Fasting... for the Purpose of Godliness

Fasting… for the Purpose of Godliness

 

 

1.    Donald Whitney Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life—Rev. and Expanded (NavPress, 2014).

 

2.    “Christian fasting is a believer’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.” (192)

 

a.    Believer

b.    Voluntary

c.     Abstinence from food for a spiritual purpose

 

·     Note: Can be abstinence from other good/normal things: 1 Corinthians 7.5

 

3.    Kinds of fasts in the Bible

 

a.    Normal fast: abstaining from all food but not water (Matt 4.2; Luke 4.2)

b.    Partial fast: limited diet (Dan 1.12; Matt 3.4)

c.     Absolute fast: abstain from all food and liquid (Ezra 10.6; Esther 4.16; Acts 9.9)

d.    Supernatural fast: Extended absolute fast for lengthy time requiring God’s supernatural provision (Deut 9.9; 1 Kings 19.8)

e.    Private fast (Matt 6.16-18)

f.     Congregational fasts (Joel 2.15-16; Acts13.2)

g.    National fasts (2 Chronicles 20.3; Nehemiah 9.1; Esther 4.16; Jonah 3.5-8)

 

·     Historical note: Presidents John Adams, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln all proclaimed national fasts.

 

h.    Regular fasts

 

·     Old Covenant: God required one on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16.29-31)

·     Jews in Babylon instituted four more regular fasts (Zechariah 8.19)

·     Pharisee in Luke 18.12—fasted twice a week

·     John Wesley wouldn’t ordain a man who didn’t fast twice a week!

 

i.      Occasional fasts: special occasions as need arises (Matt 9.15)

 

j.      “The most common fast among Christians today would probably fall under the categories of normal (abstaining from food but drinking water), private, and occasional.” (195)

 

4.    Fasting is expected in the New Covenant… but not commanded

 

a.    Matthew 6.16-18: “…when you fast…”

b.    Matthew 9.14-15 “His people fast as part of their longing for and anticipation of His return.” (197)

c.     Believers in the book of Acts (9.9; 13.2; 14.23)

 

5.    Matthew 6.16-18: fasting so that no one sees—what does this mean?

 

6.    How long and how often?

 

a.    Jesus gave no command on this; need to be Spirit-led

b.    Examples in the Bible

·     One day or part of day (Judges 20.26; 1 Sam 7.6; 2 Sam 1.12; 3.35; Nehemiah 9.1; Jeremiah 36.6)

·     One night (Daniel 6.18-24)

·     Three day fasts (Esther 4.16; Acts 9.9)

·     Seven day fasts (1 Sam 31.13; 2 Sam 12.16-23)

·     Fourteen day fast (Acts 27.33-34)

·     Twenty-one day fast (Daniel 10.3-13)

·     Forty day fasts (Deut 9.9; 1 Kings 19.8; Matt 4.2)

·     Unspecified lengths (Matt 9.14; Luke 2.37; Acts 13.2; 14.23)

 

7.    Fasting is to be done for a purpose

 

“Having a biblical purpose for your fast may be the single most important concept to take away from this chapter.  In real life, here’s how it works: As you are fasting and your head aches or your stomach growls and you think, I’m hungry!your next thought is likely to be something like, Oh, right—I’m hungry because I’m fasting today. Then your next thought should be, And I’m fasting for this purpose __________________.(199)

 

8.    Fasting as a Protestant… in love with the doctrine of Justification by Faith!

 

a.    Fasting is not about earning merit with God!

 

b.    While fasting often rehearse the gospel of God’s grace received by faith

 

9.    Ten biblical reasons for fasting

 

a.    (1) To strengthen prayer (Ezra 8.23; Nehemiah 1.4; Acts 13.3

Of all the purposes for fasting found in Scripture, fasting in order to strengthen prayer receives the most emphasis by far.  In fact, in one way or another, all the other biblical purposes of fasting relate to prayer. 

 

 

b.    (2) To seek God’s guidance (Judges 20.26-28; Acts 14.23)

 

c.     (3) To express grief (1 Sam 20.34; 31.13; 2 Sam 1.11-12; 

 

d.    (4) To seek deliverance or protection (Ezra 8.21-23; Esther 4.16)

 

e.    (5) To express repentance and the return to God (Joel 2.12; Jonah 3.5-8)

 

f.     (6) To humble oneself before God (1 Kings 21.27-29; Psalm 35.13; but Lk 18.12)

 

g.    (7) To express concern for the work of God (Nehemiah 1.3-4; Daniel 9.3)

 

My heart is hungry for ‘all the fullness of God.’ I long for a deeper work of God in the midst of his people.  I yearn for a mighty tide of missionary zeal to spread a passion for the supremacy of Christ in all things for the joy of all peoples. I long to see unmistakable, supernatural new birth taking place week in and week out through the compelling witness of God’s transformed people wherever he is named.  –John Piper

 

h.    (8) To minister to the needs of others (Isaiah 58.1-12)

 

i.      (9) To overcome temptation and dedicate yourself to God (Matthew 4.1-11)

 

j.      (10) To express love and worship to God (Luke 2.37)

 

Fasting can be a testimony—even one directed to yourself—that you find your greatest pleasure and enjoyment in life from God. It’s a way of demonstrating to yourself that you love God more than food, that seeking him is more important to you than eating, that Jesus—the Bread of heaven (see John 6:51)—is more satisfying to you than earthly bread.  When you fast you remind  yourself that unlike many (see Philippians 3:19), your stomach is not your God. –Donald Whitney

 

10.Starting out…

 

a.    Skip one meal

 

b.    Twenty-four hour fast: skip breakfast and lunch

 

Fasting is a hard discipline to practice without its consuming all our attention.  Yet when we use it as part of prayer or service, we cannot allow it to do so. When a person chooses fasting as a spiritual discipline, he or she must, then, practice it well enough and often enough to become experienced in it, because only the person who is well habituated to systematic fasting as a discipline can use if effectively as a part of direct service to God, as in special times of prayer or other service. –Dallas Willard