Fasting: Drawing Near to God Through Surrender

And it was through that fasting and prayer that Jesus connected to his father. It didn't bring the power. It was the avenue that delivered the empowerment. Later on, we see Jesus teaching on fasting in the sermon on the mount. And here he says, when you fast, do not look somber somber, sorry, as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil in your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your father who is unseen. And your father who sees what is done in secret will wart you. What does that mean? [00:19:38] (42 seconds)  #disciplineAsConduit

But now let's jump back to Jesus' temptation and look at some comparisons in this moment to show us how Jesus was the better Adam. In the next slide, it shows that Eve said that it was pleasing to the eye. We've got one more, please. The fruit of the tree was good for food, but Jesus' answer, in the wilderness, you see, you have this drastic comparison in the garden having everything you would ever need and more, anything you would ever want. And then Jesus in the wilderness, absolutely desolate, hungry, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Do you trust God? Will you trust him? [00:14:28] (54 seconds)  #fastingConnectsToGod

Then next she says that it's pleasing to the eye. And Jesus answered, when the devil took him up to the top of the temple, do not put the Lord your God to the test. Do you love God? Because you see, in that moment, whether it was physically there in the temple or whether it was a dream or a vision, there's debate. It doesn't much matter. What the real test here was is will you do it differently than how God is said to do it? Because if he had thrown himself off the temple in that moment, if this was there, he's like, okay. I'm gonna throw myself off the temple, and the angels come and rescue him, and everybody sees. Well, it's undeniable. This must be the Messiah. [00:15:23] (44 seconds)  #dontTestGod

They fell into sin, and in this moment, Jesus is given this opportunity to take the easy route. The devil is saying, I'll give you all these kingdoms. I will give you that authority freely, but have you also it always comes with that little asterisk. But will you fall down and worship me? Will you follow God? Will you do things the way God has set them up? Will you trust him? Will you love him? Will you follow him? Will you serve him? Will you realize that he is the greater master? As Jesus taught, you can't serve two masters. You can only serve one. [00:17:18] (42 seconds)  #serveOneMaster

Keeps us on our toes, because we think we've got it figured out. Has anyone ever been in that moment in your spiritual journey where you're like, I got this figured out, and then insert a left hook? And you're like, what? You think you have everything working, and then something just goes off the rails. You're like, what's going on? [00:00:33] (26 seconds)  #spiritualLeftHook

Later on, we see that the early church continued the spiritual discipline. In acts 13 verses one to three, we see them worshiping and fasting. And it says in verse three there, after they had fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them and sent them off. They were sending off these people to go out and to share the gospel with others. They weren't fasting for a reason other than getting close to God to hear from him, to grow in their relationship with him. Later on, we see in acts fourteen twenty three that Paul and Barnabas fasted and prayed and appointed elders. They wanted to go closer to God. They wanted to hear from him. God, what are you saying? What are you speaking? I need to draw close to you. [00:23:01] (57 seconds)  #churchFastAndPray

And it was through this fasting that in the midst of that, as Jesus drew close to God, that he was empowered to stand up against these temptations. And it wasn't the fasting, it was the closeness to his father. As you see all throughout Jesus' life, as he modeled for us the times that he would take time away to pray, or spend time alone, all these different spiritual disciplines, whereas which are, in fact, habits based on the lifestyle of Jesus. And then it says that the devil left him and the angels came and attended him. [00:18:38] (44 seconds)  #closenessNotMethods

And I remember a number of years ago, there was a youth in our youth group at the church I was pastoring at the time that had been diagnosed with cancer, and the church rallied around. We had prayer nights. We had you name it, we were doing it because we wanted to see God heal them. There was fasting. There was prayer. And I remember just sitting on my kneeling on my knees and just, God, would you heal them? I did all the right things, yet he still passed away. It's like, God, what what's going on? I did all the right things. And it was in that moment I started to have to understand that, as I've said before, that the fast, the spiritual discipline, the power isn't in that. The power is in God. [00:07:00] (54 seconds)  #faithInLoss