Mensa Otabil - Live By God's Word (11/07/2025)
And I’m teaching this week on fasting. So we go to Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. This is a recount of what had happened to Israel when they were in the wilderness. And the recount talks about why God allowed them to go through the wilderness period, where there was no food, and He fed them with manna.
Now, if you remember carefully, Jesus Christ quoted the latter part of this verse during His temptation when Satan tempted Him to turn stones to bread. Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy chapter 8:3; He said, «Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father.» When Jesus said that, as you remember, He said, «It is written.» He was quoting this verse. So this verse talks about the experience of Israel in the wilderness, and although that experience cannot clearly be designated as fasting, there are statements here that we can apply to fasting. And there are four things I want to bring to your attention that help us to understand the purpose of fasting.
First, we fast to develop a hunger for God. God says He allowed them to hunger. When we fast, we turn away from food so that we can have a new kind of appetite, a new kind of desire. And that desire is for God. So, we turn from our necessary reliance on food so that we can rely on God. Fasting gives us a spiritual hunger for the things of God. In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, «Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; they shall be satisfied.» So, first, we develop a hunger for God.
Secondly, God told Israel the reason why He took them through the wilderness was to show what was in their hearts. When we fast, we show what is in our hearts. We are revealing our hearts to God. In what way are we doing that? Well, you cannot say God is more important to you than everything. He’s more important to you than the air you breathe. He’s more important than everything. And then when you have to just put aside food for Him, for His sake, you say, «I can’t do that because it’s too hard. It’s so difficult.» It means that your mouth says that God is important, but He’s not important to you because you can’t make little sacrifices for Him. If God is your priority, then a period of fasting is when you are demonstrating physically that God is your priority. That you are able to make sacrifices when it comes to God.
So, first, it helps us develop a hunger for God. It helps us to show what is in our hearts towards God. Thirdly, we learn to live by the word of God. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. That means that when we are fasting, we feast on the word of God. We don’t eat physical food, but we are eating our spiritual food, the word of God. We feast on the word of God. We allow the word of God to enrich our souls, enrich our minds, and build up our spirits. So when we come out of fasting, what we go out with is the word of God. Remember, after fasting, Jesus said, «It is written. It is written. It is written.» We have to feed our spirits the word of God so we can use the word of God for victory.
Number four, we fast so that we can yield to God’s leading. When we fast, our spirits become open to the Spirit of God. So God can guide us, God can lead us, God can order our steps. And there are many decisions we have to make, very many choices we have to make, and a period of fasting helps us to trust God to order our steps, to guide us, and to lead us where we should go.
So, developing a hunger for God, we are showing what is in our hearts to God. We want the Lord to know that He’s our priority. We want to show that we live by the word of God. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And then we yield to God’s leading and direction. These should be your motives for fasting. And I trust that as we start, God will meet you and show you His power. Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, You are my sustainer. Help me to turn away from all others and cling to You alone. In Jesus' name, Amen.» And amen.