Spiritual Disciplines: Fasting

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that

provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

To fast means to abstain from eating food. Do you make fasting a regular part

of your walk with Jesus? Do you schedule times to fast and pray? Or do you

simply set aside a time for fasting when a special need arises? Perhaps you

have never learned to fast. Whatever your experience with fasting has been, I

think we can agree about one thing. Fasting is not easy.

And yet, Our Lord Jesus Christ assumes his followers will fast. His instructions

to his disciples in Matthew 6 are very interesting. He does not command us to

give to those in need, or to pray, or to fast. He simply assumes we will do all

three of these self-sacrificing activities. He says, “So when you give to the

needy, do not announce it.” He says, “And when you pray, do not be like the

hypocrites.” Then Jesus says, “When you fast, do not look somber as the

hypocrites do.” Notice, Jesus does not say, “If you give to the poor,” or “If you

pray,” or “If you fast.” No! His assumption is that his followers will do all

three of these self-sacrificing activities.

You may be wondering, Dean, “Why do you call giving and praying and fasting

“self-sacrificing activities?” They are self-sacrificing activities because in each

one we give up something valuable so that others will benefit. When we give

to the poor, we give some of our money or part of our possessions. When we

pray, we invest time calling on God to bless others. When we fast, we give up

the pleasure of eating as we implore God to speak, to act, or to bless. Jesus’

concern in Matthew 6 is that we conduct all three of these activities in a way

that is truly self-sacrificing, not in a way that brings honor or glory to

ourselves.

When we pray our spirit prays and our mind prays. When we fast, our body

prays. As we fast, each time we turn away from food, we are calling out to

God for him to act. But our call to God is not a spoken call. With fasting, our

actions do the talking for us. Each time we experience hunger as we fast, our

body calls out to God, not for food, but for him to act, for him to speak, for

him to bless.

Like so many other spiritual disciplines, fasting can be very powerful when a

group of people agrees to do it at the same time. Some churches schedule a

fast on a Saturday to pray for a special need, to pray for the lost, or to pray for

God’s provision. Then they break the fast with the Lord’s Supper on Sunday.

Like all spiritual disciplines, Christians can become judgmental or defensive

when talking about fasting. This is not God’s intent. Rather, we should engage

in the self-sacrificing activity of fasting more and more. As we do so, our faith

will be strengthened. We will see God respond in some wonderful ways. So if

there are new Christians in your churches who lack wisdom, or who have a

need, encourage them to add fasting to their prayers. It won’t be easy. But

my experience with fasting tells me that God will meet them in wonderful

ways.

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this

encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #Fast