Fasting

Nehemiah 1:4 ESV

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.

People often ask the following question:

“Is Fasting a Mandate in the New Testament?”

The answer is:

“No”, but it is an understood.

Let’s continue in our focal passages before we pray.

Matthew 6:16–18 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. 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.

What is fasting?

The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition Fasting

Fasting in the Bible generally means going without all food and drink for a period (e.g. Est. 4:16), and not merely refraining from certain foods.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Fasting

(צוֹם, tsom; νηστεία, nēsteia; ἀσιτέω, asiteō). A ritual of abstaining from food and/or drink for a predetermined period; practiced in the Bible primarily as a means of mourning. Fasting frequently occurs in the Old Testament in response to suffering or disaster, in conjunction with other mourning rituals.

In our modern days, people have chosen to do different types of fasts for different reasons.

Further, people have chosen to do “Daniel fasts” and some have even tried to do a “Jesus fast”. But the reasons for these have varied greatly.

By the time of the Second temple period, fasts in the Biblical time had gained a further connection in worship/service/devotion…the commendation of fasting with prayer as an act of devotion.

Let’s see what is actually taking place in our text and how it relates to the idea of “Growing in Revival.”

Consider Present-Day Life.

Nehemiah 1:4 (ESV)

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.

Nehemiah heard the words of Hanani his “brother” and the words were too much for him to fathom.

The words were letting him know the situation of the people of God.

Consider:

Hurt in the world

Depravity

Brokenness

Disease

Lack of concern

If we have not gotten there yet, we should realize Nehemiah is broken over the situation.

He wants everything to be different.

His grief is apparent in the text, but also His recognition of the power of the One who controls all situations.

So, if we understand our two definitions of fasting from earlier, we can note that there is a connection between the life of the individual/life around them that connects to the purpose to fast.

Nehemiah fasted because of brokenness…yet, there is more.

Fast For Connection to God.

Nehemiah 1:4 (ESV)

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.

Pay attention to the fact that what Nehemiah is saying is not he was already fasting, but that as an outflow of the burden this became a continual thing for him.

Joel 2:12–13a (ESV)

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

13 and rend your hearts and not your garments...

The fast is about the turning of the heart to towards the Lord God and will of God.

Notice how God says, in the book of Joel, return to me…w/fasting, weeping, and mourning…rend your hearts.

The fast brings about six connections to God:

Recognition of physical weakness in hunger and dependence upon the Lord.

Surrenders the time of cooking/eating to the Lord

Sacrifice of Comfort physically

Self-discipline — thus avoiding sin

Increased spiritual awareness

Expresses sincerity in prayer-life

In all, fasting helps in the willingness of laying self aside in a Gal. 2:20 sort of way.

Fast as an Outward Expression of Repentance.

Nehemiah 1:4 (ESV)

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.

The prayer of repentance, accompanied by fasting, exemplifies devotion.

Isaiah 58:3–6 ESV

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?

Utilize the time of devotion to surrender those things that bind and hinder.

Walking Away, But In...

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