Notes from "The Lovesick Heart of the Fasted Lifestyle"
This tape looks at Isaiah 58 (and Matthew 6) and examines the motivation behind prayer, fasting and giving. If a person engages in the 3 activities with Intimacy with Jesus and a knowledge that God delights in us through the cross, our heart will grow in love and partnership with God. If however we don't stay focused on God's passion and acceptance of us while we are engaging in these 3 activities, our hearts get hard and proud focusing on what we are doing... and we turn into Pharisees. Fasting done outside of the Romance of God (Intimacy) does strange things to the human heart. Pride and other evils may result. The context of our discussion is our ongoing Lifestyle. Our hearts are not affected in these negative ways by fasting here or there, or giving sacrificially here or there, or praying here or there... But if we build these 3 into our daily lives (and we should) without putting intimacy with God right at the center... something strange happens in our hearts. Only by positioning our cold hearts before God's intense desire and delight in us can we engage in these activities over the long run in a positive and healthy way. The knowledge that, in Christ, He loves us and is passionate about us before we were ever passionate back to Him is the gospel! The Rebellious and the Immature are two different groups before God. God has unusual delight in the immature who are saying "YES" to Him but also struggling against the temptation and pull of sin. God has passionate delight and enjoys weak believers who are failing, but trying. The Rebellious are not looking for God, trying to say 'Yes' to Him or trying to resist sin. God cannot enjoy the Rebellious who are shaking their fists at God in anger. He loves them but He cannot enjoy them the same way He does the sincere but weak believer. When we put the 1st Commandment 1st our heart motivation is pure. If we try to do the 2nd commandment and serve / love others without the 1st commandment (loving God by allowing Him to love us) our hearts will be lifted up in pride resulting in two things: We will build our own self righteousness rather than depend on the gift of righteousness from God's death for us We will look down on others who are not praying like we do, fasting like we do, or giving sacrificially like we do. If we keep our heart before the fire of His love for us - then our service will be pure, merely an outworking of His love for us that is FREELY given to all. Consider the case of Martyrdom in I Corinthians 13: 3 "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." Isn't that amazing... if someone is martyred for the gospel but doesn't have love it is worthless! There is such a pressure to get busy with Activity and miss intimacy and communion - and this is even possible in the 24 / 7 prayer room. When our hearts are moved primarily by people's needs, burnout is just around the corner. People's needs can be the secondary motivation, but put the 1st commandment 1st if you want to go for a lifetime. Compassion is so important but it must be priority #2 not #1. Intimacy removes the pride of being on the "cutting edge" - the pride of being the ones who feed the poor, pray or fast. We are not called to prayer, fasting or giving. We are called to the heart of God, intimacy, and encounter with Him. Prosperity is safe only as we are intimate with God! People reject fasting, prayer and extravagant giving saying, "It's Legalistic," because it hurts. A practice is legalistic or full of grace not by the activity itself but by the motivation behind it. If we engage in these three activities or others to earn God's favor - that is legalism. If we do them because we already HAVE His favor and we want to respond and partner with Him - that is GRACE. The Romance of the Gospel - Intimacy with Jesus protects us from being bruised and burned out. The Romance of the Gospel - delivers us from the pride of Elitism - Since we are already being delighted in by Him we don't have to be better than other Christians. We so long to be special! To feel good about ourselves - it is just basic human nature. But if we engage with Jesus and know His delight in us - THEN we are safe from wanting to be better everyone else. The Romance of the Gospel protects and ensures the unity of the church. Prayer, fasting and giving are not neutral. They don't have any power in and of themselves - the power is either God or sin in our hearts. We end up tenderized and sensitive to God (and others) because of God's love for us or we end up broken, angry and proud if we do these things by our own strength. Are you fasting to enlarge the sphere of your ministry or because you are delighting in the Lord? Verse 5 of Isaiah 58 "Humble Yourself" and "Afflict your soul" - remove all the props that help you cover the pain of your naked life before God whom we barely know. Remove all the pain killers - the eating, food, entertainment, activity etc... and let Him love you there. |
