By prayer and fasting
Category: Prayer
Key Passage: Matthew 17
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: May 13, 2025
Over to Matthew chapter number 17 tonight. Matthew chapter number 17, and we’re going to talk about a dirty word. You might want to plug your ears for just a second here. That’s good. That’s good. We’re going to talk about fasting. You don’t want to hear about that. You don’t want to hear that at all. For just a bit, every couple of years, we’ll discuss this subject of fasting, and you don’t get much more than the core group on Mother’s Day Sunday night or Easter Sunday night, whatnot. That’s core for sure. And I thought it would be a good time.
And then also at the end, I’m going to ask if you might consider fasting for a couple of things about our church. I was planning on telling that at the beginning, but I was praying about it. Let’s do that at the end because I don’t want you just thinking about fasting for the church. I want you to think about fasting for the needs of your life.
You know, if I say a couple things for the church, that might be on your mind, but I want on your mind, Lord, do you want me to fast? Maybe about something in your life and need, maybe something you’re trying to overcome, maybe for direction. But I don’t want to do that. And I want to say this up front: let me talk about the subject of fasting.
I am not an expert. I’m not where I ought to be in fasting. I’m kind of probably like the rest of us. I’ll have my good times and my bad times.
But I’ll say this: when I’m fasting more regularly—everybody’s a little different—I have some kind of some routines that I feel like the Lord likes me to do. And when I do those, I just feel like I have a lot of extra strength in my Christian walk against my flesh and where I want to be, and just a little, just extra from the Lord and winning in my Christian life.
And then life gets busy and interruptions and all that, and I’m not following my routine that I do. But it’s so helpful when to do. And that’s a challenge to me tonight also. You know, preaching is interesting. It’s really just one sinner preaching to a bunch of other sinners, you know. And so it’s for me too tonight. And I’m looking forward to getting back to where I ought to be in this subject of fasting.
Now, Matthew 17. Jesus has been up on the Mount of Transfiguration, just a special time of prayer, and God gave him this—the glorified body, shining like bright as the sun. And you know the story there, Peter and others there with him.
And then it comes down off the Mount, and this man had brought his lunatic—really demon-possessed son, and I say lunatic because the Bible does—but the son, to the apostles. Other apostles were down there, and they could not cast the demon out. They didn’t have the power to do it.
Jesus comes down, and the dad was a good dad; he brought his son to Jesus. It’s a wonderful message right there. I preached on that in the past, but just “brought my son unto thee,” and he says that in one of the Gospels. Let’s look and see what happens here. Matthew 17, and we’ll start in verse number 14.
And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and sorely vexed; for oftentimes he falleth into the fire and oft into the water.”
And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.”
And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, “Why could not we cast him out?”
Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain”—by the way, mountain the problem, right? This mountain. By the way, they just came off the mount, remember that?—“and this mountain also, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
It’s interesting. He wants to add a little note here: “How be it, how be it this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting.”
Just a little bit tonight. Prayer, yes, but fasting. We don’t talk about that much, and probably don’t practice it near like we ought—talk about myself here—but prayer and fasting.
How be it, how be it this kind cometh not forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Now what is fasting? It gets a voluntary—you volunteer—you’re voluntary abstaining from something, usually food, from something in order to seek the Lord more intensely.
I said usually food. Jewish people, for them, a Jewish fast would be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Even now, some of Muslims and whatnot, they’re fasting all day. Well, typically it’s from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and a lot of Jewish people would fast that.
It may be that it could be fasting for just a meal. And it may be lunchtime, breakfast, you know, supper, how the Lord leads you. It could be fasting for a meal.
Daniel had a fast, often we call it a Daniel fast, where they just abstain from anything else besides pulse or vegetables.
Jesus fasted. That is amazing. Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Wow. Remember reading it for you? Matthew 4:2: “And when he had fasted forty days,” he didn’t just do that AM, PM, forty days and forty nights. “He was afterward unhungered.” Luke 4:2 tells us, “And he did eat nothing.” Wow.
Moses and Elijah did the same. Now, that’s the serious fast for sure. I would not suggest you take that on right off the back. I do know a couple of preachers in our day and time that do that once a year. I’d say maybe start a little smaller and work up to that one there, you know, for sure. But if you work up to it, that’d be wonderful.
But fasting’s all through the Bible. Daniel fasted, Ezra fasted, Jeremiah fasted, Paul fasted, Joshua fasting, David, Hannah, Barnabas, and others fasted in the Bible. So it’s not like just a, you know, every once in a while. I know it’s very biblical, very much in the Bible. Many great Christians in the Bible fasted.
It could be abstaining from food, or it could be from other things. First Corinthians 7, verse number 5, says, “Defraud not one another,” talking to married couples, “except to be with consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” See if I can get that word out.
All kind of different fasts. I know some that will fast and they don’t drink anything besides water during the fast. By the way, in our day and time, fasting is very popular for health. That’s not bad. Nothing wrong with that. How many have ever heard of intermittent fasting? You know, that’s a big thing right now. Those are good things for health. That’s not what we’re talking about tonight. We’re talking about fasting for spiritual things. You fast for health; that’s a good thing and a wonderful thing, but I’m talking about us fasting for spiritual things.
Some will do electronic fasts. I know some have done it for a month. I think that’s a great fast, how the Lord leads you.
But there are many different types of fast. Fasting in the Bible, sometimes it was groups of people that would fast. I mentioned this at the end of the service here. Maybe the Lord gives us a little bit more direction, but I would like for the church to fast on some things, about some things.
They did that in the book of Nehemiah. They were having revival. Let me read it for you. Nehemiah 1:2: “Now in the twentieth and fourth day of this month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them.” That’s biblical. A group of people fasting over things.
They did that. The children of Israel did it during Esther’s time, remember that? Esther, and she was going to go into the king and whatnot. Esther 4:3: “And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his degree came, there was a great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.” So fasting could be groups of people. It could be a family. It could be a Sunday school class. It could be a church. It could be our ladies that are meeting with the missionary groups. Maybe you want to fast for a missionary. It could be a lot of different fasts in the Bible.
But how often do we not get something from God or not get a victory because we’re not fasting? Some have health issues, and you probably could not fast from food. Maybe you might want to try a certain type of food to fast from, or water, how the Lord leads you, from certain electronics, how the Lord leads you. But fasting is a biblical thing that God wants this kind. He said, “How be it.” You’re not going to get this thing—they couldn’t cast that demon out. You’re not going to get that kind of power to do these spiritual victories without prayer and fasting. It’s just going to have to happen.
Now let me give us a couple of guidelines about fasting. Look over in Matthew chapter number six. Matthew chapter six, and get a couple of things that will kind of guide us in what to do and not to do in fasting. Matthew 6 and verse number 16.
And Jesus here teaching us, he says, “Moreover, when ye fast”—notice, it doesn’t make it an option. You know, he doesn’t say if you fast; he says when you fast. Jesus is expecting you and I to fast. Yeah. He says, “Moreover, when ye fast, be not as a hypocrite of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.”
I learn a couple of things. First of all, he’s expecting us to fast. But when you fast, don’t do it to be seen of men. “Woe is me, I’m struggling today because I’m fasting.” Well, goody two-shoes for me, I’m fasting. Don’t do it to be seen of men. If you’re doing it to be seen of men, and you let somebody know about it, you know, or you’re doing it to let somebody know about it, God says you got your reward. It’s kind of you’ve taken away the effectiveness of fasting. You’ve got what you’re after—somebody knows about it. God says that’ll be it. You have your reward.
Don’t fast to be seen of men. You may have to tell your spouse, or maybe someone you’re going out to eat with or something. That’s part of it. Everyone’s got to do that. “Well, you know, I’m not going to eat,” you know, “not mad at you or anything, but I’m not going to eat,” whatever it may be. That’s part of it sometimes. But the purpose, you’re not doing it to be seen of men.
Here’s really the thing about it: let the Lord lead you. He will. Let the Lord lead you in what type of fast, how long to fast. Now, when I say that, the temptation is to not fast at all. No, no. He said, you’re going to have these great victories; you’re going to have to fast. I don’t know what type of fast it may be for you, but some kind of fast as the Lord, your prayer partner, the Spirit of God, guide you—that’s the fast for you. You’re asking. All of us are a little different. Our health is different. It may be a different type. It might not be food for you, but as the Lord guides you to fast.
Sometimes the temptation will be to take the easiest fast. That may be God’s will for your life. I would say, don’t set the bar so high that you’re not going to keep it. Sometimes we know that, well, I’m going to do this, and you know the back of your mind, you’re never going to do that. “I’m going to be like Jesus and fast 40 days and 40 nights.” Have you ever fasted an hour? I ought to start there first, you know. But don’t just don’t set it down so low, you know, that, “Well, I fasted five minutes. All right, let’s eat.”
Let the Lord lead you and guide you. It’s a piece of weaponry that God has given us Christians, and he’ll guide you in using it, and ask him. Ask him for it. Use this great tool God has given you.
I often went in an area of fasting, and this was such a minute one, but I use this as an illustration for our church often. When we wanted to start the church, we moved here, and we had found a place to rent. And we just couldn’t find a building to rent for the church. I didn’t reflect the Lord; I wanted us to start the church out of our house. I wanted a little bit of separation of family; I had two young kids and all that. And we looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and couldn’t find anything that we could afford. We were limited on our budget.
And we met with—I was trying to find a Seventh-day Adventist church, you know, they meet on Saturdays. “Man, let us use your building on Sunday, you know. Okay, Sabbath is on Saturday; you meet then. Now go ahead and do that.” I’m joking a little bit, you know. But we couldn’t find that. I remember meeting with the Union Hall president. I was trying to get the Union Hall for us to start in there. Oh, I don’t remember. It seemed like we went and talked everybody in the world. And if it was available, it was like megabucks for us, you know, and we just couldn’t do that financially.
And so we were just—and you can’t print tracks, you know, with your church name and address on it. I mean, you print, but you don’t have an address, you know, to tell them where to go to. And so we were just kind of stuck. And I went out one morning praying, and I was out at my prayer time. The Lord said, “Hey, Paul, this kind cometh not forth by nothing, but by prayer.” I hadn’t fasted. I’d been alone for weeks; I hadn’t fasted. And the Lord spoke to me.
And I came home that morning and praised the Lord for a wonderful wife. She had breakfast already ready to go. Hallelujah right there. I mean, that’s good preaching. I tell you what. And I told her about the Lord speaking to my heart, and I said, “Tammy, you can’t have breakfast now, you know.” No, I really wasn’t that much of a fast. I didn’t have breakfast. My wife said, “Well, the Lord spoke to your heart; I want to either,” you know. And really, it’s just a short amount of time. It was a little bitty fast.
But I wrote down Murfreesboro Road there in LaVergne. I’ve been down that road a hundred times by that point looking, and I never noticed a little bitty daycare down there, holding the wall, little thing, and I thought, well, never noticed it, stuck down in there right across from the Dunkin’ Donuts. Everybody knows where Dunkin’ Donuts is. Yeah, somebody’s holding Dunkin’ Donuts. Yeah, Dutch Bros is trying to overtake Dunkin’ Donuts. I’m going to have a vote. We’ve got a church split over that, you know.
But, I hear you, I hear. Miss Melissa’s voting for Dunkin’ Donuts already. Had to get her going. I knew that’d get her going right there now, you know, for sure. But anyway, where we were at? You know, but, yeah, yeah, we’re on Dunkin’ Donuts in LaVergne. That’s it. That’s a good place to stop right there, you know.
But right across the street, it’s a neon building down, a little daycare back then, and I was so sick and tired of asking people for buildings and, you know, and all that. So I went in there, and I was just kind of a little flustered. Lady Virginia, just a sweet—she became just a friend to us, sweet, sweet lady. And she ran that daycare, and I said, “Hey, ma’am, I’m a Baptist preacher going to start a church in the area looking for a place to meet.” That’s all I said. I didn’t try it before. I was really trying to butter them up and all that. It didn’t work. I was sick of all that. I just went, “Hey, Baptist preacher, you’re going to start a church.” That’s all I said.
And she just, that quick, she said, “You can be here anytime you want. We’re here Monday through Friday, 6 to 6. Besides that, it’s yours.” And that’s really how I got a first building. And it was after fasting. Now, right after that, I went back home. It was only just a little bit out. So let’s eat now, babe. No, I didn’t.
But fasting, it is God’s plan, friend. And I wonder how many times we don’t have blessings and victories and strength because we’re not fasting. It is part of God’s plan. Wouldn’t it be sad for us to go to heaven and say, “Lord, why didn’t you give me this? Been praying about it for 40 years.” And God said, “Well, I was waiting for you to fast.” That’s biblical. And just asking the Lord, “Lord, what would you have me do and what kind of fast would you have me do as far as fast?”
Let me talk to a couple, just real briefly here, a couple purposes for fasting, all right? Sometimes it’s just a—it’s seeking an answer from the Lord, direction.
Daniel was studying the book of Jeremiah, and he couldn’t kind of—he couldn’t grasp it all, and he wanted to know what was going to happen to the children of Israel in the end times. And so he was fasting over that. Let me read it for you. Daniel 9:3: “And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.” By the way, God gave him the answer. We understand much about the tribulation period, specifically about the Antichrist, the abomination of desolation, Daniel 9:27, all the peace—remember the peace contract they’re going to sign, seven-year peace contract? We understand that from Daniel 9:27. And God answered Daniel after he fasted.
Why? I want God’s direction; I want God’s leadership. Wonderful. He’ll show you, but he may show you you’re going to get there by fasting. Yeah, part of God’s plan.
David, remember his child—his baby—had a wedlock, and it was sick, and he said, “I don’t know if God’s going to have mercy here or not.” And David, he fasted over that. Second Samuel 12:16: “And David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth.” That great Christian, David, man after God’s own heart, not perfect, he is sinful, but he knew, “I’m going to get an answer to God. One of the tools God’s given me is fasting.” That great Christian, he’s fasting.
Sometimes when you’re trying to get right with the Lord, you’re trying to draw nigh to God. Yeah, I’ve been so distant from God. Father, God never moves; it’s us that moves. I want to get back close to God. I want to walk with him like I ought to, and like I used to, and all that. That’s a wonderful desire.
Joel, chapter 2, verse number 12: “Therefore also now saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” Oh, sometimes I want to get back close to God. Fasting is a great tool to do that. Oh, it’ll change just so very much to allow us sometimes to get close to the Lord.
It’s a way of humbling ourselves. David here in Psalm 35:13: “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.” Did you notice that? “I humbled my soul with fasting.”
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you.” We’re so much about exalting ourselves. That’s not God’s plan. You exalt yourself, God says, “I abase you.” You humble yourself, God says, “Now I’m going to exalt you.” You know a great way of humbling yourself? Fasting. Fasting.
Now, whatever the type of fasting it may be that the Lord’s guiding you to fast about, but fasting is a tool God uses to humble us. Hey, let me ask you, by the way, while you’re on that subject, how good are you at humbling yourselves? God can humble you for sure, but the Bible often talks about us humbling. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.” If my people shall call by my name shall humble themselves. And a great way to do that is fasting, just doing without as God leads you to do.
Look over, if you will, in Isaiah 58. I think maybe one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible about fasting is Isaiah 58. We all do a Bible study on it sometimes because it’s a little tricky, in my opinion, and it took me a while to grasp, I think, a little bit better all he’s saying in Isaiah 58, probably—I know I don’t grasp it all for sure—but it took me a little while in memorizing some verses there, whatnot, but it’s a wonderful chapter about fasting, and I love it.
Let’s do this—I wasn’t planning on—but let’s go down to verse number 11. That’s a wonderful promise. Isaiah 58 and verse number 11 of Isaiah 58:11. You’re there tonight, amen?
What does he say? “And the Lord shall guide thee continually.” That right there is just good for me. That’s enough right there. “The Lord shall guide thee continually.” Who, anybody out there will like that? Oh, man, I like that. “And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought.” You know, everybody goes through drought, faithful in season, everybody goes through out of season. And God says there, he said, “I’ve got you continually.” He said, “I’ll satisfy your soul during the drought.” That’s a pretty good deal. I mean, you’ll be all right; you’ll be satisfied, your soul. “Satisfy thy soul in drought.”
And then he says, “And make fat thy bones.” Well, I’m getting there for sure on the fat part, amen, you know. And he’s talking about fat bones. You said, “What does it mean by that?” You have a strong backbone. Everybody pushing you at work, everybody pushing you here and there, and the devil pushing you, and your flesh pushing you, but you got a strong backbone. All right. That’s a promise of God over here. And he says, “I’ll guide you continually. I’ll satisfy your soul in drought. I’ll make fat thy bones.” I like that. I need that. This old world will push against you, always trying to conform you to the world’s image. I need a backbone where I can stand against the world. That’s a good promise. He’ll make fat thy bones. You can stand against. You have a strong backbone, I’m going to say it right there. “And make fat the bones.”
Watch this: “And thou shalt be like a watered garden.” Have you ever flown out west? And I don’t know how many of you know better than me, I think a little bit past the Rockies somewhere on the other side. You’ll notice it’s all brown. You’re flying an airplane; you look at it; it’s all brown. And you’ll see where they have these huge—these huge—these huge sprinklers, you know, and you can tell right where they go because it’s like big old green circles or half circles. And everywhere else is brown. I went to California one of the first times, and you’d see a lot, and you could see exactly where the water went on their sprinkler system. If it wasn’t watered, it was brown.
And God says, my promise here, you want to be part of that green part? Part of the green circle where it’s watered? Yeah, that’s what it’s promised. It’s a wonderful promise. God, you continually satisfy your soul in drought, make fat the bones. It’s like a watered garden. Boy, that garden’s been watered right there.
And look at the last promise here: “And like a spring of water whose waters fail not,” even in the drought. Keep springing up. Man, you just got water—they’re just springing up. Wow. What a promise.
Now, if I understand Isaiah 58 right, this promise is a conditional promise. And part of the promise is helping the poor, taking care of the poor—condition one of the conditions for it—and then fasting.
For me personally, I think the greatest verse for me personally that helps me with fasting is verse number six. Look in verse number six there. I’ve got this from memory when I’m fasting. If it’s for me a good fast, I’ll quote this verse often because it helps me. Look at that verse number six. Isaiah 58 in verse number six: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke.”
I like that, every yoke. You know, Satan’s always trying to put a yoke on you. Always. Boy, for me, when I’m fasting, I’ll try to quote that verse number six often: “Lord, this is what I’m fasting about. This is what I believe you’ve led me to, Lord. Would you do this for me? Would you loosen the bands of wickedness? Would you undo the heavy burdens? Would you let the oppressed go free? And would you break every yoke?” It’s so helpful for me when I’m fasting, and God just seems to honor that so much. And then I can claim verse number 11. Boy, I like that. A wonderful, wonderful promise from God.
Hey, is there an area in your life? Is there something in your life? See, you know, I’ve never—it’s a burden. It’s a burden. No, I’m never fasted about it. Maybe it’s just I would like to go to the next level for the Lord. I just can’t seem to get there. Have you tried fasting? How be it, I got a demon chasing me. Well, they couldn’t chase that demon out. Couldn’t cast it out. You said, “Yes, faith.” We’ve talked about that. Randy Munster said, “We’ll talk about that.” He said, “Let me finish up on that, give you another thought.” How be it, this kind—that demon in your life, that problem—this kind cometh not forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
And so let’s fast about these things. And as the Lord leads you in your life about the different things, be a blessing. And praise the Lord for it.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂By prayer and fasting＂- Sunday PM 05⧸11⧸2025 [xYKHEJTeZS0]