Fasting: A Path to Deeper Spiritual Connection

Devotional

Day 1: Fasting as Private Devotion

Fasting is a spiritual discipline that Jesus assumed His followers would practice, not for public recognition but as a private act of devotion that God rewards. This practice aligns our lives with the rhythm of Jesus' life and allows us to participate in His sufferings, driven by a deep hunger for Him. In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks about fasting in a way that suggests it is a natural part of a believer's life, emphasizing the importance of sincerity and humility in this practice. Fasting is not about showcasing our piety but about deepening our relationship with God, allowing our physical hunger to awaken a spiritual hunger for Him. [12:40]

Isaiah 58:6-7 (ESV): "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"

Reflection: Consider a private area of your life where you can deepen your devotion to God through fasting. How can you make this a sincere act of worship rather than a routine obligation?

Day 2: Historical Roots and Significance

Fasting has deep historical roots, tracing back to the Hebrew Bible and continuing through the early church. It was a regular practice among Jesus' disciples and early Christians, serving as a way to distinguish themselves and participate in the life of Jesus. This practice was not merely about self-denial but was deeply connected to significant events in Jesus' life, such as His betrayal and crucifixion. By fasting, early Christians sought to align themselves with the sufferings of Christ, not out of shame or self-punishment, but from a desire to be transformed into His likeness. [14:50]

Joel 2:12-13 (ESV): "Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster."

Reflection: Reflect on a historical or biblical event that inspires you to fast. How can you use this practice to connect more deeply with the life and sufferings of Jesus today?

Day 3: Embodied Spirituality

Our bodies are integral to our spiritual journey, and fasting helps us to offer our whole selves to God. Recognizing that we are embodied creatures, fasting exposes our weaknesses and dependencies, bringing us to the end of our strength and the beginning of God's grace. In a culture that often alienates us from our bodies, fasting is a countercultural act that reaffirms the goodness of our physical existence and our need for God. It challenges the cultural narratives that either idolize or dismiss the body, inviting us to see our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. [27:21]

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV): "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

Reflection: In what ways have you been alienated from your body? How can fasting help you to reconnect with your physical existence as a part of your spiritual journey?

Day 4: Countercultural Act

Fasting is a countercultural act that challenges the societal norms that often alienate us from our bodies. In a world that either idolizes or dismisses the body, fasting reaffirms the goodness of our physical existence and our need for God. It invites us to see our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, challenging the cultural narratives that prioritize self-indulgence or neglect. By fasting, we declare our dependence on God and our desire to align our lives with His purposes, recognizing that our bodies are integral to our spiritual journey. [33:06]

Romans 12:1 (ESV): "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

Reflection: How does your culture influence your view of your body? In what ways can fasting help you to see your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit?

Day 5: Invitation to Deeper Love

Fasting is ultimately about love—opening ourselves to the love of God and loving Him in return. It is not about legalism or self-punishment but about deepening our relationship with God and experiencing His love for us in our entirety, including our bodies. As we fast, we are invited to approach it not as a legalistic obligation but as an opportunity to deepen our love for God and to experience His love for us in our entirety. This practice allows us to offer our whole selves to God, recognizing that we are not just spiritual beings but embodied creatures. [49:55]

Ephesians 3:17-19 (ESV): "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Reflection: How can fasting help you to experience God's love more fully? What steps can you take to ensure that your fasting is an expression of love rather than a legalistic obligation?

Sermon Summary

In today's gathering, we explored the profound and often overlooked spiritual discipline of fasting, particularly in the context of the Lenten season. Fasting, as taught by Jesus, is not merely an act of abstaining from food but a holistic practice that engages our entire being—body, mind, and spirit—in a deeper relationship with God. We began by reflecting on Jesus' words in Matthew 6, where He assumes that His followers will fast, not as a public display of piety, but as a private act of devotion that God will reward. This assumption underscores the importance of fasting as a regular part of Christian discipleship, a practice that has largely faded in the modern Western church but remains vital in many other Christian traditions worldwide.

We delved into the historical roots of fasting, tracing its origins from the Hebrew Bible through the early church, where it was a common practice among Jesus' disciples and the early Christians. Fasting was not just about self-denial but was deeply connected to the rhythm of life, aligning with significant events in Jesus' life, such as His betrayal and crucifixion. This practice was a way for early Christians to participate in the sufferings of Christ, not out of a sense of shame or self-punishment, but from a deep hunger for Jesus and a desire to be transformed into His likeness.

Fasting is a way to offer our whole selves to God, recognizing that we are not just spiritual beings but embodied creatures. Our bodies are integral to our spiritual journey, and fasting helps us to realign our desires, making space for God to dwell within us. It is a practice that exposes our weaknesses and dependencies, bringing us to the end of our strength and the beginning of God's grace. In a culture that often alienates us from our bodies, fasting is a countercultural act that reaffirms the goodness of our physical existence and our need for God.

As we embark on this journey of fasting together, we are invited to approach it not as a legalistic obligation but as an opportunity to deepen our love for God and to experience His love for us in our entirety. This week, we are encouraged to fast until sundown on Wednesday, focusing our hearts on offering ourselves to Jesus, allowing our physical hunger to awaken a spiritual hunger for God.

Key Takeaways

1. punishment but about deepening our relationship with God and experiencing His love for us in our entirety, including our bodies. [49:55]
** [49:55]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:10] - Introduction to the Practice of Fasting
[01:13] - The Significance of Lent
[02:03] - Reading from Matthew 6
[03:25] - The Gift and Challenge of Food
[05:13] - Societal Issues with Food and Body
[07:54] - Fasting as a Healing Practice
[09:20] - The Disappearance of Fasting in the West
[11:54] - Jesus' Assumptions About Fasting
[13:09] - A Brief History of Fasting
[16:42] - The Power of Fasting
[18:46] - What Fasting Is and Isn't
[21:14] - Why We Fast
[23:44] - Hunger for Jesus
[26:20] - Offering Our Bodies to God
[33:06] - The Importance of the Body in Discipleship
[41:58] - Practical Steps for Fasting

Sermon Clips

Fasting, as taught by Jesus, is not merely an act of abstaining from food but a holistic practice that engages our entire being—body, mind, and spirit—in a deeper relationship with God. It is a practice that exposes our weaknesses and dependencies, bringing us to the end of our strength and the beginning of God's grace. [00:40:07]

Jesus assumes that his disciples will practice fasting. Verse 16: "When you fast," not "if you fast," not "if you're in the mood" or "if you decide to." He just assumes "when you fast." In Luke 5, he says something similar: "The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days, they will fast." [00:11:57]

Fasting is at its most basic not eating food. In a normal fast, you continue to drink water, but there are a few examples in scripture of a fast from both food and water. How long is a fast? There's no set time. The most common one in church history is just 24 hours from kind of sunrise to sundown. [00:19:08]

The early Christians would follow this kind of formula, this kind of way of life of eating in moderation on most days and then fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays and then feasting every Sabbath, ending with Sunday worship and celebration. They were living the church calendar in miniature every single week. [00:22:44]

Fasting is one of the most powerful and essential of all of the practices of Jesus and arguably the single most neglected in the modern western church. But so many of the Saints, if you read the great ones of church history, pretty much all of them testify to the power of this practice. [00:16:22]

Fasting is a way of getting in touch not just with the hunger of our stomach but with the desire of our soul, with a whole person longing for Jesus, who called himself the bread of life. Now, just to speak to the elephant in the room, you may not feel any hunger at all for God right now. [00:24:24]

Fasting will put you in touch with your need for God. It will expose all the illusions that we want to believe about how we're strong and we're powerful and we can do it all by ourselves. It will expose that as the illusion it is. It will put us in touch with our weakness. [00:39:24]

The life of Jesus, the library of scripture, the voice of the global Church, the Saints and sages down through church history all say in chorus: fasting is essential and powerful. What is it that we are missing? So because most of us are so far, and again, no judgment at all, so far from even a baseline. [00:17:36]

Fasting is ultimately about love—opening ourselves to the love of God and loving Him in return. It is not about legalism or self-punishment but about deepening our relationship with God and experiencing His love for us in our entirety, including our bodies. [00:49:55]

Fasting is a practice to offer our whole life to God. And to get at this, you really have to get like a Biblical Theology of the human soul. So I think a lot about Romans chapter 12. There's that famous line where Paul writes, "In view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as a Living Sacrifice." [00:26:20]

Fasting is a countercultural act that reaffirms the goodness of our physical existence and our need for God. It challenges the cultural narratives that either idolize or dismiss the body, inviting us to see our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. [00:33:06]

Fasting is a way to offer our whole selves to God, recognizing that we are not just spiritual beings but embodied creatures. Our bodies are integral to our spiritual journey, and fasting helps us to realign our desires, making space for God to dwell within us. [00:27:21]

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