Spiritual Disciplines - Fasting
Notes
Transcript
Fasting is about desire
Fasting is about desire
At it’s heart I believe fasting is about desire. It is about desiring God above all else. It about hungering and thirsting for the things and ways of God more than food, more than TV, and more than physcial pleasure or comfort.
There is no one Scripture that tells us exactly how fasting works or why it works. It is a serious and complicated matter. It is hard to explain how this physcial thing done from and with a sincere heart can and does have such great spiritual impacts.
Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God.
John Piper
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Before we get started I get it, not everyone can fast from food. If you have a medical condition or something else that prohibits you from giving up food then please hear me, do not give it up. Give up something else that is not going to send you to the hospital.
Fasting is an Add On
Fasting is an Add On
Jesus says in,
“Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Fasting for the believer is assumed. The early church fasted regularly and for a variety of purposes.
The Didache which is an early Christian writing from about the late 1st century says about fasting:
Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you.
But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; Matthew 6:16 for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday)
It was assumed that in addition to our other Christian duties we would fast.
Do not limit the benefit of fasting merely to abstinence from food, for a true fast means refraining from evil. Do not let your fasting lead to wrangling and strife. You do not eat meat, but you devour your brother; you abstain from wine, but not from insults. So all the labor of your fast is useless.
Ambrose of Milan
We have to be clear that fasting like giving is not a substitution for something else but an add on.
We do not fast in place of prayer but with prayer. We do not fast instead of service but with service. We do not fast instead of reading the Bible we fast while reading the Bible. Fasting is something we add to our reasonable service to God.
I want us to look at three examples of Fasting in the Bible. Each one is fasting but the motivation is different for each one.
Fasting For Self-Discipline
Fasting For Self-Discipline
Fasting for self-discipline to remind our bodies that they are not in control and that we will be ruled by the Spirit and not the flesh.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things,
Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have to be so careful here because if we are not then we can quickly and easily fall into asceticism. This idea that the body or the physical is is bad and we have to destroy it. Or that by somehow fasting we become holier and better. Or that it is certain foods you need to avoid. That is not the case.
The physcial world and our bodies are not bad. God created them. He is the one who designed them. But we are not to be ruled by them.
Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind.
They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.
If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations:
“Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”?
All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines.
Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.
This is not about coming up with a set list of things not to eat. I have heard some people talk about how you should not eat pork for example because pigs are dirty and if you do then you become dirty. That is hogwash. Bacon is a gift.
Now sure you have to be careful with what you eat but fasting for the purpose of self-disciple is not about gaining holiness but learning submission. We are holy because of Christ and nothing else.
I used to drink a lot of soda. I had a pastor point it out to me because I honestly did not even notice. He said fast for a week or two and see how you feel. I felt better and have never drank that much soda again. What it also did was give me a tool. Anytime I think I might be dependent on something I try to fast from it and remind myself that my cravings or desires are not in control.
We cannot let the flesh dictate our lives. This is why I only have Whataburger once a month.
Fasting For The Will of the Lord
Fasting For The Will of the Lord
Jesus fasting before starting His earthly Ministry.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus our Lord was led by the Spirit to fast and then to be tempted. Where in the world do we get the idea that God will not us to a place of testing? Yes James says that God will not tempt you to sin but you will be tested and fasting can help us in the test because it places our focus and attention on God and His will.
These are the nations the Lord left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan.
This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.
Testing is good because it prepares us for war. Fasting is training and preparation for that battle.
First, let fasting be done unto the Lord with our eye singly fixed on Him. Let our intention herein be this, and this alone, to glorify our Father which is in heaven.
John Wesley
Fasting also puts us in a place to hear from God for what He has for us.
As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
It was while they were fasting that the Holy Spirit gave wisdom. Sometimes we cannot hear what God has for us because we are not willing to surrender our physcial desires. We are so full and content that we are not hungry enough to hear from God.
Fasting says, I want to hear from you God more than I want food and I will submit to your call.
There are so many examples of people fasting for the will of God.
One of my favorite examples is Nehemiah.
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.
Nehemiah received bad news and it instantly broke him. As soon as hears the news he stops everything and begins to pray and fast for a number of days. How long? No idea, just a number of days. The news he heard made him realize that He needed God and He needed wisdom on how to proceed.
If I get a phone call that my wife is in the hospital I am not going to go out to eat. I am not going to invite people over for a meal. No the bad news takes over and I am not even hungry anymore. All of the sudden the only thing that matters is that my beloved is not well. Sometimes when we hear certain news the proper response is fasting because food is no longer important.
Fasting for Healing, Deliverance, and the Spirit
Fasting for Healing, Deliverance, and the Spirit
Luke 2:36–37 (CSB)
There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
and was a widow for eighty-four years. She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.
She prayed and fasted for somewhere around 60 years. Not for herself but for God to deliver and heal Israel.
Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.”
Sometimes we have a decision to make and we need wisdom or for God to grant us favor. Fasting before the time to act can be and is a great first step.
It is so easy for us to run into a decision on our own strength and our own wisdom and many times this is ok. We know what we are doing and we can execute. But sometimes we need to fast. We need to have God give us wisdom or intervention. We need God to do what only He can do. Fasting before the event or time is one of the best ways to go in strong.
Fasting in Practice
Fasting in Practice
I have had fasts that have started on a day because I felt like God was leading me to fast. That He was prompting to me to go without until He told me to stop. This is usually no more than a day. I have had other times, and they are the majority when I feel like I need to fast and I take some time to pray and press into what I should be fasting from.
As we have been going through these Spiritual Disciplines we have been trying to put them into practice right away. Now with fasting we cannot fast long enough right now. That is just waiting until lunch.
I would ask that you pray about and think about what you can fast from.
Some examples.
Some examples.
There are some popular fasts you can find lots of information on.
Daniel Fast: Some call this a vegan fast. It is only fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
No Meat: Pretty self explanatory.
No Sugar: Pretty self explanatory. No sodas, cakes, cookies, or candy.
But really it can be anything. My first ever fast was no bread, no cheese, no meat.
I have done a liquid fast where I only drink and no solid food. I I have done a vegetarian fast where I followed a vegetarian diet. You can fast from sun up to sun down. There is really no limit. Just pray about it.
For those who cannot participate in a food fast:
no tv
no social media
no video games
no extra spending
Fasting Invitation:
Fasting Invitation:
I would like to invite us to a corporate fast this coming week. Three specific church wide points:
Journey Church Fasting Points:
Unity
Finances (now and Shift)