For about 22 years, we’ve been doing a fast at MDT in January. What is fasting?

Fasting refers to refraining from either food, drink, or both at your own will for a definite time. So, why fast?

Matthew 6:16. In this Scripture, we find the words “when ye fast” not ‘if you fast.’ This lets us know that it’s the will of God for us to fast.

Here’s another reason to fast. Look up Matthew 17:14-21.

Let me explain. When you go to an altar and you get saved, Jesus literally comes into your heart and washes everything out, making you a new person. Many people and religions stop right there. However, it is Jesus’ plan to go further than that and grow inside of you. It’s His plan that the very character of Jesus be revealed in you and through you, that you can be a light to those in darkness.

In Matthew 17:21, I don’t believe that Jesus was talking about the demon in the child. I believe that Jesus was talking about the unbelief in the disciples’ hearts. That thing that is hindering you from getting your miracle will continue to do so until you pray and fast and clean the temple. 

Fasting is not to make God bigger or improve Him.

Fasting is to humble us and bring us to a place where God can be manifest and flow through us on a whole new level. You cannot effectively fight the Lord’s battle in the world while neglecting the one raging inside of you. How many times have we tried to advance in haste, and soon realize it’s our own heart we struggle with? God will send us to our knees to detox, repent, and search our lives.

Genesis 25:23. Romans 9:10-12. God wasn’t talking just about two individuals or two nations. God was also talking about the two of you. I was born on April 29, 1960. That was the older Anthony Wynn, the elder brother. But later, I got down on my knees at an altar and prayed for the Lord to come into my heart. That’s when a new birth took place inside of me, the younger brother. It is not the will of God that your flesh controls you. The only way to bring this elder under subjection is to deny him and break his will. You are a child of God, led by the Spirit of God, and your flesh does not have to control you.

Romans 9:13. God isn’t talking about two men, He’s talking about two natures. The Adam nature is enmity against God. Fasting is this, “God, I’m born again. I’m pretty sure if I die right now, I’m on my way to Heaven. I’ve come a long way and I’ve grown a lot. I’m not who I was, but I’m not who I want to be. The only way I’m going to get there is to seek you.”

Fasting brings a decrease of the body so the soul can hear the whisper of Heaven.

If we want to get all the old junk out of our hearts and lives, we need to fast and pray. We have to seek God then He’ll get all that stuff out of the way and He’ll move in. When He moves in, no weapon formed against you will prosper. When He moves in in His fullest, whatever you ask Him, He’ll do. Jesus must increase; we must decrease.

So, what do we need to get out of us?

We’ve talked about what fasting is for, to humble us and detox our soul. So, what is it that we need to detox out of our soul?

If you take two contractors and ask them to build a house, they each may approach it in different ways, but in the end you will have two products that look just alike. In the Bible, you have James telling you to control your tongue, Paul tells us to die daily, and there are many others that touch on other aspects. But each one is saying the same thing in different ways, to put our flesh under our feet so Jesus can live.

We need to get our carnal mind out of us. Get in your mirror and let your carnal mind know that it will not control you for the rest of your life. Fear, anger, hate. It all comes from your carnal mind. This is where the enemy comes against your mind. Romans 8:6-7.

We need to find things that hinder our prayers. One is the way you treat your spouse. Being mean to your spouse can hinder your prayer. Proverbs 21:13. Another thing that can hinder your prayers is when you have a selfish heart and don’t give to those who need help. James 4:3. Another thing that can hinder your prayer is your reason behind the prayer. When you pray for someone who is sick, do you pray because you are moved with compassion and want to see them healed, or are you looking for the recognition of being a mighty one of prayer and God heard your prayer. James 1:6. We need to pray to get the wavering out of us. It is the will of God for our families to be saved. It’s the will of God to bless you. It’s the will of God that you be healed. Have confidence in God.

Those are just a few of the things that we need to get out of us. For the month of January, MDT is going to be doing a fast, a detox, to get ourselves humble and rid us of unbelief and help us decrease for God to increase. I want to invite you to do the same along with us. You can go the whole month, you can go 21 days, do what the Lord lays on your heart to do. If you truly seek the Lord during this time, you will not be disappointed.

When you go on this fast, make it a goal to not be the same as you were before.

–Pastor Anthony Wynn