Fasting and Prayer

Thank you for joining this week of prayer and fasting. As we seek God’s direction for our church, we pray that each of you will hear from the Lord. As you do, please fill out the commitment form and share what God is speaking to you and how He is leading you to give.
(click here)

I realize that fasting might be new for some of you, so I wanted to offer some encouragement about what it means for us, as Christians, to fast. Below are some thoughts I hope will help us enter into this moment as a church.

Also, don’t forget that we have a prayer meeting each day this week at noon at the church. It is so encouraging to pray together, and today was a great start!

I am so thankful to be on this journey of faith with you, and I’m excited to see what the Lord will do!

Love,
Pastor Zach

A Definition

Introduction to Christian Fasting

Fasting is temporarily abstaining from something good to intensify our expression of the need for something greater. For us as Christians, that something greater is God Himself. So we fast to seek God’s will and to be filled with more of God’s presence in our lives.

Matthew 6:16-18 – Focused on God

16 “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. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 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.

We are not commanded to fast anywhere in the New Testament, but there is an invitation. There is an expectation from Jesus who did not say “if you fast” but “when you fast”. The main point of what Jesus says in Matthew 6 is that fasting is very God-oriented. We are not trying to impress or be seen by others but seek Him.

Matthew 9:14-17 – Longing for Jesus

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Here, Jesus shows us how Christian fasting differs from fasting in the Old Testament. Jesus is the bridegroom, and as long as He is with His disciples, it isn’t the time to fast. But when He is taken away, when there is a longing and a feeling of separation, that is the time to fast. So, Christian fasting is a way of expressing our longing for Jesus. We want His kingdom to come and His will to be done in our lives. When we fast as Christians, we’re saying that we are hungry for the presence of Jesus and need more of Him.

Acts 13:1-3 – God’s Leading and Direction

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a lifelong friend of Herod, the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off

Here, we see the beginning of an incredible missionary move of God in the early church that was inspired while they worshipped, fasted, and prayed. Saul (who became Paul) and Barnabas were called and sent out because the church expressed their need for God’s guidance. Fasting is a powerful way to repurpose our time and attention onto the Lord for His wisdom and direction.

Summary

We use food to fulfill so many needs in our lives. We eat because we’re hungry and need strength and because we’re stressed and need comfort. Fasting is a way to say that we want and need and trust Jesus more for these things. Food is a gift from God, but Jesus is better. We want the bread of life (see John 6:35)! Applying all this to our current situation, we are fasting and praying because:

1. We want to focus our hearts and minds on God more

2. We are longing for Jesus, the Head of the Church, to come and for His will to be done

3. We need and desire God’s guidance for the decisions we’re facing as a church

Getting Practical

1. Start Simple – If you’ve never fasted before, don’t try to go all week without eating (or even all day). Consider fasting for one meal. It will be a sacrifice no matter what, but find the time to make the commitment and keep it. Maybe it isn’t food, but you fast from social media or watching T.V. Rather than spending the time in our day doing those things, we can focus on the Lord and seek Him instead.

2. Be Intentional – You also need to plan what you will do with the time besides not eating. Remember that we are not trying to impress God through self-deprivation, but we’re seeking to be filled with more of God through spiritual discipline. What will you do with the time instead? If you’re fasting for lunch, consider joining us at the church for the prayer meeting each day this week if you can. Or take your Bible, a devotional, and your journal, and have some worship music ready to fill the time with God-focused activity. The whole goal is to be filled with more of Him, which is better than anything else!