Fasting - Longing for God's Heart

Intentionality - what are our intentions as we live our lives our before God and the world around us?

Story of our boys disobeying and saying, “I didn’t mean to” and Johanna and I responding with “well mean NOT TO”.

What were we asking our boys to do? We were asking them to be intentional and think about what they were doing and why they were doing it.

The problem is, on one hand, we don’t always think about why we do what we are doing, we are just doing what we do.

Our intentions, and I would even equate that to our heart because what we set our hearts on is what we pursue and it drives how we pursue it. Our intentions are either going to be to glorify the Lord or to glorify self or others. That’s essentially what Jesus is confronting in chapter 6 of the Sermon on the mount.

Recap

Chapter 6 starts with this idea of “Not practicing your righteousness in front of other people

Familiar themes that have come out of these last few weeks -

And when you… - Jesus expectation that you will definitely be practicing these spiritual disciplines

There is this charge to NOT be like the hypocrites

The father that sees in secret will reward you

Ultimately this message is for Jesus disciples, not just the initial 12 but for the several hundred who have gathered to listen.

Fasting - how not to fast

Based on the Mosaic Law there is only one day of the year that God required his people to fast. That was on the Day of atonement.

Leviticus 23:32 ESV

32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

The CSB translation actually has a clearer translation of this when it says, instead of “you shall afflict yourselves” it says “you must practice self-denial” from evening to evening.

The Pharisees of Jesus day actually fasted twice a week. They were known for adding traditions and righteous expectations for themselves to appear more holy or righteous than others.

In the account in Matthew 6, these hypocrites went to great lengths to be “seen by others”.

Matthew 6:16 ESV

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

These hypocrites would go out in to public, literally looking down cast, gloomy, making weird pain-filled faces as they were fasting and all this to bring the attention of OTHERS to notice them, impress them and be seen as ULTRA HOLY! Again, their goal was to be seen by others and to be perceived by others as HOLY and Jesus is saying that that is their reward. That’s all the payment that they will get in their lives for doing what they did.

So, that’s how not to fast, right! That’s pretty clear. In is this teaching Jesus expects his disciples to practice this spiritual discipline in their lives and he wants them to do it right. But in our day and age, do we understand what fasting is? More importantly, do we understand what Biblical fasting is and what role it is suppose to play in our lives.

What is Biblical Fasting?

Fasting at it’s truest sense and more importantly from a biblical sense means to abstain from eating food. That is the physical action that is practiced when you are fasting. Not eating is only part of what has to happen in order to encounter the spiritual aspect of fasting.

These days there are so many types of fasting and today most people are most familiar with intermittent fasting which has a whole list of health benefits, but this is far from what we are talking about when it comes to biblical fasting.

What I want to do is look at some biblical accounts of fasting, both Old Testament and New Testament, and look to get our road map for what biblical fasting is and then we will wrap up with how se should go about carrying out a biblical fast.

We aren’t looking for a formula here!

Biblical fasting is not about us getting something from God!

Biblical fasting is not about not eating food. It’s about denying self of the physical thing that keeps us alive, at least on a physical level, so we can whole heartedly and humbly pursue the ONE who sustains life and everything in it! Yaweh, the existing one!

NT Fasting

There are two main places where we see Jesus teaching about fasting in the gospels. One here in Matthew 6 and one in Matthew 9. We see other passages about fasting in the book of Acts when the church is praying and fasting for Peter’s release. We read how Paul recommends a sexual fast between husbands and wives in 1 Corinthians , but only for a little while with the purpose of devoting yourselves to prayer. We see in Acts 13&14 where fasting was coupled with prayer in order to discern wisdom to instate church planting missionaries and elders.

The most glaring example of fasting in the NT was in Matthew 4 when Jesus went to the wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days in order to prepare himself for the ministry that God had called him to.

All these are examples of NT Fasting but just like is being described in this passage of Matthew 6 we see just how much God despises religious acts done for the wrong reasons.

Matthew 6:17–18 ESV

17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

So, going back to our original point of clarification from verse 16 of Matthew 6, we see that Jesus is saying, “when you fast don’t let anyone have any way to notice that you are fasting based on how you act or how you look . In a culture where bathing wasn’t an every day thing, Jesus says, wash your face and anoint your head with oil. Let your fasting be done in humility and secretly before the Lord. That’s when you will gain your real reward.

What are the words of our reward?

‘Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Part of our desire to fast is driven by our desire to be closer to God. Maybe we feel stuck in their relationship with him, like he wants and desires more from our lives but we don’t feel like we really hear from Him when we pray, not on the truly deep and meaningful issues.

As I moved toward this sermon, seeing that I hadn’t fasted in a while, I felt like I needed to deny myself and fast to help me turn my cravings for food, something I love very much and turn those cravings to the Lord. I truly wanted to be able to feast on God’s word, allow the Spirit to speak to me and let me hear from him clearly, and to spend extended time in prayer to the Lord. I prayed for everyone by name. I prayed for my children. I grieved as I missed my dad. I even asked the Lord to reveal anything to me that I needed revealed that needed to be uprooted in my life.

I’ve spent time before fasting but I don’t think its ever been as productive as this last time. What was it productive in accomplishing in me you might ask? Honestly, I didn’t get any new clear messages from the Lord. What I did experience was a peace in pursuing a Holy God with all my heart, stomach and attention, drawing close to him and sensing even more a peace of what He’s called me to. How he’s called me to love those around me and care for them.

James says that as we draw closer to God he will draw closer to us. I didn’t want to do this just for an experience of closeness, even though that was priceless! I want that more. It wasn’t so I could ask God for something specific and have him deliver. That’s treating God like a vending machine and fasting like putting in the correct change.

The more I press in to who God is, and draw close to him, the more my heart is molded to his and hopefully becoming more and more like Him. I want my heart to break for what breaks his.

Fasting to obtain God’s heart

This is exactly the type of heart attitude we see in the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 1:1–6 ESV

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.

What are they weeping for? What are they mourning for?

Most people can understand why you need to couple prayer with fasting but weeping and mourning?

People don’t even like to show emotions half the time let alone do anything that would involve weeping and mourning.

What do we weep and mourn over? Loss of loved ones? News of a terminal illness? School shooting? World war? Death of an infant both born and unborn? Death of a marriage?

So many times we encounter these things that we weep and mourn over but what do we do with it?

We cry and pray but are met with silence! We think things like, where is God in all this?

Isaiah 58 ESV

1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 “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? 7 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? 8 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. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. 13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 14 then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

When we choose to deny ourselves and get our hearts focused on the Lord as they should be, He gives us His heart for this lost and dying world. He didn’t call us to be in this world and married to it. HE called us to be holy, different, set apart. HE’s called us to reach the lost in this world with the gospel of his Son Jesus. If we don’t make delighting in the lord a priority in our lives our religious acts will be meaningless to the Lord and we will be lulled to sleep by the evil one!

Are we living our lives trying to gain the praise and applause of this world? Of mankind? OR are we living our lives in humility, surrendered to the God of the universe and submitting to his will in our lives.

Galatians 1:10 ESV

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

That’s not just other people, more times than not, we seek to please ourselves! Fasting is a way to deny ourselves and get our hearts aligned with God’s heart!