The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting

Manuscript Template

Title:  The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting

Focus Statement:  

Fasting is not just for the 6 weeks of Lent, it should be a regular part of our spiritual walk. The spiritual discipline of fasting is one way that we can demonstrate that we are not slaves to our desires. Through fasting we develop a hunger for God that exceeds our physical hunger and learn to focus our thoughts and efforts on spiritual matters. Fasting is seen as a way to develop spiritual discernment, strengthen faith, and connect more deeply with God's power. Let's learn what the Bible teaches on this subject.

Function Statement:  

Enter into a period of fasting whenever you feel called by God to take the next step in your spiritual walk.

Tweetable Phrase:  

What are you trading time w/ God for?

Main Text:  Acts 13:2-3

Supporting Text:  1 Corinthians 7:5, Isaiah 58:6-7, Matthew 4:2, Jonah 3:5, Ezra 8:21,23, Esther 4:3,16,9:31, 1 Samuel 31:13, 2 Samuel 1:12, Mark 9:29, Nehemiah 1:4, Matthew 6:16-18

Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus):  Matthew 4:1-11

Benediction:  Joel 2:12

Questions to Review

Is the bottom line clear? Main point should be able to be said in a single sentence.

What’s the opening line? Not hello, start with a question or something to grab attention.

Is the transition from the introduction to main point clear?

What’s my main point? Make it short and memorable

Does it matter? Is the topic relevant to the congregation?

Where is the power in the text? What word or phrase highlights the tension?

How am I moving toward application?

What is my main to-do (application)? Be specific.

What does it matter? The WHY creates urgency.

How am I closing? Have a plan.

ATTENTION GRABBER

I want to start with a hard truth...

We are all addicts!!! We are all addicted to something.

You may not believe that, but...

How many of us “NEED” that morning caffeine or we’ll get a HEAD ACHE [caffeine image]

How many of us “NEED” to eat on a very regular schedule or we will get HANGRY [Hangry Image]

How many of us “NEED” to pull out our phone when we hear the DING OF A NOTIFICATION or we can’t think of anything else until we do [Phone addiction image]

How many of us “NEED” people to like our social media posts or we feel UNLOVED and if we’re honest get a little depressed [social media likes image]

Today, as we start a new series titled PLANTED, where we explore some practices or habits, or said in a more churchy way, “spiritual disciplines”. We’re going to look at the ways that we can STOP being distracted by all these things the Devil has convinced us we “NEED” and START living the life God is inviting us to live.

WELCOME

Good Morning

My name is Ryan Hanson and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.

‌Welcome to those joining us online. We hope your doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.

ME/INTRO - Tension

So...for many of us who gave something up for Lent, we learned the hard reality that we all have things we’re addicted to.

I have up social media for Lent. I turned off my FaceBook notifications and committed to not opening the app, or going to the website for the 6 weeks of Lent.

And I knew it was an addiction because I had withdrawal.

I can’t tell you the number of times, I had a few minutes with nothing to do, reached for my phone and wanted nothing more than to aimlessly kill time scrolling. When I couldn’t fill the periods of nothing, I got all anxious and needed to find something else to fill the time.

I am happy to report that I stayed strong. I didn’t give in to the temptation to death scroll, but if I’m honest, I would not consider my Lent journey a 100% success.

If you remember 7 weeks ago, we defined Lent as...

Lent is time set aside to reorient what we value, away from our desires and toward God by removing anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God.

During my 6 weeks without social media, I did read the bible more. I did pray more. But I also watched more TV. I also watched more YouTube videos.

The pull to give into the addiction to mindlessly consume was real, and hard to break.

My ability to sit silently with myself without needing something to do or a distraction was never developed. I still cannot just do nothing.

I did some research and do you know that when we get addicted to something our brains actually change.

[Addiction brain images]

The brain’s reward system changes, altering how we experience pleasure and motivation, conditioning us to seek the dopamine hit we get when giving into whatever we’re addicted to

The structure of our brain actually changes. The Basal Ganglia, which is the structure in your brain responsible for habit formation, gets tuned to seek out the addictive behavior

As addictions intensify your brain prunes nerve pathways related to attention and motivation, creating super highways within the brain that make it easier to think about the object of your addiction

I want to give us all some good news. Engaging in spiritual practices can help us break free of these addictions.

The term spiritual discipline sounds intimidating, but a spiritual practice or spiritual discipline is simply:

A Spiritual Practice is an intentional activities that deepen one's relationship with God, putting ourselves under God’s divine influence, shaping our behavior and worldview over time.

The spiritual discipline that God has given us to help us break free of the addictions that hold us captive, is...

...Fasting.

WE - Tension

I don’t know how many of you fasted from something for Lent. Maybe your experience was different than mine.

This may not be true of your history with church, but for me fasting was never discussed at any of the churches I attended growing up. And consequently, I never gave it much thought until maybe 15 years ago when a church I attended challenged us to give something up for Lent.

Throughout the last 10-15 years, I’ve understood fasting to be a Lent focused activity that helps us enter into the suffering of Jesus, preparing us for Easter.

It has only been in the last few years, that I have started to see that Fasting is much more than just something we do during Lent to co-suffer with Jesus.

Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into the spiritual discipline of fasting, seeing what the Bible says about it, and seeking to discern what place God wants the spiritual discipline of fasting to take in our lives as we try to faithfully live the life He calls us to live.

If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.

We’re going to jump around a bit in the Bible today as we try to get as complete of a biblical view on fasting as we can.

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.

AND...if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.

Lets dive in.

GOD - Text

What is Fasting

To start off I want to define what fasting is.

Fasting is a spiritual practice that we regularly, voluntarily, intentionally, enter into to deepen our relationship with God.

Fasting is one of the main ways that we can re-orient our lives to align with the priorities of God’s Kingdom.

It is through fasting that we invite the Holy Spirit into the dark areas of our lives to break the dependence we feel to the things of this world.

Fasting is one of the ways the Holy Spirit uses to Sanctify us. By abstaining from the things of this world, we create time and space for the Holy Spirit to make us more like Christ.

The bible gives examples of multiple ways to enter into the practice of fasting.

Fasting from Food

In the time of Jesus, in addition to the yearly required fast on the Day of Atonement, the Pharisees established the practice of fasting twice a week (Monday and Thursday). These routine fasts became proverbial within Rome with the phrase “Fasting like a Jew” becoming part of the vernacular.

We see fasting from food lived out in the bible in multiple places

Moses: Exodus 34:28 “28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.”

Esther: Esther 4:16 “16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.””

Jesus: Matthew 4:1–2 “1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

Fasting from Pleasure

One example of this in the bible is in 1 Corinthians where Paul speak of abstaining from pleasure with regard to marriage

1 Corinthians 7:5 “5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

Fasting from Injustice or Hypocrisy

Yes, we can choose to fast / abstain from being impatient, rude, bossy

You can fast from being a jerk

Isaiah 58:6–7 “6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

By depriving ourselves of food, pleasure, bad attitudes, we are learning that we don’t need them in our lives. Once we have learned to no longer see the small pleasures of this word as things we “NEED”, the Holy Spirit gives us the power to say “NO” to all kinds of things that get in the way of our walk with God.

We can say “NO” to

That TV show you know is not good for you

That gossip that so easily sucks you in

That web site you said you’d never go back to

That drink you tell yourself you’ll only have 1 of

whatever sins have you entangled (Hebrews 12:1)

So, what is fasting...

Fasting is one of the most powerful things you can do to say “No” to the things of this world and “YES” to a life fully surrendered to God

What is God calling you to learn to say “NO” to this week?

What have you felt God calling you to say “YES” to, but the things of this world has gotten in the way of you accepting God’s call?

Why / When should we enter into a Fast

If that is WHAT fasting is, WHY and WHEN should we enter into the spiritual discipline of fasting?

There are triggers reasons that the bible gives to show us that we need to enter into fasts

Launch into Ministry - Jesus

Before Jesus’ ministry ever started, He fasted. He spent 40 days with God, removing every distraction and focusing on His relationship with God.

Matthew 4:1–2 “1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

Is God calling you to enter into a new ministry?

Repentance - Jonah and the Ninevites

The Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire, known for brutality in war, leaving conquered people maimed (regularly gouging out eyes or cutting off limbs), child sacrifice, illicit sexual activity, idolatry, and worship of foreign gods.

Yet, when Jonah preached against their actions, they repented, turned from their ways, and part of that repentance was fasting.

Jonah 3:5 “5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.”

Is there something you need to repent from?

When Facing Danger - Ezra leading people out of exile in Babylon back to Jerusalem

Ezra had gotten permission from King Artaxerxes that any Israelite who wanted to go back to Jerusalem could go, essentially ending the Israelite exile. Before they left, Ezra declared a fast to humble the Israelites and ask for safety on their journey.

Ezra 8:21–23 “21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”

Do you need God’s protection right now?

Courage and Wisdom - Esther

The story of Esther is about a man Haman (2nd in command to the king) who wants to be worshiped. When Mordecai (a Jew) refuses to bow down to him because he only worshiped God, Haman got mad and makes a plan to kill all the Jews. He tricks King Xerxes into ordering the destruction of all Israelites.

Esther 4:3 “3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.”

Esther was a Jew, who becomes queen to Xerxes. By Persian law anyone would be killed if they approached the king without an invitation. Esther asks her people to fast so she would have the courage to approach Xerxes and use per position to save the Jewish people.

Esther 4:16 “16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.””

Do you feel called to do something you are scared of and need courage or wisdom?

Grief - Saul’s Death

Even though Saul (Israel’s 1st King) made some huge mistakes and was removed from his position by God for disobedience, upon his death, the people fasted as part of their grief.

1 Samuel 31:13 “13 Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.”

Have you suffered a loss that you need to grieve?

When in Distress - David’s reaction to hearing that the Israelite army had lost the battle against the Philistines and that Saul and Jonathan had died

Isreal was in a war with Philistia and the Philistines had not only won the battle, but Israel’s king (Saul) and his son (Jonathan) were killed in the battle. Israel was still in danger with the Philistines emboldened by the victory.

2 Samuel 1:12 “12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”

Do you feel under attack?

For Spiritual Power - Jesus drives out evil spirit from a boy the disciples could not

The disciples could not free a boy from the evil spirit that possessed him. Jesus said that it could only be driven out through prayer, and based on the context, this was prayer coupled with fasting

Mark 9:29 “29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.””

Where do you need God to act powerfully in your life?

What situation do you find your self in? Maybe, this week, God is calling you to not only pray about it, but fast for it as well.

How should we Fast

Okay, so we’ve talked about WHAT fasting is, WHY and WHEN we should fast...

...BUT the real question is HOW do we fast in a way that accomplishes the goal.

Remember

Fasting is a spiritual practice that we regularly, voluntarily, intentionally, enter into to deepen our relationship with God.

The most important thing we need to do know regarding HOW to fast in a way that honors God is to...

Have a plan

Don’t assume that by giving something up, everything with align in your head and your spiritual life will be deeper and more rich.

No...without a plan, you’ll do much like I did over lent. You’ll watch more TV and do a lot more nothing.

I had a plan, I had a plan to read the bible more. I had a plan to pray more.

Where I went wrong was that I didn’t account for the reality of the time I spent on social media. My plan did not account for all the free time that I was going to have.

When making your plan, make sure you are honest with yourself as to how much time will be freed up by eliminating whatever you’re fasting from.

If you’re fasting from 1 meal per day, make a plan for the time it take to cook, eat, and clean for that meal.

If you’re fasting from something you take pleasure in, be honest with how much time you spend doing that, and make a plan that accounts for all of that time.

If you’re fasting from an attitude, be honest with how much time is wasted partaking in that behavior. If you’re gossiping or engaging in “locker room talk”, be honest with yourself and make a plan that accounts for all that time.

But knowing how much time you need to plan for is only step 1.

Step 2 is determining what we do to fill the time with in a way that accomplishes the goal of deepening your relationship with God.

Your plan should include the following components

Worship - How much time do we spend outside of Church worshipping God. How much time do we listen / sing worship songs. How much time do we spend just thanking God for all that He’s done for us. God has done so much for each and every one of us. We should be spending time showing Him our gratitude.

Reading Scripture - Part of building a deeper relationship with God is hearing His voice. Reading scripture is one of the main ways that God speaks to us. We’ve talked about how to read scripture before, but if you didn’t get one of our bible book marks, I printed a few more out. Feel free to grab one from the info desk.

Prayer - Hearing from God through reading His word is essential, but talking to God is just as important. Be honest with God. Tell Him what you’re feeling, thinking, needing, wanting, struggling. He can handle it.

Serve - Join God in what He’s doing. Find something that God’s doing, and volunteer. No better way to deepen a relationship with someone than to join them in what they are already doing.

Your plan for how to spend your newly acquired time will look different from everyone else’s, but make sure you have a plan.

Make sure it account for all the time you would have spend on whatever it is that you gave up.

Make sure that it is centered around new activities that focus on deepening your relationship with God.

YOU - Takeaway

So where are you at?

Do you have a habit, coping routine, or addiction that God is calling you to finally be free of?

Do you feel that God is calling you to enter a new chapter of your spiritual walk?

Maybe, God is calling you to voluntarily and intentionally enter into a fast?

What is getting in the way of your relationship with God, how much time would you free up if you stopped doing that, and what is your plan to use that time to deepen your relationship with God?

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action

In the book of Matthew, we’re given a story of a time when Jesus lived this out. Right after His baptism, before He entered public ministry, Jesus voluntarily and intentionally fasted for 40 days.

Matthew 4:1–11 NIV

1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Matthew doesn’t say what Jesus was doing during those 40 days, but the desert is regularly used in the bible as a place to meet God. As there are no distractions in the desert it is the perfect place to worship, pray, and listen for the call from God in your life. I don’t think I’m going out on too much of a limb by assuming Jesus was spending that 40 days in deep relationship with God, preparing Himself for the ministry that lay ahead.

We’re called to do the same.

So when the temptations of life come for us, we’re ready.

Fasting is not something we do just once a year to “enter into the suffering of Jesus” during Lent.

Fasting is something we regularly, voluntarily, and intentionally enter into whenever we find ourselves in a position where we need God’s help.

Maybe you’re in that position right now. I’d encourage you to identify the things of this world that are getting in the way of your relationship with God, commit to fasting from them, and make a plan to fill the time you now have with activities that deepen your relationship with God.

What does the devil have you convinced you "NEED” that is blocking your willingness to say “YES” to a life fully surrendered to God?

And what are you doing to do about it?

PRAYER 

Will you join me in prayer...

SONG 

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who needs God this week. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace.

‌

You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

BENEDICTION 

Joel 2:12 NIV

12 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

This week...let’s say “No” to the things of this world that have no eternal significance, let’s make plan to re-purpose that time to activities that deepen our relationship with God, and let’s say “YES” to a life fully surrendered to God

Quick reminder...

Apache Run Club - May 7th @ 4:45 PM @ the Shawnee Mission West HS Track - Let’s cheer these kids on

Ladies Garden Party - Saturday May 10th - Sign up at the info desk

Summer Sermon Series - Hot One’s - Send in Questions

Log into app and send questions - NOW - through the contact us link

If you’re new, please stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

You are dismissed.

DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)

How can you incorporate fasting into your regular spiritual walk beyond just the Lent season?

What specific distractions from this world do you feel God is calling you to fast from right now?

In what ways can fasting strengthen your relationship with God in your daily life?

Have you ever experienced a situation where fasting helped you focus on what truly matters to you? What was it?

What steps will you take this week to plan your fast and ensure that it draws you closer to God?