INTRODUCTION
Conversations are “give and take,” and friendships and relationships taketime together.

• Praying through Scripture to know God better
Matthew 7:13,14 – “13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

• Prayer: Talking to God, hanging out with God
John 14:26 – “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

The believer will learn the mystery of Gods will!

Contrition
Nehemiah 9:1
"On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads."

“I’m sorry” carries an implicit desire to change your behavior

Fasting and expectation
Fasting is essentially giving up food (or something else) for a period of time in order to focus your thoughts and prayers on God.

Fasting is seen to intensify prayer.

REVIEW
Nehemiah 1:4-11 – “4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.
For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: “LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night”

LESSON

• Fasting
Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to fast.

Mark 2:18-20 “18…For what reason are the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but Your disciples are not fasting?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of the wedding-hall cannot be fasting while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long
a time as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot be fasting."
Jesus is the Bridegroom

• What is a Disciple anyway?
A disciple is one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.

• Jesus Fasted:
Luke 4:1-2 - “1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”

• Christians are expected to fast
Jesus taught to not be obvious when fasting.

• Jesus taught us to be humble when praying and fasting
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, fasting and prayer are often mentioned together Jesus fasted as did his followers, not out of a sense of obligation, but in a desire to seek the Lord’s presence and out of necessity for the ministry of the gospel.

APPLICATION
Ultimately, fasting is far more about focus than food.

Nehemiah 9:38 - “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”