Fasting: A Neglected Tool

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Matthew 6 as we are continuing to move our way through the Sermon on the Mount.

While you’re turning there, I want to give you something to chew on. Do you ever stop to think about how much you eat?

If you have struggled with your weight, you probably have done this at some point. Maybe you have counted calories or carbs in some attempt to cut back.

Here are some statistics for you. These numbers are about 10 years old now, but I had a hard time finding updated research. As of 2010, the average American eats, per year:

29 lbs. of French fries

23 lbs. of pizza

24 lbs. of ice cream

53 gallons of soda (over one gallon a week!)

24 lbs. of artificial sweeteners

2.736 lbs. of salt (47% more than recommended)

That puts us somewhere around, on average, 2700 calories a day.[i]

Very few of us know what real hunger feels like. Some of you may have had lean times where you went hungry for a period of time, but most of us have never even gotten close.

How many times have you heard your kids say, “I’m starving!”? You know better—I doubt any of us have been close to actual starvation.

What are you planning on having for lunch? Are you planning something delicious? Are you feeling hungry yet?

As Americans, most of us do not often feel true, physical hunger all that regularly. There is something in the pantry you can grab, something in the fridge, or some burger joint open for you to get something to eat. A quick Google search shows at least 20 fast food restaurants within four miles of the church.

With all the food around us, very few of us feel real hunger for very long.

You know, for many of us, we have just the same reaction in our spiritual lives. We never truly cultivate a burning hunger for the things of God; instead, we are content to fill ourselves up with little snippets of truth and feel-good shows to try to cover up our true spiritual need.

We scroll past a verse on Facebook or an inspiring video in our feed, and we feel like we have had some time with God…a little snack, if you will.

I am not saying that it is wrong, but we can’t just live off little snacks, whether we are talking about food or spirituality.

There needs to be seasons in our lives where we spend time and energy to get a “real meal”, if you will, in our relationship with God.

How do we overcome that complacency? How can we get past the mundane, normal, ordinary life and on to a deeply felt recognition of our need for God?

We have already been discussing one great tool for that, which is to develop a vibrant prayer life.

We have spent several weeks talking about the different topics we cover in prayer, and as you pray along those lines, you grow in your understanding of your dependence on God.

However, before Jesus moves on to other areas of teaching, he is going to give us another tool to help us sharpen our focus on our relationship for our king, and that is the tool of fasting.

This is a third a third spiritual discipline that was often abused in his day, which is the discipline of fasting. Look with me in Matthew 6:16-19.

We’re going to take some time this morning to deal, not only with this passage, but with what the Bible as a whole has to say about fasting.

Let me be transparent with you about a couple things. First, I don’t practice this discipline like I need to. Second, there is a wide variety of opinions and ideas about what Christian fasting is and why we should do it.

This morning, I am going to try to tie together what I’ve learned with this definition of fasting:

Fasting is a spiritual and physical response to a spiritual and/or physical need where our need to seek God’s face overrides our desire for comfort.

Fasting may or may not be a practice we engage in regularly, but at its core, it is a strong response to the awareness of our need.

It may not be a perfect definition, but it seems to do justice to what I see in Scripture and find in the writings of godly men.

This morning, I want you to see with me at least four facts that help us understand more about fasting as a response to a need.

The first one, which we see in Matthew 6, is that…

1) Fasting is assumed.

Notice with me how Jesus sets up his teaching on fasting: “v 16 - Whenever you fast…” and “v 17 – But when you fast…”

Jesus doesn’t say “if you fast,” but rather, “when.”

This is the same language He has already applied to verses 2 & 3 in relationship to giving and verses 5-7 in relationship to prayer.

Does anyone believe that we shouldn’t give to the poor? How about prayer?

Then doesn’t it stand to reason that, just like we should pray and give to the poor, we should also fast?

It is interesting to notice that Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast while Jesus was with them on earth:

Matthew 9:14–15 CSB

Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

While Jesus was present on the earth, his disciples didn’t fast. Yet, Jesus said that they would fast after he left.

There is an assumption that we will fast at some points in our walk with Christ.

Now, let me point something out to you while I am saying this: fasting is not commanded anywhere in the New Testament.

In fact, the only routine fast that was actually commanded by God was the fast for the Day of Atonement. In Leviticus 16 and in chapter 23, God says that they were “to afflict/humble their souls,” which refers to fasting.

The Jews added additional fasts as commemoration of national events, but those were not commanded by God.

There are other times when God calls his people to fast in response to their sinfulness, but there is not a regular day of fasting that Jesus prescribes.

By Jesus’ day, the Pharisees, who were the religious leaders who were so good at acting spiritual but not being right with God, had gotten to the point where they would fast twice a week, but we’ll talk more about that later.

The fact of the matter is, though, that fasting is not commanded anywhere in the New Testament. After Christ died, the fast around the Day of Atonement was fulfilled, so we are not even bound by that!

However, it is clear from Jesus’ words and the testimony of Scripture that fasting was an assumed response.

In fact, let’s look at that…

2) Fasting is modeled throughout Scripture.

When you look through the history sections of Scripture, you find many of the great men and women of God participating in fasting.

Here are just a few, in no particular order:

Moses on Mt Sinai (Ex. 34:28)

Daniel in anticipation of hearing from God (Dan. 9:3)

Mordecai and the people of Israel needing God to spare their life from an evil decree (Esther 4:16)

The nation of Israel in response to a foolish civil war (Judges 20:26)

Nehemiah, mourning over the sad state of Jerusalem (Neh. 1:4)

David while interceding for the life of his child (2 Sam 12:16) and mourning the loss of Abner (2 Sam. 3:35)

The people of Nineveh as they realized their need to repent and be forgiven (Jonah 3:5-7)

The church before they sent out missionaries or appointed elders (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23)

Jesus Himself as He fasted forty days in the wilderness (Matt. 4:3)

Here is where we start noticing that fasting is most often a response to a unique situation where God’s people needed to hear from him in a big way.

By the way, you find all kinds of different types of fasts. In a normal fast, you would not eat food until after sunset. Sometimes, though, you have a partial fast, where you just abstain from a certain kind of food and/or activity for a season. Still other times, you have a complete and total fast—no food or water at all. Some fasts in the Bible last for a single day, others last for an extended period of time.

Regardless of how God leads you to fast, Scripture shows that fasting is an appropriate and, at times, necessary response to what is going on.

However, there is something to notice about fasting here. It isn’t simply as a detox or a cleanse…

3) Fasting is a spiritual activity.

As you look through these stories of men and women who fasted and sought God earnestly, you see that it is first and foremost a spiritual activity.

Although fasting involves limiting your intake of food or water and abstaining from some activities, it is not just for the sake of the body.

Many diets will start off with a cleanse or fast at the beginning to help kick-start your diet. There is a big push in health circles towards the habit of “intermittent fasting”, where you plan your eating for a certain window of time during the day.

Although those kinds of fasts may be beneficial as a part of taking care of the body God has given you, they aren’t what Jesus is referring to. In and of themselves, they don’t have any spiritual benefit.

In fact, even if you decide you want to fast and do nothing but simply avoid food, you are still missing the point.

Fasting in Scripture is always designed to point you to prayer. The two are inseparable.

Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, put it this way,

“Receiving God's best blessing from a fast requires solid commitment. Arranging special time each day with God is absolutely crucial in attaining intimate communion with the Father. You must devote yourself to seeking God's face, even (and especially) during those times in which you feel weak, vulnerable, or irritable.

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Read His Word and pray during what were mealtimes. Meditate on Him when you awake in the night. Sing praises to Him whenever you please. Focus on your Heavenly Father and make every act one of praise and worship.

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God will enable you to experience His command to "pray without ceasing" as you seek His presence.”[ii]

As we mentioned earlier, fasting isn’t simply a physical act. It is primarily a spiritual response that we demonstrate in the way we treat our physical bodies.

I keep mentioning that it’s a response, by the way. A response to what? Well, I’m glad you asked.

In the fasts you find in Scripture, there is a common element of humbling oneself. It often comes out of grief and mourning. Sometimes, it is grieving over the loss of a loved one. Other times, it is grieving over our own sin and selfishness, spending that time of fasting to humble ourselves in light of our sin. Not only that, but fasting can also be a sense of desperate need for God to guide, whether in a decision or in some new venture or ministry.

Fasting is not an attempt to twist God’s arm. It’s not like a little kid saying, “I’m going to hold my breath until you give me what I want.”

It isn’t even a tool to impress God with how great you are and how spiritual you are.

Instead, fasting is a tool by which we humbly acknowledge that we need God to move or to answer or to provide in this situation more than we even need food.

Some people feel led to make this a regular practice and they fast weekly, monthly, or at certain times throughout the year.

Others only fast when they find themselves facing a large decision or sense that they need to be surrendered to God in a unique way.

You need to spend time with God to discover how he wants to use this tool, this discipline, in your own life.

That leads to the final aspect of fasting we’ll look at this morning:

4) Fasting is personal.

Going back to what we see in Matthew 6, fasting is again a matter of the heart.

Just like anything else, it is not an attempt to show everyone how amazing you are or how much you love God.

Instead, it is a humble, heart-felt response to an understanding of your need for him.

Remember how we said that the Pharisees would fast twice a week? They picked the two market days, Monday and Thursday, so they could have as many opportunities to tell people, “I’m sorry, I can’t eat today. I’m fasting”.

They would wear old, ratty clothes. Some would even use makeup to make themselves look more pale and sickly.

Verse 17, though, again reiterates that God isn’t impressed by the outward act.

As you fast, don’t go around moping all day, whining about how hungry you are, making sure everyone knows just how spiritual you are.

Instead, let fasting come out of a genuine response to your recognition that you need God’s guidance, forgiveness, peace, or restoration.

You may need to let others, like your spouse, know that you are fasting, but just like with giving and with prayer, we aren’t telling the world.

Instead, we are coming to our Father who sees in secret and seeking him with not only our spirits, but our bodies as well.

Fasting is a spiritual and physical response to a physical and/or spiritual need where our need to seek God’s face overrides our desire for comfort.

What does God want you to do with this message?

Are there any needs in your life this morning that, were you to really get serious about, you should probably devote extra time to praying and fasting over?

If not, why is that? It may be because you don’t realize the seriousness of your spiritual life! Perhaps the starting point for you today is to ask God to break your pride to help you see how desperately you need him.

As he does that, it may lead you into a time of earnestly seeking him that results in a fast.

We certainly have plenty of situations around us that would be worth praying about:

Elections

Pandemic

Racial tension

Church leadership - deacons, team members, etc.

You may have situations in your own life—health, family struggles, financial concerns, etc.

Remember, just like giving, just like prayer, and just like any other actions we do, we are not doing these things to try to make us right with God.

You and I could never fast long enough or pray enough or give away enough to make ourselves right with God.

Instead, we are made right with God by agreeing with God that we have sinned and calling out to Jesus to save us. As we do, we commit ourselves to letting him lead and guide us, and we commit to honoring and serving him as our Lord, our leader, our boss.

From there, we give to honor him, we pray and fast to seek his face, ask him to move, and change our hearts and those around us.

Endnotes:

[i] http://www.creditloan.com/blog/2010/07/12/food-consumption-in-america/. Accessed 06 October 2012.

[ii] Bright, Bill. Your Personal Guide to Fasting and Prayer. Online. https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/fasting/personal-guide-to-fasting.8.html. Accessed 24 September 2020.