Recharge Through Fasting

Intro

This month we are learning how to recharge. What does Jesus mean when He says in John 15:4–5 “Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” One way we can remain in Him, is through prayer, but that’s not the only way we can recharge.

Has anyone ever gone on a diet? what is a diet?

A diet, is giving up some type of food, usually the kind that tastes really good, to give us the benefit of better health.

a diet, is where we give up something that seems good in the moment, and instead take on something that is better for us. Its something we typically think is for the super healty people. Cause Even though it can suck a little in the moment, its for a greater good, whether that be to grow bigger muscles, to lose weight, to help fix a health problem etc. And we would all say that dieting is a good thing right? Dieting, recharges us physically for some better purpose.

Well I think there is a thing similar to dieting we see in the bible, something where we give up on, believe it or not, food, that we typically thing is for only the super spiritual people, to receive a greater benefit with God. That is fasting.

Last week we talked about how we can recharge through prayer, well this week I wanna talk about how we can supercharge, this is like a fast charger, and it’s fasting

You may remember on sunday, that Terry said it was a sunday of prayer and fasting, and maybe you weren’t exaclty sure what that meant, or maybe you do know but have never done one, or don’t understand exactly what fasting is, and so tonight I wanna take a look at how we can recharge through fasting.

Definition and Examples

What is fasting?

Stated simply, biblical fasting is refraining from food for a spiritual purpose.” Jenetzen Franklin Fasting

In other words, biblical fasting is letting go of something in the physical world to take hold of new things in the spiritual

fasting is a way in which we can give something up, to seek something new from the Lord, but where do we see that in scripture?

Examples

Moses - fasted 40 days and nights on Mt Sinai to recieve the Ten Commandments Exodus 34:28

David - fasted 7 days over his sick son 2 Samuel 12:16-18

Ezra fasted for protection on their journey from Babylon back to Israel Ezra 8:21-23

Esther fasted 3 days before she went before the king Esther 4:16

Daniel fasted from meat and wine for 21 days for clarity on a vision Daniel 10:2-3

Paul fasted 3 days after his encounter with Jesus in Acts 9:9

Leaders of the Church of Antioch fasted over sending out missionaries Acts 13:1-3

Paul and Barnabas fasted to decide on elders in every church Acts 14:23

we see it in early church manuscripts like the Didache, talking about fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays

Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before he began his ministry Matthew 4:1-11 Luke 4:1-13

If fasting was such a big deal to the people of the Bible, why is it not to us?

I think the answer is that most of us, at least I know I was in this boat, don’t really understand it, nor do we want to. and so I wanna take a look at what Jesus says about fasting, why we tend to not want to do it, but then lastly why we should and how we can.

Misconceptions

Matthew 6:16–20 ““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. “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.”

We think that fasting is more of a burden than a blessing

Jesus says WHEN we fast, not if, He assumes His followers will fast, fasting is not just for the “super spiritual” its for all of us. But its not so much about the requirement, its more about the reward. but what is the reward?

It’s to look super holy

He says dont do it to receive earthly attention. If we want the earthly reward of fasting, all we have to do is tell everybody, but if we want a far greater reward, a heavenly reward, don’t

we shouldn’t be fasting for merely the approval of others, because if you ask me, that’s not very worth it.

we fast for heavenly reward, and we’ll look more at what that means later

I think the other thing we can get mixed up on is we think fasting is similar to a misconception we can have about prayer, and that’s that it’s for us to get God’s attention, but I think what we will find, and what we see in all those examples is that it’s not, it’s about giving God ours.

Why we dont fast

desire for self sufficiency

in our culture today, we have a great desire to be self sufficient. Which isn’t a horrible thing when held in check, but can actually end up hurting us.

We want to be able to totally function on our own, when in reality, we weren’t created for that. We were created to be dependant on God. Adam and Eve were created with a dependance on God, and as soon as they tried to become independant, to become like God, sin entered the world and we are in the mess we are in now.

hunger for worldly pleasures

We live in a culture that is centered on pleasure. I want to do what I want, I want to do my truth. I want to please myself.

bent toward self satisfaction

We are, because of our broken nature, bent towards how we can satisfy ourselves. I know I see this in my own life, because naturally, the first person I want to please in most situations, ends up being myself

humanism

we don’t see ourselves how we are, sinners in need of Jesus to restore our relationship with God we were made for. We tend to see ourselves as self made individuals who need a heavenly life coach.

undisciplined living

we aren’t disciplined in any other aspect of our life so how can we expect to be disciplined in our spiritual lives. We live lives full of instant gratification. Fast food, doordash, social media, streaming services. We want everything without any work. We don’t wanna make our food, we want it instant. We don’t wanna go to a movie theater, we want it at home. We don’t wanna go to the store, we wanna order it. We don’t wanna put in work to get muscles, we just want steroids.

We live our lives with no discipline, without wanting to put forth any work, and I think that same lack of discipline stops us from fasting

lack of biblical vision

we simply don’t see the biblical benfit of fasting

What we can recieve from fasting, what is the biblical benefit of fasting?

Deeper friendship with God Psalm 42:1–3 “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, “Where is your God?””

we don’t fast to get something from God, we fast so we can remove distractions between us and God

do you want to have a deeper realtionship with the God of the Universe? one way we can do that, is through fasting, to remove distractions and focus on our need for Him

Renewed hunger for heavenly things John 6:27 “Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.””

fasting helps us rearrange our spiritual appetites

When we stay away from food, it helps us to focus that we don’t need anything other than God to live.

and as we’ll see here in a bit, fasting doesn’t have to be food, sometimes it can be something we are prioritizing over God, and that can help us rearrange our priorities to keep God at the forefront

This is why the church has a fast at the beginning of every year, to focus our hearts and minds on the Lord, and to start the year with our priorities straight

Soul training for self denial Mark 8:34 “Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

world tells us to fill ourselves with our desires, Jesus says deny

One way we can work on that lack of discipline we have, is by denying ourselves of things to focus on God

Intimacy, security, and strength Luke 4:1-14

we see Jesus fast before He is tempeted by the devil, when He seems like He would be weak, He was strong

When we have a decision before us, or a tough time of temptation we know is coming, a good strategy to prepare ourselves is to fast and spend time wiht the Lord. Thats why Terry talked about the staff and deacons fasting over the new budget. When we have a decision before us and need strenght to make it, we can fast and seek the Lord for help.

clarity in prayer Isaiah 58

In Isaiah 58 God says the people of Israel have been fasting to show how holy they are, and fast and pray without loving those around them, and wonder why God does not answer, He says to fast genuinely and then in Isaiah 58:9 “At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,”

We also see that earlier in Daniel 10, when Daniel needed clarity on a vision and fasted for an answer

humilty for revival 2 Chronicles 7:14 “and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

only when we are desperate for God are we ready for revival

Every revival in all of history was started by prayer and fasting

Freedom from demonic strongholds Mark 9:29 “And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting”

there are times in our lives where the only way to overcome spiritual battles are through fasting and prayer

How can we fast?

4 types of fasts

major (24 hours +)

Minor (short amount of time)

partial (certain foods like Daniel)

Soul (things other than food)

4 steps

what are you fasting for?

spiritual renewal, guidance, discernment, healing, or revival

make a plan

what type of fast will you do?

how long?

will you do it alone or with someone?

prepare heart body and mind

if its food, drink lots of water before

pray over it

help make it easier to finish

start it and finish it

Application

Do you long for a recharge? do you feel like you are stuck, fasting is a way to supercharge your battery

do you feel like you need spiritual renewal, guidance, discernment, healing, or revival?

I would highly encourage you to try fasting in your life, it’s been a game changer in mine