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Today we're discussing fasting and how it prepares you for what the Bible calls "the evil day." Doctrinally, the evil day refers to the second coming of Christ—when He will return not as a lamb born in a manger, but as the King of Kings and Judge of the world.
When Christ returns, the Bible tells us that in a twinkling of an eye, with the blast of the trumpets, we shall all be changed. The dead in Christ will be caught up first into the sky, and then those of us on earth will join them. As Paul writes, we know not what we shall be, but we know that when Christ our life shall appear, we shall be like him.
But "the evil day" is not only about the second coming. In 1 Peter 4:7, we see that everyone will also experience their own personal evil day—a day of recompense, a day of judgment. Job had his evil day. David had his evil day. Joseph had his evil day. In Joseph's case, his dreams brought him into prison, but those same dreams would eventually lead to his promotion. The point is this: you must remain faithful and not become offended, because if you do, you will miss God's visitation.
The first thing we need to understand as we fast is this: fasting is not to earn God's favor. Let me show you from Scripture.
Look at Matthew 4:1-4 (ENKJV): "Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterwards, he was hungry. So when the tempter came to him, he said, 'If you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread.' Jesus answered and said, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'"
Notice something important: temptation is tailored. The devil tempted Jesus in the context of power—"If you are the son of God." Jesus had the power to turn water into wine and to multiply bread. But in this moment, Jesus refused to use His power to feed Himself.
Why? Because the miraculous is not for self-gratification. When Jesus turned water to wine, it was not for Himself to drink—it was at a wedding feast, so others would not be put to shame. When Jesus multiplied bread, it was not for Himself to eat—it was for others. This reveals a crucial truth: if your only idea of power is what you can get for yourself, you will enter into error.
Jesus drew His answer from Deuteronomy 8:2-3: "You shall remember that the Lord your God led you all this way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and test you, to know what is in your hearts whether you will keep his commandment or not. So he humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna... that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God."
Jesus was saying: God brought me into this wilderness to be hungry. I will not escape this context. I will not change the purpose for which I am here.
Listen to this carefully: if the only thing you think about is what you can get, you will not be a child of God. You will become a witch doctor. You are not going to be a man of God.
Many of us have practiced what I call "gimme gimme Christianity" for too long. The nature of New Testament prayer is intercession—praying for others, not just for ourselves. The Bible says, out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7). That water is meant to flow to others through you.
That is where it becomes ministry. Ministry is the administration of spiritual things to others—the administration of virtues to others. It is ministry when God can use your life to bless and transform others. But if God is not using your life, then you are using God.
What do I mean by using God? You want to use God to get married. You want to use God to get a job. You want to use God for your own advancement. But you cannot sit down and ask yourself: "Why do I want to prosper?" The answer reveals your motive. And that motive is what God is looking at.
The problem is not the miracle itself. The problem is why are you doing the miracle? Your intention, your motive—these matter deeply. In African spirituality especially, power is often sought for superiority and validation. We want power to prove ourselves, to show that we are great. But the power of God is for transformation, not for show or validation.
I remember years ago, I was with some friends, and after a difficult evangelism outing, we started joking about power. One friend said he wanted a power so great that whenever he was preaching, he would levitate—literally float in the air so people would see how powerful he was. We were joking, but there's truth in the joke: many of us want power so that we can be validated as men of God. That's not transformative. That's validation. And it's backwards.
Here is the hack to the Christian life—listen carefully: it is yielding, not doing.
The idea of Christianity is that you died. You gave your life to Christ. What did Christ do with that life? He nailed it to the cross. Then He came into your life and became your life. That's why the Bible says, when Christ who is our life shall appear, we shall be like him.
Look at Galatians 2:20: "For I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."
The moment you gave your heart to the Lord, you were nailed to the cross with Him. That's when you were justified. That's why you are now the righteousness of God in Christ—because the last time you were seen was on the cross. Now what God sees is the life of Christ in you. That's why you received the Holy Spirit, the seal of the promise.
God is a King. He cannot come into your life and you continue to be king. Your body is now the temple of God. God owns your body. God dwells in your body. Who is greater—the house or the owner? The owner cleans the house when it's dirty. The owner takes care of the house. The owner furnishes the house.
When you buy a car, you service the car. You take care of the car. The car is your possession. But what happens when the car takes charge? Then you know there's going to be an accident. Many people are experiencing accidents in their life because they are not allowing Jesus to take the wheel of their life. They are running their life by themselves.
The hack to this Christian thing is yielding. Just yield. Join a good church. Follow the right person. Put yourself in an environment that aids the move of the Spirit in your life. You are set. You are made in this Christian walk.
Now, let me clarify something about prayer. The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way like we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). But notice: temptation is specific to your own desires and inclinations.
James says, if anyone is tempted, let him not say he is tempted of God, for God will tempt no man with evil. When you are tempted, it is because you are drawn away by your own lust (James 1:13-14).
Temptation is context-specific. I have never been tempted with homosexuality because I have no lust in that direction. But I have been tempted in areas where I do have desires. The same is true for all of us. You might not be tempted with money because you genuinely don't care about it. But you might be doing poorly in areas like forgiveness or sexual purity.
This is why fasting is important—it brings balance. It's like someone who goes to the gym and only builds their chest. Yes, their chest is big, but they look disfigured because they neglected other parts. Fasting helps your entire spiritual frame look proper.
Here's the key truth about prayer: prayer does not take away the temptation. Prayer prepares you for the temptation. Jesus said, "Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation" (Matthew 26:41). In other words, if you are watching and praying, you won't fall. Prayer is preventive, not curative.
What prayer does is help you see the way of escape. The Bible promises, God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. With the temptation he will also provide the way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Let me give you an example. Kenneth Aen shared a story about a young man who had just given his life to Christ. He had a dream where he saw himself at work climbing a ladder. His boss was wearing a particular shirt and pants, and told him to climb that ladder. In the dream, a fan blade cut off his head.
The next day at work, his boss came in wearing that exact same shirt and pants. The young man said to himself, "This is strange." Before long, the boss called him to climb the same ladder. The young man refused. He said, "Sir, I cannot do it. I had a dream that you wore this shirt, told me to climb this ladder, and the blade cut off my head."
A coworker mocked him: "Why are you being superstitious? Just because you had a dream?" But the young man refused. And the coworker climbed the ladder instead—and the blade cut off his head, exactly as the dream had shown.
There was affliction waiting. But the night before, God showed the young man the way of escape. Prayer does not change the situation. Prayer changes you in that situation. Prayer changes your disposition in responding to the situation.
Prayer is the cheat code to win. It's not to eradicate temptation; it's to make sure you don't lose within it.
The first temptation the devil brought to Jesus was in the context of misappropriation of power. "If you are the son of God, turn stones to bread." But the deeper temptation was about alignment: Are you going to use God, or are you going to let God use you?
This is the fundamental question of the Christian life. When you gave your life to Christ, your old life died. Now Christ is your life. The idea of Christianity is yielding. You are allowing God to use you. You are allowing God to do His ministry through you. You are allowing God to change you and do His work.
Remember: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16). But that power is not for us to use for ourselves. It's for transformation of others.
As we fast, don't be ignorant. Don't say, "Why am I being tempted now that I'm fasting?" It is precisely because we are fasting that the tempter comes. The Bible shows us that when Jesus was fasting, that's when the tempter came.
We are now at the halfway point of the fast. This is the critical time. This is when some people begin to throw in the towel. This is when some people start making silly mistakes. Don't lose your guard. Stay on it. We are almost there.
Just keep looking at Jesus. He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Keep your eyes on Him, and you will finish strong.
