Fasting: The Spiritual Hand Grenade

# 299 – We are continuing a series on fasting. Today I want to talk further about fasting as a weapon against fear. Fear can give birth to very unhealthy obsessions, which can lead to addictions which we often use as a place to run to in order to escape our fears. When does fear grip you? Is it in the area of your finances? A relationship? A lack of a relationship? Some fear regarding loved ones? Is it the nagging health problem that you don’t want to go see the doctor about? Is it that new job you’re starting? It could be something as simple as standing in front of a class to give a speech, or going  to the dentist. Fear is fear. It is whatever it is that distracts you and paralyzes you. Whatever it is that  consumes you and adds stress to your life.   When you find yourself paralyzed, when you find yourself obsessed because of fear, it’s time to reach into the armory of weapons that God has put at your disposal and pull out the spiritual hand grenade of fasting, and let God scatter that enemy that has brought such fear into your life. Fear often comes with deadlines and ultimatums doesn’t it? A payment is due, a court date, is looming, that dentist appointment is tomorrow! What do you do? You do all you can do and then you fast. In the Book of Esther, the Jews were gripped with fear because an order had been given and a date set for their extermination.  Esther was gripped with fear because she was being called upon to stand up to the king. What did they do? They fasted!. Esther even called on others to fast on her behalf! Esther called for a fast because she knew she didn’t have the courage to do this alone. The heartcry of fasting is always, “God I can’t do this on my own, I need your help! This circumstance is too big for me to overcome. Fasting then turns our fear to faith. Dr. Tony Evans tells the story of the time that his church was meeting in a school. A couple of members of the school board got a bee in their bonnet about separation of church and state and decided to kick the church out of the school. The church, like Esther, asked for a special meeting with the school board to see if they would change their mind. Guess what the church did? They fasted and prayed. On the day of the meeting two of the members of the school board were late. They waited for them for over 45 minutes and finally went ahead with the meeting at which the board overturned it's decision and allowed the church to continue meeting. Guess what? It seems the two missing members were the two with the bees in their bonnets. It seems that they were hung up in a huge traffic snarl and couldn’t make any noise but the honking of their horns. Do you need God to allay any of your fears? Fast and pray! Let your fears harmlessly honk their horns, as you allow God to step in and take care of His business as you admit your need for Him in your situation through prayer and fasting. Father, help us with our fears today.