A Prisoner of Appetite: Food Drunkenness Blocks Heavenly Power 11:00am July 13, 2025

A Prisoner of Appetite—

Food Drunkenness Blocks Heavenly Power

PREPARING FOR MORE OF ACTS

The Fight: 1 Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.”

LUKEWARM NEVER GETS HOT ENOUGH TO BE REFINED 

= Our abundance has led to physical fullness at the expense of spiritual barrenness.

= Not engaging in the spiritual discipline of fasting pays out a dividend as well — overfed physically but malnourished spiritually.

We don’t have to pray when we’ve been instructed to obey.

APPETITE HAS BEEN THE DOWNFALL OF MANY: “God sent them quail in such great abundance they stacked it two and a half feet deep! And they ate and ate, and while the meat was in their mouths, thousands of them died and were buried there. According to Numbers 11:34, that place became known as Kibroth Hattaavah, which means ‘The Graves of Lusters,’ as a memorial to those who ate themselves right out of the Promised Land.” — Jentezen Franklin

Gluttony: to gulp down - it’s the over-indulgence and consumption of food or drink. It's often tied to wealth, extravagance, and waste.

“Woe to those who are full” (Lk. 6:25) — leveled up, crammed, satisfied 

Gordon Cove, “Gluttony is a double sin: 1) a sin of waste and 2) a sin against the body that leads to shortness of life and spiritual decline.

He adds, “Further, it will incapacitate me from being a man of prayer, for it is only in a life of moderation and temperance and self-denial that there will be the heart or the strength to pray much” (Gordon Cove).

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 is a pattern of self denial: Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.

THE KEY TO CHRISTIAN LIVING: But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Contrast the pain of discipline and the pain of regret

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3 quotes from Gordon Cove, author of Revival Now Through Prayer and Fasting:

“The tragedy is, that so many Christians, just for the pleasure of continually eating, will continue in their powerless spiritual condition.”

“A close survey of the Scriptures indicates that the deeply spiritual men who obtained things in answer to prayer, always came to God on an empty stomach, either completely fasting or else living abstemiously.”

“Gluttony is one of the greatest destroyers of faith and power. When long continued, it will kill all spiritual anointing. Many ministers and great men of God who used to be on fire for Jesus have unknowingly become food drunkards and gluttons.”

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FASTING is a lifestyle — from Anna in the temple to Paul & the Disciples.

It’s hard to DEFEAT an enemy you FEED.

Arguably the most important sermon ever preached, The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “When you fast.”

“When” you do something usually means with regularity: “In those days, My disciples will fast” (Luke 5:34).

Matthew 6:17-18, “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Fasting is fighting as well as training: Jesus said that some demonic strongholds cannot be driven out except by prayer AND fasting (Mk. 9:29).

Textual variance. But they don’t leave room for the fact that God allowed it in the Bible.

99% of the naysayers have never put the Scripture to the test.

Fasting is to the demonic what steel wool is to frying pans.

BUT how does it block heavenly power?

Beware that when you have eaten and are full and your heart is lifted up (cf. Deut. 8:11-14).

The temple is trashed.

Fullness of the flesh feeds pride and compromise.

Fasting was seen as a weapon against temptation and a way to subdue the flesh, making the body more responsive to the Spirit.

Fasting was often linked to repentance and a contrite heart, encouraging self-reflection and a turning from sin.

The opposite of moderation is gluttony.

If the flesh is always being fed it's difficult to have the fullness of the Spirit.

Tips:

The power of the made up mind & failing forward.

Frustrated when God doesn’t tell me exactly what to do. But we exercise more faith when uncertain.

Sticking to the plan builds faith and motivation — compromise kills it.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Focus on small victories.

Come to church fasted and worship beforehand.

Fasting compliments a disciplined life; it doesn’t take the place of it.

Character must match the commitment (Zech. 7; Is. 58): Justice, mercy, and compassion.

Trust God, apply wisdom (e.g., look at the calendar), and walk in faith. Many times, I don’t know what exactly to do.

“If you do these things, your light will begin to shine like the light of dawn. Then your wounds will heal. Your ‘Goodness’ will walk in front of you, and the Glory of the Lord will come following behind you. Then you will call to the Lord, and He will answer you. You will cry out to Him, and He will say, “Here I am” (Is. 58:8-9 ERV).

Fasting, with humility, strengthens our pursuit.

The BIGGEST breakthroughs occur when the flesh is ...

—Restrained

—Crucified

—Denied

—Put to Death

The worlds way of handling gluttony: S E M A G L U T I D E

Who is influencing you?

FEARS:

SLOWS METABOLISM

MUSCLE LOSS

Look at design: The mind is sharp and the muscle preserved

Look at creation to answer a lot of questions.

God is not concerned with what we look like, but He is concerned with how we live and how we steward our gifts — the greatest gift being life.

Sacrifice fellowship w/ fellowship with Him

Sacrifice fun w/ joy from breakthrough

Sacrifice food w/ a heavenly appetite

Sacrifice A LITTLE muscle w/ spiritual strength (pride in our looks have been the downfall of many civilizations from the Greeks to the Romans)

🚨 Philippians 3:19: "Their end is destruction, their god is their belly…"

Food Drunkard — an uncontrollable lustful desire for food which “dopes the body, dulls the senses, and grieves the Spirit” (Cove).

The Didache: This early Christian text suggests fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, contrasting with the Jewish practice of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays.

“In every spiritual advance, there must be a stripping off of pride” (Gordon Cove). Pride and passion must be conquered through fasting.

AGAIN, it’s much harder to crucify the passions if I’m feeding them.

Consider this: 

Fast sunup to sundown once a week

Eliminate snacking and deal with addiction 

Consume God-given food in moderation

Consider a YEARLY prolonged fast to put the flesh in submission

Make physical and spiritual health a lifestyle priority

A quick word about the types of fasts

—Water

—Buchinger

—Juice

—800 to 1200

—Daniel

—Maintaining a deficit

We should not pick the easiest but the most effective.

*Free copies of Feasting & Fasting and 40-Days to Reset Your Life are available.

TAKE it to the Lord in prayer and see how He directs you. But even if He doesn’t, simply step out in faith.

Closing Story: Thomas Costain’s history, The Three Edwards, described the life of Raynald III, a fourteenth-century duke in what is now Belgium.

Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus. After a violent quarrel, Raynald’s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room…

...This would not have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows and a door of near-normal size, and none was locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. But Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a variety of delicious foods. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew more obese. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: “My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills.”

Raynald stayed in that room for 10 years & wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined he died within a year: A prisoner of his own appetite.

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).