The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting
Notes
Transcript
Recap:
Recap:
We have spend 9 weeks on the topic of prayer and we have really only scratched the surface of what the Bible teaches us about prayer.
We have seen the ways in which we are not to pray:
Not praying to be seen. Rather to pray in secret. Not repetitious thinking that through the many words spoken we will gain any favor with God.
Rather we are to pray like this:
Our Father in heaven: humbly placing ourselves before a righteous and holy Father and God.
Hallowed be Your name: realizing that God’s name is to be revered and honored set above all others.
Your kingdom come: wanting to increase the kingdom of God rather then our own.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven: His will must be sought, not our own.
Give is this day our daily bread: give us to us what we need absolutely need.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors: forgiveness towards those who have wronged us is the way to live life.
And do not lead us into temptation: God doesn’t tempt but he does allow us to be tempted. And this is to remind us that we are to rely on Him to get us through.
But deliver us from the evil one: we have three enemies, the devil, the world, and our flesh. Here we are praying that God would not allow us be overtaken by the devil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen: closing with a doxology praising God for all that He is and has done, and allowed us to partake in.
Spiritual hinderances are the spiritual warfare that we go through, again against our very real enemy.
Person hinderances: doubt, self/pride, unlove, refusal to do our part, and praying only in secret.
Introduction:
Introduction:
This evening we are going to study through the spiritual discipline of fasting.
What is fasting? That is the first question that we must tackle because it is a declining spiritual discipline, in a society in which food is so ubiquitous that we eat not only when we don’t need to, but sometimes even when we don’t want to. We eat to share a meal with other, to build or grow relationships, or just as a distraction from responsibility.
Fasting is voluntarily going without food—or any other regularly enjoyed, good gift from God—for the sake of some spiritual purpose. It is markedly counter-cultural in our consumerist society, like abstaining from sex until marriage.
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.
Look what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 9 verse 15 “they will.”
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
HW:
HW:
What is the purpose and importance of fasting?
Fasting is for this world, for stretching our hearts to get fresh air beyond the pain and trouble around us. And it is for the battle against sin and weakness inside us. We express our discontent with our sinful selves and our longing for more of Christ.
When Jesus return, fasting will be done. It’s a temporary measure, for this life and age, to enrich our joy in Jesus and prepare our hearts for the next for seeing him face to face. When He returns, He will not call a fast, but throw a feast; then all holy abstinence will have served its glorious purpose and be seen by all for the stunning gift it was.
Scripture Passages:
Scripture Passages:
What does the bible say about how long to fast?
26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.
16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
Can we fast from something other then food?
29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, but the appointed time was long; and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision. 2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. 3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
What should be the motive behind fasting?
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’
“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And exploit all your laborers.
4 Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
5 Is it a fast that I have chosen,
A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?
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?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
In Esther we see that she asks Mordecai to fast for her.
What does this passage (below) tell us about fasting?
15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
17 So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.
Let’s get fasting: Application
Let’s get fasting: Application
Fasting sounds simple, yet the world, our flesh, and the devil conspire to introduce all sort of complications that keep us from actually following through.
1: Start small. Don’t jump into a weeklong attempt. Start with a meal; maybe fast one meal a week for several weeks. Then try two meals, and work your way up to a daylong fast. Perhaps eventually try a two-day juice fast.
A juice fast means abstaining from all food and beverage, except for juice and water. Allowing yourself juice provides nutrients and sugar for the body to keep you operating, while also still feeling the effects from going without solid food.
2: Plan what you’ll do instead of eating. Fasting isn’t merely an act of self-deprivation, but a spiritual discipline for seeking more of God’s fullness. Which means we should have a plan for what positive pursuit to undertake in the time it normally takes to eat. One significant part of fasting is the time it creates for prayer and meditation on God’s Word or some act of love for others.
Without a purpose and plan, it’s not Christian fasting; it’s just going hungry.
3. Consider how it will affect others. Fasting is no license to be unloving. It would be sad to lack concern and care for others around us because of this expression of heightened focus on God. Love for God and for neighbor go together. If anything, others should even feel more loved and cared for when we’re fasting.
4: Try different kinds of fasting. The typical form of fasting is personal, private, and partial, but we find a variety of forms in the Bible: personal and communal, private and public, congregational and national, regular and occasional, absolute and partial.
Consider fasting together with your family, small group, as a church. Do you share together in some special need for God’s wisdom and guidance? is there an unusual difficulty in our church, or society, for which we need God to intervene? Do you want to keep the second coming of Christ in view? Plead with special earnestness for God’s help by linking arms with our family and church family.
5: Fast from something other than food. Fasting from food is not necessarily for everyone. Some health conditions keep even the most devout from the traditional course. However, fasting is not limited to abstaining from food. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose.”
5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6: Don’t set your mind on the hunger. When your empty stomach starts to growl and begins sending your brain every “feed me” signal it can , don’t be content to let your mind dwell on the fact that you haven’t eaten. If you make it through with an iron will that say no to your stomach, but doesn’t turn your mind’s eye elsewhere, it say more about your love for food than your love for God.
Christian fasting turns its attention to Jesus or some great cause of His in the world. Christian fasting seeks to take the pains of hunger and transpose them into the key of some eternal anthem, whether it’s fighting against some sin. or pleading for someone’s salvation, or for the cause of the unborn, or longing for a greater taste of Jesus.
HM:
HM:
What is the purpose of Scripture?
What is the narrative of Scritpure?
How are we to use Scripture to proclaim the gospel?