Matthew
6:16-18 And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
If your motive for fasting is the praise of men, your reward is nothing more than stinking breath.
WHAT is Biblical fasting?
Fasting is refraining from food for a spiritual purpose.
The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. - Piper
We are so satisfied by three meals a day plus snacks that our appetite for heaven evading earth is dulled.
We need to be aware of the danger in finding comfort in food because a comfortable Christian always settles for so much less than what God has for them.
3 types of fasts:
1. Absolute fast. When water and food are given up completely for a short time.
2. Normal fast. When you take in liquids, but stop eating food.
3. Partial fast. Refraining from certain categories of food.
WHY should we fast?
1. The spiritual purpose of fasting is to reveal our dependence on God.
Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in him a source beyond food.
- Willard
No drink is as wonderful as thirst.
No food is as wonderful as hunger.
No food is as wonderful as hunger because hunger leads us to Jesus- the bread of life. Hunger sets the stage for God.
Dependence on God will result in a deeper connection with God through prayer.
2. The spiritual purpose of fasting is to dethrone our flesh.
Flesh = human impulses springing from desire. More animal than spiritual.
Corrupt desires that sin introduced into our very appetites and instincts.
Galatians
5:16-17 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (the corrupt desires sin introduced to your appetites). For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
Fasting is a way to turn your body into an ally in your fight with the flesh rather than an adversary.- John Mark Comer
Refrain from gluttony and thou shalt the more easily restrain all the inclinations of the flesh.
- Kempis
Fasting files a restraining order on your flesh while reordering your longings and loves.
Fasting is one of God’s great tools for reorienting our longings away from the flesh and back toward God. All of us have deeply ingrained patterns, dopamine reward mechanisms, and neural pathways centered around a need for physical satisfaction. Fasting breaks these default connections and reorients us toward a greater food: intimacy with and enjoyment of God.
- Tyson
3. The spiritual purpose of fasting is to experience breakthrough.
HOW do I practice fasting?
Practice Fasting Systematically