God’s Chosen Fast

GOD’S CHOSEN FAST

Isa. 58:5

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: Modern People Know So Much

1. Did you hear the story about the lady who was talking to her friend and brought up the Bible. Her friend said, “Oh don’t start trying to tell to me about the Bible; my parents had me read it every day. I’m practically an expert on it!”

2. “Oh, well then why don’t you come to church with me?

3. Her friend just shook her head. "I haven’t gone in a long time," she said. "Besides, it’s too late for me. I’ve probably already broken all seven commandments."

B. VARIED RESPONSES TO “FASTING” CALL

1. Some think fasting is a form of dieting.

2. One Christian told me, "I will fast during the night, and you fast during the day!" ("Break-fast")

3. One preacher told me (and teachers) that we should be feasting and not fasting. He uses Christ's statement in Mark 2:18-22 to say that once the Bridegroom came back from the dead, the children of the bride chamber don't need to fast. So in his teaching, fasting passed away at the end of the four Gospels!

C. GOD HAS CHOSEN FASTING. Contrary to this, the Bible emphatically teaches and commands fasting as something we’re supposed to do. Examples:

1. Lev. 16:29; God commands fasting.

2. Isaiah 58:5; God has "chosen" fasting.

3. Almost without exception, all the great men and women of the Bible are recorded as having fasted at different points in their lives.

4. Our Lord Jesus commended the fasting of the Pharisees (Luke 18:12) and set us the example of fasting Himself (Mt. 4:2).

5. Jesus taught us we’re to fast; "When you fast…" Mt. 6:16. Christ also indicated that upon his departure that His disciples would fast, Mark 9:15.

6. Since it’s God's will for us to fast, how are we to fast and what are God's purposes for our fasting?

I. WRONG MOTIVATIONS FOR FASTING

A. DON’T FAST TO EARN GOD’S BLESSINGS

1. There is the settled danger of thinking, "If I pray enough, God will be forced to answer. If I fast enough, God will be forced to pay attention."

2. God's ear is always open to you. Salvation, blessing, and revive full can't be earned or forced. They are gifts of His grace!

B. DON’T FAST AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR OBEDIENCE

1. In Isaiah 58:1, God states they were trying to use fasting as a bribe. God pointed them to obedience; "Stop quarreling, help the poor and needy, lift the burdens."

2. Sin will block your prayer until you make it right. God prefers obedience to sacrifice, but obedience plus sacrifice pleases Him even more.

C. DON’T FAST TO IMPRESS OTHERS

1. Read Matt. 6:16-18. We should fast strictly to the Lord.

2. How can we "sign up" to fast and not be letting others know about it? If you need to just put an X. We don't need to know who is signing up!

D. DON’T LET FASTING BECOME A FORM/ LEGALISM INSTEAD OF HEART-DRIVEN

1. Anything can lose its meaning or become a heartless ritual.

2. The answer lies, not in discontinuing the practice, but in loving the Lord so much that you want to use every means possible to draw closer to Him.

3. Self-discipline is not legalism. Legalism is defined as "strict, literal, or exclusive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code."

4. HUMOR: Intermittent Fasting:

a. An Irishman was very overweight, and so his doctor put him on a diet.

b. "I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for 2 weeks. The next time I see you, you should have lost at least 5 pounds.

c. When the Irishman returned, he shocked the doctor by having lost nearly 60 lbs! "Why, that's amazing!" the doctor said, "Did you follow my instructions?"

d. The Irishman nodded..."I'll tell you though, I thought I was going to drop dead on that 3rd day."

e. "From the hunger, you mean?" asked the doctor. "No, from all the confounded skipping!"

II. HOW ARE WE TO FAST?

In the American Christian scene, it’s kind of trendy to have nifty names for different ways of fasting. Some examples are:

A. FASTS NAMED AFTER BIBLICAL PEOPLE

1. DANIEL FAST. Found in Daniel 1:8-14 when Daniel and his closest friends turned down the king's diet of wine and rich foods and asked nothing but vegetables and water so as not to defile themselves. The idea is to separate yourself from the world as one set apart for God.

2. SAMUEL FAST. Samuel instructed the Israelites that the reason for their troubles (Philistine dominance) was that they had drifted away from God's will. He told them to fast and pray. This is really corporate fasting.