What Does the Bible Teach About Fasting? | Matthew 6:16-18

I. What is fasting?

1. Don Whitney: “Fasting is going without food for spiritual purposes.”
2. Fasting is the most uncomfortable and probably most unpopular spiritual discipline in our culture.
3. Fasting is not the magic secret of the Christian life. It is one tool among many that should be included in our sanctification tool box. Is it in your toolbox? It hasn’t been in mine.
4. Fasting is denying ourselves legitimate pleasure so that we can see how much we are wrongly relying on that pleasure versus how much we are relying on God directly.

1. At least eight types of fasting mentioned in Scripture (borrowed from Don Whitney):
   1. Partial Fast (Daniel 1: vegetables and water)
      1. For pregnant or nursing mothers, or those who have diabetes or other health issues, fasting is going to look different.
      2.  For those physically unable to fast from food without hurting themselves, they could consider fasting from certain enjoyable foods. Perhaps you have no dessert for a period of time. Or just eat rice. Or just eat vegetables and water. Or have a balanced meal but in smaller portions.
      3. Skipping one meal can be a legitimate fast.
      4. If you are planning to fast more than a day you should consider getting medical advice beforehand.
      5. Also consider “fasting” from things other than food: giving up legitimate pleasures for a time: TV, social media, YouTube, etc. and spending that time in spiritual pursuits instead.
   2. Absolute Fast (Acts 9:8-9, “Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. [9] And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”)
   3. Supernatural Fast (Exodus 34:28, “So [Moses] was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water.”[rare])
   4. Private Fast (Moses, Elijah, & Jesus all fast for 40 days alone)
   5. Congregational Fast (Acts 13:2-3: this moment sparked Paul’s first missionary journey)
   6. National Fast (Nineveh: Jonah 3)
   7. Regular Fast (Likely preceding the day of Atonement according to Leviticus 23:27 [only one it appears])
   8. Occasional Fast ([Perhaps most common] David fasting seven days while his child lived)

II. What are ungodly reasons to fast?

1. To earn something from God or to impress God with your suffering.
   1. Luke 18:9, “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.”
      1. Luke 18:11-12, “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. [12] I fast twice a week.’”
   2. Colossians 2:20-23, “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
      
      1. Piper: “The danger of eating is that we fall in love with the gift; the danger of fasting is that we belittle the gift and glory in our willpower.”
2. To be spiritually impressive to others:
   1. Matthew 6:16, “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.”
      
      1. Piper: “There is a difference between being seen fasting and fasting to be seen.”
3. As a key to worldly prosperity:
   1. Don't follow Jentezen Franklin (pastor of Free Chapel Church in Gainesville, Ga.). Here are some of his unhelpful quotes about why his church fasted:
      1. “I felt led to tell you to pray for release of divine health and long life on this fast. [In] Genesis 15:15 God promised Abraham, ‘you will live to a good old age’. Turn to somebody and say, ‘you’re going to live to a good old age.’ This is a fast and a call to health, [to] long life. Everybody say, ‘on this fast there’s going to be a release into my body of divine health and long life.’”
      2. “These are some themes that I felt in my spirit. Really felt this one: Believe God for the abundance of work; the abundance of prosperity. I heard this in my spirit: ‘Believe Me for miracle money!’ Praise God! Can you believe God for the abundance of work? ... Shout, ‘Miracle money! Shout, ‘Abundance of work!’”

III. Why should we fast? [7 REASONS: adapted from Don Whitney]

1. To Express Our Hunger for God
   1. Piper: “What we hunger for most, we worship.”
   2. Piper: “Christian fasting is a test to see what desires control us. What are our bottom line passions? [One author] says, ‘More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us…. We cover up what is inside of us with food and other things.’ We all ease our discomfort using food and cover our unhappiness by setting our eyes on dinnertime. Which is why fasting exposes all of us — our pain, our pride, our anger.
      1. Another author writes: "If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately.... Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear — if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first, we will rationalize that our anger is due to our hunger. And then, we know that we are angry because the anger is within us. We can rejoice in this knowledge because we know that [transformation] is available through the power of Christ.”
   3. Piper: “When midmorning comes and you want food so badly that the thought of lunch becomes as sweet as a summer vacation, then suddenly you realize, “Oh, I forgot, I made a commitment. I can’t have that pleasure. I’m fasting for lunch too.” Then what are you going to do with all the unhappiness inside? Formerly, you blocked it out with the hope of a tasty lunch. The hope of food gave you the good feelings to balance out the bad feelings. But now the balance is off. You must find another way to deal with it.”
   4. Piper: “Humbly and quietly, with scarcely a movement, [fasting] brings up out of the dark places of my soul the dissatisfactions in relationships, the frustrations of the ministry, the fears of failure, the emptiness of wasted time. And just when my heart begins to retreat to the delicious hope of eating supper with friends, she quietly reminds me: not tonight. It can be a devastating experience at first. Will I find spiritual communion with God sweet enough, and hope in his promises deep enough, not just to cope, but to flourish and rejoice in him? Or will I rationalize away my need to fast and retreat to the medication of food?
      
      1. John 4:31-32, "Meanwhile the disciples were urging [Jesus], saying, 'Rabbi, eat.' [32] But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.'"
2. To Strengthen Prayer
   1. Don Whitney: “Is there never a time that you want a prayer answered more than you want lunch? Is there never a time you want somebody to be saved more than you want [your next meal]?”
   2. Don Whitney: “I want this so much that I’m going to pray about it all day.”
   3. If all you’re doing while fasting is counting down the time remaining you are not approaching this subject rightly.
3. To Humble Ourselves Before God
   1. Psalm 35:13, David prays, “I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself [humbled myself] with fasting.”
   2. Isaiah 58:3, “we fasted...we humbled ourselves."
   3. Why is fasting humbling? It reminds us how weak and frail and dependent we are.
      1. If you feel strong and self-sufficient, go without food for 24 hours. You will feel weak and needy. You will feel what is true of you all the time but often covered over with food and enjoyments.
      2. It reveals sin that we can easily mask with the pleasures of food.
4. To Express Repentance: (majority of biblical examples)
   1. 1. This does not atone for the sin and is not a necessary part of repentance.
   2. 1 Samuel 7:3-6, "So they gathered at Mizpah … and fasted on that day and said there, ‘We have sinned against the LORD.’”
   3. Also see Ezra 9:3-7; Jonah 3:1-10; Joel 2:12-16; Daniel 9:3-5
5. To Express Desperation in Prayer: 
   1. 2 Samuel 12:15-17, “And the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. [16] David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. [17] And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.”
   2. Chuck Colson (I think I heard) fasted from lunch every Friday and took that hour to pray for the salvation of his children.
6. To Express Grief:
   1. 2 Samuel 1:11-12, “And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”
   2. Nehemiah 1:2-4.
7. To Seek God’s Guidance in Major Decisions or Transitions:
   1. Acts 13:1-3, “Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers…. [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.”
   2. While appointing new leaders: Acts 14:23, “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

IV. How often should we fast?

1. Fasting is not explicitly commanded in the New Testament, but it is assumed.
   1. In the OT Israel is called to humble themselves leading up to the Day of Atonement which seems to imply fasting (Leviticus 16:29-30).
2. Luke 5:33, “And they said to him, ‘The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.’”
3. The Unbelieving Pharisee in parable fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12, “I fast twice a week”).

CONCLUSION:

Why did God create food in the first place? Piper: “When we eat, we taste the emblem of our heavenly food — the Bread of Heaven. And when we fast we say, ‘I love the reality above the emblem.’”

Jesus, who is the water of life, died thirsty...so that we could be satisfied.

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