Fasting: Disconnecting from the World to Plant Gospel Seeds

Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1 sets the pattern for a church that wants the eyes of the heart enlightened. Ephesians 2 then opens with that big word “and,” looking back to Jesus seated above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and then looking straight at dead sinners made alive by grace. God takes children of wrath and seats them in the heavenly places with Christ, not because they cleaned themselves up, but so that forever he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace.

Romans 8:1 stands like “the Mount Everest of the Bible”: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The Father does not love believers because their righteousness measures up. God loves them because they are wrapped in Jesus’s perfect righteousness. The gospel does not require good works and obedience as the price of entry. The gospel produces good works and obedience because God gives a new heart that wants him.

The tax collector in Luke gives the right posture: eyes down, breast beaten, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” The Pharisee gives the warning: religious activity can become a way to exalt the self, compare the self, and thank God for not being like other people. Jesus says the humbled man goes home justified. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Biblical fasting, then, cannot be treated like a diet plan, spiritual showing off, or a way to manipulate God. Prayer is connecting to God, and fasting is disconnecting from the world. Matthew 6 says fasting is not meant to make a gloomy face for public applause. Job shows the same humility before God: “I have uttered what I did not understand,” and God exalts the humbled sufferer in his own time.

Scripture gives fasting as repentance, humility, deliverance, forgiveness, sacrifice, and preparation for ministry. Leviticus, Moses, Jehoshaphat, Esther, Nehemiah, Nineveh, Saul, Barnabas, and Jesus himself all show that fasting belongs to life with God.

The world is not the people God calls Christians to love. The world is everything that stands against Jesus as God. Second Corinthians says the god of this world blinds unbelieving minds, while God shines light in hearts through the face of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:10 calls believers God’s workmanship, his masterpiece, created for good works that shine gospel light.

The jack pine tree gives the closing picture. Its cone stays sealed until fire burns the resin away. Then seeds fall, soil opens, competition burns up, and new life grows. The fire that threatens to burn a life can also purify it, open it, and make gospel seeds fall deep.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. No condemnation fuels honest prayer Romans 8:1 does not excuse sin, but it destroys the lie that sin has the final word over a believer’s standing before God. The Christian who is “wrapped in his perfect righteousness” can come back to the Father without pretending, bargaining, or hiding. Prayer becomes possible because Christ’s grip is stronger than the believer’s failure. [37:11]
• 2. Fasting disconnects from the world Prayer connects to God, and fasting disconnects from the world. That definition keeps fasting from becoming a religious performance or a wellness trend. Biblical fasting creates space for hunger to expose what has been competing with King Jesus for affection, attention, and trust. [45:13]
• 3. Humility receives what pride misses The Pharisee’s fasting and tithing looked impressive, but his self-exaltation revealed a heart turned inward. The tax collector went home justified because mercy, not spiritual comparison, was his only hope. Jesus’s warning means religious disciplines become dangerous when they make a person feel superior instead of dependent. [47:35]
• 4. Fire can open sealed places The jack pine cone stays closed until intense heat burns away the resin and releases the seed. Suffering can feel like destruction, but God can use the fire to burn off competition and make room for new life. The question becomes not only what hurts, but what needs to be released through the heat. [71:23]
• 5. God’s masterpiece shines gospel light Ephesians 2:10 calls believers God’s workmanship, even when the mirror says something less glorious. That identity is not vanity, because it is created “in Christ Jesus for good works” prepared by God. The masterpiece exists to shine light into a dark world whose eyes have been blinded.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [28:30] - The Tax Collector’s Cry For Mercy
• [29:20] - Prayer Begins With Remembering The Gospel
• [31:35] - Seated With Christ In Heavenly Places
• [36:17] - Romans 8:1, No Condemnation
• [39:30] - Grace Fuels Christian Growth
• [44:34] - Introducing Biblical Fasting
• [46:29] - What Fasting Is Not
• [49:23] - Jesus Warns Against Showing Off
• [51:11] - Fasting Cannot Manipulate God
• [54:17] - Job’s Humility Before God
• [58:47] - Biblical Examples Of Fasting
• [63:06] - Disconnecting From The World
• [69:14] - The Jack Pine Tree Illustration
• [76:40] - Orienting The Heart Toward Fasting

Bible Reading

Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” [28:30]

Ephesians 2:1-10
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. [31:35]

Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [36:17]

Matthew 6:16-18
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” [49:11]

Observation questions

1. In Luke 18, what specific differences are there between the Pharisee and the tax collector in the way they speak, carry themselves, and approach God? [47:35]
2. In Ephesians 2:1-10, what words and phrases describe who believers once were, and what words and phrases describe what God has done for them?
3. According to Romans 8:1, who is free from condemnation, and how is that freedom described? [37:11]
4. In Matthew 6:16-18, what are the hypocrites trying to get from fasting, and what does Jesus say faithful fasting should look like instead? [49:23]

Interpretation questions

1. Ephesians 2 says people were dead in sin, but God made them alive and seated them with Christ. How does that shape the way a believer should think about prayer, especially when feeling weak or ashamed? [33:22]
2. Romans 8:1 says there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. How can that truth keep a believer from either hiding in guilt or becoming careless about sin? [39:30]
3. Jesus says the tax collector went home justified rather than the Pharisee. What does that reveal about the kind of heart posture God receives, and why can religious activity still miss the point? [44:09]
4. Prayer connects to God, and fasting disconnects from the world. What does “the world” mean in this context, and why is it important not to confuse that with the people Christians are called to love? [01:03:06]

Application questions

1. The tax collector prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” When prayer has felt hard lately, has the heart sounded more like the tax collector or more like the Pharisee? What might honest prayer look like this week? [28:47]
2. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Where is condemnation still shaping the way life with God is approached right now—after failure, in a recurring sin struggle, or in disappointment with spiritual growth? [37:16]
3. Fasting is meant to disconnect from the world. What has been competing with Jesus lately for affection, attention, or trust—comfort, approval, entertainment, control, food, work, or something else? [45:13]
4. Jesus warns against using spiritual practices to be seen by others. In what subtle ways can prayer, fasting, serving, or Bible reading become a way to compare with others or feel superior? [50:19]
5. Believers are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Where might God already be giving an opportunity to shine gospel light instead of withdrawing into fear, passivity, or self-focus? [01:06:48]
6. The fire that threatens to burn a life can also open sealed places and make room for new life. What pressure, loss, or hardship might God be using right now to expose what needs to be released? [01:11:23]
7. Sometimes growth needs competition burned away. What practical distraction may need to be set aside for a season so there is more room for prayer, repentance, and deeper love for Jesus? [01:14:47]