Fasting And Spiritual Warfare

Praise God. Let's go to our message here this morning and I'm going to ask you to turn to Mark chapter 9 and verse 17. Mark chapter 9 and verse 17. We're going to read through to verse 29. My message this morning is fasting and spiritual warfare. We are on the eighth message of this spiritual warfare series. I think already we've dealt with some things that normally wouldn't be dealt with in spiritual warfare. We've looked at binding and loosen, how it isn't just binding a demon, but it's actually church discipline, how we deal with sin and issues that arise among real Christians. Go back and listen to binding and loosen and you'll see there binding and loosen has everything to do with an authority of the church and how we deal with problems. The scripture tells us we don't have a right to do that our own self. Then we looked at pulling down strongholds in our mind. People normally are more caught up in binding demons than really dealing with thoughts in their own mind. We've done the entire message on that, but here this morning I'm going to deal with fasting in the context specifically of spiritual warfare. We've taught, we've preached, we've written on this before. We've exhorted you on it many other times, but I want you to think about fasting in relation to this one issue of spiritual warfare. We're going to be very focused. We're going to follow a line through scripture as we look at this. By talking about fasting, we are not diminished in prayer. I've done a whole series in prayer and finished the last message on fasting. We do not make too much of fasting. In the church today, there is a great neglect. Reading from Mark chapter nine, fasting and spiritual warfare. Mark chapter nine and verse 17. One of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit, and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth, and he gnasheth with his teeth, and he pineth away. I speak to thy disciples that they should cast out, and they could not. He answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you, bringing him unto me? And they brought him unto him, that is Christ. And when he saw him, straightway the spirit tear him. Sometimes it gets worse when you bring an issue to Christ. And the spirit tear him, and he fell on the ground, and wallowed, foaming. And he asked his father, how long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, of a child, and of times it cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believe. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the false spirit, saying unto him, thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him. And he was as one dead, insomuch that many said, he is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up. Do you know, again, there's times when Jesus is at work, you'll think the boy is dead. He's not dead. Jesus is going to raise him up. And Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up. And he arose. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately. Notice what they do. Privately, they ask him, why could we not cast him out? They didn't want it to be publicly answered. And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. Can we pray here this morning? Father, I thank you. Lord God, when we're in a battle with the powers of darkness, with the devil, in our families, in our lives, in our own homes, Lord God, amongst friends, in our city, in our nation, Lord God, we can add to our prayers fasting. You said prayer and fasting. You said there is a conflict with hell itself. When we begin to pray and fast, we are coming into conflict with the powers of darkness, with the evil spirits that bind men and women. Lord God, when situations are impossible, when man can do nothing, Lord God, when even we, the church, can do nothing, we add fasting to our prayers. Father, I pray that through the preaching of the word of God, that faith would come into hearts. Lord God, that many would begin to pray and to add fasting to it, even as they hear this message today. Lord God, stir hearts to seek you. Lord God, to render hearts, to humble themselves in fasting. Lord God, to bring their body under. Lord God, that the spirit within them might pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. We come to our message here this morning, fasting and spiritual warfare. Now in some Bibles in our generation, the new Bibles, they leave out certain words in this verse that we read in Mark chapter 9 and verse 29, where certain translations of the Bible actually say this kind can come out only by prayer. The word fasting is not there. And if you cross-reference this to Matthew 17 verse 21, you'll find the entire verse is missing. But I want to tell you, that is wrong manuscripts. Man has played games with that. No, let me say something else. I believe the devil has played with those verses and taken out fasting from those two texts in the new Testament. And this is the reason I believe fasting has to do with breaking the power of Satan, breaking his works, destroying his works, exposing him and setting the captives free. I have no doubt that fasting is a powerful tool in defeating Satan. And so we see fasting as a part of spiritual warfare. If you really want to take part in real spiritual warfare, you're not only going to fast, but you're going to, sorry, you're not only going to pray, but you're going to pray and fast. It says in Mark 9 29, where we've read here, and he, that is Jesus said unto them, the disciples, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting over in Matthew 17 21. That's missing out of many Bibles. The verse isn't there. It says, how be it this kind goes not out, but by prayer and fasting. You see, there can be no doubt that prayer is a spiritual weapon to destroy the works of Satan. It affects what is happening in the spiritual realm around us. We can't see it. We can't touch it, but through prayer, our prayers affect the spiritual climate around us. It is a spiritual weapon that doesn't just have an effect in the natural and the physical, but in the spiritual and the unseen, you may never physically or visibly see the answer to some prayers. And yet your prayers are dynamic in this spiritual world. It defeats the enemy. It destroys his plans. It stops him and hinders him from doing what he would otherwise do. But it also brings forth the purpose of God in your life, in this church, in our nation. You see, prayer is a mighty weapon, but yet Jesus says prayer and fasting. What does he say? Add fasting to prayer. There are some spiritual battles that prayer is not enough. You might say prayer is everything. Yes, I know. And yet here in spiritual warfare, Jesus says when you're facing the devil, when you're facing a supernatural power, when you're facing the powers of darkness, the devil himself, you must add fasting to your prayer. Since when you realize that you're facing the devil in your home, your family, or your own life, when you realize there's a warfare going on, add fasting to your prayer. Jesus said in Matthew 6, he talked about three things, about alms given to the poor, about prayer, and then about fasting. Do you know what he said? When you give alms, when you pray. In other words, a Christian prays. A Christian who doesn't pray isn't a Christian. It's utterly impossible. But listen, in Matthew 6, he said, moreover, when ye fast. In other words, Jesus took it for granted that every real Christian will fast. Maybe it's a day a week. Maybe it's three days a month. Maybe you miss a few meals here and there. I don't know. I'm not setting any sort of regulation on you, but you do fast if you're a Christian. It is a vital part of your spiritual walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, the following verse says, when thou fastest, Jesus took it for granted that a Christian will fight. Is it any wonder so many in the church are defeated in their spiritual life when they don't realize fasting is a part of spiritual warfare? There's some battles against hell in your life. You will not win unless you add fasting. If you only pray, or if you only occasionally turn to the things of God and say, I don't know why anything's not changing. You need to add fasting to it. In Matthew 9 and 15, Jesus said about his disciples, then shall they fast. In Ephesians 6, it says praying always with all prayer. Do you know that fasting is a kind of prayer? Oh yes, you can pray without fasting and God answers your prayers. He does. You don't need to fast always, but all prayer shows there's many different kinds of prayer and prayer and fasting is a certain type of prayer that is unique in its own self. Again, the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 and 5, he talks about a minister, a preacher approving himself or showing himself forth that he is a preacher, that he's called of God, that he's called to minister to the body of Christ. Do you know one of the things that says there in 2 Corinthians 6 and 5, by fastings. In other words, a real preacher, a real servant or minister of God is going to prove that he's really called of God. How? One of the things is by fastings. In other words, fasting is going to be a part of that preacher's life. It may change from time to time, maybe longer at other times, maybe shorter, but there's always going to be a pattern of fasting. It's a normal part of his life. Again, a bit later in that chapter, he goes on speaking about, he said, I am a minister. I am more than all of these false teachers. And then he gives a long list of qualifications. Just one of them is in fastings often, in fastings often. Since I'm talking about real spiritual warfare here, I'm talking about breaking the power of Satan. We have dealt a couple of years ago with fasting and spiritual warfare. It's a very thorough message. Go and listen to it. We also on our church website have a leaflet of how to fast, very basic instructions. But here this morning, I want to deal with this issue, fasting in a very specific way, fasting as a tool to break the power of Satan. And I've got two main points that might shock you here this morning. Those who hear me preach from year to year, only two points, but be assured within each point, I've got at least several points if God will help me here this morning. My two points this morning concerning fasting and spiritual warfare. First of all, defeated by gluttony. Second, victorious in fasting. As I show you these two points, defeated by gluttony or victorious in fasting, I'm going to give you a fuller picture of what it means and how fasting actually affects the spiritual realm. The apostle Paul, again in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, he says now all these things happened unto them, that is Israel. In other words, all the stories, the testimonies, all the things that go on, all about the kings of Israel and the wars and the battles, all those things happened in the Old Testament unto them for in samples or an example, or for us to see and learn from. And they are written for our admonition, our attention, our warning, and for our mild rebuke on whom the ends of the world are come. In other words, everything written in this Old Testament, listen to me carefully before we go to our first point. When I go to the Old Testament, every physical warfare between Israel and the Philistines and the Ammonites and whatever other peoples or the Egyptians, every single one of those physical literal wars that were carried on, they're all written for the learning of the church. You see, I believe all those stories in the Old Testament were actually placed there to be used to show us about spiritual warfare. What you see in the Old Testament in a physical literal battle is transferred over as an example to us in the church. And when we read them, we think of it spiritually. We as a church don't go out with swords and spears to fight our enemies. Our enemy is spiritual. We're not fighting flesh and blood. We're wrestling against powers and principalities. And as we look at the Old Testament and the New Testament, there are many examples for us to learn how to wage spiritual warfare. And as we come to prayer and fasting, as we look into the Old Testament, we're going to find many cases of fasting and prayer in literal situations which have a message for us. But first of all here this morning, my first point, defeated by gluttony. Before I show you about victory through fasting, I want to show you in the Old Testament how that gluttony was used to spiritually defeat individuals. Do you realize that your body, how you eat, how you think about food can either destroy you spiritually or it can make you a man or woman of God? How you buffet this body and use it to the glory of God or the neglect of it can either make you a castaway. That's why Paul buffeted his body, lest he be a castaway. He buffeted his physical body. Those Christians who say, oh, but I love Jesus in my heart. I'm under grace. It doesn't matter about outward physical things. You're a liar. You're a deceiver. And it's contrary to the Bible. My point, defeated by gluttony. In Deuteronomy 21, verse 20 and 21, it talks about an example. Moses has given us this of a young man, a son, and listen to his sins. He's stubborn. He's rebellious. He's a drunkard. Those are terrible sins, but notice the fourth thing that's put with it. He is a glutton. Four sins are named. Stubbornness, rebellion, drunkenness. We know they're all terrible sins, but also gluttony, gluttony, eating too much or putting no constraint upon your eating habits. I want to tell you this morning, if you do not watch over your eating habits, you're in dangerous ground. You will tell yourself, it's no problem. It's under control. You're just like the alcoholic. You're just like the stubborn or rebellious person. They do the very same. If you do not govern your eating habits, watching over it, submitting it, buffeting that body, you're in very dangerous ground. Do you know what they said to do with this young son who was not only a rebel and a drunkard, but he was a glutton. He ate constantly to his own satisfaction. He never denied himself. They said, stone him. Take him out of the city, stone him to death. That's how serious gluttony is in the eyes of the Lord. The law would put a man to death for gluttony. It's still a sin, saints. Gluttony is a sin. If you eat without any restriction, it is a sin before God. They actually go on and say, by this way, stoning him, put evil away from among you. In Proverbs 23 and 20, it says, be not among winebibbers, among notorious eaters of flesh. The next verse says that it leads to poverty. Do you know there's such a thing as food drunkenness, addiction to food? It's often in the Bible connected to idolatry, laziness, sexual immorality, and hopelessness. Overeating without restriction, eating constantly to your busting. Saints, you're not going to understand the spiritual warfare until you begin to understand that physical body of yours, your eating habits are not just a natural physical thing. They actually affect the spiritual realm of your life and of the kingdom of Satan. It says in Proverbs 13, 25, the righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul. Notice that a righteous man eats until he has had enough. He's satisfied. Do you know eating taste is a God-given thing. God created it. It's good to eat. There's even right times in the Bible to have feasts where we eat beautifully for days. The people of God, there is a right time to feast. God is not denying enjoying food. I enjoy my food. I like the taste of it. It is a God-given thing. It's a beautiful thing. Notice the righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul, not his belly, but his soul. He seeks to satisfy his soul. In other words, my soul has control over my body, over my belly, but it goes further, but the belly of the wicked shall want. In other words, the wicked are dominated by their physical belly, their feelings, their desires. Even when they eat all they want, they're still not satisfied. They'll eat a full meal and they still do not tell their belly what to do. In Proverbs 25, 16, it says, hast thou found honey? Eat so much that is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomited. Do you know honey, too much honey is bad for you. Yet the Bible instructs you to eat honey. Honey is good for you. Very good for you. I replaced sugar with honey many years ago. It is sugar is the devil's substitute. I assure you, sugar is a killer. If you drink Coca-Cola, you're killing your body. If you don't watch over these things, you're damaging the temple of God. There's no doubt about it. Sugar is not a good thing. You do what you want to do. I'm just telling you facts here. Now, honey in a small amount is very good for your body, in a sufficient amount. But if you eat too much, it's going to damage you. In 1 Corinthians 6 and 12, it says, Paul writing, all things are lawful unto me. As a believer under grace, all things are lawful, but all things are not expedient or necessary. All things are lawful unto me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Are you under the power of food? Does food, gluttony, your belly determine your lifestyle? Can you not seek God because your belly determines what you do? I want to warn you, the scripture talks into this. Listen again, Paul says, meats for the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them. If you live like that, you're in a dangerous pathway. Now, the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. You see how he's just connected fornication with overeating. That's what he's just done here. In a sense, my point here is defeated by gluttony or the eye or the senses, smell, taste buds, your belly could destroy your spiritual life. Very simply, you may think this is ridiculous, but you won't do by the time I finish this message. You may think I'm being too strong here. I can't be too strong when you see the verses I'm about to give you. Let me take you back to the Old Testament and look at the history, the outworking of this. Genesis chapter three and verse one. Now the serpent was more subtle. We know the devil inhabited that serpent, more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. That serpent was more cunning, more agile in his arguments, his words, the thoughts he planted in the mind. Let's listen to what he says to Eve. He said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. The first time Satan speaks to a member of humanity, he begins to deal with their eating. He sees that eating is an inroads into the garden of Eden, into their life, to steal their inheritance and into all of their children. Saints, don't belittle us. I know there's more spiritual truths and we've often preached on it, but I want to show you the first time Satan speaks to Eve, it's concerning eating. Ye shall not eat of every tree of the planet. Just asking a question. Is it really wrong not to deny yourself food? The devil will say that to you. In the next verse, he mentions eating the fruit and the tree. In verse three, again, he mentions the fruit eaten, not touching it, or else you will actually die. You know, when to this question, Eve responded and said, not only are we not to eat it, we're not to touch it. God never said that. She put herself under a strict legalistic regime, saying God said we're not to touch that. He didn't say that. Never change God's word. If you make the word of God stronger than it is, the way narrower than it is, I guarantee you'll be someone who eventually makes it very broad because you think you can change the word of God. You make it stricter than what God does. You judge people harder than what the word of God is. The Bible says show grace, forgive, show meekness, but you're so strong, you're stronger than Jesus Christ himself. That's a very dangerous place. Eve got into real trouble because when she was being challenged about eating, she made it far narrower than God himself had made it. Then in verse six, and when the woman saw that the tree, and notice as she sees it, first, it's been a thought, just a question. Now she's looking. The devil starts talking to her about eating. Now she's looking and the woman saw that the tree was good for food. You say that's harmless. All she's doing is looking at food. It's good for food. What's wrong with that? That it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise. She took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband and they did eat. As we say, the rest is history. You know what happened. Now I know there's a spiritual realm here, but what I want to show you, this is a real story about real people, how Satan used the desire to eat to lead them into a realm of sin. They could not have imagined. Since I'm telling you this is at the beginning of the Bible, what a remarkable thing, but let's look at other examples here. When we go over to the book of Genesis, we find a young man called Esau. He was the brother of Jacob and he sold his spiritual birthright for food. He was defeated because of his belly, his appetites, his thoughts, his smell, all of these things defeated him in his spiritual life. In Romans chapter nine, in the New Testament, the Bible says God hated Esau because of his entire lifestyle was dominated by this gluttonous spirit. Oh, he wouldn't have been a glutton like you think of a glutton, but that life was dominated by it. He would rather compromise the things of God than sacrifice food. He wouldn't do that. In Hebrews 11, 20, it says that his father, Isaac blessed him. He was a blessed man. Then in Hebrews 12, 16, it says, lest there be any fornicator, which means sexually immoral person or profane person as Esau. Now look what it's talking about. Esau was not only a fornicator, he took two wives. That's where his desires were for this lifetime, but he was also a profane person. That's what the Bible says. Do you know what profane means? It means to cross the threshold, to step outside the temple, to be outside the house of God. You know what it's saying about Esau here? He was a man of the earth, a sensual man, a worldly man, a man of appetites. We find in Genesis that he was very fond of eating. He lived for food. He was a hunter. He was a hunter of deer. He loved red meat. That's what satisfied this man, this profane man. The Bible's warning about the sins of Esau. It goes on in Hebrews 12, as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. You say this is extreme. No, it's not. I've seen Christians for the smallest things sacrifice spiritual life. I've seen it in this church, person after person after person. For something you go, they're crazy. They're crazy. They're sacrificing the spiritual blessing of the house of God for a morsel of bread. Esau done that for one morsel of bread. For you know that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected for he found no place of repentance. Though he sought it carefully with tears. Don't tell me that the appetites, the belly dominating your spiritual life doesn't make a difference to you. If you think that, you're deceived here this morning. We have the story of Esau back in Genesis 30. And he went into his brother Jacob. He'd come in. He was tired from hunting, hunting meat. And he says, feed me. I am faint. You know, Jacob's savory dish, he was there preparing some vegetable soup and Jacob's savory dish of red lentil soup. The fragrance of it hit that young man's nostrils. His saliva and his mouth began to break forth. His belly began to rumble. All the smell of that soup. You see, for a few moments of pleasure, you can make a big mistake. Many men have. This man Esau hadn't learned self-control. The desire for food is one of the strongest desires in the flesh of man. And a Christian must get mastery of it. This man who was first in line to receive the spiritual inheritance from Abraham, Isaac, and then it would have been Esau. But this young man, because he had no control over his appetites, lost his spiritual inheritance. Don't tell me there's a small thing we're dealing with here. I'm talking about fasting and prayer to break the power of Satan. We're in a real spiritual warfare. What about Isaac, the father of Esau and Jacob? His entire life, if you study it, is marked by a life of sacrifice. He laid down his life. He sacrificed his soul. That's what marks his entire life. Listen, just before chapter 30, back in chapter 27, we see Isaac come to the end of his days. Listen to what he says. And he said unto Esau, behold now I am old. I knew not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons and thy quiver and thy bow and go to the field and take me some venison. He's on his deathbed, but he wants venison. And make me savory meat, yum yum, tasty meat, such as I love. This man, Isaac, certainly by the end of his days, he loved these savory venison meals that Esau provided for him. And he says, and bring it to me that I may eat and that my soul may bless thee before I die. I wonder what sort of example that left for Esau. Here's his father about to bless him, mixing the spiritual with the natural. Oh, that he'd fasted that meal. Oh, that he'd fasted that meal and blessed them and warned them and corrected them. I'm just showing you what the Bible says here. All these stories are written for our learning, our warning, our admonition, our instruction. Let me give you another example. Israel in the wilderness. Numbers chapter 11, we read in verse four, and the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting. This is the nation of Israel in the wilderness, but notice in their midst was a mixed multitude. They did not originate from Israel. They were from other people. Some of those Egyptians came with them and that mixed multitude, they weren't truly converted, weren't really regenerated, but they're in the church. They're in Israel. They're amongst the people of God. They're in their meetings. They're carrying on like them, but that mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting. This wasn't sexual lust. Oh no, it wasn't sexual lust. It was a very different type of lusting. And listen, and the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? God is supernaturally sending manna, angel's food, food from heaven, supernaturally every day. And the day before the Sabbath, he dropped two loads of it because they weren't eclectic on the Sabbath day. And once you have this mixed multitude begin to lust, begin to lust and long, and then it affects the entire people of God. And they all begin to weep. What a terrible thing when men, they're looking at supernatural manna from God, and yet they're weeping over the very thing that they don't have. Weeping, lusting for flesh to eat. Don't tell me that eating can't be dangerous. Don't tell me that. We remember, listen to what they say, we remember the fish and we did eat in Egypt freely. The cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, the garlic. What a dangerous place. When you begin to get your eyes on the things of this world, do you know what? You've got no power over Satan, no power over Satan. If you're living in this place, if this is how you think you're dominated by your body, you'll never have power over Satan. I've known Christians in the past. I mean, they bound every demon you can imagine. You could feel the anointing when they prayed and rebuked Lucifer to his face. Yet they were gluttonous men. They had no control over their appetites. They were men like Esau of this world. And yet they think demons are going to listen to them. No way, no way. They said, but now our soul is dried up. There is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes. Do you know what God done to them? God gave them their desire. And I don't want God to give me my desire. He didn't just give them birds, fowl, flesh for a day or a week or two weeks. For one month, he gave them so much meat from the sky, supernaturally. He got so tired of their complaining, their carnality, that he's provided them with manna that will sustain them. He says, until the meat came out of their nostrils, he gave them so much. You mummies maybe know this, but certainly I haven't tried this, so maybe don't try it, but I've certainly heard it. That a child that would go in and steal chocolate or be a chocolate addict, they sat that kid down and fed him so much chocolate in a day, he got so sick, he wouldn't touch chocolate for years. It scared him off. You know what God was doing? He says, take what you're demanding. Take your fill. Satisfy your lusts. And he marked that people to go, I'll make you sick of this. You know, it said, as soon as the meat was in their mouth, a great plague struck and they buried the people that lusted. Do you know, nobody died of a plague or an infection from that manna. Not one soul. Not one. But in those dead birds, there was a lot of disease. Everyone who touched it was judged of God. It says in Psalm 78, and they did eat and they were filled for he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from their lust. But while the meat was in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest or the most gluttonous of them and smote them down, the chosen men of Israel. You think God doesn't care about things like this? He does. He does. This is remarkable. Do you know, when I was going into America, I would tell friends, if I ever wanted to get trouble in America, I'd preach on the sin of fellowship and of feasting. I said, I would have got stoned in one day. If I go to Northern Ireland where I grew up, if I preach against foolish jesting, they'll stone me. These are all sins which are warned about in the Bible. But yet if you begin dealing with them amongst real Christians, you'll find a reaction. It says in Psalm 106, 14, but they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request, but he sent leanness into their soul. He can give you food for your belly. He can leave you alone to a satisfied life. He'll give you your request since I don't want him to give me my requests, but he'll send leanness into your soul. Your spiritual life will shrivel up, but you'll have all you want. One last example here, Eli and his house. You know that Eli had those two reprobate religious sons called Hophni and Phinehas. We are actually told that they created their own rules and regulations for the house of God. When people came in and gave their sacrifices, you know what they would do? They'd force the people and steal that red meat from them. They would then boil that meat and take that raw red meat and cook it to satisfy their own desires. They created their own customs. Now listen to the effect. The two reprobate sons were like this, but affected their old godly father, who was called Eli. The Bible says Eli was old. When we read about him, remember God's judgment came on him. He was a good man. He wasn't an immoral man. He wasn't a liar, but God judged him. He was old, he was blind, and he was fat. In chapter 4 of 1 Samuel, it says in verse 18, he was heavy. That means he was compromised. He enjoyed that meat that had the fat on it, red raw meat cooked from, and it led to sin. It says in Philippians 3 the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. These are religious men Paul's talking about. They think they're very religious, and yet Paul says your God is your belly, and you're earthly minded. That belly can make you only think of this earth. That's my first point here in this message this morning. Defeated by gluttony. We see it all through the Bible, that gluttony, overeating, not fasting, can actually destroy your spiritual life. I understand some listening to me, you may never have thought about this. You may have sinned in ignorance. I understand that. I understand God's very gracious. He's sending this message to you to challenge you. My second point, victorious in fasting, just as overeating has a detrimental effect. It's all through the Bible. I can give you many other scriptures, and again in the New Testament, Jesus warns of surfeiting. These last days, he said, could come on you unawares if you're getting drunk, or you have lots of cares on your life, or if you're surfeiting. Do you realize these last days you could be deceived, carried away, caught unawares, because you're overeating? Do you realize that? You're so caught up. You're not fasting, and you don't even see the yard that we live in. You're blind. I wonder why so much of the church is blind to what's happening at this time that we're in the last days. My second point, victorious in fasting. This is the other side. I've got to put both together so that you get the full picture, not just victorious in fasting, not just the answer prayer to fasting, but I want to show you how eating has a detrimental effect. Eating is good. Food is good. Enjoying times together eating is good. It's God-given, but to an extreme, untempered, it's an evil. My second point, victorious in fasting. You're going to find when you go to the Bible and you start following that word fasting, or fast, or fasted, you're going to find it's connected to spiritual victory, physically and spiritually. It's connected to revival. When God pours out the Holy Spirit on his people, intimately connected to revival. It's connected to real spiritual life, to personal discipline, self-control as a fruit of the Spirit, sanctification, our basic holiness of life, morality, the power of God on your life, healing, deliverance. Fasting is connected to all of these things. In other words, in this fasting, denying yourself food, doing without food for a meal or a day, three days or a week, whatever it is that the Spirit of God burdens on you or that the need demands of you, you're going to find there's great spiritual blessing connected to you denying yourself food at certain times. Let me give you again examples from the Old Testament of great victories that come over the power of darkness through fasting. First of all, in Judges 20, we have a very strange story here about the concubine who's killed in the city of Gibeah. Most people are so fascinated by that story, they miss what is in around it. I've only had questions about this chapter concerning the concubine that was killed, but not about fasting. I wish it was the other way around. It's a very strange story. A man has his concubine killed by the inhabitants of Gibeah. They cut her body up and sent it throughout the countryside. All of Israel, when they heard, were utterly disgusted. The other 11 tribes, utterly disgusted with what Gibeah, this city of Gibeah done. Do you know what Israel done? They raised an army. In fact, 10% of their entire people, 10% made up the army. They were knit together as one man. Then they come into the tribe of Benjamin where Gibeah was. They sent out preachers into every town and village saying, this is disgusting. This is vile. This is wicked. What has happened to this young concubine? They were calling the people to go out and to deal with Gibeah, to impose discipline. Do you know what happened? Benjamin pulled behind Gibeah, the city of Gibeah, the entire tribe of Benjamin and raised an army, listen, of 6,000 men. There were 700 men in the Gibeah, 6,000 men from the whole tribe of Benjamin. They actually gathered themselves against the army of Israel. Do you know how many soldiers that Israel sent against the little city of Gibeah? Listen closely. Keep this in your mind. 400,000 of an army. How many were they coming against? 6,700 of an army. Who's going to win? This small army in the city of Gibeah, that's acting wickedly, or this great army of 400,000 men who want to stand for God, who's going to win this battle? Well, it says this great army went up to the house of God first to ask counsel of God and Judah led the way. Judah always praised God. They believed in singing, rejoicing, praising, shouting, we're going to defeat the enemy. We love God. We love holiness. Do you know what happened? That small army defeated the big army. 22,000 of Israel fell that day. Gibeah triumphed. God isn't on their side, but they triumphed over the people of God. Well, the people of God regrouped that night. They encouraged themselves in the Lord. It says that they wept before the Lord till evening time. They were in the house of God, weeping, crying out, praying earnestly, Lord, help us. Give us the victory in the battle tomorrow. And the Lord prophesied to them and said, go up. They're saying, well, what do we do? Do we run and go back home or do we go up? What's your will, God? He said, go up. That's my will. Day two of the battle, the small army against the big army. Now the smaller army is actually gaining other soldiers. Others are saying, hey, we want to be in on this victory. And the large army of Israel is getting smaller because of the death toll. Day two, 18,000 of Israel get defeated. Israel is defeated again. They went back to the house of God and they began to weep. But listen to what they'd done before this third encounter with the enemy. Remember, they can't understand this. You know what I believe? There's spiritual power here. This isn't natural. See behind the city of Gibeah with its vileness, there is a spiritual force that is at work here. God's people can't understand this, but we prayed like the disciples in Mark. But we prayed. We couldn't cast the demon out. Here's God's people again saying, we prayed, we sought the Lord, we asked counsel, we done the will of God. We're in unity. We have a large army and they're defeated. There's a spiritual power behind this. You know what they done this particular night? It says they went up to the house of God and began to weep and listen. And they fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord and before the Ark of the Covenant. And the Lord prophesied to them and said, go up tomorrow. I will deliver the enemy into your hands. We read in the following chapter, how that they went up against the enemy and they slew 25,000 of the enemy. They didn't do that on the first day. They couldn't do it on the second day. But you know what, on that third day, as the enemy swelled, remember they had an army of 6,000 at the beginning. Now Israel is killing 25,000 of them. That means their army began to grow all the time as Israel's army is getting smaller. But there was fasting and prayer. Do you know that's written for our learning? Here's another one. In 1 Samuel chapter 7, we read about Samuel as an old man of God. And it says that the people of God came to him. And they're very broken. After 20 years, they said, we really want the Lord. We're so broken. We so want his presence again. We want the reality of God. They began to speak to that prophet of God like that. And it says they gathered together to Mishpah and they drew water and they poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted on that day. And they said there, we have sinned against the Lord. See, this is what the old prophet told them to do. He said, if you really want to get back to God, let's go to fasting and prayer. Let's begin to repent and deal with our hearts. Let's use a day of fasting to cry to the Lord and say, we have sinned against you. And Samuel judged the children of Israel and Mishpah. You know, things like this, today's church don't want to hear about it, but this is the pathway to spiritual power against the enemy. That's why there's no power today's church. Samuel, in this day of fasting, began to deal with their hearts, preach, deal, search out, and the Holy Spirit searched their hearts. And listen carefully what happened. Remember, there's no enemy on the scene here. They're not fasting to defeat the enemy. Here they are returning to the Lord. But listen, the enemy hears about it. And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mishpah, the Lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. You know, when God's people begin to fast and pray and humble themselves and repent, do you know that makes the devil very, very nervous. The devil actually stirs up his power against the people that begin to seek him. I've met Christians. They begin to seek God. The devil comes in and they get such a shock. They draw back and say, I'm not going to fast. I don't want to be involved in this spiritual warfare. This is true spiritual warfare. The people of Israel were afraid. And the children of Israel said to Samuel, cease not to pray for us that we'll be delivered out of the hands of the Philistines. And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a burnt sacrifice, holy unto the Lord. And Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel. And the Lord heard the prayer. Remember all of this is coming out of fasting. The enemy attacks them while they're fasting. Don't be surprised by a saint. The devil knows when people mean business. And Samuel, as he was offering the burnt sacrifice, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great thunder that day upon the Philistines and destroyed their enemies. You know, it was in the place of fasting. Remember, we've got to bring all of this over to the New Testament church. Second Chronicles chapter 20, we read about Jehoshaphat. How again, they had enemies coming up against them from Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir. All their enemies came up and came against Jehoshaphat to battle against the nation of Israel. A great multitude were going to destroy them. What did this king of Israel do? It says in Jehoshaphat, fear. Don't think that you're strong because you never fear. Maybe that's your biggest problem. Maybe if you began to fear and worry as you ought to, you'd be driven to prayer and fasting. And Jehoshaphat feared. And he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah. He began to call the nation to prayer and fasting. We need to seek the Lord. He didn't start sharpening swords. That's what some Christians want to do in this 21st century. They want to sharpen the swords, have a revolution, take up their guns. Jehoshaphat in the Old Testament didn't do that. He called a fast, a prayer, and called them to prayer. And in the midst of fasting and praying, God spoke to them. Well, he called on God in prayer. And he said, oh, our God, will thou not judge them, our enemies? For we have no might, no power, no power against this great company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee, oh Lord. What a prayer. What an amazing prayer. What an amazing prayer to say, I'm so weak. I'm so helpless. I don't know what to do, but I'm going to seek you in prayer and fasting, Lord. The Lord's going to answer. You know, God spoke to them and said, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but it is God's. Again, he went further and they said, ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you. Oh, Judah and Jerusalem, fear not, nor be dismayed. For tomorrow, go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. Over recent weeks, we've dealt a lot with Daniel, Daniel chapter one. Do you remember how he would not defile himself with the meat or the drink of the King? That's where you find Daniel first. Do you wonder why Daniel was the man he was? The man of prayer, the man of faith, the interpreter of dreams that he was shown so much. Do you wonder why he was a man that had his appetites utterly under control? You'll never face Satan if you don't. You'll never defeat Satan. You'll never be a man or a woman of God unless you rule your own appetites. Daniel could have said, could have crossed his fingers like some Christians do. And he could have said, well, I can eat it, but I'm going to have a good testimony. It's the spiritual that matters, not food. I can eat the King's food, drink his alcoholic wine. I'll be okay. But he didn't do that. There was something about that food that would have caused sin against his conscience. That young man, 16 years old or thereabouts, made the right decision. He purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. Oh, saints of God, I tell you, there's something in this. In Daniel chapter five, this old man of God gained a victory over Belshazzar's feast. I wonder why? Because he was a man of fasting and a prayer. In Daniel chapter 10, it goes further. Daniel is now a very old man. And it says there, in those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. Now notice his hard attitude, how his prayer and fasting affected him. He was seeking the Lord. The work amongst God's people had come to a standstill. The enemy had stopped it. The enemy had come against it. The prince of the power of Persia. There is a warfare going on that Daniel isn't aware of. He's just looking at the natural. Why, after two years in Jerusalem, did the work come to a standstill? And the people get tired and discouraged. Why did that happen? No revival in the land. Do you know what? There's a spiritual warfare going on in the heavens above. Daniel doesn't see that or feel it, but he's there praying. He mourned for three full weeks. In today's church, you're not allowed to be sad. They'll say, don't be sad. If you don't have a smile on your face, there's something wrong. Sometimes we need to rend our hearts. Sometimes there's a place for brokenness. That doesn't mean defeat. That means faith. That means there's a wrestling, a warfare going on. And Daniel said, I ate no pleasant bread. Neither came flesh or wine into my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at all till three full weeks were fulfilled. Notice that his three weeks of fasting. He's an old man. He's been a man of fasting many times. He's fasted from food, but notice the fasting here is not full abstinence. He ate no pleasant bread, no delicate bread, no sweet bread, no nice tasting bread. The bread, the loaf that he liked most, he said, I won't touch that. I told you before that in Scotland, I had no problem fasting, but I got convicted. Because fasting was fine for me. I fasted all the time, but suddenly I went, there's no sacrifice almost in it. And I like my cups of tea. 10 cups of tea a day is nothing for me. I love that Black English tea or Irish tea. I love it. But you know what? I decided for three months, I fasted tea. It never crossed my lips. Three months. And I didn't tell people that thought this. I've gone mad, not drinking tea. What's wrong with me? Is there something wrong? Not drinking my tea. For three months, I did it unto the Lord. It seems like a small thing, but you know, for me, I went, that's the one thing in my appetites I love and I'm not going to touch it. Daniel said, I won't touch that nice bread. Oh yes, I'm eating. Just so I have sufficient strength so I can work, go about my business. Now I'm up in my late eighties. I need a bit of strength. 21 days. Daniel didn't realize that his prayer and this partial fast was actually caught up in a great spiritual warfare. Daniel didn't utterly understand this, but it was an intensive three weeks of prayer. Do you know his prayer was heard the first day? In fact, when the angel comes to him during those 20 days, he felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing, didn't understand. His prayers are being hindered 21 days and he denied himself all that nice food, all that pleasurable food, things that aren't sinful normally, but he denied himself because he's in a spiritual warfare. Why is God's work stopped? I wish some of you, if you see me getting dull in my preaching, go to prayer and fasting. You don't need to tell me. Maybe I'll never know that you prayed through for me, but go to prayer and fasting. If you say, Malcolmson's not on the ball, don't criticize me. Go to prayer and fasting. I've done this for other preachers through the years, other worship leaders who go, what is wrong with that guy? I had to begin to fast and pray. He got into worship. It was on fire. I actually walked this out. When the angel comes to Daniel, he says, for from the first day that thou didst eat, that thou didst, sorry, set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God. How did he chasten himself? By not eating. Thy words were heard and I've come forth for thy words, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and 20 days. And Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me and I remained there with the king of Persia for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Our fight is not with men, our ministries, our governments. Our fight is with spiritual powers. If you're doing nothing but complaining, what's happening in our world with the lockdown, with COVID, with all of these things, if that's all you are doing, I want to warn you, it's time to fast and pray. There's no point complaining. Get on your knees and repent and begin to seek God. If all you do is criticize, criticize Biden, criticize Boris, criticize our Irish government, criticize all of the legislation of the World Economic Forum, but you don't get down to prayer and humble ourselves as the church of God, then we're playing games. We're not fighting a spiritual battle. We read the same in the life of Esther, how there was a plot by Satan. Who was behind Haman? Satan. There's powers of darkness. We don't read about them. We don't read the name of God in Esther. But do you know what? The devil was there. He was inspired Haman to destroy the whole people of Israel. What did she do? Under the instruction of Mordecai, she called them to three days of fasting and prayer. And listen, she said, fast for me and neither eat nor drink three days. Not only stop and eating, but stop and drinking. Night and day. And I and my maidens will fast likewise. And so will I go in onto the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish. Do you know, there was a great victory in Esther's day over the power of darkness. It could have annihilated the Jews, but instead it raised to their honor. Through fasting and prayer, only three days of fasting and prayer. And the whole power of Satan in the Persian empire was broken. Oh, that the church of God would do it again. What about in Ezra chapter eight, when Ezra is going to make that 1000 mile journey from Susa back to Jerusalem. And do you know what? He was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers. You know why? He told the king that we serve the living God. So he didn't want to ask for soldiers against the enemy that was going to be that thousand miles or it's going to be many enemies knowing they were coming. Do you know what? What did Ezra do? 1000 miles. I can't get the soldiers. What do I do? Do you know what he actually said? He said, so we fasted and besought the Lord, our God for this. And he was entreated of us thousand miles, no enemies. When we come over to the new Testament in Matthew chapter four, we find Jesus led of the spirit of God into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting and a prayer. One of those three temptations on the last day of those 40 days, it says in Matthew chapter four, verse one, then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days, notice it's only the last day we get. And he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights. He was afterward a hunger. He was afterward a hunger, the temptation to satisfy the natural needs of the body. You can be manipulated. If the devil can manipulate you on the level of your body, of your five senses, on your lusts, your natural human lusts and desires, the devil will play games with you. This need for food was not sinful. It was a normal, basic human need. Even Jesus got hungry and felt like he wanted to eat. It was a temptation to do a correct thing. Turn this bread, sorry, turn these stones into bread. Use your power, your divinity to satisfy the needs of your own belly. The whole prosperity movement has gone wrong in this. They listened to the devil. They listened to the devil. They put their body before the spiritual. They did not deny themselves. Somewhere the devil came and spoke to them. Then in verse four it says, but he, 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 that Christ amidst fasting is facing the devil. He's right in the midst of fasting and that's where he meets the devil head on in this time of fasting and prayer. You know why? Either the devil's going to win or he's going to win. There's got to be a victory before he steps out in the ministry, before going forth in the power of God to heal the sick, cast out demons, to preach repentance to the lost, to have the power of God upon him. He fasted and he prayed. Oh, that we had more ministers in the church of God that fasted and prayed to see the power of God. Do you know he quoted that scripture from Deuteronomy chapter eight? Go and read it. It's very interesting about the people of Israel being in the wilderness 40 years and it says God had them in the wilderness to humbly, to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou was keep his commandment or not. That's why, and he said, he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna. Do you see God's plan on this? That they even felt hungry and had to live off the supernatural manna from week to week, day to day, which thou knowest not, neither did their fathers. And this was the reason that he might make thee to know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. That's why Israel had manna in the wilderness to teach them this. Now Jesus is in 40 days in the wilderness and he defeats Satan on this last day. And one of the three victories was over that body, over appetites, over the desire for food. Oh, he could have turned a stone into bread and nobody knew about it. Only half a loaf, that's all he needed. A few bits, a few crumbs to keep his strength up. Since it's very real what we're dealing with. Let me finish here in Mark chapter nine, where we were. The father comes to Jesus and says, if, and Jesus says unto him, if thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believes, faith was the issue here. You want your son healed. You want a miracle. Can you believe me? Jesus is asking a distraught, broken father and his child is tormented. And do you know what he said? If you can believe me, the man says, I took him to your disciples and they couldn't. Well, it was because of their unbelief. This is when Jesus says it's prayer and fasting. That's why you couldn't deliver this child. That's why you couldn't do it. And he said unto them, this kind can come not but by prayer and fasting. Since in all of these things we are seeing, there is a victory over Satan, over the devil by prayer and fasting. We're not in a natural, a natural warfare. We're not facing natural things. We're here for a very short time. We're here for the souls of men to see evangelism, revival, to see the power of God, to see sinners repent. Why isn't it happening? The church is in confusion, but we need to focus ourselves. Let us seek God for the souls of men, for the sick to be healed. Let me finish here in our message. So much more to cover. This weekend, we as a church, Limerick City Church, have called a fast and a prayer. All of you, you know, I've said that, but I'm saying this for those who listen to messages. We've got many good friends now listening to these messages, and they don't know what's going on in our midst. And you love us, you're praying for us, you're caring for us. And we didn't call you into this fast. We will do next time in a couple of weeks' time. We'll let you know, and you can join us. And we as a people can join together, all in different nations. We're fighting our battles in our own homes, and it's very real. Some of you are fighting such battles, such hellish battles. Can we unite together and fast and pray? But let me tell you what this fast our church has been doing this weekend is about. It's my wife, Candice, my precious wife. In March last year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. They gave one chemo treatment. It almost killed her, put her in bed for three months, created a lung disease. That chemo can be more dangerous than anything, I assure you, than cancer itself. She was in bed, just barely made it. Then in June, they give her a terminal diagnosis saying, you've got six months. If you come on to our treatment, maybe you'll have a year and a half. Well, we decided we wouldn't touch that treatment. No treatment since last June. And we just went to fast and praying as a church here, seeking God, humbling ourself. You ladies in this church, you remember those times of prayer and fasting last year. Some of you were getting baptized in the Holy Ghost. Others were being filled with the Spirit afresh. Remarkable things were happening. You know, that lung cancer, Candice said, oh, we have to fight the battle over cancer. But one morning in her bed downstairs, just below me here, she got out of bed, fell on her knees, and said, oh God, leave the cancer to another time. But this lung disease, I needed you to touch me. Instantly, the Lord healed her. She could hardly breathe in those previous three months. She had an air machine that she needed several times a day just to breathe. Instantly, she was touched by God. It went instantly. She took the medication for the lung disease, put it in the cupboard, hasn't touched that since. But not our battle is this cancer. And we would ask you, stand with us in this battle. You friends that have joined, I wanted you to know about this. I don't like to share these things publicly, but I know there's many of you love us and care for us and appreciate. Sometimes I come to this pulpit and preach. I'm broken hearted. Takes a lot to come to preach. It's not always easy. Some couple, just two weeks ago, criticized me for my preaching style. I went, what fools to think that's what this issue's about. I'm fighting. When I come to preach, I'm fighting. I'm fighting for the souls of men, for victories in the life of those that hear us. And we pray for you, just like you pray for us. Just four weeks ago, listening on these messages out in YouTube, a young lady in Liverpool, she'd been listening for a few months, all the messages just coming up. The word of God was dealing with her. Now in her physical body, she was a young Christian listening to the word of God. And she had physical problems in her body that she'd had for many years. And in fact, in her internals, this problem caused adhesions to all her major organs, apart from her heart. It caused extreme fatigue and caused severe pain. She had one adhesion that was so large that it bulged out visibly on her left side. She couldn't lie on that left side when she went to bed. It was so uncomfortable. Her husband couldn't touch it. The doctors were extremely reluctant to operate as it was dangerous and could cause her more harm. They didn't know what to do. Well, she contacted us just about five, six weeks ago and touched by these messages that were going out. I passed the emails on to Candice and Candice began texting with her, then phoned with her, had texts with her, said, I want to speak to you. Sunday, four weeks ago, said, I want to speak to you. I believe God's going to heal you. I want to pray for you. Then on the Sunday afternoon, four weeks ago, Candice, her heart was just struck by the Holy Spirit. And she knew instantly she wasn't to pray for that young lady herself on the phone that night. She knew that she was to go on the phone and instruct her to go to a church near her. She had no church, no regular church. And we knew a church, small church, but a man who loved Jesus and to tell her to say, go to that church, get them to lay hands on you and you're going to be healed. That was four weeks ago. She went to that church one week after that. She went there, never been there before, didn't have a church of her own, but Candice knew when she gets healed, she's going to know this is how the body of Christ works. In that church, she's going to find healing and become a part of that body. Well, she went there and hands were laid upon her anointed with oil. And do you know what? Two days later, she was healed. Two days later, all the pain left. There was no swelling there. She got her energy back. All of this, none of the problems that she's had for years. Her husband, an unsaved man, actually was dumbfounded and began to inquire of these things. Since I'm telling you that we're caught up in something real, my father, we got a phone call saying he's got one day to live. He was a man of 52 years old. He's got a night to live, maybe three days. His entire stomach was filled with cancer. They operated, opened up, they could do nothing for him. You know, my mom that night called me and my two brothers into the room and she says, sons, this is what the doctors say. But God, but God, I don't know what you're facing out there and messages. Even in this church, you could be facing things I don't know about and ignorant of. But I want to tell you, but God, he was given three days maximum to live. Do you know God healed him? All the cancer from that stomach disappeared. Do you know my grandfather was sent home about 55 years old, went to the doctor, sent home. My grandmother sat and cried. It was a terminal diagnosis. He's going to die. We can't do anything for him. His body is filled with cancer. Do you know what happened? The saints began to pray. He began to pray and believe God, it was a long bottle, not an easy bottle, but you know, as he prayed one day, as he prayed, seeking the Lord, there was a group of three men in the house, just further away in Armagh, a farmer who always lived on a partial fast. He was called prophet of the moy. He had a vision of my grandfather with the spirit of death over him. He told the other two men, there's a spirit of death hanging over Willie Mulligan. Let's pray now as they prayed. Do you know what happened? The exact same hour, my grandfather goes to the fire, looks in the mirror above it, that always was above the fireplace. And when he looked at that cancerous growth on his left, it was the outward form that was all through his body. The anger of God come on him. He got out his white hanky, grabbed it, cursed it in the name of Jesus. The entire cancer died in his body that hour. And he cast the old cancer in the fire. Since he lived another 20 years, walked with God, led men to Jesus Christ. What I'm telling you is there is a spiritual warfare. The church of our generation is ignorant of. They've been defeated on. They've given up. They don't even believe it anymore. It's not even in their Bibles. The word fast and connected to prayer. But I want to tell you in this message, we are in a spiritual warfare. This church is in a spiritual warfare. I'm in a fight for my wife's life. The doctors say she won't live. But God, I've got nowhere else to go. I am scared. This preacher isn't brave. No different than you. I don't have greater faith than you or greater courage. I'm scared. Candace is scared. This church is scared. But we believe God. And we are going to pray and fast over this weekend. And we'll come to see God again. Will you pray with me? I'm sorry for being longer than I intended to be. But I believe this is so important. We're in a warfare today. We are fighting the powers of darkness. Let's lift our hands where we are. Let's just begin to call out on God. Oh, God, we need you. We need you. We humble ourself. My God, we don't see what's going on spiritually around us. But we do know that this church, this preacher, this people, oh God, all those that are watching the messages and feel a part of this church, we are caught up in a real spiritual warfare. This is the last days. We're coming down to the end days. Everything is beginning to happen. Lord God, we're seeing it all happen. And we want this church to be right in the center of your purpose. We are small, oh God. We have nothing to boast in. But Lord God, we want to humble ourselves. We want to pray. Oh God, even throughout this year, we want times of fasting, of praying, of seeking your face where the powers of darkness is going to be broken. I pray for all of our friends in other nations that listen in, that join us. Oh God, stir them this week to pray and fast. Give them breakthroughs in their family and lost family members with sicknesses in their bodies, with problems in their churches. Give them a breakthrough. I pray make us one that we are in different places. Oh God, make us to rise up in prayer and fasting in a way that's going to draw your attention in this hour for a breaking of the hand of Satan that you'd expose his works of darkness for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. Amen. God bless you.