The Fast Track

Welcome to the local church, we're so glad you could join us. The Bible says in Psalm 103, bless the Lord, O my soul. And all that is listening, praise his holy name. And so we're here to worship you, Lord. We're so grateful for your goodness, your faithfulness. And we bless your holy name. Come on, church. I have felt the hands that bear the scars Reach down and rescue me I have known the love of the Father's heart A prodigal now redeemed From where I was to where I'm now It's overwhelming The more and more I see you move All around me Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord Oh, I can't help but lift up Shouts of joy When I think of how good to be Faithful now to the end Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord For the blood you spilled You saved my life A debt I cannot repay For the cross you bore With open arms Salvation that called my name Come on, sing it out

From where I was to where I'm now It's overwhelming The more and more I see you move All around me Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord Oh, I can't help but lift up Shouts of joy When I think of how good to be Faithful now to the end Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord Oh, I can't help but Yes, cause I'm free Got no chains on me I'm healed and redeemed Oh, I can't help but Call on the name That buried my sin Who opened my grave Oh, I can't help but Yes, cause I'm free Got no chains on me I'm healed and redeemed Oh, I can't help but Call on the name That buried my sin Who opened my grave Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord

Oh, I can't help but lift up Come on, sing it out, church When I think of how good to be When I think of how good to be Faithful now to the end Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord Yeah Come on, church, sing it out Oh, I can't help but praise you Come on, raise your voice Oh, I can't help but lift up Shouts of joy When I think of how good to be Faithful now to the end Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord Oh, I can't help but praise you Praise you, Lord Father, as we begin this new year, we put first things first. We want you to be the center of our lives, Lord, the center of our families, the center of our church. Nothing else matters, Lord, but you. So help us to surrender our hearts

and put you first. Maybe we've made this complicated ♪ More than it was ever meant to be ♪ ♪ Hasn't it always been about the same with you ♪ ♪ Lord, bring us back to simple things ♪ ♪ You be the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you, my savior all in all ♪ ♪ You're the one I've come to, forgive me of your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to save, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ We're just here to stay the night ♪ ♪ We went too slowly, and went too swiftly around the beat ♪ ♪ But still, keep us awake to what's important ♪ ♪ Just like men, we chose the better thing ♪ ♪ Oh, for you be the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you, my savior all in all ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to, for the beauty of your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to save, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ For you, oh for you be the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you, my savior all in all ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to, for the beauty of your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to save, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you, Jesus I love you ♪ Making God the center means that prayer becomes our first response, not our last resort. And so I'm gonna invite our prayer team to come forward right now.

And maybe you're in this room right now and there's something that you haven't gone to the Lord about and you need to. And so I'd invite you to come forward. Our team would love to pray for you. They'd love to pray with you. They'd love to stand in the gap with you. One of the other things that we know about our father is sometimes he, not sometimes, he just wants to hear from us, right? He just wants to hear from his children. And maybe you're here today and you haven't spoken to him in a bit. And maybe you don't have the words, they've got the words. You can tap on your neighbor's shoulder. They'll make room for you this morning to come and receive prayer. We don't need to hesitate. But we'd love to pray with you. We'd love to stand with you. Maybe you're here today and there's nothing specific that you need prayer for. Man, what a gift, right? But the cool thing is, is that we can lift up our prayers for other people, right? We get to lift up the burdens of this house together. And so I'm gonna pray for a handful of prayer requests that you guys trust us with. If you're comfortable,

would you extend a hand in agreement as we lift up the burdens of each other this morning? God, we come before you so grateful. So grateful that you are a God that receives and hears our prayers. So grateful that you are a God who we love not because we have to, but because you are so worthy of our love, God. We come before you knowing that when we leave these burdens at your feet, that they are at the safest place for them, that we trust you with them, that you will do something with them, God, that you're still doing something. You're doing something right now. And so God, we come before you with the burdens of this house, God. We come alongside Cheryl, Lord, who's saying that she just feels like an empty shell of herself, that she's in a deep and dark place, God. But your word tells us that for those who, all who are weary to come to you and you will give them rest, that you will fill them up. And so God, we come alongside Cheryl, believing and praying that you would show up in her circumstance, God, that as she is empty, that you would fill her up, Lord,

that your spirit would show up and your encouragement would show up and your joy, that she'd be overflowing, that your glory would show up in her life, Lord, and that she'd be refilled and refueled by your presence and your power, God, that you would strengthen her, Lord, when she is weary, Lord, that you'd surround her with people who will lift her arms, God, so she can keep going, Lord, that you would give her purpose and vision in her life, Lord. We come alongside Caitlin, Lord, who's very much in need of help. Praying for her family, for her mom who has a biopsy coming up, for her dad who's giving away his kidney to a family member. God, we thank you in advance that you're going to show up in that circumstance. We thank you in advance that her, that that biopsy is going to come back clear. God, we thank you in advance that you're going to heal her father, Lord. That he's going to be, his body will be fully restored to full health and you will get glory because of the generosity of this man giving up of his own body. God, we thank you that you're going to work in that circumstance. We come alongside a mom right now, praying for their teenage child who's really struggling in mental health struggles, Lord, and turning to everything but you, Lord. Turning to the things of this world, but your word tells us that nothing on this earth will satisfy, but only you can satisfy, Jesus. So God, we pray that you show up in that child's life right now, Lord. We pray that they would turn from the things of this world, that they would turn to you, Lord. That your presence would satisfy, Lord. That your word would satisfy, that your love would satisfy, that your hope would show up in their circumstance. That you wouldn't just show up and satisfy, but you would heal, God. Whatever struggles they are battling right now, that you would show up and you would heal their heart, that you would heal their minds, that you would show up in their dark spaces. That you would fill every single emptiness in their heart and mind, Lord.

We pray that for every teenager in this room, we come alongside their parents, believing that you have put them on the path that you have for them. Believing that you've given every parent the courage and the word and the wisdom and the knowledge to lead their family well, God. We pray for those parents right now. We come alongside, we pray for the people in this room right now. The prayer requests spoken and unspoken, Lord. The battles that nobody sees that we're fighting, God. But we thank you that your presence and your angels are fighting battles that we cannot see. We thank you that you're showing up in the spiritual when we show up in the natural, God. We thank you that you are showing up and you are providing healing. And you're bringing your hope, and you're bringing your comfort, and you're bringing your peace, and you're bringing your joy, Lord. We thank you that your glory is showing up in incredible ways, Lord. We love and praise you. Amen. In my face, tell the story, let it be. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. Let's watch this together. In my whole life, for your glory, my whole world. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. In my face, tell the story, let it be. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. In my whole life, for your glory, my whole world. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. And in my face, tell the story, let it be. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Jesus, I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Jesus, I love you.

In my whole life, for your glory, my whole world. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. In my face, tell the story, let it be. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. In my whole life, for your glory, my whole world. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. And in my face, tell the story, let it be. For you own the everything, for the honor of your name. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Jesus, I love you. Sing it out, church. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. ♪ I want you to be the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you, my savior all in all ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to for the beauty of your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you ♪ We desire your presence more and more each day. Amazing thing about you is that you meet us right where we are. I promise it will be a beautiful day. Where can I go to make it better? We can't take it back to the beginning Can't control what tomorrow will bring Where you promised to be I'm not enough

Unless you come You'll meet me here again Cause all I want Is all you want You'll meet me here again As I walk down through the valley Let your love rise above and meet me here Like the sun shaping the shadows In my weakness your glory appears I'm not enough Unless you come You'll meet me here again Cause all I want Is all you want You'll meet me here again Say I'm not enough I'm not enough Unless you come You'll meet me here again Cause all I want Is all you want You'll meet me here again Oh, oh, oh You'll meet me here again Oh, it's clear I've been waiting I've been waiting To surrender our hearts to you Oh, oh, oh Not for a minute

Was I forsaken The Lord is in this place The Lord is in this place Come hold me still So I won't awaken The Lord is in this place The Lord is in this place Not for a minute Was I forsaken The Lord is in this place The Lord is in this place Come hold me still ♪ Holy Spirit rise again ♪ ♪ The Lord is in this place ♪ ♪ The Lord is in this place ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit rise again ♪ ♪ Oh God I just need you to say oh yeah ♪ Let's declare this together church. ♪ I'm not enough unless you come when you need me the most ♪ ♪ Will you meet me here again ♪ ♪ It's all I want, it's all you want ♪ ♪ Will you meet me here again ♪ One more time let's sing it nice and strong together church. ♪ I'm not enough unless you come when you need me the most ♪ ♪ It's all I want, it's all you want ♪ ♪ Will you meet me here again ♪ Father we tell you that we're not enough. We can't save ourselves, you save us. We can't change ourselves, you're the one who enables change that is real, that is lasting.

We can't find our way Lord but you provide that as well. So we declare to you today we're not enough, we need you Jesus. Would you speak to us today from your word? We're gonna open our minds and our hearts, Lord we're gonna open our lives to you. Speak to us, show us what to do and how to do it. You're enough. We make this prayer in the name of Christ who is all that we need, amen. Yeah, go God. Thanks guys, have a seat. If we haven't met I'm Dan Sutherland, my privilege to teach today. In fact you're gonna be hearing from me a little bit in the next few weeks. We've developed a rhythm here with our lead team where we're trying to give them a little extra time off. So Eric and Jessica started this church 14 years ago and they've never had an extended break. So we have looked at them and said get out of here. They're gonna be gone most of January and February. So they'll be here to worship on some weekends because this is their church. So when you see them, wave at them, hug them. Eric, you still in the back row somewhere? Where are you brother? He's back there. We love you, have fun and just enjoy and relax and I think you're gonna do that.

So you'll be hearing a little bit from Garland and from Johnny and from me in these weeks. So it's going to be fun. Turn to your neighbor and say you're better looking than who I usually sit with when I come to church. Go ahead. That may have just got you in trouble. Eric started a series last week called First Things First. Seems like for 2026 that we want to get our priorities to match God's priorities. And in this series we're talking about how do you get those priorities first? How do you keep them first? So if I could summarize what he taught us last week, we began in Matthew 633, which is the theme verse for this series, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Here's your first blanks to fill in today, the summary of last week's teaching. When we put God first, seek first his kingdom, his righteousness, and we value doing what is right. That's what it means to seek his righteousness. We're righteous because of what Christ has done for us. Stay right with God by continuing to take the next right step. When we put God first and value doing what is right, everything else falls in place. All these things will be added to you, the scripture says. So, that's where we started last week. These next three weeks, we're going to talk about a discipline each week that'll help you have the right priorities, that'll help you keep the right priorities.

Today, we're going to talk about fasting. Some of you are saying, I could have stayed home. I believe this is the most neglected discipline in American Christianity today. The scripture teaches about the joy and the privilege and the power of fasting, but most of us simply don't fast. So, our title today is The Fast Track, and we're going to look at how God honors prayer and fasting. There are two main reasons that this has been important in my life, and I want to share both of those with you today. Number one, fasting turbocharges our prayers. When we fast and pray, it turbocharges our prayers. In our 49 years of marriage, my wife, Mary, has had exactly one new car. We don't buy new cars. We buy used cars. It's just been what we've always done. But in 2004, living in Charlotte, our Ford Taurus bit the dust, literally blew up the engine. We had to come up with another car. So, I went to a dealer that I trusted, and when I buy a car, I do the financial part first. I don't want to find a dream car and then figure out how in the world I'm going to pay for it. I want to know what payments I can handle on the front end and then work backwards. So, I'm talking with a guy, we need a used car. He says, yeah, interest rates right now on used are 8 to 10 percent. I said, man, that's high. I don't like that. And he said, well, we still have some 2003 brand new cars on the lot that haven't sold, even though it's 2004, and we're offering zero percent financing for five years. Now, zero percent financing is a sign from God. I mean, that was awesome. And at this exact moment, I hear beep, beep, beep, and I look across the showroom, and my wife is sitting in that car.

That is a 2003 Speed Protégé by Mazda. In the early 2000s, Mazda would take a car a year, they'd put some extra fins on it, and they'd give it a bright paint job, and they would add a turbocharger to the car. And when a car that light has a turbocharger added, it is way too fast. And the reason she is honking is to get my attention. We're in a showroom, and she's sitting in a car honking at me, and I come over, and she said, this is my car. I want it. And I'm thinking, you know what? Zero percent financing, five years. She loves the car. She took it out, did a test drive. It was fast. My wife loves fast. She bought it. I'll never forget how many times she would go through a McDonald's or a Burger King drive-thru, and the teenage kids working at the drive-thru would say, wow, is that car fast? And she'd say, yeah, it's fast. Turbocharged. I believe that prayer and fasting have a turbocharged relationship. When we fast, we turbocharge our prayers. It strengthens them. It empowers them. That's the first reason I think fasting is a big deal in Scripture. Here's the second. Fasting is the most serious form of prayer that we have. Would you write that in? It's the most serious form of prayer that we have. In the Old Testament, they fasted when they needed God in a big way, when they needed something to be a big deal.

Jesus taught His disciples to fast, particularly when a powerful answer to prayer was needed. In fact, God's Word talks about fasting from cover to cover. Moses fasted 40 days when he got the Ten Commandments. David fasted and prayed when he had a sick newborn child. Daniel fasted and prayed so that he could understand and interpret the king's dreams. Esther One of the great spiritual leaders of her day called for a fast while seeking favor from God. Ezra called for a fast. Joel called for a fast. The church in the New Testament fasts and prays when they're looking for leadership. Jesus Himself fasted for 40 days before He started His ministry. Now, here's my question. If Jesus needed to fast, is there a chance that you and I do? I think there's probably a good shot. Turn to your neighbor and say, you could use a little more fasting, baby. Go ahead. Call them baby. We're a secure church. They can handle it. This is what we do. Jesus taught His disciples how to fast. We're going to look at that in a minute. But here's the words He used. He didn't say if you fast. He said when you fast. He assumed that we would discover that fasting supercharges our prayers, that fasting is the most serious form of prayer that we have. So let's get a definition. We're going to talk about it all morning.

We need a definition that we can use. You ready? Write this in. Fasting is giving up food or some other activity in order to devote more serious time and attention to prayer. There's four blanks in there. Let me give it to you again. Fasting is giving up food, that's generally what it is, or some other activity, doesn't have to be food, more about that in a minute, in order to devote more serious time and attention to prayer. Now, don't miss this. There's two parts to fasting. There's a giving up, and there's an adding in. There's a subtraction, and there is an addition. We take away food or some other activity to add in more time in prayer. If we're just giving up food and not adding more prayer, we're not fasting, we're slim fasting. If you want a testimony for how that doesn't work, see me afterwards. The point is to take away something and add something in. So if that's the definition of prayer, let's talk about some common types of fasting. There's a complete fast. This is generally what it's talking about in the Scripture. That means abstaining from all food. Look this way, church, do not abstain from liquid. In fact, the longer you go not eating food, the more liquid you need to consume. The point is not to get dehydrated and end up in a hospital. The point is to seek God. There's partial fasting. This is where you restrict certain types of food, such as in Daniel, where they did three weeks of eating only vegetables and fruits, fasted from other foods.

But there's also a non-food fast, would you write that down? This is abstaining from something else. Could be social media, could be television, or a specific habit or activity, again, in order to devote more time and attention to prayer. Now, these next two statements are important. Here they are. Sometimes we find answers to our prayers when we're looking for those answers. Sometimes we fast and pray for a specific answer to a specific circumstance. God, I'm praying about whether or not you want me to take this job. God, we're praying about whether or not we're going to move. God, fill in the blank, you're praying for something specific. You want God to give you a specific answer, so you pray and fast. But it's also true that we find answers to our prayers more often, I think, when we're simply seeking God, and we let Him talk to us about whatever is on His mind. Let me see if I can demonstrate the difference. Mary and I are planning a vacation that's going to happen in April, and my temptation is to say to her, hey, babe, what do you want to do on vacation? Now, I've been married 49 years. If I do that, her answer will be, I don't know, babe, you figure it out. That'll be her answer. That's the way she works. But if I say to her, hey, babe, are you excited about our vacation? Yeah, yeah, I kind of am. I said, well, what excites you about it? I mean, you know, what makes you think it's going to be fun? Well, I'd kind of like to go see Ginger, my friend in Mississippi, and I need to go see my sister, you know, in Texas, and we have to see the kids and the grandkids, no kidding. Knew that was coming, and she's giving me all of these answers because I'm just spending time with her, letting her talk about vacation. Sometimes we get more out of just praying and fasting and letting God talk to us about

whatever He wants to talk to us about. Now, write this in your notes. Both types of prayer are legit. Is it legit to pray and fast for a specific answer to a specific circumstance? Yeah. Yeah. It's okay to seek answers, but it's even better to just seek God. How cool would that be if we got to the point where we had a regular schedule whereby we fasted, did the more serious prayer, and just said, Jesus, talk to me about whatever is on your mind. I had the privilege of serving at Flamingo Road Church years ago, and it was a fun time Garland and I were on the same team. Mark Gilming, who is here today visiting from Carolina, was on that team. He was the crazy piece of that team. But we also had some wild teenagers. One of them was Jessica Allen, now known as Jessica Gamero. Another one was Carson Day, now known as Carson Pedraza. I have dirt on these people. That's why I'm here. I just leveraged my way into this job, and there was a great thing happening at Flamingo. We were the fastest-growing church in our part of the county, but we were mostly growing by reaching people from other churches. Now, there's nothing wrong with reaching people from another church, but it's not the same as reaching people that don't know Jesus. It's not the same as reaching people that are far from God. Our purpose as a church is to plunder hell and populate heaven. That's what we're about. So, we spent months as a staff team together praying, and studying, and fasting on and off saying, God, teach us to be a church for the unchurched. God, teach us to reach people that are far from you, and wow, He did, and it changed

our lives. That experience with fasting made me realize, you want God to jump big time into your prayer life? Start fasting. So, write this in, fasting is a serious part of our search for God. Serious part. If you're going to seek God, you've got to do some fasting. By the way, we're starting a 21-day fast tomorrow here at the local church. We timed this teaching to go along with that fast. We do three of these a year. Now, some of you are thinking, okay, 21 times three, that means you guys fast 63 days a year, and 21-day fast does not mean you're fasting for 21 days. It does mean we're inviting everyone in the church at some point in that 21 days to dip your toe into the water of fasting, to give it a shot, to jump in and seek God. Now, most of us, if we pray, pray when we're in a crisis, and if we fast, we usually are really in a crisis. That's kind of how it works. Write this in your notes. A crisis can push us into breakdown and confusion. That's what crisis does. It confuses you, God. If I'm honoring you, if I'm following you, if I'm obeying you, why am I having all this trouble? And our systems break down, our spirits break down, our lives begin to break down. Here's just a few of the crises that we live from storm to storm in, exhaustion, health issues, relationship stress, financial stress, job change, boss change, house change, having kids, having teenagers, kids leaving home, thank you, Jesus, kids coming back home. All of these can make a crisis come to a head. It's full of crisis, it's normal, the storm is the norm, and the breakdown can often go with it when the crisis lingers just a little bit too long, but here's what God does, there's

a whole other teaching on this, we'll come back to it at another time. God turns breakdowns into breakthroughs, oh that'll preach. God takes the moment when we could just break down and fall apart, and He turns it into breakthroughs, and many times the way He does that is when we turn to Him in that crisis for serious prayer and serious fasting. One of my favorite verses is in Genesis 50, 20, and it says, it was intended to harm me, but God used it for good. You know how God grows us up? He puts us in a crisis, He puts us in a challenge, He puts us in a place of tension where we have to trust Him and strengthen those spiritual muscles, prayer and fasting are two of those muscles. Now, I love Isaiah 58, just going to touch on it because you can't talk about fasting in my estimation without looking at the verse that says, here's the kind of fast God wants. Isn't that a cool thought that God said, I want this kind of fasting, and then told us specifically what fasting can do, Isaiah 58, 6. This is the fasting I want, wow that's obvious, to free those who are wrongly imprisoned, to lighten the burden of those who work, to let the oppressed go free, to remove the chains that bind people. What does fasting accomplish? What can fasting do? They're listed right there in that verse. Here's all three of them. One, fasting breaks hell's chains. It breaks the chains. All of us got chains. We all have hurts and habits and hang-ups that hold us back. We all do. Whatever childhood you had, good, bad, or ugly, or probably like most of us, some combination of all three, you got some baggage from childhood. Even if you grew up in a great home, you've got some baggage.

You got some wounds, some habits, some addictions, some poor self-image, some unhealthy relationships. Church hurt, family hurt, marriage hurt. You've been through abuse, unresolved conflict, unforgiveness. That's just a few. When we pray and fast, it breaks the power of those addictions. It breaks the power of those habits. It sets us free. If you've been chained up before and you get free, there is nothing like it. Fasting breaks hell's chains, but the verse also says fasting opens heaven's windows. It opens heaven's floodgates. Picture this. What if God had a whole set of blessings set aside for us, just waiting for us to pray and fast? What if God had all of this stuff, this floodgate of things that He wants to do waiting for us? It will just move into praying and fasting. Wow, it opens heaven's floodgates. It leads to breakthroughs. Fasting moves us into the things of God that He's already prepared for us. One of my favorite life verses, New Testament says, things that eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and mind has not conceived, all that I have already prepared for those who love me. God has more. Fasting opens heaven's windows, heaven's floodgates. And thirdly, fasting draws me closer to God. This is my favorite one. I don't think I've done a fast yet in 50 years of following Christ where I didn't feel closer to God after the fast. If it's the most serious form of prayer we have, if it turbocharges our prayer life, if it gets us closer to God, yeah, yeah.

James says it this way, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Jeremiah 29, 11. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope in a future. If you call on me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." There are moments when prayer needs the turbo charge of fasting. There are moments when prayer takes on the serious form of fasting. There are moments when prayer is all in, seeking God with all our hearts. I want to try to demonstrate this. This is kind of an important image for me in understanding fasting. The early church viewed seeking God as two parts. Don't miss this. If you want to seek God, there were two parts. The first part was prayer. That was the first hand of seeking God. The second hand was fasting, and I'm going to lay this mic down to demonstrate this. If you really wanted to seek God, it took two hands. It was prayer and fasting, not just prayer. Yet, in the Western church, we've often reduced seeking God to just one hand. Don't miss this, church. Write it in your notes. Don't miss it. If I pray but never fast, I'm seeking God with one hand tied behind my back. Ouch, there's more. Serious about what you're praying for? Fast. Want to turbocharge your prayers? Fast.

Want to go after God with both hands? Pray and fast. It is those two disciplines tied together. All right, here's the application. You ready? How do we start? I want to make an assumption. Most of us would agree we'd like to pray more in 2026. Most of us as Christ followers would agree that it would be good to fast more than we did in 2026. So how do we do that? How do we start? I'm going to assume we are all in fasting 101. I'm going to assume that this is a new discipline for most of us. How do we start? First thing, start with a single meal or activity. Remember, you're thinking, well, we do three 21-day fasts a year, y'all must do 63 days of fasting. Nobody's doing 63 days. The way 21 days works is pick out a moment in these 21 days and start with a single meal. Now, here's what that could look like. It starts tomorrow. What would happen if you said, okay, at lunchtime tomorrow, instead of taking 30 minutes and eating my sandwich, I want to take a 30-minute walk and talk to God. I'm going to pray and fast. That's a simple start. Maybe it's an activity that you want to give up. Maybe you get home about 5.30 at night just in time to watch the last half of the news, and the first thing you do is walk in there and flip the news on. By the way, there's no news on that's worth hearing.

There's just not. I mean, it's kind of like, let's see how bad it is today. What would happen if I start my Monday this week, by when I get home, instead of walking straight in, changing clothes, and catching the 30 minutes that's left of the news, what would happen if I sat out on the porch and pulled up a chair and talked to God? It is this idea that we literally are adding in extra prayer, and we're taking away the meal or the activity to do it. Number two, start with a single meal or activity, that's number one. Number two, seek God with the time. Once again, the goal is not to give up food or an activity. The goal is to clear out some time so you can have more time to pray. The goal is to give something up so that you can add something in. It's kind of like if you watch a particular show every week, and you walked in one week and said, honey, I'm going to turn that off. this week because I just want to spend time with you. Now first, she's going to faint, but second, she's going to be impressed. She's going to say, wow, this guy really does love me, wow, this guy really wants to spend time with me. Third, change it up. The key to fasting on a regular basis is use variety. God is creative. He's put His Spirit within us. You might fast a lunch meal this week, and next week it might be a breakfast or a dinner. You might give up social media for an evening one day this week, and next week you're turning off the television or you're doing something else. The point is not to get stuck in a rut. A rut is a grave with both ends kicked out of it. That's all it is. The goal is to change it up and find creative ways to seek God, and fourthly, journal about the experience.

Journal about it. I was in college and a brand new Christ follower when I was first introduced to the idea of prayer and fasting. Not just prayer, but turbocharged prayer, serious prayer that included fasting. The guy that was leading us in it led us to this plan. He said, hey, how about if we fast Tuesday at lunch and we'll gather Tuesday afternoon after class and talk about what God taught us, and we'll journal about it. I still have those journals from 50 years ago. 50 years ago, I started learning the power of fasting coupled together with prayer, of prayer turbocharged with fasting. I think God has a whole bunch for us in 2026. Things eye has not seen and ear has not heard and mind has not conceived, if we will ask and fast, if we will pray and fast. Dallas Willard, great theologian, great writer said it this way, it's in fasting that we learn how to feast on God. That's pretty cool. So crisis is coming your way this year, what are you going to turn to? If we rely on organization, let's just work harder, we'll get what organization can do. If we rely on education, let me learn about this, we'll get what education can do. If we rely on talent, let me find sharp people in this crisis, we'll get what talent can do. We'll write this in. When we rely on prayer and fasting, we get what God can do. Whole year in front of us, whole year of crisis, whole year of opportunities, a whole year where each of us can decide I'm going to pray more and fast more in 2026 because I want to do everything God has for me. That is the fast track. Let's pray together. Father, thank you. Thank you for inviting us to pray.

Thank you for showing us in your word that the most serious prayer we have is the one that is offered with fasting as well. God help each of us to carve out a meal, an activity, just one piece of time this week and spend that extra time with you. Show up big, Lord. Teach us to pray and to fast. That is our prayer in Christ Jesus. Amen. I'm going to ask you to stand to your feet. Stay with us. We're going to worship one more song together. Prayer partners are coming back down front. You've probably noticed lately we're giving more chances for you to come and to be prayed for or to pray with somebody. That's because we're giving you more chances to be prayed for or to pray with somebody. If you would like to talk with someone about giving your life to Christ or just pray about some crisis or need, come talk to one of them. Let's worship together. And I just want to sit here at your feet Caught up in this holy moment Never wanna leave Said I'm not here for blessings Jesus you don't owe me anything More than anything that you can do I just want you And I'm sorry when I'm just going through the motions I'm sorry when I just sang another song Take me back to where we started And I open up my heart to you And I'm sorry when I've come with my agenda I'm sorry when I forgot that you're in love

Take me back to where we started And I open up my heart to you I'm caught up in your presence I just want to sit here at your feet Caught up in this holy moment Never wanna leave Oh I'm not here for blessings Jesus you don't owe me anything More than anything that you can do I just want you I just want you And nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you And nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you And nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you And nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you And nothing else, nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else can satisfy, nothing else can satisfy Nothing else will do, I just want you Nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else, nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you