Introduction: A funny thing happened this week as I was searching through the myriad of resources available to pastors to illustrate key biblical truths and principles such as the priority of fasting, the topic for today’s message. I could hardly find any! I did manage to locate several extended quotations from books about the subject, but as for personal examples, they were strangely absent. Lest you think I didn’t try very hard, I will tell you that I looked at five websites and seven books that contain nothing but illustrations for sermons. Though their combined totals probably exceed 10,000 stories, I found only two that related to fasting and one was in the form of a joke, and not a very good one at that. What kind of conclusions should we draw from this statistic? Well, either pastors are simply too humble to use their times of fasting as illustrations (which is hard to imagine) or the spiritual discipline of fasting has been cast aside as unimportant and unnecessary by many believers, including those who are leading the church in the 21st century. If this is the case, it is surely not good news and reveals a substantial level of ignorance about the value of fasting and its place in the body of Christ.
In our fourth message on the Disciplines of a Disciple, I invite you to take the next twenty-five minutes or so and join me as we look at what the Bible teaches us about this neglected spiritual discipline.
I. What is fasting? It is a believer’s voluntary abstinence from any legitimate pursuit for spiritual reasons. It is not considered fasting if we choose to withhold something from ourselves that is regarded as unholy. The normal procedure for Christians is to let those things go because we are new creatures in Christ (See Ephesians 4:22-24). Most examples of fasting found in the Scriptures relate to food, and on occasion, water. Moses and Jesus are but two examples (See Deuteronomy 9:9; Matthew 4:2). There are at least two others, however. (1) The Jews fasted not only from food but also from work on the Day of Atonement. They did this to symbolize that it was God’s work and not their own that would atone for their sins (See Leviticus 23:26-28). (2) Likewise, the Apostle Paul addresses the topic of fasting in 1 Corinthians 7:4-5. There he provides some guidelines for married couples who have elected to fast from their sexual relationship with each other for a time of prayer.
II. What is the purpose of fasting? The passage that was read this morning explains what it should not be...to draw attention to ourselves (See Matthew 6:16-18). Isaiah 58 provides us with a little more insight. In this passage the Jews thought their fasting would bring them into the good graces of God. It did not, because their lifestyles were steeped in sin (See Isaiah 58:3-4). This is an important reminder to all of us to carefully weigh our motives before we choose to fast over something. On the more positive side, Donald Whitney, author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, tells us that fasting "hoists the sails of the soul in the hopes of experiencing the gracious wind of God’s Spirit." It doesn’t guarantee spiritual blessing, but it often puts us in position to experience it as God moves. J. I Packer provides additional insight..."When friends need to be together," he says, "they will cancel all other activities in order to make that possible. There’s nothing magical about fasting. It’s just one way of telling God that your priority at that moment is to be alone with him..." The Bible gives us several reasons for considering a fast. Here they are for your consideration.
A. We fast to strengthen our prayers. Fasting has often been used by God’s people when there is a special urgency about the concerns they lift to the Father. This was Ezra’s motivation as he was about to lead a group of exiles back to Jerusalem (See Ezra 8:21-23). The result was that God heard and granted his requests and brought success to his mission. Application: Of course, this is not to say that if we fast God is required to do as we ask. Fasting is not and never has been a way of pressuring God into giving us something. Rather it is a way of giving ourselves more fully to God so that we can say with confidence...Thy will be done.
B. We fast to express grief and repentance.
1. For some, it can be a way to express to God the depth of what we’re feeling. You may remember that when Haman convinced King Xerxes to permit him to eliminate the Jews in the book of Esther, this was the response of God’s people to the news (See Esther 3:8-11; 4:3). They even went so far as to cover themselves with sackcloth and ashes, a sign of great lamentation.
2. For others, fasting is a way to demonstrate just how serious we are about repenting of our sin (See 1 Samuel 7:3-6 for an example). Illustration: When I was pretty young in my faith, I remember a dear brother in Christ named Donald who confided in me that he had come across a pornographic magazine in a field and looked at it. He wept as he told me that he immediately confessed his sin and fasted over it. Application: I didn’t understand why that was necessary then. I do now. Sometimes a specific sin gets such a grip on us that without fasting as an expression of dependence upon God’s power to release us, we are not able to overcome it.
C. We fast to enhance worship. The prophetess Anna never left the temple we are told (See Luke 2:37) but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. The church at Antioch saw a unique relationship between the two as well (See Acts 13:2). Application: If you find your worship experience to be somewhat hollow and empty, perhaps you need to fast as the saints in Antioch did.
D. We fast to seek God’s guidance. After the Lord appeared to Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus we are told that not only was he stricken blind, but he did not eat or drink for three days as he awaited further direction (See Acts 9:6-9). Later in his ministry, Paul (and Barnabas) did not dare to appoint elders without praying and fasting over the matter (See Acts 14:23). Application: Anytime there is a big decision to make, we would do well to follow their example. Illustration: Prior to my being hired here at CLCBC as the Pastor of Student Ministries, a lady in this church fasted and prayed for months that God would provide the man of His own choosing for the position. My first week, she made an appointment and told me what she’d been doing. After that, no matter what challenge I faced, I was able to face it with the confidence that came from knowing that God had brought me here for this purpose.
III. What are the benefits of fasting?
A. Fasting increases our sense of humility and dependence upon God. It accomplishes this by showing us just how little strength we actually possess and how much we need the Lord (See Philippians 4:13).
B. Fasting increases the amount of time we spend in prayer since we’re not eating meals, etc.
C. Fasting reminds us that we must put Christ first in everything.
D. Fasting is a good exercise in self-discipline. It strengthens us to be able to refrain from other things such as sinful temptations as we learn to buffet our bodies (See 1 Corinthians 9:27).
E. Fasting raises the level of our spiritual awareness. In Mark 9 Jesus informed His disciples that certain kinds of demons could not be cast our except by prayer and fasting (The term "fasting" is only found in the KJV, but there is some good support from early manuscripts that it was a legitimate saying of Christ.) Since Jesus did not pray when rebuking the demon, He must have been referring to the practice of prayer and fasting as a way to increase one’s spiritual awareness and power.
IV. What are the instructions for fasting?
A. How often? Fasting is expected by Christ. In Matthew 6:16 He says, "When you fast...," not "if you fast," implying that it is something He expects us to do. Similarly, in Matthew 9:15, Jesus told the disciples of John that it was not necessary to fast while the bridegroom was with them. Rather, the time to fast was when he was no longer around. Obviously, Jesus was referring to Himself as the bridegroom and the historical record shows that when He ascended to the Father, the church embraced the discipline of fasting (See Acts 13:2; 14:23). This doesn’t, however, help us to know how often we should do so. The Pharisees fasted twice a week (See Luke 18:12). The Jews at least once per year on the Day of Atonement as we mentioned earlier. Here’s a simple rule that I hope will serve us well. WE SHOULD FAST AS OFTEN AS WE FEEL IT IS NECESSARY (TO STRENGTHEN OUR PRAYER, EXPRESS GRIEF AND REPENTANCE, TO ENHANCE OUR WORSHIP OR TO SEEK GOD’S GUIDANCE).
B. How long? A fast can last for a portion of a day or it can last for weeks. That is really up to you and how you believe the Lord is leading in the matter. My advice is that you don’t jump into a prolonged fast from food, but gradually increase the duration allowing your body to adjust to a lack of nourishment.
C. How to? Here are some simple guidelines.
1. A fast should be voluntary and private (See Matthew 6:17-18).
2. A fast should be done with a God-centered purpose. Otherwise the only thing that will result is that you’ll have missed out on something you enjoy.
3. You may need to contact a medical professional before you fast if you have a condition that depends on a regular diet such as diabetes.
4. The best way to learn the spiritual benefits of fasting is to fast. Is there something God wants to do in your life that you have yet to see happen? Perhaps fasting is the missing element.
Conclusion: You may have noticed that something was missing from this sermon this morning...my own personal illustrations of how God has used fasting in my life. This is not to say that I have never fasted. Certainly I have from time to time, but in all honesty, I know that this is a spiritual discipline that is somewhat lacking in my life. So I’m asking you to join with me in asking our Lord to help each of us to apply this wonderful discipline so that we can be in a better position to experience God’s blessing and power as He moves here at CLCBC. Who knows what He’ll do as we follow Christ’s example? In the early 1950s, Josef Stalin, dictator of the former Soviet Union, indicated that he was preparing a systematic purge of Jews from the vast nation he ruled with an iron hand. Word of his plan was leaked and the world worried that another holocaust was about to begin. A pastor in London, England, was greatly burdened by the news and shared his concern for God’s people with a few prayer groups. They decided to set aside a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of the Soviet Jews. They pledged themselves to abstain from food for the day as they prayed for a divine solution. Two weeks later, Stalin suddenly died at the age of 73. Sixteen of the country’s most respected doctors had fought to save his life, but to no avail. While the pastor and his people assure us that they never once prayed for the death of Stalin, they did ask the Lord to do whatever it took to diffuse the situation. God’s answer came in the form of Stalin’s death. The purge was never carried out as the whole direction of national policy abruptly changed. Historians believe that mere chance brought about the dictator’s demise and that a system for change was already in place. But there are a group of believers in London who know otherwise. They understand the importance of prayer and fasting as a means to unleash the power of God upon the world.
