Hungering for God: Fasting and Prayer Preparation – Part I
Chuck Brooks, Pastor-Teacher, GraceWay Church December 27, 2015
Our church has been fasting and praying for 21 days at the beginning of the year for the last eight years. 2016 marks our ninth year of fasting.
In September of 2006, GraceWay Church was the result of two churches merging into one. A church from the eastside of Baltimore called Foundations of the Christian Faith Church joined a group of believers who called themselves New Vision Bible Fellowship Church.
In April of 2007 a group of people left to start their own church and in October of the same year the pastor from the eastside church decided to leave and restart his church.
Needless to say this was devastating for those of us that remained. Most of the people who left GraceWay Church were the leaders and the givers…this left a handful of broken and discouraged people remained to pick up the pieces.
One of the first things God called us to do was to repent of anything that may have contributed to the church splits and to start 2008 with 21 days of consecrating ourselves to the Lord coupled with prayer and fasting.
It hasn’t been easy but God saved our church and since that time has proved Himself to be faithful over and over again! And so, since 2008, we have been praying and fasting at the beginning of each year for 21 days.
If you are new to fasting, you might be asking yourself the question,
“Isn’t “fasting” something that is only done by the Muslims during Ramadan and the Hindus and Buddhists each new moon or full moon?
Isn’t that something that only activists like Gandhi, Dick Gregory and other civil rights leaders do when they campaign for some kind of social change?”
GraceWay Church is a “Bible church” and we always try to run everything by “the Book”. In other words, we test everything by what the Bible says. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living.”
So what does the Bible say about fasting? Is this something that Christians should be practicing? What does the Bible say?
In today’s message we are going to look at five things about fasting:
1. Prayer and fasting was considered routine by those who followed God.
2. Prayer and fasting refines the ache in our hearts for the Lord Jesus
3. Prayer and fasting will break through the barrier of a self-absorbed life.
4. Fasting and prayer help us to remember significant encounters with God
5. Fasting and prayer raises to the surface the things most unlike Jesus
1. Prayer and fasting was considered routine by those who followed God.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, there were three things the disciples did that were considered as key signs of a pious person. These things were considered the three great pillars on which one who followed God made sure he performed: Prayer, Giving and Fasting.
In Matthew 6, we find that Jesus had no problems with these practices; it was the attitude of those practicing them that Jesus was concerned with. Thus He warns them against doing them with selfish motives in mind.
1 "Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 "Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
16 "And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Jesus’ statement “when you fast” (Matthew 6:16) indicates that fasting is normal and proper in the Christian life. Jesus assumes His followers will fast on certain occasions.
When Jesus was still on earth there is no evidence that He fasted with His disciples. In fact, the disciples of John the Baptist approached Jesus one day and asked Him “Why?”
Mat 9:14 Then the disciples of John came to Him saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?
Mat 9:15 And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.
When Jesus was on the earth with His disciples, He, the bridegroom was present, but when He ascended back into heaven, Jesus was telling them that His disciples would mourn or be anxious for His presence. In other words, there would be “an ache in the heart of God’s people” until they were together again.
Can you imagine what the early disciples of Jesus must have went through when He first talked about leaving them? He had spent three years of living with them, walking with them, teaching them, sending them out to do ministry and then evaluating them upon their return.
We get a sense of what the disciples may have gone through when Jesus tells them in John 14 that He is going away soon.
In verse one Jesus begins with the words, “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.” Now Jesus isn’t speaking to children or to women, He is speaking to mature men; strong men, who worked rough and sometimes dangerous occupations. They were fishermen, tax collectors and one was even a former radical terrorist (Simon).
Yet Jesus attempts to comfort their hearts as they heard the news that He would be leaving them. In Matthew 9:15 Jesus says, “While the bridegroom with them, they’re ok but when the bridegroom is taken away from them, they will both mourn and fast.”
Fasting and prayer was considered routine by those who were followers of God.
2. Fasting refines or perfects the ache in our hearts for the Lord Jesus
Pastor John Piper says that, “Fasting is a physical exclamation point at the end of the sentence: “I need You (Lord Jesus); I want You and long for You. You are my treasure and Oh for the day when You would return. Marantha! Come Lord Jesus!”
Many Christians pray and fast in order to get something from God, but that is not foundational to fasting. Foundational to fasting is an attitude that says, “I need you Lord and long for your presence. I so much want to commune with you, I’m willing to abstain from my necessary food so that I can draw near to you.”
We find these kinds of longings in the words of Psalm 42.
Psa 42:1 … As the deer pants after the water brooks, So pants my soul after thee, O God.
Psa 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God?
The psalmist compares the panting of the deer to the extreme thirst of his own soul. The soul, we have learned in the past, is the seat of one’s mind, will and emotions. In other words, the psalmist is saying, “God, you are constantly on my mind, my desire or will is for you and my emotions or feelings can only gain satisfaction from you!”
If this describes you then you do not wake up or go to sleep wondering who wins The Voice. Your mind is not consumed with whether or not your team makes the Playoffs. That project on your job is important but you are not consumed with assignments, reports, meetings and deadlines on your mind. If you are anything like the one who penned Psalm 42, your undying thought is, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Relationships in your life are important to you. You love your spouse. Perhaps you have a girlfriend or boyfriend, but what really makes your heart skip a beat is the thought, “My soul thirsts for you God.”
Notice in Psalm 42:2 the psalmist thirsts for and wants to appear “before the Living God.” He is contrasting the idols of the other nations that are lifeless pieces of wood and metal with His God who is living and powerful. His “god” is “the Living God”!
Like the people of the pagan nations of the psalmist’s day, we too often find ourselves searching for fulfillment from things…from lifeless idols. We tend to feel less of ourselves if we don’t wear what’s fashionable and don’t have the latest smartphone or sharpest set of wheels or nice home or apartment.
We find our esteem in what we possess. Our idols are people and material things. We have our “comfort food” and a movie…but the psalmist writes, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God”.
At the end of verse two the psalmist writes, “When shall I come and appear before God?” Now he wasn’t saying he wanted to die and go to heaven; he was referring to the tabernacle, where were the worship of God occurred…where the Israelites appeared before His divine presence at the Ark of the Covenant.
Today, as Christians, we would say, “I can’t wait to go to church! To be in the presence of God; among the people of God; under the Word of God; doing the ministry of God!”
I don’t think the psalmist said on the Sabbath, “I’m so tired…I’m going to have to miss this one…but I’ll make sure I’m there next week?”
God wants us to draw near to Him! Does your soul thirst for God, for the living God? Do you have a daily preoccupation with God?
(1) Fasting was considered routine by those who followed God.
(2) Fasting refines the ache in our hearts for the Lord Jesus.
3. Prayer and fasting will break through the barrier of a self-absorbed life.
When you and I fast, we are putting our stomach where our heart is, in order to make us ache more for Jesus.
We ache for a lot of things and so the fast is designed to tell the desires of our stomach (the physical) and our mind (the emotional) to take a back seat…so that we can focus on our (spiritual) ache for Jesus.
Psa 42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
The psalmist’s personal suffering made it so that he spent more time seeking “the God of all Comfort” than rather “comfort food.”
During your fast, you make the transition from a “me” focused life to a “God” centered life. You begin to take on the mindset of John the Baptist who said, “He must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
4. Fasting and prayer help us to remember significant encounters with God
In verse four of Psalm 42, the psalmist remembers a time he sensed the Lord at work in his life: “My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.”
This is one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit. In John 14:26 Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit helps us to remember the Word of God. He helps us to remember and be reminded of the times when we’ve encountered God.
In the Old Testament, God commands His people to build altars of remembrance:
“Build altars in the places where I remind you who I am, and I will come and bless you there…” (Exodus 20:24 NLT)
Some of us went to see the Christian movie “War Room.” Regarding the title of the film, director Kendrick says "We called it 'War Room' because, like the military, we should seek God for the right strategy before going into combat. By combat, I mean daily issues we face in our culture."
The film critics hated it but it was a box office success and took the #1 spot at the North American box office. As of November 19, 2015, the film has grossed $67.5 million at North American theaters and a worldwide total of $71 million. Production costs were just $3.5 million.
After seeing the movie, many Christians ran home to build their own “War Room”.
Just like in Old Testament days, I believe that our Heavenly Father still wants to meet with His people so that He might remind them of who He is and then bless them there.
Do you have a place where you can meet with God with zero interruptions? Do you have a place where you can quiet your heart and hear God’s voice as you read and meditate on His Word?
Do you have a place where you can reflect upon the ways that God has used you and rekindle your spirit and faith in Him so that He might use you some more?
This is one of the more positive aspects of fasting. Fasting will draw you closer to God. Fasting will allow you to gain more satisfaction from spending time with the Lord and spending time in His Word.
• The Spirit of God will bring to your remembrance those times in the past that you experienced the presence of the Lord…those times when you held on to the promises of God and waited for Him to show up and He did!
• The Spirit of God will open up to you things you never saw before in God’s Word. God’s Spirit will give you clarity and shed light on God’s Word. This is why the psalmist would pray in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.”
• The Spirit of God will help you to remember those days of fruitful in your walk with Jesus before you drifted away from Him. Jesus says to the church in Ephesus, “Remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works…” He told the church in Sardis, “So remember what you received and heard. Obey, and change the way you think and act.” (Revelations 2:5; 3:3)
Fasting and Praying helps us to remember prior encounters with God.
5. Fasting and prayer raises to the surface the things most unlike Jesus
Psa 42:5a Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me?
There are positive “side effects” of fasting but there are also the negative aspects of fasting that we need to briefly discuss.
The psalmist says in verse 5, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me?” The word “disquieted” literally means, “to growl as a bear.” It also means, “to be agitated, troubled, or anxious in mind: to moan internally.”
In the first few days of your fast you may feel fatigue, headaches, coldness, bad breath and heightened body odor, changes in elimination (constipation or diarrhea), light-headedness, changes in sleeping and dreaming patterns, aches and pains.
The medical professionals tells us that when you and I fast, toxins are removed from the body. When you go without eating for more than a day or two, the body enters into ketosis. Ketosis occurs when the body runs out of carbohydrates to burn for energy, so it burns fat and the fat is where the body stores many of the toxins it absorbs from the environment. You need to drink plenty of water throughout the fast…this flushes the toxins from your body.
During a fast, also expect to experience irritability and mood swings; perhaps this has to do with “spiritual and emotional toxins” that need to be removed from your life.
When you are not being medicated by food, you will find quickly what has been lying hidden in your heart…anger, desire for things…you may feel the need to watch more television, browse the Internet or peruse social media. You will be tempted to participate in activities that are not pleasing to God.
Here is where fasting raises to the surface the things most unlike Jesus because it exposes hidden idolatries.
Denying yourself food forces to the surface those things you tend to look to satisfaction and comfort from when you should be leaning and depending on the Lord.
Denying yourself food forces to the surface those things you look to for affirmation when true satisfaction ought only to come from God alone.
In Psalm 42 we find in verse five how the psalmist dealt with the negative and hidden idolatries that were exposed as he fasted and prayed.
The psalmist says in verse five, “Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my Savior and my God.”
The hunger pangs give present you with the opportunity to put your hope in God and not food. This is why this year it is my prayer that many of us fast from our favorite foods and do the Daniel fast. If abstaining from meats, snack foods and other goodies for 21 days can make Daniel and the other Hebrew men look and feel better, it can and will do the same for us and allow us the opportunity to weaken the flesh’s influence in our lives and be strengthened in the Spirit.
As you spend more time “mortifying the flesh” you will become stronger in the Spirit for it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that you can indeed put to death the deeds of the flesh. (Romans 8:13)
Your flesh wants you to think you are hungry for food; your emotions want you to think you are hungry for companionship, entertainment or material things. But what you are really hungering for is God.
John Piper says,
“Fasting helps us to discern our own hearts; to test our own hearts…does food, does television, does the internet, does anything have a grip on me? Periodic fasting is one strategy of testing whether something has an undue, inordinate hold on your life.
Fasting is a way of telling God that you need Him more than television, you need Him more than food, you need Him more than sleep, than money, than the internet…therefore I will go without something in order to say that with my body. I will worship You as my supreme satisfaction with my body right now.”
We will look at this topic more next time but let me end this message with some testimonies of people who have participated in a church fast. Listen to their words and notice the variety of ways that God moved in the lives of people who decided to deny themselves and press into God during a period of prayer and fasting.
God works in powerful ways. My husband and I were in a painful separation which was also affecting our children. We pretty much hit rock bottom in our relationship last year. After the New Year, without my knowledge he started fasting, praying, and reading scripture, all of which I would never have imagined him do before. He was praying for me and for restoration, healing, and forgiveness in our marriage. Well, a month later we are now back together and diligently studying the Bible and praying together daily as a family. I believe God is cleansing our spirits and making us new. He’s definitely transformed my husband to lead our family in seeking God first. As we both seek him eagerly, our love for each other just grows stronger. We send each other Bible verses throughout the day to encourage one another. We also joined a small group which we have never done. His provision never ends. Thank you for your grace, Jesus!
This year for my fast I did something different. God put in my heart that I was spending too much of my time in social media networks, TV, and my phone and not dedicating enough time to Him and my family so I decided to cut those distractions and dedicate quality time to my family and to pray and read the bible. It was not easy at the beginning but as the days past I continue praying and reading and it got easier. About two years ago I got laid off from my job and God gave me the job I was waiting for during the fast of 2014! God is good! Also I have a better relationship with my kids. I cannot wait for all the blessings He will bring to me and my family and to spend more time with Him!
During this fast God is teaching me to depend more on Him and to take Him at His word. I’m choosing to trust Him and not give in to fear. I pray that my love for Him would increase and that He would expand my faith. He is so worth it!
God has been so faithful and continues to be so. About 2 years ago my husband and I started praying (on and off) about a property located next to us. Our neighbor had foreclosed and it was just sitting empty. We did not hear anything more about it until last year Spring (2013). It was a cash sale only. The amount was ½ what the house would normally cost due to some minor damage. Plus the bank did not want to fix it. We didn’t have that kind of cash, but we believed God and asked Him to buy it for us. Long story short, He did! In an amazing turn of events He provided the resources and we were able to purchase it. The greatest blessing was that we were able to rent it to family at a pretty low rate. This has taught us that nothing is too difficult for Him. He is the God of possibilities. He provides in ways that we cannot begin to imagine and we just need to take Him at His word and trust Him.
