The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting

In Matthew 9:15 the Pharisees want to know why Jesus’ disciples don’t fast and Jesus says this, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” In simple terms, “They don’t need to fast when I am right here with them!” but look at what He, Jesus Christ our Lord, says next, “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Jesus is saying that there will be a time when He is not physically present, and they will fast then. Who is He talking about? His disciples, are you one of His disciples? When is He talking about? A time when He is not physically here. Is He physically here?

In the words of Foster, “For the person longing for a more intimate walk with God, these statements of Jesus are drawing words.” 

Guys, we are missing out when we are not engaging in fasting. I want to spend a little time this morning doing a quick flyover of fasting throughout scripture. 

When? In scripture people fasted when they were about to start a ministry. Jesus even did this before He went to select His disciples. People fasted when they were in the midst of a crisis – we see this on both the New and Old Testament. People fasted when they felt far from God. They fasted when they were trying to make a decision. 

How? Usually fasting means abstaining from food. The idea is, when you feel the hunger pang or the craving you use that as a reminder to pray instead of eating. Most often in scripture it is a total abstaining from food – meaning eating nothing for days at a time. In some places it is a partial fast – meaning only certain foods. Today I know of people who fast from other things like screen time, tv, or other vices they might enjoy too much in an effort to seek God. Indeed, if we are not fasting for the glory of God, with our eyes fixed on Him and our intellect searching for Him than we are wasting our time! Don’t fast in an effort to manipulate God – but rather to see Him, hear Him and know Him! In fasting, you are reminding yourself that you need God more than food or anything else and allowing your attention to be centrally focused on God.

Sometimes there was public fasts. These were for a central purpose that all participants were focused on. Most of the time fasting is supposed to be a private and intimate thing that is between you and God. Nobody else should even be able to tell. 

The length can vary from 12 hours to 24 hours to a few days and longer. 

Fasting can do a lot of things for us – it can bring spiritual clarity – helping us to get focused and see God’s will more clearly. Foster says, “Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way.” Our lives are clouded with spiritual and emotional fog – in fasting we get focused and can see things we already knew but couldn’t understand until we shut everything else off. 

Foster makes the excellent point that fasting “reveals what controls us”. In fasting we find out how much our appetites or stomachs control us. But other things rise to the surface as well – anger, pride, greed. Fasting is sort of like submerging a tire in water to see where the leaks are. Fasting also has health benefits. Intermittent fasting is something of a fad right now. I just hear Dr. Oz say recently that intermittent fasting is one of the healthiest ways to lose weight! While this shouldn’t be our constant primary focus it is a way to honor God with our bodies! 

So, I want to encourage you to prayerfully consider building fasting into your lives. Make sure you use the fast to replace something in your life with Christ and to move you to prayer and meditation!