Jentezen Franklin - When We Fast
Hello, and welcome to Kingdom Connection. I'm so excited that you're joining us today. I'm coming to you from the Holy Land. I'm in the beautiful nation of Israel. As a matter of fact, behind me is a very famous mountain. It's called Mount Gilboa, and in what I'm going to share today, I'm gonna share a revelation and a secret that you've never heard. It's connected to our fast. You know, we, as a ministry and as a church, every year begin the year with a 21-day fast. We seek the Lord on the Daniel Fast, and we abstain from meat, we abstain from bread and from sweets, anything with sugar in it, and we just eat healthy. It's vegetarian basically, vegetables and fruit, and we seek God's face just like Daniel did. He fasted and prayed, ate no bread, ate no meat, ate no sweets, for 21 days, and in the Scripture, the Bible said God sent breakthrough to his life, and I believe He's gonna send it to your life, and I'm so excited for the thousands upon thousands of you who are joining us on this fast.
Today's message is gonna connect the power of fasting with humbling yourself. Fasting is humbling yourself, and there is a profound revelation and lesson that I'm gonna share today on the telecast about King Saul and this very place where I'm standing that I don't think you'll ever forget. So, stay tuned, and by the way, if there's a need in your life, there will be a number on the screen. We have an army of people, I'm not exaggerating. Tens of thousands of people are fasting and praying, and we're in a special season of fasting and prayer, so send us your prayer requests. We would love to pray for you. Listen, Deuteronomy said that, "The Lord our God will bless you a thousand times more..." and we just felt to just decree over our families, and our lives, and our calling, and our purpose, and our businesses a thousand times more, just like Deuteronomy 1 promises. Wouldn't you like to have a thousand times more of God's presence, more of God's favor, a thousand times more in your church and in your ministry, reaching souls, helping people, lifting lives? That's what I'm believing for, and I'm believing it for your life.
You say, "Well, I don't know, that sounds pretty big". God is a big God, and, sometimes, we have not because we ask not, and we're on this fast and we're saying, "God, give us a thousand times more of You than we've ever had before". I'm not asking for little things. I'm not asking for, you know, just the crumbs under the table. And that's why we're fasting, and praying, and seeking God's face. So, open up your heart and let God, now, speak to you, and if you're not fasting with us, jump in and let's do this together. We've got unbelievable material that'll help you, and I know that I'm gonna be your fasting coach, and as we enter in together, listen, the Scripture said when you humble yourself through fasting and prayer, and I'm gonna teach that to you in just a moment. "When you humble yourself before the mighty hand of God, in due season He will... exalt you".
And I believe that we're moving in to a season right now. This year, I think God's hand is coming up under you, and your life, and your family, and your purpose, and He's going to exalt. He's gonna raise up. It's not for your glory. It's not for vain glory. It's time. You've come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Is there not a cause? It's time for a thousand times more of God's favor, of God's blessing, of God's anointing, of God's presence in our life. In just a moment, I'm gonna teach you the connection of fasting and humbling yourself before the hand of God, and it's a powerful, powerful lesson. I'm gonna come right back here in this spot. I know this message is a word in season for your life. Before I do that, I want you to listen to my announcer. I'm so excited about what he's gonna share. He's gonna tell you about some exciting things you and I together are gonna do.
Well, welcome to another day of fasting and prayer. I just agree with you today for God to do something mighty in your life. You know, when you're talking about fasting, fasting is a way of humbling yourself. The Scripture said, "Humble yourself..." in the Book of James. "Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God, and in due season, He will exalt you". If you humble yourself, God will exalt you, the hand of God will exalt you. One of the greatest stories in the Bible happened here. One of the greatest lessons that I think on pride happened here. The Scripture talks about, in Proverbs, that "Pride goes before a fall". Let me tell you the story of a man that ended right behind me on the mountain that you can see behind me. That's Mount Gilboa. His name was Saul. He was the first king of Israel.
The Bible said, "...he stood a head and shoulders above... all of the other men in Israel". And, when he began, he was extremely humble. The reason I know he was humble was when the Bible said that they called for him to be anointed the king of Israel, he was hiding among the stuff. He was so humble and so feeling as though he was unworthy of that high, lofty position that he was hiding, feeling his own insecurity, feeling his own insufficiency. And the prophet poured oil on King Saul, and the Bible said, "And he was turned into another man". I love that about Saul. It's a powerful verse. When the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes on you, He can turn your weakness into strength, He can turn your defeat into victory, and listen to this. The Bible said that Saul was born on Mount Mizpah. Mizpah, in Hebrew, means to be bent low. He started out in humility. He started out low. He started out humble. He started out meek, hiding among the stuff. That's the kind of leader God can use. But, he died on Mount Gilboa, and the word "gilboa" means to be exalted.
Now, you think about that. A man started on Mount Mizpah being bent low, totally depending on God, totally humble, hiding, feeling like if God doesn't help me, I can't do this. But the more that God raised him, and the more that God blessed him, and actually, one of the most powerful verses in the Bible, the Old Testament is God, before He removed Saul from office and replaced him with David, said these words over Saul: "When you were little in your own eyes, you were of great value to Me". What a lesson, that when you become big in your own eyes, God says pride is something that will cause your downfall. "Pride goes before a fall". "When you were little in your own eyes", there's nothing wrong with good self-esteem and believing in yourself, but don't ever get to the place that you feel like you can do it, your talent is enough, your education, your gifting. You need the anointing. You need God's presence. The more He raises you, the more you need to seek Him.
One time the Lord spoke to me about our ministry, and He said it's dangerous. We were really growin', and I was gettin' so busy I didn't have time to pray and read the Bible like I needed to. And the Lord said to me, "It's dangerous to have a growing ministry and a shrinking passion for Me". Some of you have growing businesses, growing families, growing careers. Don't let your passion shrink, because he ended up on Mount Gilboa, the mountain of pride, the mountain of being exalted, and they hung him and his sons on that mountain. The whole story of a man's life can be told by the two mountains, the one he was born on in humility and the one he died on in pride. It cost him everything. It cost him his family, it cost him his children, and it cost him the Kingdom.
So, what's powerful about fasting is that as you fast, you're humbling yourself. You're humbling yourself before God, and you're saying, "God, use me, again. God, fill me, again. God, bless me, again. God, I've grown. I've come a mighty long way. I started out with little to nothing, and Your presence, and Your power, and Your favor has raised me, but I need You more now, than I did then", that's the right spirit, "I'm more desperate for You now, than I was then. Now, that You've given me much, then much is required of me, and I need You like I've never needed You before". And there's nothing that says that more to God. People don't understand why we do this every year. People don't understand.
Those of you who are watching this right now, you know, I'm sure people have said, "You're crazy; why are you doing that"? But it's our way of sayin', one of the big themes of fasting, it's so consistent throughout the Scripture, is it's a way of humbling yourself. It's a way of sayin' I don't want pride to get a death grip on me and my life. And you don't know, pride is insidious. Pride is there and you don't know it's there. Do you know that the first sin in the Bible was pride? The first sin in creation was pride. Pride turned an angel into a devil, because Lucifer was, according to the Scripture, an archangel that was in an exalted, high place. He said, "I will ascend above the throne. I will be like the Most High". It's all about me, it's all about me. That's pride. And he was cast out of heaven.
Think about it. Pride can turn an angel into a devil. And I don't want pride to get ahold of me, I don't want it to get ahold of you, and it certainly has. I mean, if we'd be honest, we'd all have to say there are times where we begin to become self-sufficient more than God, you know, desperate. And that's why fasting is so, so, so powerful. It's us coming again at the beginning of a new year and saying, Holy Spirit, I need You. Holy Spirit, fill me again, and I humble myself. There's only two ways of being, you know, you got a choice. He said, "Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God", and that's what you're doing in fasting. Or, God'll humble you. So, you can humble yourself or God's gonna humble you. And that's why, when I fast and when I pray, and thousands and thousands and thousands of people are doin' it, as we're on this fast, one of the greatest things God will do is humble you. You'll see it. You'll think, I can't believe I was thinking that way. I can't believe I was acting that way. I can't believe I talked to that person that way. Because, pride can blind you, but when you fast, God will show you those areas of your life that pride is creeping in, and you know, just humble yourself.
Let's be people who give God the glory. Nothing wrong with succeeding, nothing wrong with being super-successful, but give God the glory. That's humility. Humility is not putting yourself down, humility is lifting Jesus up. Now, I just said somethin' right there. A lot of people think that humility is just, you know, putting yourself down all the time. That's not humility. Humility is lifting Jesus up, not putting you down. And so, God, I give You the glory. God, You deserve the honor, You deserve the praise. Every achievement, every success in my life, to God be the glory for the things He has done. As we continue on our teaching today, I just believe that what God is doing on this fast for many of you, and I really wanna encourage you.
If you have not decided to fast, I have had so many reports, everywhere I go all over the world, of people who said, "I watched you on television, you challenged me to fast. I'd never fasted before. I did the 21-day Daniel Fast with you, and I'm telling you, my life was forever changed". There's a reason why God has blessed us to share this message with you today. I've written books on fasting, and there's a reason why, is because it is a principle in God's word. Jesus fasted. Elijah fasted. Moses fasted. On and on and on, and it's a form of humbling yourself. As you've heard me teach today and as you continue to hear me teach, I believe that the Lord calls us at times in our life to say, come back to Me. Come back in humility. Come back in dependency. Come back in hunger and thirst for Me. Come back and seek Me. You're so busy. You're so busy.
Do you really wanna have just another year of activity and busyness? This is a brand new year. It's the best time of the year to say, God, I want more of You. I don't wanna have a growing business and a shrinking passion for You. I don't wanna have a growing family with more stuff and less of You. I need You like I've never needed You before. You've got children that need to experience the power of God. You've got grandchildren that were not raised in situations like you were, where you were taken to church all your life and experienced the power of God and the gospel. And I tell you, we need to get a burning for the next generation and the generation after that, and what you're doing when you fast and pray for 21 days and you say, God, bless my family, I'm humbling myself. All God needs is one.
Listen to this. The Scripture said in Psalms that, "He sets the solitary in families". Solitary means one. It says, "He sets one in families to bring out those who are held in chains". When God can find one in a family who will say, Lord, I want you to bless me and I want you to bless my family with Your presence, with Your deliverance, with Your supernatural anointing. God said, "I set solitary one, in a family to bring out all who are bound with chains". All God needs is one in your family.
Why don't you fast for your family? Why don't you humble yourself in fasting and say, God, I want You to break every addiction off every one of my family members, my loved ones. I want You to save them. I wanna see You move in my family like never before. And when you begin to humble yourself in fasting, when you begin to humble yourself in prayer, when you begin to say to the God Who's blessed you, I need You more than I've ever needed You before, I'm telling you, I believe a thousand times more favor's gonna come on your life, a thousand times more of God's wisdom and God's anointing is gonna come on your life. I don't want my life and my ministry to die on Mount Gilboa. That mountain behind me is where King Saul died, and it means to be exalted. He started out humble, as I've taught you. He started out hiding among the stuff when he started. He was born out Mount Mizpah, which means to be brought low. Isn't that amazing?
Started out low, but God said to him, "When you were little in your own eyes, you were of great value". It's possible for God to take people and raise them up and bless them, and they get big in their own eyes. They get prideful, they get arrogant. They treat people wrong and ugly. I tell you what'll break that off of you. When you fast, there's a brokenness that comes. When you fast, there is a returning back to the fact that God gets the glory in my life, God gets the praise for every achievement, for every success. That's what happens. There's a sweet presence of God that'll come. I'm just telling you, we just felt like to decree that as you fast and as you pray, Deuteronomy 1, "A thousand times more". A thousand times more of God's presence, of God's joy, of God's freedom, of God's grace on your life, on your family, on your business, on your career, a thousand times more of His presence in your life.
Why don't we ask God for big things? I think God's saying, you ask Me for little things, but I wanna do a thousand times more with your children. I wanna do a thousand times more with your marriage. I wanna do a thousand times more with your ministry or your business, which is your ministry. And I'm setting myself in agreement with everybody who's watching this program it's the year of a thousand times more. Hallelujah! Praise God! I think we're about to see increase, and I'm praying it over America. I'm praying it over our nation. I'm praying for God to do something in America and in the world that brings us together, that causes us to humble ourselves again before the mighty hand of God, so that He can raise, so that He can exalt, so that He can restore lives and families and God's plan and purpose in our life. And I wanna encourage you.
You say, well, I just don't know how to fast. Well, you just start. You just start. I've done these 21-day Daniel Fasts for so many years. I've done the other full fasts many times, and I'm telling you, it's just a discipline. It's just a discipline, and it's just having a made up mind, and making a vow to God and saying, well, here I go, I'm gonna do this for the next 21 days, and you will be amazed at how close you draw to God. I've never gone on a fast that I didn't get closer to Jesus. Aren't you tired of ankle deep religion? You know, there was a river in the Book of Ezekiel, and Ezekiel got out there and said... he got up to his ankles and he kept going deeper, and he got to his knees and he kept goin' deeper, and he got to his waist, went out a thousand cubits.
A thousand cubits, that's what it says, "a thousand cubits". He kept saying, "I want a thousand times more. I want a thousand times more". And it went from his ankles to his knees. Don't you want the river of life, the river of the Holy Spirit getting deeper in your house, getting deeper in your ministry? He said, I'm not satisfied with ankle deep, I'm not satisfied with knee deep. He kept saying, "I want a thousand times more. I want a thousand times more". Until the fourth time, the Bible said, he went out another thousand cubits into that river and there was water to swim in, and the Scripture said he lost control and the river took him. I believe that it's time for the Holy Spirit flood to hit your life, and things that you haven't been able to do, the Holy Spirit can just get you in His current.
Somebody's moving from ankle deep blessing to knee deep, to waist deep, to it's over your head. It's over your head. You're just overwhelmed. You're being overwhelmed. That's what He said would happen in the Book of Deuteronomy. He said, "All of these blessings will overtake you like a tidal wave". You ever stood out in the ocean and not been payin' attention, and turned your back on the ocean, and suddenly, a big old wave hits you and it just overtakes you? There is a wave of God's blessing that is coming, a thousand times more than we've ever seen, and it's gonna overtake our churches, and our lives, and our families. A thousand times more, in Jesus' name. What a powerful verse and what a powerful, powerful prophecy over your life today I'm speaking.