Mensa Otabil - Should We Fast?

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Welcome to a brand new week. This is a very great week and special in many ways. Of course, God created the week, so we are happy for it. This week we’re going to start our 40 days of power from Thursday. From now until Wednesday, I’m going to teach a bit on fasting to give us the reasons why we fast and then provide some guidelines. From Thursday, we start 40 days of prayer and fasting.

So why do we fast? Matthew 4:1 — 2: «Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted 40 days and nights, afterward He was hungry.» We are all familiar with this. Jesus started His ministry with 40 days of prayer and fasting.

So what’s the value of fasting to us? The Greek word used in the New Testament for fasting has several meanings. The easiest one is to abstain from food, but that word also means to be made empty or to empty yourself. When we fast, we are emptying ourselves; we are taking some things out of our lives so we can take some things into our lives. Jesus said those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are the ones who are satisfied. If you come to God feeling complete and needing nothing, you will leave having nothing. But when we come into the presence of God seeking, empty and hungry, then we will be filled.

So we fast to develop a hunger for God. Yes, we worship the Lord throughout the year, and we give our lives to Him, and we go to church, read the Bible, and pray. But this is a time to set aside and develop a deeper hunger for the Lord, where we empty ourselves of everything that is a hindrance to our walk with the Lord so that we can receive an infilling, to be replenished, to be refilled.

Secondly, we fast to show our hearts to God. We want God to know what is in our hearts. Jesus was tempted during His fast to reveal what was in His heart, whether He was really committed to what He was doing. In fasting, we let God know our priorities- whether we want bread or we want to obey Him, whether we want glory or we want to love Him.

So what’s in our heart? If you are seeking vain glory, that’s what you will be looking for in a fast. But in a fast, you want to show the genuineness of your heart to the Lord. In all the temptations of Jesus Christ, He showed the genuineness of His heart and His commitment to the Lord. So we fast to demonstrate the genuineness of our heart to the Lord.

Thirdly, we fast to learn to live by the Word of God. That’s the first response Jesus gave to Satan: «Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.» Instead of depending on food to sustain us, we say, «Lord, Your Word will sustain us.» That’s why, when you’re fasting, you must spend a lot of time in the Word of God. This may be difficult for some people because you’re working throughout the day. So find portions of time when you can really feed on the Word of God.

If you have the opportunity to listen to an audio reading of the Bible, get it in your ears and feed your soul and spirit with the Word of God frequently. Soak up the Word of God because you are learning to live by the Word of God. The Word of God becomes your necessary food instead of the normal food we eat throughout our lives.

So let the Word of God feed us. Then we fast so that we’ll yield to the Holy Spirit. Jesus was led by the Spirit, and so, when we fast, we seek to become more open and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We want God to lead us; we want to hear His voice. We want to determine whether what we are hearing is truly the voice of God or something else.

So let’s fast purposefully and let’s do it well to the glory of God. Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I empty myself of everything that displeases You. Fill me with that which pleases You. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.