What is fasting and how do wise people fast? How often should we fast? People fast differently and for different reasons. It is popular now to do intermittent fasting to lose weight and improve your health. Some churches do the Daniel fast. Some people do juice fasts. There are many kinds of fasts. The people in the Old Testament fasted when they wanted a message from God (Judges 20:26-27; 2Chronicles 20:3). They also fasted in repentance when they sinned against God (1 Samuel 7:6 and Jonah 3:4-8). Most of the fasting accounts in the Old Testament were out of sorrow and to hear from God. Biblical fasting is humbling yourself before God. This is the fasting Jesus is referring to. Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6:16-18 not to be noticed by others when we fast.
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. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Why do you think Jesus wants us to fast in secret? Do you think it was because the religious people fasted to show a piousness that was not authentic? If biblical fasting is humbly coming before God, then fasting to be noticed is motivated by pride. Since humility is an attribute of a wise person, then a wise person does not display they are fasting.
Jesus is the Word in the flesh, and He knew what Isaiah wrote, and so did the Pharisees. Isaiah defines what true fasting is NOT in Isaiah 58:3-4, he says, “‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.”
Isaiah 58:6-10 defines true fasting:
6“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (Fasting is seeking freedom from the control of sinful actions in our lives.)
7”Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (True fasting is humbly laying your fleshly, selfish desires aside and being compassionate with the poor and meeting their needs.)
8”Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.” (When we humble ourselves before God and repent of our sins and put away our fleshly, selfish desires, then God will reward us.)
9”Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.” (Does your fasting reflect this kind of fasting? Do you really want to hear from God and have His joy?)
Conclusion
When we fast in repentance and show compassion for the oppressed, then Isaiah 58:11 tells us, “And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Do you want God’s continual guidance, healing, and prosperity in your life? Then biblical fasting needs to be done in secret and as described above. This type of fasting is beneficial when you read the short transformation book posted on my website, to seek God to show you areas He wants to transform in your life. 1–Healing Begins by Transforming Painful Memories.
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Read the other posts in this series on the SERMON ON THE MOUNT
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