Are We In A Spiritual Battle?
We are a part of something special: Our church is growing, sin is being confessed and killed, marriages are being restored, our brothers and sisters are being healed, our children are hearing and responding to the Gospel, the spiritually oppressed are being delivered by the Lord, and we all are growing in Christlikeness together!
As we push back darkness in the southwest region of DFW together (and plant a church in Aledo!) we should expect the enemy to respond. Planting a church in Aledo is a big deal. The enemy does not want multiplication—he does not want a gospel-centered family in Aledo—he wants to steal, kill and destroy.
1 Peter 5:8-9 commands,
Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.
Many of you have experienced an intense season of spiritual warfare over the last year. (If this is new to you - we encourage you to read Understanding Spiritual Warfare: A Comprehensive Guide by Sam Storms) We must resist the devil and all his minions and plans and worldly systems. One of the ways we resist is through the spiritual discipline of fasting.
What Is Fasting?
The Bible defines fasting as a Christian's voluntary abstinence from food (or other habits) for spiritual purposes. Here are three helpful articles:
Fasting is a spiritual weapon that wars against our fleshly desires.
1 John 2:16-17 states:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
I write about fasting to confront a prosperous and often self-indulgent society with the biblical discipline of self-denial.
– Don Whitney (author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life)
Brothers and sisters, we need this. Commit in the month of June to give up a food/drink or habit so that we can focus on the things that really matter—Christ and His Kingdom—and ask the Lord in our collective weakness to give us strength to fight the enemy and give us gifts to build each other up.
What Are We Asking For?
As we fast together, we are asking the Lord to bless us with 2 specific things.
1. Protection and deliverance from the enemy – Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” (See also: Ezra 8:21-23, Esther 4:16, Daniel 10, 2 Chronicles 20)
2. That the Father would continue to pour out His Spirit in miraculous ways - more Spiritual Gifts - 1 Corinthians 14:1, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 2 Timothy 1:6–7, 1 Thessalonians 5:19–20, 1 Corinthians 14:39 (see also: 10 Reasons To Desire All The Spiritual Gifts)
How Can I Participate?
Here are 3 fasting options for you to choose from:
1. Media at night - Do you spend an hour in front of the TV at night streaming? Consider cutting that out and replacing it with reading, conversation with your spouse or family, or outdoor activity.
2. A meal or a specific food/drink - Consider skipping breakfast, cutting out that energy drink, or glass of wine.
3. Social media - We are all being discipled, shaped, and made into the image of what we look at daily. On average we unlock our phones 80 times a day, and we spend three hours of the day on them...for most people, they literally wake us up in the morning and they are the last thing we consume as they put us to bed.