What Are You Giving Up

A team traveled to Mexico for mission work while another group in Alaska prepared for ministry and family celebration, and the community received directions to pray and care for those who are sick. The central focus moves from personal breakthrough as a demand for more toward a call to create space—subtracting distractions so God can act. Breakthrough arrives when rhythms shift from constant addition to intentional subtraction: rest replaces relentless activity, fasting becomes a heart posture not merely an abstention, and repentance reorders life toward divine priorities. Isaiah 58 reframes fasting as practical justice—freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and helping relatives—linking true spiritual discipline to outward mercy. Alignment requires three movements: renewing the mind to seek the kingdom first, purifying the heart to see God, and mobilizing hands and feet into the specific gifts and good works God gives each person. Repentance acts as the hinge: turning from ways that distract or harm unlocks personal breakthrough, which then produces transformation and, ultimately, revival. Scripture’s conditional logic appears throughout: if people humble themselves and seek God, then God responds with healing and restoration. The narrative of Daniel shows that heaven’s response may face spiritual resistance and delays, so persistent prayer, fasting, and patient faith remain essential. Practical choices for the coming forty days (Lent) include giving up a meal, reducing social media, skipping a favorite snack, or reclaiming TV time for prayer and scripture—acts that make room for divine direction and for noticing the people God places nearby. The community receives an invitation to enter a season of focused alignment: identify what to release, commit to a concrete change, pray for one another, and step into opportunities to serve so that personal breakthrough becomes corporate transformation.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Subtract to make spiritual room Making room often requires letting go rather than adding another discipline. Removing distractions—meals, apps, late-night TV—creates the inner bandwidth to hear God, notice neighbors in need, and receive the kind of rest Jesus promises. This subtraction invites a simpler rhythm where prayer and obedience can produce visible change. [03:04]
• 2. Fasting is justice and mercy True fasting centers on liberating the oppressed and feeding the hungry, not self-denial for its own sake. Scripture connects inward humility with outward acts that dismantle chains and relieve burdens, making spiritual devotion inseparable from practical compassion. When fasting pursues justice, personal piety becomes a conduit for community healing. [14:56]
• 3. Align head, heart, hands Spiritual growth requires cognitive renewal, heart purification, and active service. Renewing thought patterns to seek God, cultivating a pure heart that sees Him, and deploying gifts in practical work form a single movement toward transformation. Alignment turns knowledge into conviction and conviction into action. [16:54]
• 4. Repentance unlocks breakthrough and healing Turning from habits and paths that pull away from God initiates the pathway to change. Repentance reorients priorities, removes barriers, and primes life for divine response so that prayer and fasting bear fruit. Breakthrough often follows a clear turning of the will toward God. [21:13]
• 5. Spiritual battle delays breakthrough Heaven sometimes answers but encounters resistance from spiritual forces, which can delay visible results. Persistent prayer, fasting, and patient faith matter because deliverance often arrives after sustained spiritual conflict. Awareness of this reality calls for steadfastness, not discouragement. [33:46]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:26] - Missions and birthday celebration
• [01:31] - Community care and prayer
• [02:38] - Defining breakthrough
• [03:04] - Subtraction: make room for God
• [07:54] - Running on empty: an illustration
• [09:34] - Lent and making space
• [14:56] - Isaiah 58: fasting redefined
• [16:54] - Head, heart, hands alignment
• [21:13] - Repentance as the hinge
• [32:42] - Daniel: spiritual delay explained
• [38:25] - Join the 40-day fast (QR)

Bible reading
*Isaiah 58:6-8 (ESV)*
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”

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Observation questions

1. According to Isaiah 58:6, what specific actions does God say characterize the kind of fasting He wants?
2. What does the sermon identify as the three components of alignment with God’s kingdom? [16:54]
3. What promise does God attach to these actions in Isaiah 58:8?
4. How does the sermon define “breakthrough,” and what often prevents it from happening? [02:38]

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Interpretation questions

1. Why do you think God connects inward spiritual practices like fasting with outward acts of justice and mercy?
2. The sermon mentions that “spiritual battle delays breakthrough” [33:46]. How does the story in Daniel 10 help explain why prayers aren’t always answered immediately?
3. How does repentance serve as a “hinge” that unlocks personal breakthrough and transformation? [21:13]
4. In what ways can “seeking first the kingdom” (Matthew 6:33) reshape our understanding of what we truly need?

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Application questions

1. What is one practical distraction—like social media, complaining, or overcommitment—that you could subtract from your life to make more room for God? [03:04]
2. How can you turn a fast (from food, media, etc.) into an act of service or compassion for someone in need this week? [14:56]
3. Where in your life are you “running on empty” but ignoring the signs? What would it look like to humbly repent and reorient your priorities toward God’s kingdom? [07:54]
4. Who is one person in your community (family, coworker, neighbor) you’ve been “hiding from” that God might be calling you to help or encourage? [15:44]
5. What’s one step you can take this week to align your head (thoughts), heart (desires), and hands (actions) with God’s purposes? [16:54]
6. How can you support others in their journey of subtraction and alignment during this season? [27:44]
7. What persistent prayer have you been waiting for God to answer? How can you persist in faith while also examining areas where He may be calling you to repent or adjust? [33:46]