Fasting

Today's message is going to be part three in my sermon series that I've been walking through on our spiritual disciplines. And as a way of recap, our first two messages up to this point covered both prayer and Bible study, two critical elements to building and maintaining our relationship with God. Through prayer, we communicate to God. We express ourselves towards Him. When we cry out to God, we share with Him our desires, in some ways, our will, our thoughts. And yet, humbly, we yield ourselves to Him, seeking His response and His interaction in our life. Through the study of God's Word, God communicates back to us. Again, large part through His Word and through the inspiration that comes by His Holy Spirit. God's Word reveals to us the mind of God and the character and nature of God. So as we study through these things and we see how God intervened in the history of man and how He interacts as well in our life, we begin to understand who He is, His love and His mercy, His care for us. And it's characteristics that are revealed to us that then we need to implement in our life as part of our spiritual growth as we take on the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ. So again, like any good relationship, communication is of the essence and it is from God to us and in response is from us towards God. And we're to desire that communication. Never cut ourselves off from it. We're to hunger and thirst after it. As Peter said in referring to the desire that we should have for the Word of God, he said, crave the Word of God just like a newborn babe would crave the milk of their mother. And so God calls us into this relationship and it's a very immature relationship in the beginning, immature from our end and our level of response, but it grows and God brings us along. And through his Word, as we learn and we grow, we actually go from being spiritual babes on milk to mature people who are able to handle solid food, who are able by reason of use. We have our senses exercised to discern good and evil. And it's not because the Bible says, thus shall do this and thus shall not do that. It's because God's nature and character are being formed in us through this process, through communicating with him, through studying his Word, through responding, and through exercising these spiritual gifts. And so today for the message, I'd like to examine the role that fasting plays in our relationship with God. Fasting. As we walk through this series, hopefully what we're noticing is that all of these spiritual disciplines go hand in hand. It's not like you can take one out of the mix and say, well, I'll just do that and it'll be fine. These overlap and interlock together, and as you do one, you incorporate the other. You don't just pray towards God and not study his Word. You don't just study his Word and not respond. These things work together in a way that build a vibrant relationship. One that is intense in our life and one that we yield ourselves to as we grow spiritually. If we ever think we can pull a discipline out and either use that exclusively or say, well, I don't really care for that one so much and discard it, then we're not availing ourselves to the complete relationship that God desires to have with us. If I were to take a poll today in this room and ask which spiritual discipline is maybe the least appreciated or maybe the most underutilized by the people of God, I feel pretty safe in saying that fasting would probably be at the top of the list.

I know for me as a child, when I heard the word fasting, it was very almost synonymous with the word torture. This is a 10-year-old brain, but I can remember first beginning to fast. I remember, okay, as a child, when did I fast? Well, it was the day of atonement. That's the one day that God commands the fast. I remember watching the calendar tick down to the day of atonement and almost a little bit of the sense of dread creeping into my mind, thinking, oh, here comes that day that you got to fast. And I can remember thinking, well, if I can just sleep for 18 hours on that day, I can bypass most of the distress and get through that 24-hour period and be on my way.

But that's not God's intent for the day of atonement, and it's not His intent for fasting in general. And brethren, we shouldn't consider fasting as something that is a mental distress. I will say some people struggle physically when they fast, so we need to know our limits, what our health capabilities are.

Okay, if you have issues and dietary issues, there are certain things maybe you should talk to your doctor about before you fast. But the fact is that fasting, as part of a habit, is a discipline that God has given us as His people to serve in a very specific way. I can remember even after I came to understand the importance of fasting, and fasting not only on the day of atonement, but other times, I remember that it was always an intense struggle for me.

Something about the metabolism or whatever it was, but I would decline throughout the day to the point where by the end of the fast, I would have a migraine, I would be very sick, and I was to the point where I couldn't even eat after the fast was done, because I was in so much distress. And all I can say is one year was like a switch was flipped, and I think that was the year that Mike was putting a schedule together, and he said, should I put you on for atonement for the sermon?

I know you don't do so well. And I said, well, you know, God gives us what we need when we need it. Put me on. So I scheduled for the sermon, and I gave the sermon here. I gave the sermon in Spokane, and it was the best fast I'd ever had. Since that time, I've not struggled in that way, but people do struggle, and again, we need to understand and know our limits.

But fasting shouldn't be perceived as, you know, kind of drudgery, anxiety, disappointment. It's something that God wants us to look at as something that is positive and productive and uplifting in our spiritual relationship with Him. Unger's Bible dictionary explains that the word fast in the Bible from the Hebrew means to cover, as in to cover the mouth.

You know, put your hand over your mouth. Nothing coming in. That's under the Hebrew. In the Greek, the word translated fasting needs to abstain. And so essentially, fasting means to go without eating or drinking for a spiritual purpose. And what we come to understand is when the Bible talks about fasting, this isn't just something that's a physical application. You go 24 hours, try to survive that time, and move on. There's a spiritual purpose behind why it is that we fast. Now, there are a number of physical reasons why people fast. I've noticed as you stand in the checkout line at the grocery store, and there's health magazines and various things, and fasting seems to be the rage right now.

You know, health fasts, dietary fasts, don't eat between certain hours. You know, maybe only eat this much two or three days a week, or maybe you don't eat anything all in the certain cycle during the week. And fasting has become kind of a, again, like I said, it's all the rage in terms of the new diets that are out there. But we don't fast for the physical benefit, although there are some. We fast for the spiritual benefit, and that's the intent and focus that we find in Scripture.

For those without restrictions, brethren, fasting is an important tool for drawing closer to God, and it must not be neglected as a regular part of our spiritual routine. In Matthew chapter 17, Jesus Christ showed that although fasting weakens us physically, its purpose is to strengthen us spiritually. So let's begin there today. Matthew chapter 17. I'm picking it up in verse 14. Here Christ is out with His disciples. He's approached by a man who needs some help. Matthew chapter 17 and verse 14.

It says, And when they came to Him, or when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my Son. For He is an epileptic and suffers severely. For He often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought Him to your disciples, but they could not cure Him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring Him to me. And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of Him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, Why could we not cast it out? So Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief, for assuredly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.

So what we see here is that there is a closeness to God, and there's a spiritual strength that comes into play when prayer and fasting, here coupled together, do exist in one's life.

You notice it doesn't list prayer alone, and it doesn't list fasting alone. Christ says, This kind comes out by prayer and fasting, and obviously Christ did that. The disciples themselves were not doing that. I'm sure they were praying men, but they were not fasting at this point. But Jesus Christ came to fulfill the will of His Father, to remain close to His Father. Clearly, Jesus Christ fasted and prayed regularly, and this provided Him with that spiritual edge that was necessary to cast the demon out, to rebuke it, and to free this man's son.

Again, fasting weakens us physically, but spiritually it has an effect that is quite the opposite. On their own, each element of worship is important, but as I said earlier, the spiritual disciplines overlap, and they lend strength one to another. None of them is intended to be used independently of the others. If we want to reap the full benefit of this relationship, we need to come to understand how to properly use prayer, Bible study, fasting, meditation, and to use these things in a way that are interactive, in a way that doesn't exclude one. Again, if we want to bring in the full result of what it is that God intends by these disciplines.

Were the disciples praying men before this incident?

It would obviously appear that they were. They were praying men. They drew close to God in that way, and it was a benefit to them. However, prayer, coupled with fasting, yields even more spiritual benefit than the one standing alone. That's the point we need to understand. Why it is as we walk through these spiritual disciplines, we understand we need to use the package. Picking one and saying, I just really don't care for the other. I'll leave that aside. Or maybe I'll fast once a year on the commanded day. Rather than if we're doing that, we're shorting ourselves from the level of relationship and closeness to God, and the depth of understanding that He desires to give us through these disciplines. I found personally that it's actually helpful to rotate through the spiritual disciplines as you fast. For example, you're restraining yourself from food and drink. Say it's 24 hours. We'll just use that for a benchmark. You don't just simply not eat. It's a time that we afflict our souls, yes, but we delve into God's Word. So while you're fasting, you're going to be studying God's Word, internalizing it. You're going to be taking what He has said to you and thinking about it, meditating on it. How does this apply to my life? You're going to be going on your knees before God, coming before Him in prayer. Taking a day of fasting really should be a day that sets aside that you're not just going about all your regular routine except you're just not eating. It should be a day that we draw close to God in prayer, in Bible study, in meditation of this Word. And in cycling through that throughout the day, we're going to gain the benefit of the fasting that God intends. Fasting weakens us spiritually. It shows us our humanity in a way that perhaps we would not recognize otherwise, because it doesn't take very long without food and without drink to realize we are weak. And in my case, it's just a number of hours. I talk to people that have gone two, three, four, five days fasting, and frankly, that's hard for me to imagine. I admit 24 hours is about the maximum I've gone on fasting, but others have gone longer. But again, you feel weak, and it reminds you that you are not self-sufficient, you are dependent. And the one you're dependent on is God. God is our Creator. He gave us life. He gave us His Spirit. God is the one who initiated this relationship, and He is the one who sustains us, both physically and spiritually. And fasting reminds us of that.

It's nothing like being physically strong. You know, when you're young and you're physically strong and no health difficulties, and you can eat whenever you want, you can sleep whenever you want and go do whatever you want in certain parameters, the fact is you almost feel invincible, and yet fasting brings us to a degree face-to-face with our mortality and the recognition of who God is in His superiority and strength and who it is that we are in fact by comparison. Fasting reminds us of our continual need for God, the fact that we must depend on Him each and every day. I think about the Apostle Paul. He was afflicted. He called it this thorn in the flesh, whatever it might have been. It might have been vision problems. It might have been other things. Imagine you get hit in the head with enough rocks, you're going to have problems. And Paul was stoned on more than one occasion. But he says this was his thorn in the flesh, and he called it the thorn in the flesh, and he cried out to God for deliverance. And what was God's answer? Well, ultimately the answer is, my grace is sufficient for you.

And Paul said, okay, when I am weak, then I am strong. You know, when I'm brought face-to-face with my own limitations, and maybe even when I'm suffering a little bit, I am strong because I realize I depend on God. It's God who gives me what I need. It is God who sustains me. And you know what? His grace is sufficient. My own mind, I used to kind of think of Paul and that interaction in him saying, you know, God says my grace is sufficient. And I used to view that as, well, Paul's asking for something big, you know, I have this affliction in the flesh. I need healing. God, here's a big thing I'm asking, you know, way up here. And God said, my grace is sufficient. And I sort of used to view that as God saying, all right, you're asking for this, but Paul, you're getting this and this just has to be enough for you. But the more I thought about it and considered it, I realized the opposite is true. The physical healing that Paul was asking for, obviously significant in his physical life, but compared to the grace of God, which is what? Salvation, the calling of God, the sacrifice of his Son, the giving of his Spirit, eternal life, it's all God's grace. By comparison, Paul's thorn in the flesh, although big in the flesh, could not compare to what God had given you. And for us, brethren, God intervenes at times. Sometimes, perhaps, he allows us to walk with the thorn in the flesh as well, but we must never lose sight of the fact that God's grace is sufficient. And when we are weak, then we are strong. When the lessons through fasting brings us face to face to our mortality, our need for God, and the fact that he is our sustainer. Let's turn to Isaiah chapter 58 and see the primary purpose for fasting.

Isaiah 58, this is sometimes called the fasting chapter. We'll just look at a portion of it. Isaiah chapter 58 and verse 1, God's message to Isaiah, and he says, cry aloud and spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people their transgression in the house of Jacob their sins. God says, Isaiah, sound the alarm among my people. Perhaps they will hear. Verse 2 says, yet they seek me daily, and they delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching God. You know, this is describing a people who actually like to act religious, appear religious, put a show of being religious, but in their heart they're denying God. You know, it says that they take delight in approaching God and putting on this front. Verse 3 says, why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen. Why have we afflicted our souls, and you take no notice? So in terms of this perspective of how they were actually living their life and what was in their heart, and they're just paying God lip service, now they're going through the motion of fasting, and God is not responding. They're saying, God, why not? Have you not seen how we've afflicted our souls? Well, God does indeed see and hear. Why have we afflicted our souls, and you take no notice? In fact, in the day of your fast, you find pleasure, and you exploit all your laborers. Indeed, you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high. So they were using fasting, they were going through the physical motions of it, but for a corrupt purpose.

They were using it to gain an advantage over the other, maybe put on a show of righteousness. You know, look at me, I'm fasting today, and yet you are not. They were conducting themselves in a way while they were fasting, that they were abusing one another, treating one another in an ungodly manner, and God says, I will not hear that. Your heart is wrong. Your motions are meaningless. And so he says, you know, this is not the fast that will allow your voices to be heard on high. It would appear they actually were trying to use fasting in a way that would force God to respond in a way that they were looking for. Verse 5, God says, Is it a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul. Is it to bow down his head like a bull rush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast and an acceptable day of the Lord? Is this not the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bonds of wickedness? To undo the heavy burdens? To let the oppressed go free? That you break every yoke? You know, God's saying, the fast that I am looking for is actually the fast that you have a change of heart. And the fact that you respond in a way that is according to righteousness. If you're humble and you bow your head down like a bull rush, and you treat your fellow man well, and you come before me seeking this relationship, God says, then I will hear. Verse 7, Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out? When you see the naked that you cover him, and hide not yourself from your own flesh. God is looking for an attitude of humility and repentance through fasting.

Sometimes we think of it as a tool as, well, if I'll just fast, afflict myself, God will see how afflicted I am, and he'll fulfill my request. We do bring requests before God oftentimes when we fast, and we'll talk about that. But fasting isn't to be a tool to force God into the corner. Fasting is a tool by which we approach him in humility and repentance, recognizing who he is and who we are. And fasting is our response to our Creator who is our sustainer. Again, in this process, Israel was not showing these qualities of humility and repentance as they approach God in their fast. Verse 8, he says, if you come to me in this way, he says, then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer. You shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of wickedness. You know, there's actually what seemed to be a connection between God hearing our fast and being dependent on how we treat one another, our relationships, how we respond to each other. If God's called out, people cannot even exist in harmonious relationship among each other. If there's pointing of the finger, if there's accusation, then God says, that needs to be put aside. And again, He says, if you take that yoke away, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones. You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

So, brethren, the primary purpose of fasting is drawn near to God, to come together in a relationship. But again, our mind has to be right, our heart has to be right, our words and our actions, and how we conduct ourselves among ourselves have to be right, if we're going to be right with God as well. Now, ultimately, our shortcomings among each other stem from our shortcomings in relationship with God. Those things can take place. If I'm not right with God, but you're right with God, we're going to have some difficulty because I'm not right with God. Okay. So, it starts with becoming right with God on a personal level, but it doesn't end there. It extends into the relationships that we share with one another.

But again, the primary purpose of fasting is to draw near unto God in order to gain his mind and his perspective, and to understand what it is that we need to do to please him.

It's all about God, brethren. It's not all about us. And I think sometimes we can become confused in that point. Fasting is about God, and the relationship he has designed is not all about us.

Sometimes we can tend to use fasting as a tool to try to, again, push God into a corner, to afflict ourselves. If I'm afflicted enough, God will grant my request. Well, we are told scripturally to bring our request before God. And fasting is a way that we draw close to him, and we lay those things before him. But let us not ever think that we can use fasting as a tool to get God to respond in a way that we desire. That's a form of false worship.

You recall the prophets of Baal. What did they do? They were trying to get their God to respond, crying out before their God. And Elijah said, well, cry a little louder. And they're yelling a little louder. Now, suddenly, no response from Baal. So what did they do? Now they're afflicting themselves. They're cutting themselves until the blood flowed. It is a type of false religion to think by humbling ourselves. Not in the terms of proper humbling, but afflicting ourselves will push our God to respond. And that's not how God works. God says, draw near to me, and I'll draw near to you. So fasting is about bringing this relationship to another level, where we humble ourselves, and we approach God in a manner that we seek His will, and seek to understand His nature. And we submit ourselves to His perfect purpose.

Isaiah chapter 55, just back a few pages, in verse 8.

Isaiah 55 verse 8. Again, it's God that we're seeking through this process, primarily. Isaiah 55 verse 8. I'll get there. God says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways your ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. What is it that we're seeking? On the carnal level, God's thoughts, God's ways, so much higher than our thoughts and our ways, and yet that's not to be the permanent state of things. God desires us in this relationship to come along to His thoughts, to His ways, and to seek after those things. And the manner in which we do that is through exercising these spiritual disciplines. Fasting removes self. Fasting humbles us to the point that we realize, I am not self-sufficient. I am dependent on God, and I need God's mind and God's will and God's purpose working in my life, if my life is to have meaning. Again, we come to understand His thoughts and His ways. God's thoughts and God's ways, brethren, should become our thoughts and our ways as well. But that takes humility.

Additionally, Isaiah 58, as we were reading just a moment ago, shows that we fast to gain strength when we need to help to change and to overcome. Drawing near to God and He will draw near to you means He lends to us spiritually strength to overcome. Strength to change our ways and come into conformity to what it is He's called us to be. And this is a process. This is something that begins, again, as babes, and we move on to spiritual maturity. Let's notice Daniel's humble and repentant attitude on behalf of Israel and Judah from the confines of Babylon. Daniel 9.

I'm getting in verse 1.

Daniel 9, verse 1. This is going to help, again, to highlight for us the perspective and the attitude by which we need to come before God when we fast. Daniel chapter 9 and verse 1 says, In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus of the line of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood the books by the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. In other words, Jerusalem was going to lie desolate for 70 years because Israel and Judah had not been keeping God's land sabbaths. 490 years from the reign of King Saul to the Babylonian captivity were 70 land sabbaths that had not been observed, and God removed them from the land, and the land had rest for those 70 years now back to back.

Verse 3, Daniel says, Then I set my face toward the Lord God, and made requests by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. So what we see again is that fasting is not listed simply as a lone solo event. It's combined with the prayer and the supplicating before God and the humbling of ourselves. Verse 4, And I prayed to the Lord my God, and I made confession, and said, O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and mercy with those who love him, and with those who keep his commandments. We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and your judgments. Neither have we indeed your servants, we have not heeded your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, to our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us shame of face as it is this day, to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel. Those near and those afar off and all the countries in which you have driven them, because the unfaithfulness which they have committed against you. Daniel's saying, God, you alone are righteous, and before you we have sinned. It's an approach in humility, recognizing who God is and indeed who they are. Going to verse 16, O Lord, according to all your righteousness, I pray, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers. Jerusalem and your people are reproach to all those around us. Now therefore our God hear the prayer of your servant and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause your face to shine on your sanctuary which is desolate. O my God, he says, incline your ear in here. Open your eyes and see our desolations in the city which is called by your name, for we do not present our supplication before you because of our righteous deeds, but because of your great mercies. O Lord, here. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act. Do not delay for your own sake, my God, for your city and for your people who are called by your name.

So again, Daniel was praying for the deliverance of the people and their captivity. God would fulfill the time of their captivity, but the attitude here was of repentance, humility, seeking the perfect will of God and striving to serve him according to his desire. Daniel said, God, you are righteous and we have sinned and we are brought low.

But do not forsake us, God. Do not forget us. We are your people. We are those of your name.

Fasting does at times involve making our requests known to God.

There's times when we will fast for someone who is ill.

There's times where, as a church, we'll have a churchwide fast. Perhaps the home office would say we're going to fast on a certain date. We did that about a little over a year ago. Churchwide fast. There's times where simply maybe we have personal issues that we feel we need to fast about. I know there's times where I have fasted with others and we've come together and maybe it's something that only a circumstance, only a few people knew about, but we came together and we fasted together on that particular circumstance. So there is biblical precedence for fasting and making our requests known to God. But if we notice from the example of Daniel, again, that fasting is coupled together with a proper understanding and an expression of who we are before God and our need to be submitted to His great mercy.

God is just and God is righteous and He's also merciful and we submit ourselves to those things.

Fasting draws us close to God.

Again, when pride is in the way, when self is in the way, that's a stumbling block in our relationship with God. But humility and removing self and fasting draws us close to God and in that relationship we do lay our requests before Him. But let us also acknowledge that in that relationship we submit ourselves to His will and to His purpose. And the point of fasting, perhaps over an issue, is not that we are trying to force God to respond to us, it is that we are trying to draw near to God so that we can receive His answer. So that when God does give an answer, whether it is yes or whether it is no, we know that He has acted according to His perfect righteousness. And if the answer isn't according to what we're looking for, then that closeness of relationship through fasting, brother, hopefully allows us to carry on in the understanding that God is perfect. I was thinking here this morning on Daniel, not Daniel, but David, King David. And here he committed adultery with Bathsheba. Child was conceived, Uriah was killed, it was a cover-up that took place, and yet David eventually was confronted with this sin, and he had to acknowledge it and respond in repentance to God.

God received His repentance, but the child still died. God said, David, you have sinned greatly in the sight of all the nations. You're the King of my people called by my name, and it is known openly what you've done. The child will die. David responded in prayer and fasting. David fasted for seven days, and he pleaded with God for the child, and at the end of that seven days, the child died. What was David's response? David got up, cleaned up, anointed his head, probably changed his clothes, and he went and he worshipped God. From there, he went to his house, and he ate. And his advisors are thinking, you know, while the child was alive, he was desperately crying out to God, now the child's dead. What will his response be? David's response was to serve God.

It was to acknowledge that, God, You have made Your decision, and this isn't going to derail my faith. I've submitted myself to You and Your righteousness. And for us, brethren, fasting very much is a building of the intimate relationship with God, where we are in a position now to receive His answer, whatever it may be. We do draw close to Him. In that closeness, we do submit our petition before God, and we cry out to God. But our relationship must be such that God's answer does not derail our faith. Through the strength of relationship and what we gain through the fasting and bringing these things to Him, we also come to the point when we recognize that He is righteous, and we are submitted to His perfect will. Fasting is something that must be an ongoing exercise in our life. Fasting cannot simply be reaction-based. There may be times we respond to God, and we react, and we fast in reaction to something that is not wrong, but if reaction-based fasting is the only form of fasting outside the day of atonement that we do, then we're not utilizing the key principle of this discipline that God's given us. The key principle is to be drawn close to Him, to gain the spiritual strength that comes from that closeness of relationship. Again, if it's reactionary only, then we're not prepared in advance, but if we're walking each and every day with God, and we're taking time too fast on a regular cycle, then when the affliction comes or when the opposition comes, we will be prepared. We will be close to God. That's the example of Jesus Christ. When the man's epileptic son was brought to Christ, and this demon who the disciples were not able to cast out was present, Christ didn't say, well hang on just a minute, let me go take a day and fast and pray, and I'll be back with you, and we'll take care of the issue here. Christ was close to God. He had been praying. He had been fasting. That relationship was close and tight all along the way. It doesn't mean there's not ever points of focus where we draw near to God over an issue, but our spiritual relationship with our Father in heaven needs to be such that we remain close to Him at all times. And the tool of fasting that God has given us helps to facilitate in that process.

Scripture shows a number of examples of fasting. It doesn't necessarily break down for us exactly. Here is how you fast or exactly what you fast for other than restraining from food and water. The fact is there's fasts at various lengths of time throughout Scripture and for various purposes, but if we study through fasting and the examples of those things, we can come to understand the relationship and the intent behind why God would have His people walk through this process. Let me just give you a few examples of fasting. We won't turn here, but just jot these down. You can study them out later. Moses fasted 40 days and nights when receiving the Ten Commandments. That's Exodus 34.28. Obviously, that was miraculous. King David, as I mentioned, fasted several days over his dying son, 2 Samuel 12, verse 16-18. Mordecai and Esther, many others as well around them, fasted for three days over the plight of the Jews, over Esther's decision to approach the king uninvited. You didn't just go walking up to the throne. You don't go losing your head. Prayer and fasting was offered up on behalf of the people of God in Esther's approach and plea to the king. Jesus Christ fasted 40 days and nights in the wilderness as He was tempted by Satan the devil. Matthew 4. Cornelius the Centurion, who is also a Gentile, fasted for four days and God heard his prayer. Acts 10, verse 30. The response was, the response to that was, God sent Peter. And this was now the beginning of God's Spirit and the offering of salvation to the Gentiles.

The book of Acts shows that the apostles fasted to seek God's will when making decisions on ordinations, on establishing congregations, on important decisions regarding the Church of God. They fasted. The Church of God today asks the elders in the Church to fast before the general conference of elders, before we come together to make important decisions, to fast and pray in terms of when you're considering ordination within the congregation. And these things aren't to approach God, so we express to Him our will, necessarily. It is to draw close to God to understand what His will and His purpose is. One example I would like to turn to is found in Luke chapter 2, verse 36. Luke 2, verse 36. This is the example of Anna who awaited the promise of the Messiah. Luke chapter 2, verse 36. It says, "...now there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings in prayer night and day. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of Him to all those who looked for the redemption in Jerusalem." So it says here that Anna did not depart from the temple, but she served God with fastings in prayer night and day. Just take a minute to think about that. This is a woman who dedicated her life in service to God. It wasn't that she could serve at the temple in some official capacity, but she was there. She no doubt saw the comings and the goings and the people and their circumstances and their needs, and she was someone that submitted herself in prayer and fasting in service to others. Prayer of fasting in service to others as well in terms of praying for the Messiah of God, the coming of Jesus Christ. I think it's an example that you and I can draw inspiration on when we consider that fasting for one another is a way we can serve each other. Drawing near to God and remembering our fellow brethren before Him, bringing petitions before God for one another, it's an incredible blessing that God has given us to remember one another in that way. How often do we fast for the return of Jesus Christ? Not that by our fasting we can hasten the day, but fasting in terms of showing God we look forward to that day. We desire that day. Help us remain steadfast till that day. How often do we fast for the return of Jesus Christ? How often do we fast for the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God?

How often do we fast and pray for the needs of one another in the church or the church as a whole?

How often do we take time to fast and simply seek to build our relationship with God? Not because it's reactionary, but because we seek to maintain that close relationship all along the way. Rather, fasting is an afflicting of our souls, but there's an attitude involved. It's humility. It's submission before God. It's seeking His will and His purpose.

Through the Scriptures, we can look at why people fasted, how they fasted, what was their attitude that was conveyed through fasting, what did God respond to, what did He not respond to. Those are all contained throughout the scriptural examples of fasting, and I would encourage you before your next fast to study through. See what the Bible reveals, what it is that we can learn in terms of this relationship that God would have us to come to through the humbling of ourselves.

The clear intent of Scripture is that the followers of Jesus Christ would fast.

Notice Jesus' words to His disciples, Matthew 6, verse 16.

Matthew 6, verse 16.

Christ said, Moreover, when you fast. Notice He didn't say, If you fast, or if sometime down the line you decide fasting might be a good idea. Notice He said, When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, but they sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in a secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Fasting isn't to be an open show. It isn't to be something where, you know, you got up this morning, you didn't shave, you're still in your pajamas, you didn't comb your hair, because you know what, today I'm fasting, and I'm afflicted. Anybody that comes to the door, or anybody that crosses my path is going to know it. Christ says, If that's your approach, you have your reward, which is the praise of men, and that's as far as it goes. But he said, this is a personal and an intimate relationship between you and God, and fasting, the God who sees in secret, will reward you openly. There's times we fast openly as a church, or there's times where a group will fast over an issue. But in general, the terms of our fasting is an intimate and a direct connection between us and God. It's not for the glory of men, but it's for the building of the bond of relationship.

Apostle Paul fasted. Early New Testament church fasted. His instructions to husbands and wives were to not deny one another your love and care and your intimate relations, except for if you take a time for prayer and fasting. And he said, then come together again. But the point is, it's a regular and a set discipline that is ongoing, and it's personal and it's direct. Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 11, 27, that he fasted often. He listed the whole list of what he had endured for the sake of the gospel. Stone, shipwrecked, lost at sea, imperils of his countrymen, and he says in fastings often.

Paul fasted because he knew he needed to be close to God in terms to endure the trial, the struggle, what it is that God had given him in his service. It required a close and a direct relationship. Our need to draw close to God and a deep and a personal relationship is just real today, brethren. As the time of the end approaches, we were going to face trials and struggles very similar to what we see in Scripture pertaining to the New Testament Church. Persecution, divisions, attacks of Satan the devil, drawing close to God through fasting needs to be a major part of our focus and the spiritual disciplines that we exercise at the end of the age. I want to conclude in James chapter 4 and verse 6.

James 4 verse 6. I've alluded to this a couple of times, and it doesn't specifically speak to fasting, but it speaks to the attitude and the relationship that takes place as we draw near to God. James chapter 4 and verse 6 says, but he gives more grace. Therefore, he says, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. You don't ever want to find yourself in a position where God is in active resistance to you. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to glad, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the side of the Lord, and he will lift you up. Prayer coupled with fasting is one of the principal ways for us to afflict our souls, for us to humble ourselves, and for us to seek diligently after our Creator God. Fasting is a tool that has been widely used throughout the history of God's people, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and is something that needs to be a regular part of our spiritual focus today as well. The biblical example shows us that fasting is a form of worship.

Through fasting, we acknowledge the power and the authority of God, and we acknowledge the self-sufficient nature of God. The fact that He is self-sufficient and we are not, we are dependent, we rely on God. Fasting brings us face-to-face to our weakness and our dependency in the flesh, and the reality of our need for God's sustenance, both physically and spiritually. Brethren, let us make a habit of utilizing the beneficial and uplifting discipline of fasting in our spiritual lives today. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. The gift and the blessing and the ability of doing so is indeed great.