Talk

The Frequency of the Fast

Louie Giglio

January, 28, 2024

Have you ever wondered what it looks like to tune your life to the voice of almighty God? Louie Giglio takes us to the Pool of Bethesda to remind us that no matter how loud the crowd gets, we can always turn our ears to the sound of our creator and savior.

Key Takeaway

Fasting is more about an attitude than just actions, and it starts with an attitude of increasing altitude and being attuned to God's wavelength.

Analogous to a symphony, where all the instruments tune to the middle A played by the first chair oboe, being attuned to God's wavelength is essential for a harmonious life.

Fasting is about tuning our lives to the frequency of the Spirit, the Word, and the voice of Jesus. Just as in a symphony, everyone plays a different part, but in the same frequency; fasting aims to align our lives with the same frequency of the spiritual realm.

In John 5, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a Jewish festival and encountered the pool of Bethesda. Disabled people surrounded this pool, waiting for an angel of God to stir the waters for a miraculous healing. Among the many disabled, there was an invalid who had been waiting for 38 years and had difficulty getting into the pool. Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well, and instead of helping him get into the pool, he offered a better solution. He tells the man to get up, pick up his mat, and walk without entering the pool.

The purpose of Jesus' healing is not just to save or free people but for the bigger purpose of showing God's glory.

The Jewish leaders began to persecute Jesus for doing these things on the Sabbath. In his defense, Jesus mentioned that he and his Father are always at work and can only do what he sees his Father doing. Jesus implied that the Jewish leaders are connected to a different frequency, likened to the devil, as opposed to his connection to God, as seen in John 8. In John 12, Jesus expressed that he does not speak on his own but only what the Father commands.

Jesus emphasizes the importance of tuning into the will of the Father by doing and saying what he sees and hears from Him. He clarifies that he does not act or speak on his own but rather in complete alignment with the Father's will.

To achieve this alignment, Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray and fast, seeking to be in tune with God's voice and will. We need to be on the same wavelength as God's purposes and plans, and fasting should be practiced as often as one wants to be in tune with God. We have to get to the place where you can hear the oboe; hear the frequency.

Spirituality doesn't happen by proximity, as evidenced by the story of Jesus and the woman with the medical condition. Despite being near Jesus, the disciples did not understand the spirituality Jesus offered. The woman was healed by having the faith that she would be healed by touching Jesus' robe, demonstrating the power of spirituality. Jesus' ability to perceive the woman's touch and know who had touched him was attributed to his connection with God through prayer.

The story emphasizes the distinction between physical proximity and spiritual connection with Jesus.

Kingdom Agent - someone in tune with God and the Spirit and can hear and understand things others may not be able to.

God invites people to a gathering or process, a voice, and a frequency. The frequency of God includes the four words: desire, carve, focus, and follow.

1.) Desire to be on God's wavelength.

The longing to have a deeper connection with God and to be more attuned to spiritual matters.

Sound waves are used in ultrasound to see things like babies in a mother's womb and can be heard at frequencies beyond human hearing.

We can desire to be so in tune with God that we can hear his voice clearly and be sensitive to the Spirit.

2.) Carve out space to be still.

He is taking the time to be still and listen to the voice of God to gain confidence and understanding of his purposes.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

3.) Focus your attention on the spiritual world.

It is being attentive to the spirit world and being open to receiving guidance and revelation from God without being distracted by mere proximity to spiritual things.

4.) Follow the promptings of the Spirit through the Word.

In Revelation 7:9, John saw a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language worshiping around the throne of God, wearing white robes and holding palm branches. This vision indicates that all people will gather to worship God, fulfilling the prophecy that God will be exalted among the nations and on the earth.

This passage emphasizes the importance of being attentive to spiritual things and being able to relate to people on Earth while also being connected to the spiritual realm. It highlights the coexistence of the earthly and heavenly realms and the need to be in tune with God's wavelength.

“

Proximity is not equal to spirituality.

”

Louie Giglio

Discussion Questions

Have you ever fasted before? If yes, did you have the right heart posture when fasting? If you have not fasted yet, would you fast in the future?
What have you fasted from in the past? If you haven't fasted, what would you like to fast?
Have you made space in your life to hear the voice of God? When do you struggle with hearing God's voice the most?
Louie Giglio visits the story of the disabled man by the pool John 5. How have you interpreted the purpose of this story in the past? Has your perspective changed since knowing that this story wasn't just about healing, but about bringing God glory?
How have you withdrawn to lonely places to seek God recently?
The woman who was bleeding for 12 years and sought healing from God was healed because of her faith, not because she touched His garment. What does that teach you about your own faith?
What are you seeking God to heal in your own life?
Do you have a desire to be in tune with the Holy Spirit? If yes, have you continually prayed for this desire? If not, will you begin praying for this desire?
What distractions are you facing right now that are keeping you from spending time with God?
How can you be more in tune with the Holy Spirit this week?

Scripture References

1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.

2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.

3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him,

“Do you want to get well?”

7“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8Then Jesus said to him,

“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

10and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

11But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me,

‘Pick up your mat and walk.’

 ”

12So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

13The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him,

“See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

15The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.

17In his defense Jesus said to them,

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

18For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

19Jesus gave them this answer:

“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.

”

For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

16But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

The Parable of the Sower

1After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.

Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out,

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

9His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He said,

“The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

“ ‘though seeing, they may not see;

though hearing, they may not understand.’

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

A Lamp on a Stand

“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.

Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

19Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

21He replied,

“My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Jesus Calms the Storm

22One day Jesus said to his disciples,

“Let us go over to the other side of the lake.”

So they got into a boat and set out. 23As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

24The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25

“Where is your faith?”

he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man

26They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

30Jesus asked him,

“What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

32A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

34When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39

“Return home and tell how much God has done for you.”

So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

40Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

“Who touched me?”

Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

46But Jesus said,

“Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

47Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48Then he said to her,

“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

49While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”

50Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus,

“Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

51When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her.

“Stop wailing,”

Jesus said.

“She is not dead but asleep.”

53They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But he took her by the hand and said,

“My child, get up!”

55Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said,

“Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

9After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Louie Giglio

Louie Giglio is the Visionary Architect and Director of the Passion Movement, comprised of Passion Conferences, Passion City Church, Passion Publishing and sixstepsrecords, and the founder of Passion Institute.