdom encounter. When you look up the word propagate, it simply means this in the dictionary to cause an organism to multiply.
Kelly Kinder:And I believe in our day, and for this church especially, god wants to bring us to a different level. He wants to multiply things that he started and he wants to do great and mighty things if we'll just learn the principles that he wants us to learn. To harvest the spiritual food, we have to sow the spiritual seed. That's the point, and that means different things. One of those is what we're talking about today, but even before we do that, we prepare the soil, and this is the hard work. This is the thing what we call prayer and fasting. That it does. Most of us, when we hear about a prayer meeting, don't come because we don't want to do the hard work. But this is foundational to see the harvest, do you get the principle? If we miss this, folks, we've missed it.
Kelly Kinder:Prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting are the foundational work to see the kingdom come, and Jesus is telling us how this happened. When we trade our physical hunger for spiritual hunger. We are, then, ready to experience a kingdom encounter. As an aside, think about this, since the disciples had gone away to buy food. How do we have the details of this conversation with this woman? Thought about that and I would suggest to you. It's because of the testimony of this woman. This has totally transformed her life. Could you think that all of this might be because Jesus prayed and fasted? Fasting propagates a kingdom encounter.
Kelly Kinder:Second thing I want you to see how the kingdom, how fasting brings the kingdom, is that the promise of fasting is a kingdom reward. It's a kingdom reward. We look for that in Matthew 6, in verses 16 and 17. He says there, jesus talking again. He says when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. And I understand we're doing this fast as a corporate thing, but you know what? No one is not eating for you or not eating, not not eating for you. You have to choose that yourself. Right? It's a double negative. But no one's doing that for you. You do that in private. So you can still get the reward. This personal reward, jesus offers it to everyone who fasts. Along with the other things prayer and giving he comes in threes. This is the third one. And so do you see it?
Kelly Kinder:Jesus has promised a reward specifically for this practice of prayer and fasting. Say, what's the reward? I don't know. I don't think it's something physical. Some versions say he will reward you openly. Does that intrigue you, like it intrigues me. Does it hold out the promise for something you've longed for and are not satisfied yet by that? God might just fill you and give you something that would totally transform your life or the life of your family or your kids. I mean, this is fantastic what this promise offers.
Kelly Kinder:You know the Bible says in 2 Peter he has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. You know, in total I found out, one accounting says that there are 8,800 prayer promises in the Bible. 8,800 promises in the Bible. How many do we know? And this passage in 2 Peter says a couple of things about this. All of them are great, some versions say magnificent, and they're precious. They hold inestimable value.
Kelly Kinder:We can't comprehend the value of the promises when they're attached to prayer and with the result that what this is the most significant thing by claiming them in faith, it says we participate, we share in the divine nature. That doesn't mean we become a god. It doesn't mean that. What does it mean? What happens is that we get to experience a spiritual transformation where our character begins to look like the God who made us. We reflect the character of God as we grab hold of those promises in prayer and begin to pray those things, because we're praying according and in line with His character.
Kelly Kinder:And we wonder why our prayers don't get answered. Well, you have to pray in line with His will, and so Jesus said this for us 2 Corinthians 1.20,. For all the promises of God find their yes in Him and that is why, through Him, we utter our amen to God for His glory. You can say amen, can't you, if your prayers are aligned with the Almighty God, because you know God's heart is with that prayer. I'm just telling you some things that will help us as we pray and go forward here.
Kelly Kinder:But attaching our fasting and prayer with the promises of God brings the kingdom, jesus said. He said when he was taught. The disciples said how do we pray? And he said one of the first things he says that you're that my, you know. Pray, god's kingdom will come. How often do you pray for God's kingdom to come? Well, you attach it to a promise and guess what it advances and accelerates that prayer? Well, there's a third way. Fasting brings the kingdom. And is this? The power of fasting overcomes opposition to the kingdom.
Kelly Kinder:We find this in scripture Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days. Here's one example being tempted by the devil and he ate nothing during those days and when they were ended, he was hungry. Well, I guess so Ever gone for three days and you're hungry. And I'll tell you when you start your fast, you may not be hungry, but by the third day your stomach starts to go. I'm here, pay attention to me, and so we push down the self for something greater. And so we push down the self for something greater. We see this also in Luke, chapter 4, where Jesus. We talked about this in this scripture. This was for Jesus when he went into the wilderness, a way for him to overcome temptation, as the enemy is bringing him thoughts about things he could do as a son of God. And it says he uses the word of God. But we think of that as the power only. But it was also the fact Jesus had spent 40, he's spending 40 days. This also gave him power over the enemy, as God led him in the wilderness to do what he needed to do, to strengthen him, to resolve and fulfill and finish his mission.
Kelly Kinder:We see another example in Matthew 17, 21. It's after the disciples had tried in that occasion to cast out an evil spirit out of this young boy. You can read about it in Matthew 17. And they try and they are not successful. They fail and when Jesus is there, they decide they're going to consult him, which is what we usually do. It's like, after all else fails, talk to Jesus about it, right, that's usually how it works, isn't it? See, jesus is waiting for us to do everything in our power until we realize that we can do nothing without him. That's what prayer is A confession that we can do nothing without him. And so the disciples, they come to Jesus privately. They don't want anybody else to know that they have failed. That's kind of like us too, isn't it? Let's talk about this, our failure, lord. And they said why could we not cast it out? And he said to them because of your little faith. And in verse 21, which is in some of the versions, it says this this kind can only come out with prayer and fasting.
Kelly Kinder:I think here in Matthew 17,. Jesus, when he says that he kind of gets them for their lack of faith and really it's because the faith is expressed through prayer, dependence on God, and because they had failed to depend on God, he kind of gets them for their lack of faith. That's where that is and that's where that comes from. So you know, in a practical sense, there are some issues, some kinds of issues addictions, rejections, even demonic powers that can't be overcome without prayer, fasting and the faith that Jesus is calling for here.
Kelly Kinder:And I think there are many people here in this room that struggle with what the Bible calls strongholds. It's the place that the enemy occupies to mess with our mind, to bring thought patterns or arrogant attitudes about what's real and what's not real. And it's through this idea of prayer and fasting that we break those things that the enemy has come up against us with. And many are living with that because they're just okay, this is, we've gotten comfortable in it. So how desperate are you to see spiritual breakthrough? That's the question.
Kelly Kinder:So, these stubborn areas and let me just give you some example habits that you struggle with, feelings of shame, anxiety, depression, addiction when do you think those things come from? Jesus has given us a path out of this through something most of us want to just say oh, that's not important. What about this? What about people that you know that you'd love to see saved but aren't yet? Maybe your prodigal kids or grandkids or friends or people at work, who are blind to the gospel, and yet they just don't see it. They don't understand it, even if you shared it with them. They just don't comprehend it. See, the Bible says Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they can't come to the truth.
Kelly Kinder:So all too often I just think about this, this old story where God comes to visit his friend and he comes up onto the porch and the man is sitting in his rocking chair and his hound dog is laying up there on the porch and the guy sits down in the rocking chair next to him and all the whole time through their whole conversation, this hound dog is moaning and moaning and moaning. He said what's wrong with him? He says is he sick? He said no, he's laying on a nail. He just won't get. He's too lazy to get off the nail. And I use that as an analogy to say we sometimes will remain in the pain and sometimes we're just too lazy to do what Jesus says to do, when he can bring us freedom like we've never known.
Kelly Kinder:So we've seen that this fasting stuff is important. It's a significant weapon given to help us to overcome the activity of the enemy in our lives and in our churches. Let's look now at the last way, the fourth way. Fasting brings a kingdom and that is the practice of fasting expands the kingdom to others. And one of the things about when I read the book of Acts, I marvel. When I look at what the early church was able to do and what they experienced. It's fascinating and amazing. What if the static, anemic condition of our churches was due in part to our unwillingness to express our utter dependence on God through prayer and fasting. Do you wonder why the church is the way it is? Have we left out something that is so essential? Because we're busy, we look good on the outside, but there's stuff going on inside that just needs to be fixed.
Kelly Kinder:So in Matthew 13, 31 and 32, jesus is teaching on the secrets of the kingdom. 31 and 32, jesus is teaching on the secrets of the kingdom. He said the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds. If you've ever seen a mustard seed, it's tiny, it's tiny, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. What is Jesus talking about here? The point is that what starts out small and maybe insignificant to us will grow and multiply and expand when we partner with God, and I think God is just sitting back waiting for us to see if we will respond to what he's already told us. So we sow the kingdom through little things. We have a saying in our day from small acorns mighty oaks grow. That's kind of the same idea Great oaks form from little acorns right. Same is true in the kingdom. Something insignificant and small God can take, and he can make it explode. This is what happened in the early church, and so let me give you an example of how this affects the church in our day and how it is affecting the church in our day when we talk about prayer and fasting.
Kelly Kinder:Bobby Harrington he has a study done on disciple-making movements in churches, where God is moving and growing the gospel over there in ways that can't be imagined. And here we're kind of going. Why don't we experience that? You ever wondered that? Why don't we experience that? You ever wondered that?
Kelly Kinder:He says this. He says the reason disciple-making movements flourish around the world isn't simply cultural. It's spiritual hunger. These movements are powered by men and women who spend hours daily in the presence of Jesus. They fast two to three days every week. Their prayers are bold and desperate. God, make my city hunger for you like I hunger for food. Make my neighbors thirst for you like I thirst for water. He says this intensity and devotion stand in stark contrast to what we often see in the west. While we value prayer, we rarely embrace fasting at this same level.
Kelly Kinder:But he says and he ends with this but here's the truth if we want to see god move in our churches, families and cities, we need to reclaim this radical practice. So is that kind of getting your motor running for this? I'm wanting to motivate us to kind of consider this more than we ever have. I know I have, and so I say we need to come to the place where we see fasting and prayer as a lifestyle and not merely a limited emphasis. This is a start, but it's not really the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is a lifestyle.
Kelly Kinder:Do you know that in the early church? The early church fasted two days a week. They fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays, and that habit was so important to what the church did, and so we look at this as a catalyst for kingdom movement. Jesus said this. He says for the kingdom, or Paul did, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. Where does the power come from? It comes from you and I being on our knees, from. It comes from you and I being on our knees. Don't forget this. I've been praying for this for two years, for us to come to this time and see. I think God wants to elevate this church to a new place. Think of that word elevate and what he wants to do in your own life. Let me quickly we have time for a couple other things. Okay, so, practical considerations Examine your motives, why you do this.
Kelly Kinder:This is not a diet. It's not about losing weight, although that could be a side benefit. It's about connecting with God and doing it for the right reasons. Don't do it because of anybody else but you but you and then have a plan. You've got some handouts you're going to talk about and this is on the website but things like the type of fast that you're going to do.
Kelly Kinder:Consider what you can do. Some people can do food and you need to consult your doctor if you can't, or you had questions, but there's different types of fast. You can fast one meal a day. You can fast and do something where you pick a certain food that you're not going to eat. I heard somebody saying they're fasting sugar. That's a great one. Somebody is fasting coffee. Why would you want to do that, right, mark? Right, I don't know? Anyway, whatever has grabbed you and sort of holds you and you feel like controls you. Can you give that up? Or is yourself calling the shots.
Kelly Kinder:This is what we find out in a fast. So if you've never fasted before, just start small, don't go. I'm going to go out and do a 40-day fast. No, start small and let God teach you what he wants to teach you and then schedule it. We've got handouts you're going to talk about, but the idea behind a schedule is just to be intentional. You have to be intentional about this or it'll never happen. And then focus. Thinking about this is like what burdens me the most, and I put a circle up here of some things Mark talked about this past week Practical considerations from personal renewal about your families, about church, about community, about this nation, the USA, and about the nations. Those are all great focuses and things that we can pray and fast over.
Kelly Kinder:Here's another one Bind your prayer to God's promises. It's like prayer on steroids Promises. What are the promises, god? Do you know any? Attach your prayer and your fasting to one of those promises that really gets you going, things that are a burden to you. God has great things that will help us there.
Kelly Kinder:And then here's the thing, because at some point you're going to say, oh, this is really hard. I think I'm going to give up and quit. Do what you can do, but don't just give up because you say you can't. You can do this and most people, believe it or not, can do it with food. I mean, there are other ways to fast. As I said, you can give up a hobby, you can give up your TV or social media. You can do other things that are fasting. But I would encourage you, if you can do food, do that. And then, last, keep the focus. As I say, this is not a diet, this is a way to advance the kingdom on our knees. So those are some practical things.
Kelly Kinder:Let me just finish up with this. I think this is really important. This is not about legalism, folks. We're not trying to coerce or manipulate God or trying to twist his arm to get him to do something. We're not trying to check off a spiritual box. What we're trying to do is create an environment for all of us that we can allow the Holy Spirit to work in ways he maybe never has. So don't think of this as a formula. This is about our heart. It's about our heart. Well, I'll just share this. It's just something that made me think, you know, this past week.
Kelly Kinder:We work a commercial cleaning business and one of the places we went to this past week was in Chattanooga and we drove all the way to Chattanooga to clean this office space, got down there and went to the gate and we've been able to get in before several, many times and got there and for some reason we couldn't get in. Somebody had changed the code on the lock and we'd driven all the way there but we couldn't get in. Somebody had changed the code. See, if you don't have the code, you can't get in. We ultimately did. We called somebody't have the code. You can't get in. We ultimately did. We called somebody who knew the code.
Kelly Kinder:What I'm trying to communicate to you is there is one who knows the code and if the world since the early church has changed the code, we need to find the code again to get into the kingdom things that God wants us to. What if giving up what is comfortable meant for you you could obtain what's invisible and what are you willing to give up? That's temporary? That would bring something eternal. This is what fasting will do for us folks, and eternal, this is what fasting will do for us folks, and I pray. I pray for all of us. We'll enter into this time, maybe in ways you hadn't thought you would. Let's pray, father, we're thankful for what you're doing, what you're going to do. We're grateful, lord, for you set the example for us. You had, as you told the disciples, food that we might not know about. Help us to know that food, lord, and to pursue it with everything we have. Give us a hunger for you, lord, and for these days ahead. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
