This morning we’re going to address a topic that frankly doesn’t get as much attention in the church as it does in the outside world around us. Fasting has actually become quite popular in our culture, primarily for physical reasons like weight loss and health. In fact, this week I went to Amazon.com and found these books among the ten most popular books on fasting:
• Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease
• The Miracle of Fasting: Proven Throughout History for Physical, Mental, & Spiritual Rejuvenation.
Here is how the product description for that book reads:
This book is a must read for those seeking to cleanse and detoxify their body and to gain spiritual energy and live a longer, healthier life.
• The No Breakfast Plan and the Fasting-Cure
• Juice Fasting and Detoxification: Use the Healing Power of Fresh Juice to Feel Young and Look Great
We also know that those involved in the many forms of eastern mysticism are very committed to fasting as a means of receiving mystical revelation. The disciples of Buddha fast as a means of freeing their minds in order to receive enlightenment – although I will have to say that it doesn’t appear that Buddha himself engaged in the practice of fasting all that often.
Even though, as we’ll see this morning, the Bible does have quite a bit to say regarding fasting, it seems that in general it is a topic that doesn’t receive a lot of attention in the church. And unfortunately, even when it is addressed in the church, there seem to be a lot of misconceptions about the purpose of fasting. In fact, the top selling book on Amazon, which claims to present a Biblical view of fasting, is described like this:
…[the author] explains the spiritual power of fasting and offers a deeper understanding of God’s plan for fasting and the benefits available to those who participate. The book contains inspiring and practical information that readers need to know in order to access the power of biblical fasting. Those who seek God through fasting can expect tremendous rewards for their personal lives as well as for the church. They will see breakthroughs in many areas such as healing, finances, unhealthy dependencies and family relationships. This book also gives stories of those who have reaped miraculous rewards from this simple act of faith.
Since I haven’t read the book myself, I’m not going to mention the name of the book or even the author, but what I do know is that the description of the book does give me some serious concerns about what the author is teaching in his book. Although there is a brief mention of “seeking God”, the emphasis is clearly on what the person who practices fasting can expect to get for himself or herself – thus the focus on power, benefits, rewards, and breakthroughs. But, at least from my perspective, that is exactly what Jesus is warning against in the passage that we’ll examine this morning. So go ahead and open your Bibles to Matthew 6 and follow along as I read just three verses this morning, beginning in verse 16:
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. 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 others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV)
As we’ll discover this morning, the practice of fasting is very Biblical. In fact, we’ve already seen that Jesus engaged in that practice Himself while He was in the wilderness for 40 days. But like so many Biblical practices, by the time of Jesus, the practice of fasting had been perverted greatly by the Jewish religious leaders.
According to the Talmud, these religious leaders fasted twice a week – on Monday and Thursday. They claimed to have picked those particular days because Moses went up the mountain to receive the law on the fifth day of the week – Thursday – and he came down from the mountain with the law on the second day of the week – Monday.
In Jerusalem, those two days just happened to also be market days. On those days, the people from the surrounding areas would come to the markets there in Jerusalem. So those days, when the city was teeming with the most people were an opportune time for the religious leaders to display their piety. We see that confirmed in the words of the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector that we have referred to several times in recent weeks:
I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.
Luke 18:12 (ESV)
These religious leaders would walk through the streets with their hair all disheveled. They would put on dirty old clothes and dump ashes on their heads so they would look pale. And they would parade around the city on market day to show everybody how spiritual they really were.
But just as we saw with prayer and, as we’ll see in a couple of weeks, with giving to the poor, Jesus abhorred this hypocritical outward behavior that was inconsistent with the hearts of these religious leaders.
Fasting defined
“fast” = “nesteuo” = “not” + “to eat” = “total abstinence from food”
What I’ve found is that a lot of well-intentioned commentators and preachers have taken and expanded this definition well beyond its basic meaning. For instance, here is a great sounding definition of fasting that I found this week:
Fasting means to lay aside any pleasurable and/or vital activity for a period of time in order to intensely pursue God and know His mind with the intent of obeying His revealed will. [SermonCentral.com - From "Fasting Made Simple" by Dan Borchert]
While there is certainly nothing wrong with doing what this person suggested, it goes well beyond the Biblical idea of fasting. There may be a lot of benefit in going without TV or Facebook or the internet for a period of time in order to focus on God, but when I do that I am not fasting. I am also not fasting if I give up some particular food on a certain day of the week since fasting is the total abstinence from food.
But Biblical fasting does go beyond just abstaining from food. It doesn’t mean that you skipped lunch because you were too busy to eat. Fasting in the Bible is never merely a physical act – it is always connected with some spiritual purpose.
So we could further define Biblical fasting like this:
Biblical fasting = abstaining from food for spiritual purposes.
Fasting described
1. The Bible encourages, but never commands, fasting
Just like we saw with prayer, Jesus expects His followers to engage in the practice of fasting. Twice in this passage He says, “When you fast…” Later in His ministry Jesus confirmed that He expected His followers would fast after He completed His earthly ministry:
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Matthew 9:14-15 (ESV)
However, unlike prayer, there is actually no Biblical command to fast for followers of Jesus. There is only one fast in the Bible that was commanded by God. On the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur, the people were to fast:
And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
Leviticus 16:29 (ESV)
If you have an ESV Bible, you will see that there is a footnote next to the phrase “shall afflict yourselves” that reads “or shall fast”. We don’t have time to look at this in great detail this morning, but there is ample Biblical evidence to show that the people would have understood this as a reference to fasting. In fact, even today, the primary means with which devout Jews observe the Day of Atonement is by fasting.
Since Jesus provided atonement for our sins through His shed blood, His followers are no longer bound by that command. And since there are no other places in the Bible where fasting is commanded, we may correctly conclude that fasting is a voluntary act.
However, the fact that we as Christ followers are not commanded to fast does not lessen in any way its value. We have numerous examples in Scripture that demonstrate the importance of fasting in the lives of everyone from Moses to Jesus. These Biblical examples of fasting vary greatly in their duration, the number of people involved, the situations that gave rise to fasting and other details. However, there is a common feature that all these Biblical fasts share:
2. The primary purpose of fasting is to seek God
This is what the religious leaders had either forgotten or deliberately chosen to ignore. Rather than engaging in a fast for the purpose of seeking God, they were merely concerned about how righteous they would appear to others.
But every legitimate fast that is recorded in the Bible was ultimately for the purpose of seeking God. The circumstances surrounding each of these fasts may have been completely different, but in every case there was a need to seek out God and his direction, guidance, forgiveness or protection.
In order to help us better determine when it is appropriate to fast, we can categorize the Biblical reasons for fasting into four categories:
• Biblical reasons to fast:
o To humble oneself
When we fast, we humble ourselves before God by admitting that we do not deserve even the daily bread that comes from the hand of God. We acknowledge our complete and total dependence upon Him for everything that we have.
After the Babylonian exile was over, King Artaxerxes of Persia made a decree that Ezra and his people could return to Jerusalem. But noting the danger that they faced in that journey without the protection of the Persian army, Ezra proclaimed a fast:
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
Ezra 8:21 (ESV)
As the people fasted, they humbled themselves before God and acknowledged their dependence on Him for their safe journey.
As I mentioned earlier, technically fasting is only abstinence from food, but we can certainly take this principle and apply it to other areas of our lives. Whenever there is anything in my life that has become more important than God or there is something that I am relying upon more than God, then perhaps it is time to abstain from using or engaging in that object or activity for a period of time in order to humble myself before God and acknowledge my reliance upon Him. And when we do that, it would certainly be appropriate to accompany that with fasting as well.
o Repentance
Whenever God reveals sin in our lives and leads us to repent, fasting is an appropriate accompaniment to our repentance.
We read in Jonah 3 that the people of Nineveh recognized the value of fasting. When Jonah preached of God’s coming judgment upon them they repented and fasted.
We also find that the call to repent by many of the Old Testament prophets was accompanied by a call to fast. Perhaps you remember these words of God proclaimed by the prophet Joel:
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
Joel 2:12-13 (ESV)
When we fast in conjunction with repentance, we acknowledge the seriousness of our sin and the great worth of the operation of God’s mercy and grace in our lives as He forgives us and enables us to change our lives and turn from our sin. I’m convinced that we would all be much more successful in overcoming those areas of sin in our lives that we struggle with if we would choose to fast in combination with our repentance.
o Mourning
When Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle, David and the people of Israel fasted:
Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
2 Samuel 1:11-12 (ESV)
Fasting during times of mourning demonstrates our dependence on God during difficult times like the loss of a loved one or some calamity. And it is also appropriate as we mourn over our own sin.
o Earnest prayer
Almost every example of fasting in the Scripture is accompanied by earnest prayer. Let’s look at a few examples:
When the child born to David and Bathsheba became sick, David prayed for the child and accompanied his prayer with fasting:
And the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
2 Samuel 12:15-17 (ESV)
When Queen Esther prepared to go in and petition the king on behalf of her people she prayed and fasted and also called on her fellow Jews to do the same:
“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
Esther 4:16 (ESV)
Jesus fasted for 40 days while He engaged in prayer in order to prepare for His earthly ministry.
After he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, we find that Paul fasted while he prayed:
And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,
Acts 9:9-11 (ESV)
When we genuinely seek God in prayer, fasting can help to sharpen our focus on God. But a word of caution is in order here. Fasting is not some kind of hunger strike that compels God to do our bidding.
Isaiah 58 is probably the most complete teaching regarding fasting in the entire Bible. So we’re going to spend some more time looking at that chapter in our “Connections” Bible study this morning. In that passage, God addresses those who were utilizing fasting as a means to get what they wanted:
Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Isaiah 58:3-4 (ESV)
God makes it really clear that engaging in fasting in order to manipulate God into giving us what we want is completely unacceptable to Him.
3. There is no specific structure for fasting in the Bible
I actually saw a book this week that had taken the Scriptural examples of fasting and broken them down into nine different types of fasts that believers can apply in our lives. But as we’ve already discovered to some degree, there is no set pattern or structure to fasting in the Bible. They range in time from a day to 40 days. Some are personal and others are corporate. They are engaged in by Jews and non-Jews.
When we combine this with the fact that God doesn’t command us to fast, we can rightfully conclude that there is no set pattern that we need to follow when we fast. As long as we remember that the purpose of fasting is to seek God, then any method or structure that accomplishes that purpose is pleasing to God.
Fasting deployed
Although we’ve focused on the practice of fasting this morning, there is an even broader matter that we must consider. While it is certainly true that fasting has become a neglected spiritual discipline that could help all of us achieve a deeper intimacy with God when we engage in it with the proper motives and attitudes, the real issue here is where our hunger is directed.
Are we like the religious leaders who hungered for the admiration of men through their external actions or are we truly citizens of the kingdom of heaven whose hunger was described by Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount?
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Matthew 5:6 (ESV)
Would we all benefit from engaging in fasting on a more regular basis? I certainly think we could. But more than anything else the passage this morning is a call for all of us to honestly evaluate what we hunger for in our lives. Do we, like the hypocritical religious leaders, hunger for human admiration or do we honestly have a hunger for God Himself?
What if hungering for God became as important to us as our hunger for a big juicy steak or a pizza or a hot fudge sundae? What if we were to become as upset about missing an opportunity to develop our relationship with God as we were about missing our next meal? What if we could honestly say that our hearts speak with the words of the Psalmist:
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
Psalm 42:1-2 (ESV)
