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When You Fast Message 01 of 05
Examining Our Hearts Through Fasting - Part 1
Pastor Anthony King· November 13, 2022
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
“And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
The series
A Study of Biblical Fasting
November 13, 2022
God has given us the gift of food.
Good things can become idols.
Fasting: Eating sparingly or abstaining from food altogether, either from necessity or desire. abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink, especially as a religious observance.
Fasting in and of itself is not Christian or even spiritual.
One can fast for medical or health reasons.
Spiritual fasting entails reducing the intake of food and replacing these activities with the exercise of prayer and preoccupation with spiritual concerns.
Biblical fasting always deals with food. The Greek word which is translated “fasting” literally means one who has not eaten, one who is empty, one who is hungry.
Three Types of Fasts
Normal: no intake of food for a prescribed period of time, though there may be an intake of liquids;
Partial: diet is limited, though some food is allowed
Absolute: a total abstinence from food and liquids in all forms.
Supernatural Absolute: no food or liquid for an extended period of time.
Moses…Twice
When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:Deuteronomy 9:9
And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.Deuteronomy 9:18
Elijah
And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.1 Kings 19:8
Jesus
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.Matthew 4:2
The first step for any kind of fast is to declare our immediate purpose.
We fast because we long for a greater connectedness to God.
Fasting is a matter of humbling.
When we fast for a meal or a day or a week, we remind ourselves that more than our stomachs long for the pleasure of food, our souls long for the presence of God.
We are satisfied in Him and by Him in a way that nothing in this world can compare to, not even the basic daily necessity of food.
Fasting makes sense as a discipline in the Christian life only if it is connected with a desire for Christ.
Fasting is always coupled with fervent prayer.
Prayer is always specific.
Ultimately, we fast because we desire the presence of God more than we desire to be filled with food.
2And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 3And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. Deuteronomy 8:2-3
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