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Welcome to The Overflow—the bonus round of faith and real-life conversation with Brandon and Susan Thomas. Every week, they unpack the powerful insights, behind-the-scenes experiences, and personal reflections that didn’t quite fit into Sunday’s sermon.
This is where the conversation gets practical, honest, and a little bit unscripted. Whether it's an encouraging word, a deeper dive into Scripture, or a hilarious moment from their week, Brandon and Susan bring fresh perspective and spiritual fuel to keep you going.
It’s real talk, fresh takes, and full hearts.
These are the conversations too good to cut and too real to miss.
Welcome again to the overflow. Hey. We are pumped for you to join us again today. We are talking about something that is really not something I would say is fun. No.
Speaker 1:But it is powerful.
Speaker 2:It's very powerful. We are talking about fasting. We're talking about fasting, and I'm just gonna go come out the gates saying, this is not something I grew up doing. Just didn't really know a lot about fasting. I would kinda hear about it, but I just wasn't in a tradition where that was a focus.
Speaker 2:Right. And so that's just kinda been a journey for me personally. And then also, think fasting's interesting because it is absolutely unnatural. Mhmm. It is not at all something that most people want to do.
Speaker 1:And we have really embraced fasting as a church Yes. For years now. And me personally, it has been something that has become a part of my spiritual disciplines, something that has led to incredible spiritual power in my life. And full disclosure, we would normally not share this, but for the purpose of this teaching, I think it's helpful for you to know that we are both in a fast right now. And I've just emerged from a three day fast where it's water, coffee, tea, and that's it.
Speaker 1:And you've been on a fast. Tell us what kind of fast you've been on.
Speaker 2:So I did a twenty four hour water only fast, which for me is again, that's just so huge because I've not ever I've not had a pattern of doing that. And so I I think it's like my third one, right, that I've done. And it's been interesting as you fast, it's such a trust journey with God, but it's also an obedience to something he's called us to do here on earth, which we're gonna talk about. But, you know, one of my prayers during this last one was, God, you know, Christ, you are my strength. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me when I would start to feel that strong desire, that hunger pains.
Speaker 2:But also I think it's learning your body because I'm hoping it's something kinda like working out where you get stronger as you practice. But for me, towards the end of that fast, I start to not feel real great. And so I thought maybe this time I could go a little further, but I was like, you know what? I'm cutting it off. I mean, it was maybe twenty six hours.
Speaker 2:And for me, that was where I needed to But then from there, it's been a, just for me, no sugar, no social media right now, no gluten because I love breads and I love all the things.
Speaker 1:Pastas.
Speaker 2:Yes. So that's been mine.
Speaker 1:Okay, so there's three kinds of fasts, because you can already hear that these are two different, you know, we're kind of bouncing between water and, like, you know, some kind of liquids. So Brandon, what's a fast? I mean, I thought fast was eating nothing, drinking nothing. Well, there's three broad categories of a fast. There's the absolute fast, there's a normal fast, and there's a partial fast.
Speaker 1:Absolute fast is the most extreme. No food, no water, no nothing. I've never done that. You've never done that.
Speaker 2:Seek a doctor's care on that one.
Speaker 1:You have to. And I truly believe that fasting is not designed for you to get sick, for you to get ill, for you to threaten your physical health. I don't think that's the purpose of the fast. So just really be thinking through how you are doing medically.
Speaker 2:And we're not paying a penance with a fast. I think it's really important to say. We'll talk about the why of a fast here in a moment, But it's not to pay pennants. It's not to be a spiritual superhero.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:It is truly an intimate walk with the Lord.
Speaker 1:That's so good. You know, absolute fast, a normal fast would be what I'm talking about, where it's just water, coffee, tea, or just water. You're taking your body into what's called autophagy. And many people have different ideas on when it really engages. Some people say on day five, some people say on day three, and some people say if you do a twenty four hour fast, you're kicking into autophagy.
Speaker 1:Autophagy is when the cells of your body, begin your body begins to clean up at a cellular level of your body. So God even knew when, as we'll see in a moment, he commanded us to fast, it actually, not only lifts our soul, cleans our soul, heightens our communication with God, but it also has physical blessings attached to it. It's actually a part of a rhythm that can be very, very healthy with insulin, blood sugar, blood pressure, all these things. Again, you wanna be smart. You wanna do your research.
Speaker 1:You wanna think about and I would say bodies, one of the reasons we do it differently is bodies respond differently. And I can do things that you can't do, That's
Speaker 2:true.
Speaker 1:What does look like? What does that look like in our marriage?
Speaker 2:Well, even medication. Medications affect me quicker, faster, more potent than maybe it might affect your body. So I just I am not a, you know, medical professional. I don't know biology, but I just know that that is true, that my body reacts to things differently than yours. So it makes sense that even in fasting, our experiences are different.
Speaker 1:So I too am not a medical professional, and and yet I was just talking about autophagy.
Speaker 2:Oh, you were.
Speaker 1:So you may wanna know how am I qualified to speak on autophagy?
Speaker 2:I feel like you Googled how to say it.
Speaker 1:Nope. Yeah. I I actually looked it up. And the reason I know is because of social media. Yes.
Speaker 1:It's in my algorithm. All this health stuff is in my and that's an actual affirmation. If you're wanting to be healthy, you're drawn to things that are healthy, and all of sudden it pops on YouTube or it pops up on Instagram. But that's one of the things that over and over again I've seen a lot of different doctors comment on social media as just the power of autophagy for a U. Cellular, but I too am not a medical professional.
Speaker 2:Yes. We must be
Speaker 1:very careful. Were you thinking about that whenever you said that? Were you thinking about how I'm not a medical professional?
Speaker 2:I was not. But I'm glad that you clarified.
Speaker 1:Okay. All right. Well, there's an absolute fast. Then a normal fast, no food, and, lots of water. And it could be water, coffee, tea, but you're really in that zone.
Speaker 1:And then there's a partial fast. And a partial fast could be still extreme. It could be you're doing broths, as a liquid, but your body is getting some nutrition. You're doing some broths. You're doing, maybe smoothies, healthy smoothies, not like super sugar smoothie, but like healthy smoothies.
Speaker 2:Daniel Fast, I'm
Speaker 1:putting A Daniel Fast, that's right. You look that up, you can Google it. That's pretty extreme physically.
Speaker 2:Twenty one day,
Speaker 1:I think. Yeah, I did a Daniel Fast and it changed my life.
Speaker 2:I remember.
Speaker 1:It really did. It changed my body and it changed my life, and I've been scared of it ever since. And that's one thing. Whenever I am facing a fast, one day I could do, and I could just make the decision to do that. But when I start kicking into two, three days, I get intimidated.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And still, and I fasted a lot. Yeah. I fast a few times a year, for sure at least. And I still, a normal fast, it intimidates me.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It challenges my flesh.
Speaker 2:Right. Well, and before we get into how to fast, because Jesus talks a lot about it, the bible's full of descriptions and and purpose in fasting, I would love for a second to talk about why do we even do it? And I have some thoughts and I just wanna bounce them off Let's go. You know, again, I come at it from an angle and if you've been joining us in conversation now for a bit, I can't remove my licensed professional counseling hat often, having just worked with people for years and years and looking at patterns in our makeup and all of it through a biblical lens of and we'll even have a we'll even have a conversation on a podcast talking about what's wrong with us. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's just so important. But why why is fasting even a part of this dialogue in the bible? And if I look back at Genesis one and Genesis two before sin entered to the conversation and entered into our world and our hearts, I did not see them fasting. I did not see them be having to withhold from eating. Now they were not to eat one tree, but everything was available.
Speaker 2:It was all available. There was no communication that I've ever read about a rhythm of fasting. And so as I think about that, I remember, and I always go back to the character of God. God could have kicked us out of the garden. God could have destroyed us and started over, but God instead went on a rescue mission.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:And it culminated with Jesus, who's ultimately our savior. And throughout the bible, what I think about God is he's so good that even in our nastiness of sin and our sin ridden condition, he provides ways for us to be healed, for us to be whole. And Jesus is the ultimate healer, but I believe fasting is part of his rhythm to help us, that we need fasting in order to be flourishing. Mhmm. And that's a unique thought that it's not just some discipline we do to withhold from ourselves, but it's actually something our soul and our body needs.
Speaker 2:Need. Because why would our body even have to physically cleanse itself except for sin causing an uncleanness in our body or toxins or build up.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:That wasn't there preaching.
Speaker 1:Were not a part of God's good creation.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Decay and degeneration, high blood pressure, plaque inside, our vascular system is not a part of God's original design.
Speaker 2:Colon problems, intestines, none those
Speaker 1:parts That's of the another part of fasting. I talked about cellular level, but it's also the digestive system. You know, we wreck ourselves and just getting that ecosystem, I call it the engine, getting that engine oiled and ready to go and pumping and firing on all cylinders, your metabolism up. All that, God has installed a spiritual rhythm that has physical implications.
Speaker 2:There it is. Physical rhythm that has spiritual impact.
Speaker 1:A spiritual yeah. It is. Okay. It's a spiritual rhythm.
Speaker 2:Oh, a spiritual rhythm.
Speaker 1:No. No. It's a physical rhythm. You you did it better than
Speaker 2:I It's both.
Speaker 1:It's a physical rhythm that has spiritual power.
Speaker 2:Did I flip it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you did. Oh. It is a physical rhythm. Is a physical rhythm, but you know, it is Is a both? Yeah, it's both.
Speaker 1:And honestly, I've told you this before. Sometimes I fast, it's kinda like a, why am I fasting first? What's my number one reason? And there have been times, full disclosure, that I have wanted to fast pure physically.
Speaker 2:Physical benefit.
Speaker 1:Like I'm not okay, I need to recalibrate, I need to tell my body what matters and what my priorities are, and so I will physically fast. But I tell you every time, Hey, I'm going into a physical fast. I feel like I'm five pounds overweight, whatever it is. And I feel like I need to get healthy. I feel like I need to recalibrate.
Speaker 1:But I just have the belief that, man, a physical fast is a terrible thing to waste.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:And so I will never go into a physical fast without then saying, Okay, God, this is what I know I need to do physically, but let's make this a spiritual fast. Yeah. Other times, I'll say, I know I'm doing this for spiritual reasons. There's a purpose. I'm praying about something.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I'm giving myself to something. Just the spiritual purpose will get into a lot of the purposes. But I'm like, but I really want the physical gains to motivate me. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I want it to be part of my motivation. You're not unspiritual to do that.
Speaker 2:No. It's we're interconnected. God created us, spiritual beings, and it impacts each other. And when I think about the spiritual why, which we'll get into a lot of different purpose as to, you know, what are reasons for me to embark on a fast. But just at a baseline of why God even created this method, think about it, Created this this behavior for us to do that because of our sin and because of the struggle inside of us, I go just to a diagnostic place.
Speaker 2:In James chapter one, I'll quote it a thousand times on this podcast because it's a core verse for me that explains so much. In James chapter one, I think it's thirteen and fourteen and fifteen, right around there, where there's a progression that is continually playing out, where there are desires inside of me, the bible says, that turn evil quickly whenever and it could be good desires that just break bad inside my heart. And that's usually because it's been elevated to a godlike place. Yeah. I want it I want that thing more than God in his way.
Speaker 2:And that when that takes root in my heart, it gives birth those desires to sin. Yes. And sin, when it's fully grown, gives birth to death. That means something I love is going to die. Something God loves is going to die.
Speaker 2:Not always just physical death. There could be so many different forms of death. A death of a marriage, peace of mind, death of our bodies as far as not even physical death, but just how we
Speaker 1:Death of that outfit that you really wanna wear but can't fit into now. There it
Speaker 2:is. Death death of disease caused by, you know, whatever decisions we're making. There's just so many forms of death. And so isn't it interesting that the base one of the base things we need to survive is food. Yes.
Speaker 2:It's nutrition. It's water. It's it's drink. That's a base level thing we need to survive those nutrients. And so it's understandable that one of the greatest base desires of a human is food.
Speaker 2:When I'm hungry, what do I want? I reach for the nutrients that my body is craving. And so God is saying, for periods of time, I want you to tell yourself no. And if I can follow God in a fast and tell myself no with food for that period of time, whatever that looks like, that's going to equip me and enable me in the many things coming that I'm going to desire, where I need to be able with the power of the Holy Spirit to tell myself no.
Speaker 1:So good. Let me give some of the biblical meat of fasting. First of all, 77 times mentioned in the Bible. Wow. 77 times.
Speaker 1:Some of the big, big stories of fasting, obviously Jesus in the wilderness before he launched his public ministry fasted forty days and forty nights.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:You have Moses on Mount Sinai receiving the 10 commandments, fasted forty days and forty nights. You had Esther. Before she went before the king, herself fasted, and she called the people of Israel to fast before she went in to meet with the king, risking her life. You have Daniel and his friends tested severely, and they enacted a Daniel fast that I was talking about a moment ago. And then I love Elijah.
Speaker 1:Elijah is on my Mount Rushmore of prophets. Elijah in Elijah, in verse eight of chapter nine first Kings 19, he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God, which is also Mount Sinai, where Moses got the 10 commandments. Allah he so his forty day, forty night fast Moses' fast culminated on Mount Sinai. Elijah's fast culminated on Mount Horeb. Here's a cool Bible fact.
Speaker 1:Horeb and Sinai, same mountain.
Speaker 2:That's so cool.
Speaker 1:The one other person that fasted forty days and forty nights in the Bible? Jesus. Then on the Mount Of Transfiguration, okay, there's two locations people think it is. It's either one or the other, but whatever. Mount Of Transfiguration, where Jesus revealed the glory of God to his disciples.
Speaker 1:Who did he appear with on the Mount Of Transfiguration? The only two other people who fasted forty days and forty nights. It was Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. It's wild. Now I just I geek out biblically whenever I see patterns like that, but I just see a pattern of power, a pattern of intimacy, a pattern of affection with the Lord.
Speaker 1:And that doesn't mean, okay, I'm gonna fast forty days and forty nights, and if I don't, I won't be a spiritual black belt. No. It just shows us that there's something to it. There's something to the power of fasting. Church history is, this is one of the things, Susan, that I feel like we're starting to regain the power of fasting.
Speaker 1:I know a lot of churches that start their year, including ours, together. But it feels like for a long time, fasting just wasn't talked about. You mentioned this how you grew up.
Speaker 2:And I don't know if that's different traditions. It really could be.
Speaker 1:Could be.
Speaker 2:And we were in a specific tradition of church and religion, you know, but I don't know the answer to that. I just know that in my personal experience, that was not something talked about. It was not something understood fully. And if it was talked about, it was just a very far away concept versus, oh, no. Actually, God has called us to fast.
Speaker 2:If we are on this earth, I am not belief with all my heart that I am called to regularly engage in a fast. And that may be annually, it may And be as you're about to read here in a little bit and talk about, depending on what you're facing in your life, there's a place for a fast.
Speaker 1:Okay. So church history, just a martyr before before new Christians were baptized, he said you must fast. We don't do that. We're Does
Speaker 2:that say martyr?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Just a martyr. You've you've never heard of just Justin martyr? No. Let's move on.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:A hundred to one sixty five AD, Tertullian, and January fast. Epiphanius, I may get that wrong to some of you church history buffs. Epiphanius, March, he said Wednesdays are fast days for the Christian church. Thomas Aquinas, he said, You bridle the lust of the flesh by fasting, and it sets your mind on heavenly things. Martin Luther said this.
Speaker 1:He lived in the in the fourteen and fifteen hundreds. Martin Luther said, Of fasting, I say this. It is right to fast frequently in order to subdue and control the body. John Calvin, 1500s, said, Let us say something about fasting because many, for one of knowing its usefulness, undervalue its necessity, and some reject it as almost superfluous. We don't need it.
Speaker 1:No big deal. Didn't, That's you one extreme. While on the other hand, he said, where the use of it is not well understood, it easily degenerates into superstition. So he's saying avoid those extremes, but fasting has a purpose.
Speaker 2:Which if I heard that, it sounds like one extreme is irrelevant. Yep. It's irrelevant. The other extreme is genie in a bottle.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:If I fast, I'm gonna get what I ask for. Yeah. If I fast, it's gonna give me what I want.
Speaker 1:I love what you said a moment ago. Fasting is penance. Fasting is almost superstition. It almost
Speaker 2:Like a is superhero.
Speaker 1:It's almost conjuring, you know? It's almost conjuring. It's almost kind of dabbling a little with that. Fasting biblically, though, massive list of purpose. I get this from Donald Whitley's book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.
Speaker 1:I said that quickly, but just pause and go back and and check it out. Fasting has a purpose. Here it is. Strengthening prayer, as Ezra eight Joel two Acts 13. Seeking God's guidance, Judges 20 Acts 14.
Speaker 1:Expressing grief, first Samuel 31, second Samuel one. Seeking deliverance or protection, second Chronicles 20, Ezra eight, expressing repentance and returning to God, first Samuel seven, Jonah three, humbling oneself before the Lord. I love this. Man, sometimes we, especially in marriage, we'll give each other a check. And if you realize, man, I've been I've been on kind of an ego ride lately.
Speaker 1:Maybe fast and humble yourself before the Lord, expressing concern for the work of God, Nehemiah one, Daniel nine, ministering to the needs of others. Isaiah 58, overcoming temptation. You know, some of us, to dedicate ourselves to the Lord, we know that there's some chains that we face, and you may wanna fast to overcome temptation. Matthew chapter four. Expressing love and worship to God, Luke chapter two.
Speaker 1:This is just a solid list that shows you, wow.
Speaker 2:Can we do that to like I'd really like to just talk about some of those.
Speaker 1:Okay. Which one? I've got strengthening prayer.
Speaker 2:I know you might have to say it again because
Speaker 1:that was really I'm going strengthening prayer. I'm gonna
Speaker 2:start there. Strengthening prayer. Like, I wonder how and even just personally, how have you how have you experienced your prayer strengthened when you combined it with a fast?
Speaker 1:You're you you are first, when you feel the hunger or when you feel the desires, you what you do in a fasting is you pray. And so you have a I found myself, yesterday, I was in a prayer environment with our staff. And I had a need on my heart for one of our kids. And I found myself on my face weeping. That's not a go to for me.
Speaker 1:I contribute that to my state in my fast, not a weakened physical state, but a heightened spiritual state.
Speaker 2:Okay. That part's gotta be said again. That's powerful. So it's not about just a weakened physical state, but something in the fast actually heightens your spiritual state. That's big time.
Speaker 2:Yes. Because, you know, again, we don't we we aren't supposed to. We can't physically or we would die, live in a state of fasting, you know, a full fast. That's not possible. But when I hear, and I relate to it, when we experience a heightened spiritual state, that's where I wanna live.
Speaker 2:And so I think that God and his goodness reboots us along the way. It's one of his many ways. Fasting's not the only way, by the way. There's so many elements to relationship with God, because let me say this, fasting is about relationship, it is not about a ritual.
Speaker 1:So true. The second purpose is seeking God's guidance on this list. And if you were needing guidance on a relationship decision, if you're needing guidance, a big decision
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:On a job, boy, I'd encourage you to fast.
Speaker 2:Actually, let's say you're you're like, God, is this a person that I am supposed to marry? And you're and you're asking the Lord that question. Bingo. Great opportunity to combine that with a fast. And like you said, is this a job?
Speaker 2:Am I supposed to move across the country? Or am I supposed to change my major if I'm in college or change my job? Maybe I've been doing something for a decade and I think the Lord's leading me somewhere to a different industry. All those and more are opportunities to say, Lord, I want I need a a heightened spiritual awareness. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I need acute hearing.
Speaker 1:Expressing grief, hit this quickly, but, I would say that that if you are experiencing grief, you are bible is so sweet to show us what how people grieved. It doesn't run from grief like it's a weakness. And one of the ways is fasting. Be careful because, sometimes you just can't eat. You're in such deep grief.
Speaker 1:But if you could give it to the Lord, you know, if you could go to the Lord in that fasting.
Speaker 2:That's actually interesting because I wonder about that that it's almost an involuntary fast. And that's why you have to be aware. Yeah. You gotta engage your mind. But you're just in such pain.
Speaker 2:You don't even want food.
Speaker 1:Seeking deliverance or protection, expressing repentance and returning to God. I think those are self explanatory, wonderful. Humbling oneself before the Lord, I mentioned. Expressing concern for the work of God, Nehemiah one, where Nehemiah was looking at the state of Jerusalem. And we do that as a church.
Speaker 1:We are, you know, as a spiritual family, you have moments where you bow your back and you do something big together. We see that in the Bible. And we as a church wanna be a biblical church, we do that too. Yeah. We call the church to fast We do.
Speaker 1:Whenever we're doing something big.
Speaker 2:I wanna go back to that grief one one. Read that one again. What does it say about grief?
Speaker 1:Just expressing grief in one Samuel 31, What two got Samuel
Speaker 2:popped in my head, and I just wanna share it with whoever's listening. Maybe you right now are really going through a very, very hard time, and you're in a space where there's some deep, deep pain in your life to the point where you don't even want food. What I would say to you if you're grieving right now is grieve with God, not away from God. Yeah. That's a really, really big deal.
Speaker 2:Because as you were saying, to be careful with food and fasting, I think it also just overall with grief, and we talk about grief, you know, in larger conversations. But this is just a moment where I guess what I'm trying to say is don't coast in any of this. Don't just get into a neutral zone. I'm not hungry, so I'm not now quote fasting. No.
Speaker 2:If you're in grief, grieve with God. Invite him into your pain.
Speaker 1:Then it becomes a fast.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And if you're yeah. And then it's a spiritual fast.
Speaker 1:I think one of the ministering to the needs of others is Isaiah 58 and overcoming temptation. I mean, I mentioned that. If you have chains that need to break-
Speaker 2:Come on.
Speaker 1:Boy, I think that is a powerful way.
Speaker 2:Well, and let's talk about that because some of us, let's just talk about food for a moment. The very nature of food, again, it's the baseline thing that that God calls us to fast from. Although some of us like me, I'm also fasting from social media. I've had times and other friends who they'll fast from entertainment. Right?
Speaker 2:All these things. But food is so base. And if you are battling a stronghold in your life at its root, it's an area where you're you find yourself unable to say no.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Yep. And you're not alone. Romans chapter seven, if you go read starting verse 14, the apostle Paul had the same issue. Why do I do the thing that I don't wanna do and I don't do what I wanna do? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Why do I do the thing I hate, but then I don't do what I know is right? You know, just I'm paraphrasing, but that's what he's saying. He's he's wrestling with his own strongholds. And when we fast, that is such a base level moment where we are actively practicing saying no to something our body needs and our spirit wants. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We desire it. And that begins to rattle the chains that may be gripping you in other areas.
Speaker 1:Yeah. We've talked about expressing love and worship to God. So those are the purposes, and it's just so rich. One of the things I wanna highlight is that God, during a fast, he sustains and empowers you beyond your natural ability. It's not just a physical thing.
Speaker 1:It is a spiritual thing. And God will, there are times, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, one of my fasting stories is, is this. I had a very shocking moment when I did a three day fast. I committed to do a three day fast, and I, for three days, felt no hunger.
Speaker 2:This was your first one you ever did?
Speaker 1:First three day fast I ever took. I was in shock. I had no hunger. The way that I do a fast and I pick up on something I'm gonna ask you to read in a moment, and that is where Jesus says, Hey, don't make a big show of your fasting. So I was cooking for the family on that fast.
Speaker 1:I've done that again on this one. But you know, I'm not making a big show of it. I'm still trying to function normally. And I felt no hunger pains. I felt no gnawing hunger three days, and it was seventy two hours of fasting.
Speaker 1:And yet, what I did feel was, and I've shared this with the church so many times, I felt the invisible arm of desire. I would walk by a plate of cookies, and I'd feel my arm reaching out for those cookies. I'd feel my arm reaching out for chips. I'd feel my arm reaching out for the food I cooked for the family. It wasn't hunger.
Speaker 1:I know hunger. I feel hunger every day. It wasn't hunger. It was desire. And what God taught me in that fast was he gave me a supernatural non hunger to teach me that, for me, desire can be stronger than hunger.
Speaker 2:And
Speaker 1:the thought of that, the power of that revelation, okay, then I need to go to war on my desires, James one. I need to go to war on my desires where God is so clearly says, man, this is a pathway toward destruction if you allow your desires to go unchecked. It's a pathway to unhealth. So, and that was a powerful example of how God did something supernatural so that I could learn something very, very powerful in my personal life.
Speaker 2:Wow. I I felt that on a smaller level than food, but it's the same inner workings of the heart where with social media, my finger will start to go to the little app. You know, I'll start to go to the Instagram, you know, when I open it up and I'm like, oh, nope. I'm I'm I'm taking a break from that right now. And it's just amazing to watch your own self go to the patterns that are just with almost involuntary.
Speaker 2:You're just not even thinking about it. And yet God is arresting us just being in cruise, you know, in neutral. And and he's saying, I want you to practice restraint.
Speaker 1:Lisa Bevere says this. This is a cool quote that I found. She says, A diet will change the way you look, but fasting will change the way you see. And that goes to that enhancing our spiritual sensitivity. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, it's a physical restraint spiritual and enhancement. I think it's so powerful. We see that in the life of Elijah,
Speaker 2:where,
Speaker 1:he had gone through forty days and forty nights of fasting, which, by the way, he walked 200 miles from where he was, where he got up and began to journey to Mount Horeb or Sinai. And that's 200 miles, forty days and forty nights. And you see him experiencing the presence of God in a powerful way. And that's what I want in a fast.
Speaker 2:That's what I want too. And again, what it makes me think of, and I'm going back to my social media fast, but I truly believe. And I believe this, and yet I fall into the very trap of what I'm saying. I truly believe social media can be a a real gift. I mean, we hope that this podcast is a gift to someone listening, can build you up with the words that God would would wanna encourage you with.
Speaker 2:But it also can be such a trap where we I mean, in its worst case, you hear the hours upon hours upon hours someone spends on their daily life Yeah. Swiping a screen, brain rot for for someone, our kids or for us. And we hear about this and there's real effect of that. And I just wonder the long term effect that we're going to explore even in history books maybe one day. But my point is is that during a season of restraint or a fast like I'm currently in, I'll just be honest for me, I can tangibly see where I have read my bible more.
Speaker 2:That's just a confession. And I've had moments where it's like, okay, I'm gonna put my phone down because I'm on a fast. I'm gonna open up the word of God. And I think that another benefit of a fast can also be a course correction once you're out of the fast. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's, again, not that you can't ever jump on social media, again, done God's way. But I know for me coming out of this particular fast that I'm in, I'm excited to do some course correction where it's like, you know what? I think I slipped into too much. I think that that I am experiencing just some joy not being on social media. That, again, that's one example of a mini, but whatever it is that you're fasting from, sometimes you just might find a course correction on the other side of
Speaker 1:it. Yeah, a 100%. As a matter of fact, fasting cure you or rid you of sin. No. Right?
Speaker 1:This is a big truth of fasting, but it does reveal your sin. If you're really fasting, you're really leaning in, to your point about course correction, it doesn't cure, like, I'm gonna fast so I don't sin. That's not the way it works. Fasting can reveal deep selfishness. Fasting can reveal an overdependence on food or alcohol because you're like, Why am I struggling so hard?
Speaker 2:Oh, might get real grumpy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fasting can show all, or like, you know, I think one of the biggest addictions in our church is Doctor Pepper. Oof. I've got dear friends.
Speaker 2:Mine's ice Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1:Mine, I've really gotta watch just the late night chips. They just call me have salty
Speaker 2:called you your whole
Speaker 1:My whole life. But that's the power of fasting. Now, I'd love to just kinda bring this to a head by talking about Jesus and fasting. Now, obviously, we have the pattern of fasting, but what do you see in the book of Matthew where Jesus is teaching fasting?
Speaker 2:Well, and I just think it's so once again, what I was saying earlier, how kind is God? You're seeing the heart of God. Jesus is God. He is God's son. And he knows my people need this.
Speaker 2:My people need this. And so he gives us some insight as to how. So in Matthew six, actually, starting in in verse five, he talks about how to pray. I won't read that right now, but you might wanna go read verse five and and continuing verses on teaching us how to pray to God. Yep.
Speaker 2:But then he says, starting in verse 16, after talking about prayer, he says, and when you fast he doesn't say if. He doesn't say if you fast.
Speaker 1:When.
Speaker 2: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. Okay. So right there, what jumps out to me is that Jesus is talking about motive. So when you consider embarking on a fast, ask the Lord to examine your heart and test your motive. Why am I doing this?
Speaker 2:Is this genie in the bottle? Is am I going to move into a space where I am telling everyone and how miserable and awful it is. And I I want people to, you know, feel sorry for me or like me or to admire me, whatever it is. Jesus is like, no. Don't do this so people will admire you for your fasting.
Speaker 2:I tell you the truth. That is the only reward they will ever Yeah. Get. Yeah. So he's saying, if you want people's approval through this, if that's your goal, I mean, that's the only reward you're gonna get because I'm not engaging in that.
Speaker 1:So good.
Speaker 2:I don't share my the throne on your heart. Wait. Is that right? I don't share the throne on your heart. Right?
Speaker 2:He's not gonna do it. Verse 17. But, again, he says when. But when you fast, comb your hair, 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. So there is reward attached to a righteous fast.
Speaker 2:And by righteous, it's just, God, I'm I wanna do this your way for your purpose and your will and your why. And I wanna I wanna walk through this fast with you, and it's very, very relational. I mean, when he says no one else is gonna notice, like, other relationships relationships are are gonna gonna really really notice your fasting except your father.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:That relationship is engaged. Yes. And he says, who knows what you do in private. Yeah. And your father who sees everything will reward you.
Speaker 1:So good. It's intimate. It's personal, and it's powerful. And even at one point, Jesus said, Hey, these kind of demons are not exercised without prayer Prayer and fasting. There's power there.
Speaker 1:For their spiritual power. So whether you are doing, some people would do a sunrise to sunset fast and only eat dinner at the end and all day, that's a type of fast. Or people will do social media fasts, as you mentioned. But I'd encourage you, if you're gonna do a social media fast or if you're going to do an entertainment fast, please include food.
Speaker 2:Include food.
Speaker 1:I think every biblical fast includes food of some sort, and really challenge yourself. Don't make it too easy. I think you've got to challenge yourself. You've got to feel it. Right.
Speaker 1:It's got to sting for there to be true denial. If you're giving up something that's like, no big deal, I don't know that you're going to really attack the errant desires, that are inside. You're not gonna test yourself. So that's my challenge to us on fasting. Hey, make it a part of your life, embrace it, And I believe you'll see great power on the other side.
Speaker 1:Thank you again for joining us on the overflow. Let's be people who love Jesus, pray, and fast. We'll see you next time.