Fasting for Spiritual Growth
Matthew 6:16-18
June 5, 2005
Introduction
About a year and a half ago, I began preaching through the gospel of Matthew. And except for some occasions when I felt God was leading me to preach about some other things as kind of a "pause" on our walk through Matthew, that’s what I’ve done.
One of the reasons I’m preaching through Matthew is that it’s simply a wonderful account of the life and teachings of Jesus.
Another reason is that as we go through each passage of the book, we are forced to look at things that maybe we wouldn’t necessarily like to deal with. But since Jesus deals with it, we need to deal with it.
A third reason is that I am forced to really look at the book, maybe as never before, to not only find what it’s saying, but how to make it real for you and me.
And every once in a while I come across a passage where I end up preaching to myself as much, and maybe even more than you all. Today’s message is one of those.
My guess is that fasting is probably not in the top 10 of everyone’s to do list today or even this year. Am I right?
I know some of you fast on occasion, and maybe some of you even do so regularly.
I’ll be frank with you - I don’t do it nearly enough, and I believe that God wants me to make it more a part of my life, just as he wants to be more a part of your life.
A lot of what I’m going to be sharing with you today is from two resources. One is the book, Celebration of Discipline, by Richard J. Foster. The other is 7 Basic Steps to Successful Fasting and Prayer, by the late Bill Bright, found of Campus Crusade for Christ.
As I was researching the material for this message, these books were referenced a number of times. So I figured, "hey - why not listen to the wisdom of some great men of God and share some of the lessons they gleaned?"
I’m not merely quoting from their books, by the way, and quite honestly, we’re only going to scratch the surface of everything there is to know about this very important topic.
But what I’m sharing will be a bit of a compilation, as well as my own thoughts as I read and prayed about this.
But let’s start by looking at the passage that forms the basis of our message today. It’s Matthew 6:16-18, and it’s printed in your note-taking guide. Please follow along as I read it.
"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Note: Jesus expects us to fast as part of our on-going relationship with him.
As with giving to the needy, back in the first part of chapter 6, Jesus says, "when" you fast, not "if" you fast.
I’ll stop short of saying it’s a command, because quite frankly, there is no command in Scripture to fast. Just as Jesus didn’t say, "if you fast," neither did he say, "You must fast."
Fasting is mentioned throughout all of Scripture. Many of God’s people fasted at various times, and of course, we have the example of Jesus himself fasting for 40 days as he was beginning his public ministry.
But just what do we mean by fasting? Let me give you one of the best definitions I’ve seen -
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)
The focus of all this, by the way is God, not you!
Anyone remember the opening sentence of chapter one of The Purpose Driven Life? "It’s not about you." The same goes for fasting.
As with giving to the needy, the right thing can be done for the wrong reason. Fasting isn’t done primarily for your benefit, but to prepare you to be used by God. Remember our definition of fasting?
It’s one of those things we call "spiritual disciplines," or those activities we can do to open ourselves up to God.
In the Wesleyan Church we also call these things, "means of grace." This doesn’t mean that you earn God’s favor by doing them. It simply means that you open yourself up to the grace of God more as you take part in activities like prayer, devotions, worship, fellowship, and fasting.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at some rules of Biblical fasting, in no particular order of importance, okay?
Rules of Biblical Fasting:
The first rule is to...
Keep it secret!
Jesus repeats his warning that doing spiritual things for the purpose of gaining a spiritual reputation is only going to give you the reputation at the expense of reward from the Father.
The Pharisees and the others were "broadcasting" the fact that they were fasting. They made themselves up to play up their "suffering." They did it for show.
Richard Foster mentions that the practice of the Pharisees was to fast on Mondays and Thursdays because those were the market days and so there would be bigger audiences to see how pious they were.
You’ve probably all known people who seem fine one moment and then when they realize they have someone’s attention, the old "woe is me" attitudes come forth. They basically want you to pat them on the back and say, "Ohhh poor baby, suffewing for Jesus wike that..."
But what if I’m invited out for a meal during my fast? If they’re believers, simply tell them you’re fasting and that you’ll need to take a rain check for another time.
So what’s the difference between that and being like the hypocrites Jesus was talking about?
You’re simply giving information when asked. This would also give you a great opportunity to ask them to pray for you as well.
If a non-believer asks, simply thank them for the invitation and tell them that you have other plans. You don’t need to try and explain fasting.
One thing that I’ve seen written about is the idea of a "public" or "group" fast. That’s simply when a number of people come for a time to fast and pray together.
I’d love to see something like that happen here sometime. I think it’d be a wonderful thing.
But the point here is that fasting is not to be broadcast for show - in order to make us look good. Jesus warns us that the applause of people is the only reward we’ll gain for it.
A second rule of Biblical fasting is to...
Understand the reasons for fasting.
These are just a few of the reasons, and if you are in the habit of fasting, you probably have others that would be just as valid. But here we go...
* To humble yourself before God.
When you set aside some of your own desires and needs to present yourself before God, you come face to face with the fact that God Almighty has granted you a hearing.
You see, he does that whenever we pray, but too often we come to him just expecting him to bend his ear to us.
And yes, God delights in listening to and answering the prayers of his people.
But fasting helps us come back to the idea that God is gracious in his dealings with us, and with you in particular.
And here’s the great thing: God honors humility. The Bible says that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And the Bible also says to humble ourselves, so God can lift us up.
A second reason for fasting is...
* To allow the Holy Spirit to bring clarity of the Bible to your heart and mind.
This is tied a bit to the first reason. When we are humble, we are more open to the Holy Spirit teaching us something we’ve never learned before from the Scriptures.
And not only can we learn something, we can learn how to make it a real part of our lives, getting past the lip service many Christians give the Bible.
The Bible is much easier to apply when you understand it. And you cannot understand it apart from the Holy Spirit. Did you know that?
I just had a conversation a few days ago with a young man who had questions about some stuff the Bible said. He had come across a web-site that tried to discredit the Bible and wanted to know if there was any truth to the claims.
We discussed the stuff, and it became clear to this fella that the author of the web-site was not a believer in Jesus.
This is very important to understand: the Bible is not just a book or a collection of books. It’s the God-breathed Word of God. And it can only be understood with the help of God.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians that unless the Holy Spirit opens our minds, we will never understand the Bible. And only followers of Jesus have the Holy Spirit.
Outside of Christ, the Bible appears to just be a collection of writings that you can take or leave at your leisure.
Fasting opens your heart and mind to let the Holy Spirit show you even more of the riches of Scripture.
Here’s a third reason for fasting:
* To allow the Holy Spirit to show you your true spiritual condition.
This is a toughie - I mean who really wants to find out they’ve fallen short of where they thought they were in their relationship with Christ?
But if you want to be all that God wants you to be, then this is necessary. If you continue to live in a spiritual fog, you’ll just wander around, never experiencing all that Christ has for you.
It’s in these times when God might commend you for something, or he might bring something to mind that you need to repent of. Or he may begin a revival in your heart, bringing life to a once-dead life in him. Or he might use this time to bring you back to your "first love" of Jesus.
One of the criticisms Jesus had for the church in Ephesus was that they had lost their "first love," that love for Christ that had been a hallmark of that church in earlier days.
Let me ask you - is this something you need to own up to - that you’ve lost your first love for Jesus? Getting some major face-time with God in prayer, fasting, and the Bible is the antidote.
A fourth reason for fasting is...
* To enrich your prayer life.
We’ve touched on this a bit, so I won’t belabor the point.
But I do want to point out that fasting is another avenue of getting real with God in a way that you won’t find any other way.
I think the main reason for this is because you take the focus off yourself and your needs and focus on meeting with God and listening to him.
Here’s the last reason I want to cover today as to why a person should fast:
* Remind us that it’s not food that sustains, but God.
Fasting says, "God, I’m mindful of the fact that unless you provide, I have nothing. You can take my job, my business, my farm, my health, and even my life if you want to. Thank you for providing for me."
Let’s move onto the third rule of Biblical fasting, and that is to...
Deny yourself something meaningful.
Fasting is denial of something, and it should be something meaningful. In other words, it should cost you something more than just a little inconvenience.
And to help you with that, I want to go through some different types of fasts:
* Food.
This is the type of the fast usually described in Scripture.
In fact, in all but one reference I could find, food was what was being referenced.
There are various ways to go about fasting from food - from skipping a meal to going days or even weeks without solid food.
But you can only do this if you are physically able to do it. There are some who should not do this kind of fast, because their bodies can not handle it.
The two sources I’m citing in this message are listed at the bottom of your note-taking guide, and they give some very practical, 123 ABC type stuff to help you with a food fast in healthy ways.
Another type of fast is to fast from...
* Sexual relations.
This is the other type of fast that I find referenced in the Scriptures. In fact, it says in 1 Corinthians 7:5 that the only reason to withhold intimate relations with your spouse (other than health and hygiene issues) is to devote some time to prayer.
There are a couple other kinds of fasts that you can partake in, and which are appropriate for our time. The first one is to fast from...
* Media.
TV, cable, radio, magazines, even newspapers!
Did you know that you don’t have to know everything that’s going on in the world? Really! My home page on my computer is a news site, and I go through that thing every day. I read the newspaper everyday. And I listen to the radio to catch the late-breaking news. And I have some favorite TV shows that I don’t enjoy missing.
And I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that I’m not the only one here.
The question is this: am I willing to give up any or all of that for a period of time so I can focus on God for a while?
If not, I’ve got a problem, and it’s very indicative of the fact that I need the kind of encounter with God that comes from fasting.
* Certain forms of entertainment.
For instance, things like the internet, video games, movies, etc.
Now let me state for the record that I’m not against any of these things, unless they’re done in excess.
And yes, watching all six Star Wars movies back to back for an entire month is excessive.
Not that I’ve heard of anyone here doing it, but if nothing else, it’s a warning to my boys that they can give up any hope of that kind of movie marathon...
But can you part with some of these forms of entertainment for a while to focus on God in prayer?
Jesus died for you and rose from the grave, for crying out loud! And I think it’s appropriate to deny yourself some of your pleasures for the sake of getting some deep face time with God.
Here’s the last rule I want us to cover today regarding how to fast, Biblically.
Fill your time with prayer.
You’d think this would go without saying, but it really doesn’t.
Fasting is more than just skipping a meal or not reading the paper or missing a movie.
The time normally spent doing those things should be spent in prayer, not just filling the time with other things.
And I’ll be honest here, that’s probably one of the biggest struggles for me in this area.
I’ve got plenty to do, believe me. And I skip meals all the time, not because I’m fasting, but because I’m too busy trying to get everything done. Not very spiritual, I’d say.
I think if I were to go ahead and skip the meal, but setting aside my task list in favor of getting alone with God will actually make me more efficient, because I’ll spend less time trying to hear God through the clutter of my day.
Use your times of fasting to get into the Bible and pray. Make it productive time, focusing on God.
Conclusion
I really struggled with how to end this message.
Many times for these types of messages, I’ll issue a challenge, and even have some sort of commitment card or form in your bulletin insert.
You’d fill it out, and keep it where you can see it, and sometimes I’d have you give me a copy so I could pray for you in whatever area I’ve issued the challenge.
But as much as I wanted to do that for this message, I also felt that because fasting is so intensely personal, so should be your decision about whether or not to pursue it as a regular part of your life.
So here’s what I want you to do. Think about this over the next few days. Do some research. The resources I’ve used in preparation for this message are listed on the bottom of your note-taking guide.
I’ve asked Anchors of Faith to order in a number of copies of the Bill Bright booklet, because it’s short and easy to read. You can also read it on-line at the web address I’ve listed.
But here’s the challenge: take this seriously. Fasting isn’t just a nice idea for the religious fanatic.
It’s a serious deal. Jesus expects us to fast, and the benefits are just phenomenal.
If you’re satisfied with the status quo of your spiritual life, then just go ahead and ignore everything I’ve said today.
But if you’re ready to move on to another level, and you’re not fasting as a part of your walk with Christ already, then I’d say, start right away. Don’t deny yourself the blessing of focusing on God this way, okay? And watch God do his thing.
Let’s pray.
