Spiritual Disciplines 11
Spiritual Disciplines – 11
Fasting
Text: Matthew 6:16-18
Place Preached - (Mississauga International Baptist Church)
Date Preached - (01/15/04)
Introduction:
Fasting is perhaps the most feared and misunderstood of all the Spiritual Disciplines.
What do we fear?
- Fasting will make us odd
- We will suffer
- We will have to give up our self-indulgent ways.
- It is generally perceived to be a fully negative experience.
Very few practice it. It is seldom preached or studied from the Scriptures. Yet it is mentioned as often as something important like baptism (75 mentions) as opposed to fasting (77 mentions).
Fasting Explained
DEFINITION: Fasting is a believer’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.
It is...
- Christian
- Voluntary
- Spiritual
There is a broader sense in which fasting can be applied not to food & drink only, but to our abstinence from other legitimate activity for spiritual purposes.
Biblical Fasts
1. The Normal Fast
Abstinence from all food, but drinking water. EXAMPLE: Christ fasted 40 days (Matt 4:2; Luke 4:2) He was hungry, but not thirsty.
2. The Partial Fast
Limitation of the Diet, but not abstention from all food. EXAMPLES: Daniel (Dan. 1:12) John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4)
3. The Absolute Fast
Avoidance of all food & drink. EXAMPLES: Ezra (Ezra 10:6) Jews of Esther’s time (Esther 4:16) Paul (Acts 9:9)
4. Supernatural Fast
Required God’s intervention in the bodily processes to prevent death. EXAMPLES: Moses (Deut 9:9) Elijah (I Kings 19:8) Both men went 40 days & nights without food or water.
5. Private Fast
Fasting in a way not to be noticed by others (Matt. 6:16-18)
6. Congregational Fasts
Joel 2:15-16 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:16Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Acts 13:2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
7. National Fasts
Jehosaphat’s response to a coalition invasion (2 Chron. 20:3)
Other Jewish National fasts (Neh. 9:1 & Esther 4:16)
Nineveh’s response to Jonah’s preaching (Jonah 3:5-8)
8. Regular Fasts
Every Jew was to fast on the day of atonement (Lev. 16:29-31) only one instituted or commanded by God.
Four annual fasts instituted by Jewish leaders while in Babylon (Zech 8:19).
Pharisees of Christ’s Day. Luke 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
9. Occasional Fasts
On special occasions as the need arises. Implied in Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
The most common fast among Christians today would fall under the categories of NORMAL, PRIVATE & OCCASIONAL FASTS.
I. Fasting Is Expected
Jesus expected that His followers would fast. Notice wording of Matt. 6:16-17 “when ye fast” & again “when (NOT “IF”) thou fastest”
These are the same expectations Christ had toward our giving (6:2-3) and our praying (6:5-7)
Jesus also makes it clear that until the Bridegroom returns He expects us to fast...
Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
Besides all this it was clearly the practice of believers in the book of Acts. (9:9; 13:2; & 14:23)
It’s interesting that Jesus gives us no command regarding how often or how long we should fast.
Just like all the other Spiritual Disciplines, fasting is not to be a legalistic routine. It is a privilege and an opportunity to seek God’s grace that is open to us as often as we desire.
II. Fasting Is To Be Done for a Purpose
There is more to Biblical fasting than just abstaining from food. Without a spiritual purpose for your fast, it’s just a weight-loss fast.
There are several major purposes given for fasting in Scripture, none is to impress God or earn His favour!
1. To Strengthen Prayer
When there is a special urgency about the concerns you lift before the Father.
Ezra’s petition for safe journey as he led exiles back to Jerusalem. Ezra 8:23 So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us. HE ANSWERED OUR PRAYER!!
Fasting is not a spiritual hunger strike that induces God to do our bidding. Fasting for something outside of God’s will is a waste of time!!
Fasting changes our praying more that it changes God’s hearing.
Fasting expresses our earnestness about the matter being prayed for in a divinely appointed way.
Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
The most important aspect of this discipline is it’s influence on prayer.
In his book God’s Chosen Fast Arthur Wallis remarks...
“In giving us the privilege of fasting as well as praying, God has added a powerful weapon to our spiritual armory. In her folly and ignorance the Church has largely looked upon it as obsolete. She has thrown it down in some dark corner to rust, and there it has lain forgotten for centuries. An hour of impending crisis for the church and the world demands its recovery.”
2. To Seek God’s Guidance
There is Biblical precedent for fasting for the purpose of more clearly discerning the will of God.
SEE Judges 20:18-28 – Explain context of the shocking sin committed by men of Gibeah. The other 11 tribes of Israel went to war against Benjamin three times, but only after they fasted did God give Israel the victory vs26-28.
Before Paul & Barnabas appointed elders in the churches, they prayed with fasting to receive God’s guidance.
Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
ILLUS: David Brainerd’s personal Diary April 19, 1742
"I set apart this day for fasting and prayer to God for his grace; especially to prepare me for the work of the ministry; to give me divine aid and direction, in my preparations for that great work; and in his own time to send me into his harvest. Accordingly, in the morning I endeavored to plead for the divine presence for the day, and not without some life. In the forenoon I felt the power of intercession for precious, immortal souls; for the advancement of the kingdom of my dear Lord and Saviour in the world; and withal, a most sweet resignation and even consolation and joy, in the thoughts of suffering hardships, distresses, and even death itself, in the promotion of it, and has special enlargement in pleading for the enlightening and conversion of the poor heathen. In the afternoon God was with me of a truth. Oh!, it was blessed company indeed! God enabled me so to agonize in prayer, that I was quite wet with sweat, though in the shade and the cool wind. My soul was drawn out very much for the world; I grasped for multitudes of souls. I think I had more enlargement for sinners than for the children of God; though I felt as if I could spend my life in cries for both. I had great enjoyment in communion with my dear Savior. I think I never in my life felt such an entire weanedness from this world, and so much resigned to God in every thing. Oh! that I may always live to and upon my blessed God! Amen, Amen.
Fasting makes us more recpetive to the guidance of the one who loves us.
3. To Express Grief
Three of the first four references in the Bible to fasting connect it with an expression of grief.
ie. Judges 20:26
After death of Saul - 2 Samuel 1:11-12 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:12And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.
A. Grief over our own sins
B. Grief over the sins of others
4. To Seek Deliverance or Protection
Under Jehoshaphat, Judah required protection from the Moabite/Ammonite coalition. 2 Chronicles 20:3-4
Ezra needed protection for the band of exiles he was leading back to Jerusalem. Ezra 8:21-23
Esther’s call to fasting and prayer to preserve the Jews from extermination. Esther 4:16
David’s prayer for deliverance from his enemies. Psalm 109 – Read vs.1-5 & 21-24
5. To Express Repentance & the Return to God
Repentance is a change of mind resulting in a change of action; therefore fasting can signal a commitment to obedience and a new direction.
1 Samuel 7:6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.
Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
Another notable example of fasting’s relationship to repentance is the spiritual awakening and revival at Nineveh (Jonah 3:5-8)
We might also say that in the absence of repentance, fasting is in vain.
6. To Humble oneself before God
There are physical expressions of humility in prayer, such as kneeling, bowing or prostrating oneself before God. Fasting is another one of these when practiced with the right motives.
EXAMPLE – The humbling of Ahab (I Kings 21:27-29)
King David - Psalm 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
Fasting for the wrong reason has quite the opposite effect...
Notice - Luke 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
7. To Express Concern for the Work of God
A place that has experienced tragedy or defeat – SEE Nehemiah 1:3-4 (Jerusalem lay waste and it burdened Nehemiah greatly)
Those who are in bondage – SEE Daniel 9:3 (Daniel prayed for the return of the Jews from exile and also the restoration of Jerusalem).
What a need we have in our day for the clear proclamation of the gospel worldwide!!
Obviously we can’t fast continually, but may the Lord at least occasionally give us a concern for His work so great that our normal concern for food will seem secondary in comparison.
8. To Minister to the Needs of Others
LOOK UP & READ Isaiah 58:6-7
This is the most extensive passage in Scripture dealing exclusively with fasting.
This passage teaches us that fasting is not primarily for the purpose of introspection, but emphasizing the meeting of others needs.
The kind of fasting that please God is the sort that results in concern for others and not just ourselves.
You may take the time slots used for meal times under normal circumstances and utilize them for ministry when fasting. Counseling, discipleship, witnessing etc.
Another idea is to take the money you saved by not partaking of your meals and apply it towards the needs of others.
9. To Overcome Temptation & Dedicate yourself to God
A good example for us is the fast of Jesus just prior to His temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11)
He successfully overcame a direct onslaught of temptation from Satan himself.
Christ also dedicated himself during that time to His soon coming public ministry.
The APPLICATION: Fasting is a way of overcoming temptation and of freshly dedicating ourselves to the Father.
For instance – a time of significant temptation / we are facing life-changing decisions that will have an impact on our spiritual growth and the direction of our family.
10. To Express Love & Worship to God
EXAMPLE: The devotion to God of Anna
Luke 2:37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
Our willingness to fast out of sheer love for God at least demonstrates that our belly is not our god.
Philippians 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
APPLICATION: Spend a meal time praising and adoring God. Or delay food intake until you have had your daily time of Bible intake and prayer.
Remember, Fasting is a privilege, not an obligation.
Romans 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Fasting must always have a spiritual purpose – A god-centred purpose or it is entirely in vain.
Conclusion: (Review)
Will you confess and repent of any fear of fasting?
It is many time more important and certainly much more rewarding to feast on God than on food.
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Will you fast as the Holy Spirit directs?
When He prompts you? Determine in advance that you will be obedient to His voice.
He may do this through a need in our lives.
Note – Some Medical conditions may be restrictive to fasting – ie diabetes, hypo-glycemia, pregnancy etc – talk to your physician if necessary.
Will you plan a fast of dedication now as an expression of your willingness to fast from now on?