S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Well, I got to take you to Alaska. I need
S2: some give me some Alaska bumper music here. We got
S2: to go north. Here.
S3: Alaska bumper music.
S2: Yeah. Give me some Alaska bumper music. Give me something there. Man.
S4: Up in Alaska, the state that stands alone. No dog race.
S4: Run from Anchorage to Nome.
S2: They're doing it right now.
S4: Yes. Race with the lightning. Pace with the chilly winds.
S4: Do well beneath the northern lights. Cross snow and the ice.
S4: And it's called the Iditarod Trail.
S3: They had to move the start, didn't they?
S2: They moved the start to Fairbanks because of lack of
S2: snow over once early stretch of the race called the burn.
S4: Yeah. Lit.
S2: Turn it up here a little bit.
S4: I did, I did I did the I did it right.
S2: Okay. There we go. That's good enough. I can't take
S2: too much of that.
S3: That's fair.
S2: We need a new one. Should have contracted with Boston
S2: to write it. And I did a run song.
S3: Man, that would be a pretty epic. Yeah. Too late.
S2: Uh, so here's the deal. The Iditarod is going right now.
S2: In fact, I texted my buddy Mitch Seavey the day
S2: before he took off and just told him I was
S2: praying for him, and he responded, thank you so much. He's, uh,
S2: he's a competitor. They're out in it right now. I
S2: think right now, Mitch and the teams are moving toward
S2: the Yukon River, and it's an epic race. I want
S2: to take you back to a place, though. It's called
S2: Happy Valley. They should have renamed it Unhappy Valley. You
S2: come out of, um. You know, we're about 100 miles
S2: into the race, and you come off of a lake
S2: and you go down. It's called the steps. And, I mean,
S2: it is almost vertical. And if you can survive that,
S2: you got a big chunk of the race behind you.
S2: One little stretch about, I don't know, a quarter mile.
S2: And it's just going right into a gorge. And I
S2: was navigating it pretty well. And I got down near
S2: this is 1979. I'm competing in the Iditarod Trail Sled
S2: Dog Race, and I got down near the bottom and
S2: my sled just took a quick dive to the left.
S2: I somehow got over a stump. Tree stump of some
S2: consequence and it was right below snow level, and it
S2: just tore my sled up and threw me further into
S2: the ditch. And I'm sitting there in a heap and
S2: my dogs are looking back at me like, man, what
S2: was that? And at that point, I still had 13
S2: dogs in my team, and I don't know what I
S2: was thinking, but I'm like, I got to wrestle this
S2: sled back up onto the trail. I'm about six feet
S2: off the trail in deep, deep snow. I can get
S2: no traction at all, and every time I'd push, my
S2: legs would go deeper into the snow. And then it
S2: dawned on me. I got a dog team hooked to
S2: this sled.
S3: You don't have to do it so much by yourself.
S2: And I just looked at him and I said, guys,
S2: and the command is not mush. You say hike. And
S2: I said hike! Hike! And they leaned into those harnesses
S2: and they pulled that now pretty smashed up sled up
S2: out of the ditch, back onto the trail. That's what
S2: I'm proposing between now and Resurrection Sunday for you. I
S2: want you to join me on something. We've called our
S2: church One-eighty Chicago, to a fast starting today. Today is lent.
S2: I want you to join me. Not a full water
S2: fast and no food for 40 days, but one meal.
S2: If you're medically able to do this. If you're healthy
S2: enough to do this. If you're not, maybe just move
S2: it a little bit later and spend one meal a
S2: day where you are seeking the face of God to
S2: overcome that one thing that's got you in the ditch spiritually,
S2: that's holding you back from running the race, holding you
S2: back from all that God has for you. You know,
S2: sometimes we wrestle with ourselves trying to get ourselves out
S2: of the ditch. Did you know you're hooked up to
S2: God and he's got all the juice you need? Yeah,
S2: every bit of it. You say, Carl, do you believe
S2: this stuff? I believe it.
S3: Yeah.
S2: And I want you to taste it.
S3: Carl, before we give out this resource. This is something
S3: that popped into my mind. Fasting is not transactional in
S3: the sense of I'm going to not eat so that
S3: God will give me something. Correct?
S2: No, this is about aligning our lives with the power
S2: source in our life, saying I'm desperate for you. Yes,
S2: it's just saying, God, I need you. You don't say
S2: hike to God. No, you say, God, pull me out
S2: of here. And I don't know what it is. I
S2: don't know what that one thing is that's really holding
S2: you back from everything God has for you. But if.
S2: If you want to know the most important day on
S2: the calendar for every Christ follower, it ain't January 1st,
S2: it is Resurrection Sunday. And I want to give you
S2: a resource. I gave a message some time ago. You
S2: can listen to it. You can scroll forward through the
S2: worship set. You can enjoy it if you want, whatever
S2: you want to do with it. Or you can just
S2: go right down to an ebook, a little overview of
S2: its compilation that my bride put together of 30 different
S2: resources on fasting, practical things, how to fast, how to
S2: position your heart, why we fast. What we can fast
S2: for all the ways that we're in the ditch. Man
S2: in a snowbank asking God, can you get me back
S2: on the trail? I want to run this race like
S2: never before and God can do it. We're calling this
S2: 40 day fast, which the way the sequencing works up
S2: to Resurrection Sunday is every Sunday is a feast day,
S2: but every day, starting today, just skip one meal. Lean
S2: into God. And then on Sundays, it's a feast day.
S2: If you want to join us and you want to
S2: know some tips on fasting, get this link right now.
S2: Real simple to get.
S3: Yeah, just text the word hungry. Hungry to 800 555 7898.
S3: The word is hungry and only the word hungry to (800) 555-7898.
S3: That links right in there for you.
S2: Yeah. Godspeed to you guys. God can do what you
S2: cannot do. Stop wrestling. Call on the name of God.
S2: Text hungry hungry to our number here and we'll get
S2: that resource to you.
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio, which is a
S1: lot of.
S2: Teachings that are their call on our life. But then
S2: you stumble into these teachings, especially in the sermon on
S2: the Mount that Assumptions are made by Jesus that I
S2: don't know that we linger there long enough. One of
S2: them is when you fast. Not if you fast when
S2: you fast. Has that ever struck you, Ali?
S5: Yes. Because when you think about all of the time
S5: we spend talking about prayer, that is certainly the expectation
S5: for the Christian. I don't know that fasting is as
S5: much a part of our conversations or our spiritual disciplines.
S2: Yeah. Ronnie, when you give to the needy, when you pray.
S2: But when you fast right there in the sermon on
S2: the Mount, you can't miss it, can you, Ronnie?
S6: You really can't, Carl. And sometime we try to miss it,
S6: or we just miss it, or we just read fast
S6: and don't pay attention. But, you know, fasting is mentioned
S6: 69 times in the Scripture in 57 verses. And obviously
S6: Jesus talked about it and Jesus practiced it, as well
S6: as the New Testament church as well as so many others,
S6: not only in biblical times, but in history and even today.
S6: And so, you know, God can do great things when
S6: we obey God.
S5: Doctor Ronnie Floyd, our guest this morning, speaker, author, encourager
S5: of Leaders The Next Generation, featuring a book today, The
S5: Supernatural Power of Prayer and Fasting.
S2: Ronnie, why did Jesus fast? In practical terms, he's the
S2: Son of God. Why did he fast? Was he simply
S2: modeling the way? I know we're getting into some deep
S2: theology here, but what do you say?
S6: Well, that's pretty deep. And, you know, I've had a
S6: lot of questions asked me about this subject for years.
S6: I'm not sure I've ever had anyone ask me that
S6: specific question. I do believe, Carl, that it definitely is
S6: a model. I mean, why would Jesus be baptized? It
S6: became a model. Why would he.
S2: Pray? Correct.
S6: You know, it would be a model. So I think
S6: it illustrates communion and Fellowship. There are things we do
S6: at times that that we may not understand, but God
S6: honors them. And I think one of the things that
S6: is really interesting about fasting is that it's it's almost
S6: mysterious with people, and they're not sure why that would happen.
S6: And they say, well, why does God bless that? If
S6: he does? Well, I can assure you he does. But
S6: I believe it comes down to simple obedience to do
S6: what God says, that we would abstain from the most
S6: natural thing we do, which is to eat. And we
S6: all enjoy eating. But in order to pursue the God
S6: of heaven, to do something in our life that only
S6: God can do.
S5: Doctor Ronnie Floyd, our guest this morning. Okay, so we've
S5: established that all Christians are called to fast. Is fasting
S5: just related to food? You hear about people doing a
S5: social media fast or a fast from Netflix or other
S5: things that they give up that are pleasurable for them
S5: for the sake of drawing closer to God. Is this
S5: the same category, or is that something entirely different?
S6: Well, I believe the biblical model Ali is is what
S6: the Scripture says, obviously, and it's all relating to the
S6: matters of abstinence from food. Every one of those verses
S6: that are in the Bible and the word itself means,
S6: you know, not eat shut mouth. I mean, that's pretty clear.
S6: At the same time, there are people who perhaps cannot
S6: fast due to physical reasons, or perhaps they have some
S6: kind of disease or something, and they're on medication. Maybe
S6: they need to limit whatever fast they did. But I
S6: think when you really come down to it, I mean,
S6: I think you all probably have found this in your life.
S6: Whenever you really sacrifice something you do enjoy, but you
S6: put a pause on it for a season so you
S6: can do something better in this situation pursue God, which
S6: is always much better. I believe God honors that. You know,
S6: I can't testify that that you know that that's the
S6: biblical model. I know what the biblical model is, but
S6: I'm not demeaning that and by any means, and I'm
S6: not minimizing it because I believe God will honor that.
S6: When a person's heart is right, it's all about our
S6: heart and what our intent is.
S2: Rodney Floyd, our guest right now. Ronnie, coming up here,
S2: I want to tackle some of that blue sky vision for,
S2: as you've written in your book, 12 Ways God Will
S2: Change Your Life The Supernatural Power of Prayer and Fasting.
S2: I think people need a story and then some hope
S2: for why would I withhold food? And because a lot
S2: of us head into fasting and we're like, we're so
S2: focused on being hungry, the last thing we can do
S2: is talk with God. So let's break it down. A
S2: little vision for what fasting can do for you and me.
S2: Coming up.
S1: You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
S1: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: We've got our special guest with us today. Doctor Ronny Floyd, speaker, author,
S2: really a mentor of leaders. And he's written a phenomenal work.
S2: The Supernatural Power of Prayer and Fasting 12 Ways God
S2: Will Change Your Life. So how does he change us?
S2: We need a vision for what can be. Otherwise, this
S2: is going to be an arduous task and it can
S2: become very religious and empty. Ronny.
S6: Well, there's no question about that. Just like anything else
S6: that we would try to do in the Christian life,
S6: I believe one of the greatest stories would be the
S6: one that God creates in each one of us when
S6: we do it, and because it becomes what we call
S6: a testimony and, you know, the power of testimony. Yes.
S6: When you look at the Bible, there are so many
S6: testimonies of it, for example, Jehoshaphat Surrounded by the enemies.
S6: There was no way out, and he proclaimed a fast
S6: and called people to fast and pray. And God delivered them. Uh,
S6: Ezra on his way to Jerusalem with the people, taking
S6: them back to the land, uh, knew he had to
S6: go through enemy territory. He had told the King how
S6: great God was, and God had given him the favor
S6: of the king. But it dawned on him right before
S6: he left. You know what? We're about to enter enemy territory.
S6: And you know, if I talk to the king and
S6: tell the king, you know that I need a cavalry.
S6: I mean, that doesn't really show him how great our
S6: God is. So I proclaim to fast, to humble ourselves
S6: and to specifically ask God for a safe journey. And
S6: I think the passage there in Ezra eight is one
S6: of the premier chapters in the Bible that gives to
S6: us this specifics that involve any kind of fast that
S6: we ever do, and God delivered them in that situation.
S6: Carl and Ali and, you know, there are so many others.
S6: I mean, you can think about the New Testament church.
S6: You think about Jesus's own life. I mean, think about this.
S6: The Bible says when Jesus was baptized, the spirit came
S6: upon him like a dove, right? And then it says,
S6: he as he was being filled with the Holy Spirit,
S6: he was led into the wilderness. Some people, when they
S6: walk in the wilderness in their life, they think, well,
S6: surely God is not behind this. Well, the Lord led
S6: Jesus into the wilderness. Into the wilderness. He faced massive
S6: temptation for 40 days of not eating. And then what
S6: did he say? When or what the Scripture said is
S6: said that he came out of the wilderness empowered by
S6: the spirit. Uh, like the dynamo is the word there,
S6: like dynamite there. And then it was in that same
S6: situation that Jesus proclaimed, The Spirit of the Lord is
S6: upon me, and he has anointed me to preach the gospel. So,
S6: you know, even Jesus model this miraculous thing. And so
S6: I've experienced it personally in numerous occasions, which are part
S6: of my personal testimony, not just recently, but going back,
S6: even as a college student, going back to when my
S6: wife had cancer, going back to when I was compelled
S6: to fast for for 40 days the first time, the
S6: Lord led me to do that. And what God did
S6: to the times of praying for our church, or the
S6: times of taking people on a journey of fasting and prayer,
S6: when we had people pray for their burdens and fast
S6: for their burdens. And so, I mean, I could go
S6: on and on about it, obviously, but there is something
S6: that happens uniquely, mysteriously, and I promise you, it is
S6: a supernatural power of God that intervenes in the midst
S6: of life when we obey God. The simplicity of obeying
S6: God's word.
S5: Doctor Ronnie Floyd, our guest right now. Now, you mentioned
S5: a couple of different miraculous things that you've seen as
S5: a result of prayer and fasting. What is the appropriate
S5: motive to go into a fast with. Is it okay
S5: to fast because I want God to answer a specific prayer.
S5: Is it okay? I mean, not is it okay? But
S5: is that the right motivation? I want God to answer
S5: my prayer, or I want him to prepare me for
S5: something I have coming up? Or it's sometimes it feels
S5: like our motives could potentially get off. We don't want
S5: to use this as a tool to try to manipulate God.
S5: How do we discern that?
S6: Well, I believe you have. You've named several reasons why
S6: we would do it. And I think that, you know,
S6: if God if you know, God's not going to bless it,
S6: if he if you're trying to manipulate him. And I
S6: think I tell people this often, you know, fasting and
S6: prayer is not a couple of hoops to jump through
S6: in order to get God's favor. God's bigger than that. God.
S6: God looks at your heart, and I can assure you,
S6: when you look at the Scripture and the first chapter
S6: of the book is that I talk about an invitation
S6: that God extends to us, that you cannot decline. It's
S6: how God shows us when we need to fast. And
S6: I'm not seeing a lot of this, but this is
S6: brand new material. The Lord put in my heart as
S6: I was writing this book, and that could be some
S6: of the very things you mentioned. Like a need, like
S6: a burden. It could be a spirit of restlessness that
S6: enters your life. It could be desperation. Perhaps somebody has
S6: a disease. Perhaps you need an answered prayer, you know,
S6: do we sell our home or do we not? Do
S6: we take this new job or do we not? We
S6: need to draw aside and see what God says. Or
S6: maybe somebody just really desires a fresh touch from the
S6: Lord and they feel like, you know, I need to
S6: spend time with God. I mean, I could go on
S6: and on for the reasons that the Lord may call
S6: you to do it, but many of those are modeled.
S6: Think about when Nehemiah, for example, in the Scripture, there
S6: was a need that arose and a burden came upon him,
S6: and he fasted and prayed about that burden. And God
S6: sent him to go rebuild the wall in Jerusalem.
S2: Ronnie, does fasting change us or our circumstances more?
S6: I think that God often changes us to align with
S6: his purposes, and I think that that's what happens. He
S6: changes us. He can change circumstances. Some people ask, you know,
S6: do we change God when we pray and fast? Well,
S6: I'm not sure we ever change God. God is the
S6: same yesterday, today and forever. He's always dependable. He is sovereign.
S6: He knows everything. But here's what I have found Carla
S6: and Ali. And this is one of the greatest treasures
S6: of fasting and praying is that when we fast and
S6: pray and we give that specific need or that list
S6: of needs before the Lord, and we diligently withdraw and
S6: talk to him about them, you know what? Whether God
S6: answers those the way I had hoped or not, when
S6: I finish, it's really okay Because God is alive in
S6: my heart. God, I've given this to you. This is you.
S6: You do what you want to do. And we always
S6: don't get the answers to our times of prayer and
S6: fasting the very week we do it. Or week a
S6: week after that. You know, Daniel got an answer after
S6: the fast. And I think that many times God does
S6: answer our prayers after. But you know, God always is
S6: fulfilling in your life, my life, everyone's life, his sovereign
S6: and providential will. And when our attitude lines up with that,
S6: it's almost like we realign our lives to God's will
S6: when we fast and pray.
S5: I want to give some practical kind of guidance or
S5: ask you to do that for folks maybe who are
S5: brand new to it. What's a what's a good starting point?
S5: I mean, do I you mentioned you'd done a 40
S5: day fast. Do I skip a meal? Do I try
S5: to fast a day three days, seven days? What guidelines
S5: would you give someone who's new to this? Completely.
S6: I would say this, Ali. Whether it's a pastor or
S6: ministry leader who's going to lead his church or his
S6: ministry into a season of fasting for a period, or
S6: whether it's an individual who's listening today, I think it's
S6: really critical. It's just like any other area of your
S6: Christian life. You just have to start where you are
S6: and so be wise. And so what I would encourage
S6: people to do is to call a one mill fast.
S6: And that's where I would start. And, you know, you
S6: could tell, you know, you could decide, I'm going to
S6: eat breakfast, I'm going to eat dinner today. But from
S6: 9:00 to 5:00, I'm going to really try to draw
S6: a side in some of that time and seek the
S6: Lord about what's on my heart, especially during that 20
S6: to 30 minutes of when I normally eat. I'm going
S6: to get myself in God's Word and ask God to
S6: speak to me about what I'm talking to him about,
S6: and I think that that is the first step you
S6: sustain yourself with water and with juice and you'll be fine.
S6: You really will be fine. Now, when you get into
S6: extensive fasting, then you know you need to really consider
S6: a lot of things. You might even need to consider
S6: talking to your doctor. You might need to consider your condition. Obviously,
S6: there's a lot of things, but starting at the basics,
S6: I would start with a one meal fast, and then
S6: I might go to a one day fast at another time,
S6: and then I may go to a three day fast.
S6: And because all of those are different points and they
S6: all are points of growth in our Christian experience.
S2: Love it. This is powerhouse. This is powerhouse. Boom crew.
S2: You want a link for this? We got it for you.
S2: It's called the supernatural Power of Prayer and Fasting 12
S2: Ways God Will Change Your Life. And I want you
S2: to get this link right now. Just text the word
S2: fast to our number 800 555 7898. Fast to 800
S2: 805 55, 7898. Ronnie, you are a blessing, young man. Yep.
S2: I called you young man. We're just getting started on
S2: this journey through eternity. But, Ronnie, thank you from the
S2: bottom of my heart.
S7: Thank you. Hey. Thank you, Carl and Ali. The Lord bless.
S6: You. And it's always great to be with you.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: You know, today is an epic day, and we're going
S2: to talk about this day of lent and something that
S2: you can lean into. But I want to put out
S2: an appeal for prayer in a couple of ways. One
S2: is if you would lift up prayer for our team.
S2: We've got somebody at home today with a bad, bad
S2: bug and she has got when you when you are
S2: shaking so kind of forcefully that it's hard for you
S2: to even get sleep. When you get the chills like that,
S2: you gotta. You got a bug.
S3: Oh, yeah. Please pray.
S2: Yeah. Please pray for Super Dai. And Ali is, uh,
S2: feeling punk. Um, we're going to avoid the jokes today.
S2: They'll be back. They'll be back. I know that some
S2: of you are like, oh, I needed my jokes today.
S3: I know, but it is. Ali thinks it's funny. I
S3: don't think that you or I, Carl could be a
S3: replacement for it.
S2: Come on, man. It'd be a total nightmare.
S3: I'd be a mess. If you want to try, I'll
S3: give you the space for it. Yeah.
S2: You know, if there's one day on the calendar, though,
S2: that you can set for a restart in your life. Boy,
S2: I've got it for you. You know what it is.
S2: It's not January 1st. It's Resurrection Sunday. Think about that.
S2: The celebration of the empty tomb. That our Christ is alive.
S2: So I want to tee up something for you by
S2: asking a funny question, but a very serious one. I
S2: asked it about a year and a half ago and
S2: we got crushed with responses. This will be totally anonymous.
S2: Totally anonymous. I'm going to read out the responses, but
S2: not your number. The occasional name that we have here,
S2: we will not. This is just between you and God.
S2: And you're saying I agree with you. God, here's the question.
S2: What is the one thing that stands between where you
S2: are today and all of God's blessings? Think about this.
S2: It's a sin. Shame. Repent. Repeat. Or maybe it's something
S2: that you've pushed to the shadows. It comes from a
S2: family of origin. There's something going on in your life
S2: and it's like, man, this habit, this hang up, this addiction,
S2: this thing that I do. The Holy Spirit's revealing it
S2: to you right now. That one thing that's holding you
S2: back from everything and you know it. Everything inside you.
S2: You know it. And you've maybe never told anyone. What
S2: is it? Text it to us right now. 800 555 7898.
S2: It is a powerful thing when you can agree with
S2: God and in this case, a couple other brothers, and
S2: just say, I'm agreeing with God on this one. I
S2: am looking at square in the eyes. I'm looking in
S2: the mirror, and I'm saying, this is what is holding
S2: me back and I know it. What is it? 800
S2: 555 7898. There's something liberating about just texting it in
S2: and going, this is what it is, guys. Just want
S2: to give it to you. This is what it is.
S2: 805 five five 7898. What is it? What's holding you back?
S2: I'm going to break those down for you. We're not
S2: going to. You're going to remain totally anonymous. But let's.
S2: It's a powerful thing to put in. This is what
S2: it is. And the first one in is alcohol. Good. Honest.
S2: That's great. What is it for you? Text 800 555 7898.
S2: And coming up, I'm going to take you to the
S2: Iditarod Trail. It's going right now. The Iditarod is in motion.
S2: My buddy Mitch Seavey is going for a fifth victory.
S2: And he might pull it off, even though he's in
S2: his 60s. He's got an incredible team of dogs. But
S2: I want to give you a metaphor that is going
S2: to help you understand that what you've been trying to
S2: do in your own strength, it won't happen. But with God,
S2: all things are possible. What is that one thing that's
S2: holding you back from everything? Just text it to us here. Totally.
S2: Anonymous 805 55, 7898. They're pouring in here. Drinking, sexual purity, gambling, gluttony. Food.
S2: What is it for you? Codependency? Sports betting. Oh, now
S2: we're getting. Now we're going there. 855 five 7898. And
S2: we got hope around the corner here. Guys, we got hope.
S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S8: We've had so many responses here asking the question.
S2: Here, and I'm going to give you some hope right now.
S2: What is that one thing that's holding you back from
S2: all of God's blessings? Remaining totally anonymous here, asking you
S2: to text in your responses 800 555 7898. Having a
S2: child by one man and letting her and another man
S2: think he's the father. Wow. Discipline in all areas of life. Procrastination. Anger.
S2: Television is my distraction. Anger. Envy. Jealousy. Self-defeating actions. Little
S2: spurts of lust. Time management. Flirting. Control and fear. Competitive
S2: jealousy and envy. Just reading out your responses. That's all
S2: I'm reading here. Overindulging in food and impulsive spending. Hidden
S2: drug addiction. Bad relationship with my husband. Laziness, fear and sin.
S2: Thank you so much for your honesty and for those
S2: of you that didn't even text in, you know that
S2: one thing that's holding you back from everything. So I'm
S2: about 100 miles into the Iditarod. Back in 1979, 1100
S2: mile dog sled race across Alaska took me 21 days,
S2: eight hours, 12 minutes and 32 seconds to get there.
S2: But along the way, I had times when I thought,
S2: I don't know how I'm going to get out of here.
S2: I was going into what's called Happy Valley down the steps.
S2: It's going into a gorge in order to get up
S2: over a big Alaskan mountain range, in order to get
S2: down these steps. It's basically a freefall. Teams in front
S2: of you, they're rolling. No brakes will really slow the sled,
S2: but you got to mash down anyway. I was flying
S2: down what's called the steps and almost made it to
S2: the bottom in good shape. And then my sled lurched
S2: to the left and bam! I hit a stump that
S2: was hidden underneath the snow, and it ripped some of
S2: the crossbars out, and it catapulted me into the deep
S2: snow that had no trail underneath it.
S3: Man.
S2: I sat there in a heap, man. Just.
S3: I'm sure it hurt.
S2: Just. Oh, it was a mess. My rib cage was
S2: banged up for a while because I hit the handlebar
S2: when I was oh man, jumping over, I found myself
S2: just disoriented and going, how in the world did I
S2: get here? And then I'm doing something crazy. I'm trying
S2: to get this sled back up on the trail so
S2: I could start running this race again. And I'm pushing
S2: and with every push, probably six feet of accumulated snow.
S2: So with every push, I'm going deeper in the snow.
S2: I'm going waist high now I'm going chest high. And
S2: now I am stuck. And then it dawned on me.
S2: I've got 13 dogs attached to this sled. And I
S2: just looked at him and I said, hey guys, give
S2: me the command. Hike! Let's go, let's go. And they
S2: leaned into their harnesses and I held onto the handlebar,
S2: and they pulled that sled that was totally derailed and
S2: banged up and me back up onto the trail again.
S2: Got some baling wire out, put a few things together
S2: and off we were racing again. For some of you,
S2: that is a perfect metaphor for where you're at spiritually today.
S2: You don't know how you got here. How did lust,
S2: how did wine, how did laziness. How did this become
S2: such a part of your life that you feel like
S2: you're off the trail and it's holding you back from everything?
S2: Here's what I want you to know. You won't get
S2: out yourself. But if you hook yourself up to God
S2: in His power. It's more than possible. It's probable because
S2: it's God's will that you not be stuck in that
S2: ditch anymore. That I promise you. Today is lent. For
S2: 1800 years it's been celebrated and practiced. It's a great
S2: day to redeem, and it's headed toward 40 days plus
S2: four Sundays that will culminate in the resurrection, the best
S2: calendar day we have for celebrating God's ability to pull
S2: us up out of a ditch. You want that? And
S2: coming up, I'm going to tell you how.
S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you
S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
S1: Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Got a lot of responses asking the question, what is
S2: that one thing that's holding you back from all of
S2: God's blessings? And you know what it is. If it's procrastination,
S2: if it's too much doomscrolling if it's if it's wine
S2: that you were sipping and now it's sipping you, the
S2: list goes on and on. And you know what that is?
S2: The Spirit of God lives inside you and he wants
S2: to give you victory. And much like my dog team
S2: on the side of the Iditarod Trail, oftentimes our notion
S2: is I got to get out of here. But when
S2: I realized, hold it, my team is right in front
S2: of me. They're hooked to the sled, and I was
S2: chest deep in snow with a banged up sled off
S2: the trail. And I simply said, guys, hike! Here we go.
S2: And they leaned into their harnesses and they pulled me
S2: back onto the trail, and I was back in the
S2: race again. That's the way it is for you and
S2: your relationship with God. You've tried too long in your
S2: own power to get back up on the trail. God
S2: in his strength wants to do in you what you
S2: can't do yourself. You're hooked up to God. He's got
S2: the strength, he's got the power, he's got the juice.
S2: So I want to invite you into something. An adventure
S2: here today is lent. It's the beginning of a 40
S2: day fast. Given that, and if you're looking at a calendar,
S2: add Sundays, four of them. You've actually got 44 days
S2: till Resurrection Sunday. But I want you to join me.
S2: Our two church campuses are starting today. Elders were anointing
S2: with prayer on each campus from 6 to 8 a.m..
S2: You don't have to be there for that. Wherever you
S2: are in this world. I'm inviting you to join us.
S2: If it's prompted in your heart by God to skip
S2: a meal a day, six days a week, starting today.
S2: Sundays are fast days or feast days, I should say,
S2: but every other day, fasting one meal to seek God
S2: for deliverance from that one thing that's holding you back
S2: from everything. I want to encourage you to do it,
S2: my friend. God can do it. He has the power
S2: and he wants to help you today. And I've got
S2: a resource for you. I did a message on Isaiah 58,
S2: and my bride actually did an e-book, a compilation of
S2: 30 books that are going to help you with details,
S2: do's and don'ts, ways to prepare for a fast ways
S2: to head into it, and what you fast for. And
S2: I want you to get this link, and we're going
S2: to give you practical resources so that you can get
S2: victory today. Text the word hungry. The name of our
S2: what we're calling our fast is hungry for God. Text
S2: hungry to 800 555 7898. Just that word. Hungry to
S2: 805 55 7898. And what we're going to have for
S2: you is a link that is going to give you
S2: all the resources you need to get victory text hungry
S2: to 800 555 7898. Especially my brides little mini e-book,
S2: no cost. Just come and get it.