Serving, Praying, Fasting: The Three Pillers

Matthew 6:1-18

Matthew 6:1-18 Serving, Praying, Fasting

In just over 4 months Raechel and I will have been married for 37 years which is very interesting because she is only 39, she was actually 2 years old when we got married. Through these 36 plus years I have done a lot of things that have caused stress in our marriage. I know that is hard for you to believe but I can be a stress inducing person. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not one to dwell on the wrong I’ve done, I would rather be like Paul and say that I forget the past and press on toward the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. But there are a few things that I have done right, things that have caused our fellowship to grow stronger and better. Now this isn’t a sermon on marriage counseling exactly but to a small degree it is. One of the things that I did right is I learned how important it was to listen to my wife and respond to what she said. I can remember very well when our marriage began to blossom was when we would both get home from work and she would be in the kitchen cooking dinner and I would stand in the door way of the kitchen and listen to her tell me about her day, and I would respond with more than just a grunt or uh-hu. Even though I did not feel like I needed that communication she desired it greatly, so it made a huge difference in our marriage and just doing it caused me to understand that I did need it. Another thing that made a big difference was when we began to serve others together. We joined a small church and together we served the people in the congregation and in the community. Then the Lord called us into child care as house parents and it seemed as if the quality of our marriage skyrocketed. Serving others alongside one another made us closer to one another and more in tune with one another’s needs and desires, it caused me to see things the way Raechel saw them, and it made me appreciate Raechel. This brings us to the third thing that changed our marriage. It became important to me and to Raechel to be more concerned with the other’s life and plans than with our own. It became apparent to me that when I put Raechel’s desires before my own desires our marriage flourished.

When we served alongside one another, when we communicated, and when we preferred the desires of the other above our own the quality of our relationship increased.

A couple of weeks ago I preached out of Matthew 6:1-4 where Jesus is telling His disciples the attitude they needed to have when they did a charitable deed. Remember I pointed out that it wasn’t that Jesus commanded His disciples to do charitable deeds it was almost as if Jesus just assumed that His disciples would do charitable deeds. Then the next week I preached from Matthew 6:5-13 the Lord’s model prayer and again Jesus simply says; “when you pray…” Jesus’ assumption was that His disciple would pray and to be honest would want to pray. This week we will talk about another thing that Jesus just assumes that His followers would do. In Matthew 6:16-17 Jesus talks about fasting. We are not going to just talk about fasting because as I told you a few weeks back the Jews had what they called the three pillars of righteousness; Giving of alms (charitable giving), Prayer, and Fasting. Today we are going to look at these three pillars and see how they will enhance your relationship with God just like the things I learned would enhance our marriage. Let’s pray.

Let’s look first at just two verses, Matthew 6:3-4 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.[1]

When Raechel and I began serving others together it was amazing what began to happen. We would both begin to see needs in others that we had never noticed before. Now Raechel has always been tender hearted towards the needs of others but me on the other hand not so much. Why would I look for opportunities to serve someone, I made it on my own they can do the same if they would just pull themselves up by their bootstraps. At first Raechel would have to tell me about a need and encourage me to work alongside her in serving that need but then things began to change and I began to notice needs of people. God placed us in child care where compassion for those in need was not a luxury it was a necessity, without compassion you stayed angry at the kids, their parents and even society in general for the things the kids or their parents did. When we begin to give to those in need whether it is our time, our energy, our talents or our money or stuff it draws us closer to our Lord for several reasons. We are drawn closer to Him because we come to understand that all that we have, whether time, energy, talents, money or stuff is all a gift from God, it is not ours in the first place. When we come to understand that nothing is ours and we can give it away to others and we are more thankful for what we do have. James 1:17 says 7Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Not only our stuff and our money but even our abilities are given to us. Ephesians 2:10 says “we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” You were created for serving and the serving was created for you and nothing will draw you closer to Jesus than to know that your Lord and Savior will say well done my good and faithful servant you have been faithful in a little, I will make you ruler of many, enter into the joy of your Lord. We are also drawn closer to Him when we serve others with Him because we know that there is certain reward. In that same passage about the good and faithful servant I quoted from a minute ago, Matthew 25 verses 31-46 we see that there is an expectation of the servant of God that is not fulfilled in those who are not His. 31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44“Then they also will answer £Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do itto one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” I will not be His sheep because I serve other but I serve others because I am His sheep. You know we use the cross as a symbol of Christianity. Don’t misunderstand me; the cross is central to the message of Christianity. But I believe maybe we should change the symbol of our religion of true Christianity. Jesus came in the form of a servant according to Philippians 2:5-11. Jesus told His disciples to serve one another and that the least would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Perhaps we should, at least in our actions, make the basin and the towel the symbol of our Christian faith. Serving alongside my Master draws me closer in fellowship with Him because I am more thankful for what He has provided for me, stuff and talents, and because I do work alongside Him I can know that I am His.

Read Matthew 6:5 5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.[2]

When I began to spend time communicating with Raechel it opened up a whole new aspect of our relationship. I began not to just hear her words but I began to hear her heart. I began to understand her desires in life and I could actually hear how I could serve her and alongside her because it wasn’t just me going through the motions of speaking to a person I was also beginning to listen to her. So often when we begin to pray it almost seems to turn into a session with Santa god, I mentioned that last Sunday night. Believe me I am not be irreverent here, sometimes we treat our God as if He were Santa Claus and we give Him our wish list and what happens to fall our way we say God saw fit to answer and the other we just say, “you can’t get everything”. I need to make this very clear: Prayer is not asking Santa god for things. We are not servants of a god that we can use like Santa Claus or some rich aunt. God is not our servant. God is God, He is owner of everything because He is the Creator of everything. He is the Great I AM. We are not to go to Him and expect to get whatever we want. James 4:2-3 says: “You have not because you ask not. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on our own lusts.” Prayer is not just talking to God it is listening to God. When Jesus gave us the model prayer in Matthew 6 and in verse 10 He says: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. He wasn’t just giving us a formula. If you agree with our Lord that the Kingdom of God must come then you are agreeing that the Kingdom of God should be played out in your life, that the rule of Christ in your life should be evident. If you are in agreement that His will be done then you are agreeing to be a part of His Kingdom work. If you agree that His Kingdom must come and His will must be done on earth as it is in heaven then you are agreeing to follow His will immediately, sweetly and completely because that is the way God’s will is done in heaven. If you are in agreement with the spirit of this model prayer then it will change your life and draw you closer to your Lord because you have determined to conform your will to His will not trying to convince Him to change His will. Prayer is more listening and obeying than it is talking and when you listen and obey you will draw closer. Jesus said in John 14:15 21He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” When we believe His Kingdom must come and that His will is done and done immediately and completely and with joy then Christ will manifest or reveal Himself and His will in amazing ways.

Just like in a marriage when the bride of Christ serves alongside her groom by serving those in need the bride gets closer to the groom. When a husband and wife spend time together communicating back and forth their relationship is enhanced. When the believer spends time in prayer, not just asking but listening and obeying, the relationship explodes exponentially. Those are the first two “pillars of righteousness” as the Jews described them; prayer and charitable giving, and you have probably heard many sermons on each of those two but on this third pillar it is going to possibly be new to you, or at least something you have not heard much about.

Read Matthew 6:16-18 16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place;and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.[3]

Just like the other two pillars, charitable giving and prayer Jesus warns against wrong motives and I believe we could spend the time here talking about those motives. Who are you doing it for, who do you want to notice and respond and who do you want to reward you? Those three questions you will have to answer when you fast. But that brings us to the initial statement of Jesus; “when you fast…” Jesus appeared to just believe that those who are His disciples would fast. Fasting has fallen out of vogue or popularity over the last century. There are very few people today who fast or who have fasted. There are many reasons to fast. 1.) Fasting gives you more time for prayer. You can use the time you’d normally spend preparing meals and eating to pray for what God wants to do in your life. In the Bible prayer and fasting are almost always linked. Here is an example of prayer and fasting: Acts 13:2-3 2As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. When this group of disciples laid aside their own needs and desires, food, and they spent their energy on prayer instead of self satisfaction the Holy Spirit spoke.

2.) Fasting demonstrates the depth of your desire when praying for something. You have laid aside your desire (eating) to seek God’s desire. It shows you mean business with God, that you are serious enough about prayer to pay a personal price. God honors deep desire and praying in faith. Joel 1:14 Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly, Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord. And don’t forget when Jonah prophesied against Nineveh that the king of Nineveh, a pagan idolater, called for a fast and for repentance and God staid His judgment.

3.) Fasting gives you time for more prayer, it demonstrates the depth of your desire when praying and fasting releases God’s supernatural power. It is a tool we can use when there is opposition to God’s will. Satan would like nothing better than to cause division, discouragement, defeat, depression and doubt within the church. United prayer and fasting has always been used by God to deal a decisive blow to the enemy. Ezra 8:21-23 when Ezra was leading the people from captivity back to Jerusalem and they were threatened by a powerful enemy: 21Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. 22For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” 23So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer. Isaiah 58:6 6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?

Right after Jesus, Peter, James and John came down from the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus’ other disciples were having a bit of a problem. They had been trying to cast a demon out of a boy that the demon was injuring. Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith and cast the demon out. They asked Him why they could not do it and He replied: Mark 9:29 29So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

You need to know that fasting is not a method to get God to do what you want any more than prayer is. A true fast is a fast to God. It is not a choice you make it is a response in obedience to His command for you to fast. Please believe me when I say that I am a firm believer in fasting. Someday I’ll tell you why I say that. Don’t worry I am not going to tell you to fast and I am not going to call a church wide fast I am just going say; be obedient to the call of God on your life. If you feel called to fast, obey. But I will tell you this; there is nothing that brings you closer to God than to lay aside your most basic need, food, in a true desire to bring your desire in alignment with God’s desire. Please notice that it is not the other way around you will not bring God’s will into line with yours. Fasting, just like serving and praying changes you and bends you towards God.

There have been three things that enhanced my relationship with my wife: Serving alongside her, truly communicating with her not just talking at her, and setting aside my wants and desires to seek her wants and desires. There are three things that will enhance your relationship with your Redeemer and Lord: Serving Him, this is not talking about being a minister but it may include that, it simply means picking up the basin and the towel and serving where you see Him working. Truly communicating with Him not giving Him a wish list with little expectation that He might get it all filled. Yes pour your heart out to Him because He cares for you and wants to hear your heart but listen to His heart. And last but not least; learn to lay aside your desires and seek to bring them into line with His desires. I want to end with this passage out of Jeremiah 29:11-13 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Charitable giving or serving, Praying and Fasting are called by the Jews the three pillars of righteousness. I need you to know this morning that doing these three things will not make you righteous. Only through the grace of God and the work of Christ on the cross is anyone counted righteous. But the righteous will grow on these three pillars because they draw you closer to your Redeemer. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 6:3–4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 6:5). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 6:16–18). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.