Fasting

Fasting

2 Samuel 12:15b-23

#fasting

INTRODUCTION

The people did it as part of mourning for losses in battle in Judges 20.

The people did it to mourn the death of King Saul and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 31 and 2 Samuel 1.

King David did it while his child was ill in 2 Samuel 12. [this is where we will be today]

King Jehoshaphat proclaimed one for the whole nation of Judah in 2 Chronicles 20.

King Jehoakim son of Josiah proclaimed one for the people in Jeremiah 36.

Daniel did it in Daniel 9.

Ezra did it with others before going on a long journey in Ezra 8.

Esther, Mordecai, and the Jews did it when faced with problems of violence in the Book of Esther.

The People of Nineveh did it after hearing Jonah’s message in Jonah 3.

Anna the Prophetess did it in Luke 2 as she waited to see the Savior.

Jesus Christ did it after His baptism.

The Church did it in Acts 13 before sending out Barnabas and Saul on a mission journey.

Paul and Barnabas did it before appointing elders in each church in Acts 14.

What is the “it” I have been speaking about?

Fasting.

PURPOSE

This morning I would like to talk about fasting and dig into David’s fast in 2 Samuel 12 as a basis for our time in the Word. I want you to know why a believer in Jesus Christ should fast and give you the encouragement to dig into this spiritual discipline if the need arises.

TRANSITION

Before we get into 2 Samuel 12 and see fasting in action and dig deeper into that particular passage, I would like to answer some basic questions about fasting and get our minds and hearts right about the physical, emotional, and spiritual practice.

FIRST QUESTION: WHAT IS FASTING?

Throughout Scripture, fasting is referred to as the abstaining of food for spiritual purposes. It is not a hunger strike or a diet plan… these have with them a purpose that is not holy or spiritual. A hunger strike is usually political in nature and a diet plan is focused on health and weight loss. We are not talking about those… we are talking about fasting… if done the way Scripture describes, is a very spiritual practice to aid one’s spiritual life. Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes. Fasting is the abstaining of food for spiritual purposes.

In Scripture, the normal means of fasting involves abstaining from all food, solid or liquid, but not from water. Luke 4:2 describes for us Jesus’ fast of forty days. We are told “He ate nothing” and at the end of the fast “He was hungry.” From a physical standpoint, this is the manner in which Scripture describes fasting. There are other fasts described in Scripture, such as the partial fast in Daniel 10 and the absolute fast in Esther 4, however, the normal means is not eating for a period of time.

ILLUSTRATION… Dallas Willard Quote, The Spirit of the Disciplines, pg 166

“In fasting, we abstain in some significant way from food and possibly from drink as well. This discipline teaches us a lot about ourselves very quickly. It will certainly prove humiliating to us, as it reveals to us how much our peace depends upon the pleasures of eating… Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of sustenance beyond food.”

For some reason in our postmodern world, we use the word ‘fast’ or ‘fasting’ when it comes to other things besides food. For example, I hear people say often that they are going to ‘fast from social media.’ Or I hear about people saying they will ‘fast from TV.’ Getting off of Facebook or Twitter or turning off the TV for an extended period of time will have benefits, maybe even spiritual benefits, but those things are not fasting. I would like to encourage you that if you find something like TV or movies or social media or the internet or gadgets are impacting you negatively and drawing you away from God… please take a break from them! But please realize, the ‘breaks’ are not ‘fasting.’

Fasting is the abstaining of food for spiritual purposes.

The normal question is: Well, why not? It is giving up something for spiritual benefit? You are correct, but ‘fasting’ specifically engages the physical body in a particular way that impacts our emotions and our spirits. God created us as physical, emotional, and spiritual beings. Fasting uses the physical part of us to reset and focus the emotional and the spiritual. Fasting is the abstaining of food for spiritual purposes.

ILLUSTRATION… Richard Foster Quote, “Celebration of Discipline” (1978), pg 60

“Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way. It is a means of God’s blessing that should not be neglected.”