Connect Study on Fasting (June 22 study)

(This Study is scheduled for June 22. Sunday June 15 will be on Stewardship and will be posted directly above this post. Sorry for the confusion)

The Discipline in Focus

What is Fasting? Fasting can be defined different ways. Simply, fasting is a “Christian’s voluntary absence from food for a spiritual purpose” (Whitney). It is also “the voluntary denial of a normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity” (Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline). One more definition states that fasting is the “abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose” (Martyn-Lloyd Jones).

Fasting, in the Bible, is something that is expected but not commanded. Jesus expected that his followers would fast (Matt 6:16-17), but never says, “You must fast.” However we should see fasting as something expected of us from Jesus for spiritual purposes.

What is the point? What is the purpose of fasting? Fasting must center on God. The point is never to lost weight, get others to notice how spiritual we are, earn God’s favor, or get something we want from God. Without a spiritual purpose fasting can be self-centered and miserable.

Purposes for Fasting (from Donald Whitney)
1. Strengthen Prayer - Fasting is not a hunger strike to get what we want from God but more of a calculated urgency in our praying and it gives a force to our pleading. It is using a God-given means of making his voice heard in earnestness. Ezra 8:23, Daniel 9:3
2. Seek God’s Guidance - Fasting can make us more receptive to the One who is guiding us. Judges 20:26-28, Acts 14:23
3. Express Grief - Fasting can often help communicate grief that words cannot. Fasting can be a means of expressing to God the depths of our feelings. 2 Samuel 1:11-12.
4. Seek Deliverance or Protection - Fasting should be one of our first defenses when we face persecution from people because of our faith. We should appeal to God with fasting for protection and deliverance. 2 Chronicles 20:3-4, Psalm 109, Esther 4:16.
5. Express Repentance and the Return to God - Fasting can signal a commitment to obedience and a new direction. 1 Sam. 7:6, Joel 2:12, Jonah 3:5-8.
6. Humility - Fasting can be a physical expression of humility before God. 1 Kings 21:27-29, Psalm 35:13.
7. Express Concern for the Work of God - Christians may fast and pray for the work of God going on throughout the world. A parent concerned for their child or a church concerned for a tragedy in their town or state. Nehemiah 1:3-4, Daniel 9:3
8. To Minister to the Needs of Others - Read Isaiah 58: 6-7. Perhaps fasting will allow you more time or money to give to others.
9. Overcome Temptation and Dedicate Yourself to God - This is exemplified by Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11. Fasting can be a way of overcoming temptation and dedicating ourselves to God.
10. Express Love and Worship to God - Fasting can be an expression of finding your greatest pleasure and enjoyment in life from God. When we fast it gives us the chance to show that whatever we are fasting from is not our God; that we are not mastered by anything.

More Thoughts on Fasting -

Fasting tests where the heart is. Do I love God or do I love bread (food). What do I love the most? Fasting reveals what we worship. It reveals what satisfies us. When fasting reveals that the heart is with God and not the world, a mighty blow is stuck against Satan. - John Piper

More than any other Discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. - Richard Foster. (Often we cover up what is inside of us with food and other things)

Fasting is a way of revealing to ourselves and confessing to God what is in our hearts. Where do we find our deepest satisfaction - in God or in his gifts? The aim of fasting is that we come to rely less on food and more on God. Every time we fast we are saying with Jesus, “Not by bread alone, but by you, Lord. Not by bread alone but by you Lord.” - John Piper

The goal in fasting should be the glory of God and the passage behind every fast should be Phil. 3:7-8 “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.”

Fasting in not a “no” to the goodness of food or the generosity of God in providing it. Rather it is a way of saying from time to time that having more of the Giver surpasses having the gift. From time to time we need to test ourselves to see if we have begun to love his gifts in place of God. - Piper

Scripture to Study
Psalm 73: 25-26, Matthew 9:14-17, 1 Cor. 6:12, Acts 13:1-4.

A Practical Response
1. What is fasting? Have you ever known of someone who fasted?
2. Why should Christians fast?
3. What is the purpose of fasting?
4. What is something you could fast from? Why? When?