Clarity 11-10-10 “Fasting”

Fasting: A Users Guide

                We could spend about 20 minutes talking about the different kinds of fasts that you could take, or the different ways to go about them, but I think the most important thing to understand is why we fast in the first place. Let’s take a look at a few verses and see what we can glean from them about fasting:

Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,

Dan 9:3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Neh 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Mat 6:18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Luk 2:37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Act 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

                What can we learn from all these verses about fasting? What is it about? Fasting is something that is not taken lightly. In every one of these examples the people who are fasting are doing so with a deep seriousness. They are completely focused on the reason for the fast. Most of these situations show a time of repentance or consecration to the Lord.

Why Do It?

Why do it? Because it is a Biblical expectation. Because Jesus expected His disciples to fast, which in turn means that we are expected to fast as well.     
Mat 6:17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
Mat 6:18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

When you look at this verse Jesus specifically says, “when you fast” not if you fast. This goes

right along with “Make disciples of all nations” or “take up your cross and follow me”. We are told to fast and to have a spiritual purpose behind it.

                There is also a warning against announcing your fast:

Mat 6:16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

If you are fasting because you think it will make you look more spiritual or that people will respect you, you have the completely wrong idea behind it. We are not to fast for the praise of others, but in secret so that God is the one who rewards us. Otherwise, we have received our reward from people and not from God. It cancels out the very reason for fasting.

What’s the Point?

There is no point if there is no point. There must be a reason behind why you are fasting. Otherwise it is just a dietary aid. We must fast because of spiritual reasons. All of the scripture that we looked at in the beginning of this lesson shows the purpose behind fasting. Those people did not fast simply because it was a religious thing to do. They were setting aside time to do without food for the purpose of godliness. That is why it is a “spiritual discipline”.

A key element that goes right along with fasting is prayer. Look at how many times prayer is mentioned along with fasting in these verses:

Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,

Dan 9:3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Neh 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Luk 2:37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Act 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Every time that fasting is mentioned it is coupled with prayer. You do not just fast to fast. You fast to show God the seriousness of your heart. You are telling God, “I am neglecting what my body needs so that you will see my devotion to you.”

John Calvin said this about fasting, “Whenever men are to pray to God concerning any great matter, it would be expedient to appoint fasting along with prayer.”

Is It a Guarantee?

                Fasting shows God that your heart is troubled for a certain thing. It can be about sin in your life, a situation that has come up, a big decision you have to make, or any number of things. But we cannot think that just because we fast that it will force God’s hand to answer our prayers in a way that always benefits us. We have to still pray that His will be done. This is why it is a spiritual discipline. We are not doing this for specific favor, we are doing this to align ourselves with God.

                Fasting is a way to devote ourselves to God through prayer and it also opens us up to hear Him more clearly. Think about it. If you take even just one day a month, week, or whatever, and devote your lunchtime, breakfast, or dinner to being in prayer, what kind of impact would that have on you? Do you think you would be able to hear God’s voice more clearly? Do you think that your prayers would be more urgent or have more direction?

                If you take an hour to pray, you are probably going to want more purpose to what you are praying about.

What Does It Look Like?

Fasting can be a time of showing God that your joy is completely in Him and in nothing else, even food. What if you decided to use a lunch time to simply praise God for different things happening in your life? What about putting on a CD of praise music and just singing to God for that hour? Devoting that hour to God for a purpose of praise would be a wonderful thing to do! (Speaking about Anna) Luk 2:37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Fasting can be about repentance. A time set aside for showing God that you are completely turning away from past sin. In a sense it could just be a time of rededicating yourself to being the Christian that God has called you to be.

Fasting can be used as a time of intercession. This upcoming Saturday you can come to the church for a full 6 hours and pray for the persecuted church all around the world. This would be a great opportunity to just attend and pray for that amount of time! You can use a time of fasting to pray for your lost friends and that God would start to move in your schools or homes to bring people to know Him. (Example) Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,

There are so many things that fasting can be used for, but the main point is that there must be a specific reason behind it. When I was attending a different church, the pastor challenged the congregation to spend a specific amount of time fasting. I got excited about it because I had never fasted before and decided to do it. The issue was that I didn’t really have a lot of purpose behind it. I ended up focusing more on how hungry I was rather than on doing it for the purpose of growing in godliness or my prayer life. It ended up being kind of useless. Except for the fact that I learned what it should be about.

I challenge each one of you to take a day or even just a meal time and use it for fasting. Put a reason behind it though! Devote it to praise or to praying for a specific thing. It is an amazing experience when you do it for the right reasons and you actually focus on God.