FASTING

*Before the service starts, teachers are encouraged to mingle with the
kids to get to know them and make them feel welcome. (Note: The time
applies for all services. Take note of the time duration.)

AUGUST: Faith and Patience

Text: Hebrews 6:12, ICB “We do not want you to become lazy. Be like
those who have faith and patience. They will receive what God has
promised.”
Key Points:
• Faith claims/ receives the promise.
• But patience inherits the promise.
• As we believe in God’s word/promises for prosperity, we should not give up or
waver.
• Stand in faith and persevere in patience.
Conclusion: It is just a matter of time. The promise/answer/miracle will manifest
before us.

11:00AM- 11:15AM Praise & Worship

11:15AM- 11:20AM Transition | Prayer
11:20AM- 11:25AM Welcome | Rules (Announcements, Bible-Pen-Notebook,
Birthdays)
11:25AM- 11:30AM Tithes & Offering
11:30AM- 11:35AM Pre-Lesson Activity
11:35AM- 12:10PM WORD | LESSON (Video is included in the keynote slides)
12:10PM- 12:25PM Huddle Time | Prayer
12:25PM- 12:30PM Wrap Up | Dismissal

Series Objective: At the end of this series, the kids will learn how important spiritual
disciplines are by looking at the lives of different Bible characters, in the hopes that they,
too, will develop these disciplines.

Note to preacher: The series objective is just a guide for you. You do not need to mention
it when you preach.

PT: Fasting helps us focus on God while we forgo other things.

PV: Matthew 4:4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by
bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

INTRODUCTION

Today, we will start our brand-new series entitled, “Habits: The Way of the Master”, where
we will be looking at the 5 spiritual disciplines that Christians practice.

Spiritual Disciplines - attitudes and practices designed to strengthen our relationship

with God.

1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Fellowship

Habits: The Way of the Master 1

FASTING

4. Giving
5. Word

We will discuss one spiritual discipline per week. I hope that by the end of the series, you
will have developed these habits, to build and strengthen your relationship with God.

CONNECT

Since we will be discussing about habits, let’s talk about some things you do everyday. In
view of our topic on fasting, tell me what are the habits you do everyday, except for
eating? I’ll ask 10 of you, if your answer is good, I will give you 200 KC Bucks each.

Note to preacher: If the discussion is ok, just extend to 15. Play it by ear. Lead the
discussion and bring out answers that are “good habits” as much as possible.

Except for eating, I asked you to tell me what your habits are; but I’m sure a lot of you still
have eating in your mind. It is because eating is very necessary for us as humans! We will
talk about fasting today. It is usually done by not eating food so that we will rely on God for
energy instead of relying on food.

Fasting is done usually by skipping meals to devote time for prayer. That will make you
rely on God rather than food. But there are also other types of fasting. You can do a gadget
fast where you avoid playing with your gadgets and make more time for prayer. You may
also forgo watching TV for a number of days and connect more to God. Just like what our
Power Truth says . . .

PT: Fasting helps us focus on God while we forgo other things.

And to learn more about what it is about, let’s watch this video.

VIDEO: Fasting

Let’s read the story in the Bible . . .

WORD

During the time of Xerxes, king of the Persian Empire, there was a lady who was crowned
queen. Her name was Esther. Queen Esther was a Jew, which means she originally came
from Israel, the land of God’s chosen people.

One day, a man named Haman was promoted to become the most powerful official in the
empire after the king. Haman was a proud man and required everyone in the land to bow
down to him; but Mordecai, the cousin of Queen Esther, refused to do so. This enraged
Haman and he plotted to kill all the Jews in the entire empire. Let’s start reading chapter 4
verse 8 onwards . . .

Esther 4:8 Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the
death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her.
He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her
people. 9 So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.

Habits: The Way of the Master 2

FASTING

Hathach was the attendant of Esther who handled the communication between her and
Mordecai. When Esther got Mordecai’s message, she asked Hathach to tell Mordecai that
what he was requesting was very difficult. If she approached the king without any
invitation, she could be killed!

Esther 4:13 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because
you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 14 If you keep quiet at
a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but
you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a
time as this?”

Mordecai wanted to encourage Esther that perhaps it was God’s plan to make her queen
so that she would be the one God will use to save the Jews from being killed.

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of
Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will
do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must
die, I must die.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

To make the long story short, Esther wasn’t killed when she approached the king. King
Xerxes bestowed favor on her and gave her the chance to ask for something from him. She
invited the king and Haman to a banquet.

During the banquet, Esther told the king that Haman wanted all the Jews killed, and this
included her! The king became angry with Haman and had him killed instead. After
Haman’s death, Esther requested the king to reverse Haman’s orders against the Jews.

Esther 8:5 Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he
thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders
of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the
king’s provinces should be destroyed. 6 For how can I endure to see my people and my
family slaughtered and destroyed?”

And afterwards, the king gave a decree to protect the Jews.

Esther 8:11 The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend
their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or
province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of
their enemies.

The book of Esther is such an exciting story! For today, we will focus on the part of the fast
Esther called for. Let’s look at three attitudes we should have when we are fasting.

1. Be expectant.

Esther 4:14b “… Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as
this?”

Expect that God will be the one to take care of the difficult situation you are in. In that
verse, it was Mordecai who spoke in faith while Esther was the one who declared the fast.

Habits: The Way of the Master 3

FASTING

But it is important for us to understand that they had an expectant attitude as they did the
fast. They had faith in God to turn the tide in favor of the Jews.

ILLUSTRATION: Planting seeds

If you plant a seed in the right soil, water it, and allow it enough sunlight, what do you
think will happen? You will expect that seed to grow!

The same thing happens when we do fasting and connect to God. We expect that God will
move and make things happen according to His will.

2. Be committed.

Esther 4:16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or
drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is
against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”

Queen Esther declared a fast. And she made people, including herself, do the same. She
committed to three days of no food and drink. She also committed to the plan of going to
see the king, whatever happens.

ILLUSTRATION: Project

When we are in the middle of a big project and things are not going well, we sometimes
get the urge to scrap the whole thing or to just start over again. What we need to have
when we experience that, is commitment. We need to commit to finishing the project.

When you fast, you’ll understand that feeling. You might say, “I’m really hungry, maybe
God will understand if I eat this burger.” Some people give up in the middle of a fast
because of that. Of course, if a doctor doesn’t allow someone to skip a meal for medical
reasons, then that person shouldn’t.

For kids your age, what we really recommend is a fast from your favorite stuff or activities
like gadgets and TV. And there will be moments when you’ll tell yourself, “Maybe God will
understand. He loves me and wants to me to have fun. I’ll just play for 15 minutes.” The
answer is no, because our commitment is very important when it comes to fasting.

Let’s read Our Power Verse . . .

PV: Matthew 4:4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by
bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

In that verse, Jesus Himself was on a 40-day fast in the desert. He was being tempted by
the Devil to turn the stones into bread so that He could eat. But Jesus did not do so. He
said that man does not only rely on bread but on God’s Word. When we fast, we focus and
rely on God’s Word only.

3. Be bold.

Bold - Confident; Courageous; Not shy

Habits: The Way of the Master 4

FASTING

Esther 8:5 Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he
thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders
of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the
king’s provinces should be destroyed.

Queen Esther asked for a big favor from the king but ultimately, she knew that God is the
one she is really asking help from. Because she knew that God is with her, she asked
boldly for the favor of the king and the king granted it to her.

ILLUSTRATION: What do you want?

Usually, when your aunt or uncle asks you what you want for your birthday, you just ask
for an insignificant thing. It is because you’re shy or maybe you think it is disrespectful to
ask for something big and expensive. But if your parents ask you what you want, you ask
for something big because you know that they can give it to you and they are willing to
give it to you because they are your parents! You’re not shy! You ask boldly!

That’s why when you fast, you don’t only expect that God will move. You also ask boldly
for things to happen in your life. When you ask God boldly, it means you are asking in
faith, believing that nothing is impossible with Him.

PRACTICE

We just learned the three attitudes we need to have as we go on a fast. Now, let’s look at
two things we can do to practice it.

1. Fast.

You don’t have to fast from food. You can do a gadget fast. If God is very important to you,
you should be able to do that because He will surely be pleased as you spend more time
with Him. After all, God is the one providing for your everyday needs and wants such as
your gadgets and toys.

Just fast! Then as you do it, you can adapt the three attitudes we just discussed. You can
ask for your parents’ supervision so that they guide you. But first, write down on your
handout what kind of fast you would like to do.

Note to preacher: Tell them what kinds of fast they can do: Skipping a meal, Social media
Fasting, Games Fasting, and the like. You can also talk about partial fasting and also the
Daniel fast. The duration of the fast depends on the commitment made to God. Lastly,
fasting should not be advertised.

2. Seek God.

As you fast, remember to seek God during those times because the goal of spiritual
disciplines, including fasting, is to develop our relationship with God. Instead of eating,
going online or playing, do pray and read your Bible. You can ask God for anything. But
first, ask Him to make you feel more of His presence.

POINT TO JESUS

Habits: The Way of the Master 5

FASTING

It is not easy to fast. It is also not the top favorite Spiritual Discipline of Christians. But
whenever it comes to fasting, it is best to look at how Jesus fasted in the desert. The Devil
even used the Word of God to trick Jesus into sinning. But because Jesus knows and obeys
the Word of God, He knew what to do.

If Jesus was carried away and sinned because of the tempting of the Devil, what would
have happened? We wouldn’t be saved. But because Jesus was sinless, even when He was
fasting, it is possible for us to be saved. That’s why we should be grateful. That’s one good
reminder when we do fasting.

HUDDLE TIME

1. What have you learned from today’s preaching?

2. What kind of fast do you want to go on? Why?

Habits: The Way of the Master 6