NOTES ON FASTI NG

And I set my fa c e unt o th e Lor d God, to seek by pr ayer and supplications, wi t h fa s tin g , and sackcloth, and ashes: And I pr ayed unt o th e Lor d God, and made my conf ession… Dan i el 9: 3

Is there a place for fasting in the New Testament?

A. Fast ing wa s not req u ired of th e di sciples of Jesus.

Ma t t h e w 9 : 1 4 “ Th e n Jo h n ’ s d i sci p l e s ca me a n d asked h i m, ‘ Ho w i s i t t h a t we a n d t h e

B. But Jesus spoke of a day whe n th ere woul d be a pl ace fo r fasting.

Ma t t h e w 9 : 1 4 - 15 “Jesus answered, ‘ How can the guests of the bri degroom m ourn whi l e he is w ith th e m ? T h e tim e w ill c o m e w h e n th e b rid e g ro o m w ill b e ta k e n fro m th e m ; th e n th e y wi l l fast.’ ”

II. Wh a t gui del i nes are set forth in Scri pt ure concerning fa s ting?

A. It is to be done in a ma nne r of humi l i t y and secrecy.

 Ma t t h e w 6 : 1 6 - 18 “W hen you fast, do not l ook somber as the hypocrites do, for they di sfi gure thei r faces to show others they are fasti ng. Trul y I tel l you, they have received their rew ard in full. B ut w hen you fast, put oil o n your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father , who i s unseen; and your Father , who sees what i s done i n secret , wi l l r ewar d you.”

B. Fasting is closely related to pr ayer and read in g t he Wo r d .

 Nehemiah 1: 4 “ … W hen I hear d these thi ngs, I sat down and wept. For some days I mo u r n e d a n d f a st e d a n d p r a ye d b e f o r e t h e Go d o f h e a ve n . ” Ne h e mi a h 9 : 1 - 3 “… the Israelites gathered together, fasting… T hey stood in their places and confessed their si ns …a n d r e a d f r o m t h e B o o k o f t h e L a w o f t h e L o r d t h e i r Go d f o r a q u a r t e r o f t h e day, and spent another quarter i n confession and i n worshi pi ng the Lord thei r G od.”

 Act s 14: 23 “ Paul and Bar nabas appointed el der s[ a] f or t hem i n each chur ch and, wi th pr ayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord… ”

 I Corinthians 7:5 “… that you m ay devote yourselves to prayer… ”

C. A fast ma y be either absolute or par t i al .

Examples of absolute (complete) fasts:

 Est her 4: 16 “ Go, gat her t oget her al l t he Jews… and f ast f or me. Do not eat or dri nk for three days, night or day. … ”

 Act s 9: 9 “ For t hr ee days he was bl i nd, and di d not eat or dr i nk anyt hi ng. ”

 Act s 27: 33 “ ‘ … For t he l ast f our t een days, ’ he sai d, ‘ you have been i n const ant suspense and have gone wi thout food — you haven’ t eate n anythi ng.’ ”

Exampl es of parti al fasts (abstinence from certai n foods onl y):

 I K ings 17 “S o he did what the Lord had told him . … T he ravens brought him bread and m eat i n the m orni ng and bread and m eat i n the eveni ng, and he drank from the brook.”

D. Ther e is a pl ace fo r bot h th e corporate (g ro u p ) and th e in d ivid u al (personal) fast.

Exampl es of corporate fasts:

 Ezr a 8: 21 - 23 “ I procl ai m ed a fast, so that we m i ght hum bl e oursel ves before our Go d …So we f a s t e d a n d p e t i t i o n e d o u r Go d a b o u t t h i s , a n d h e a n s we r e d our prayer.”

 Nehemi ah 9: 1 - 3 “… the Israel i tes gathered together, fasti ng… ”

 Joel 2:15 - 16 “… decl are a hol y fast, cal l a sacred assem bl y. … ”

 Act s 27: 33 - 37 “‘ For the l ast fourteen days… you haven’ t eaten anythi ng.’ Al together there were 276 of us on board.”

Exam pl es of the in d iv id u a l fast:

 II S am uel 12:15 - 23 “… He fasted and spent the ni ghts l yi ng i n sackcl oth on the ground.”

 Dani el 9: 3 “ So I t ur ned t o t he Lor d God and pl eaded wi th hi m i n pr ayer and peti ti on, in fa s tin g … ”

III. Fasting in itself is of no spiritual val ue

Isaiah 58 “Y et on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your f ast ing ends i n quar r el i ng and st r i f e, and i n st r i ki ng each ot her wi t h wi cked f i st s. ”

A. Onl y fastin g th at is done wi t h th e rig h t mot i v e , th at of gl or i f yi ng God, can be pl easi ng in Hi s sight.

 Isaiah chapter 58 “W hy have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?’… Y et on the day of your fasti ng, you do as you pl ease… Your fasti ng ends i n quarrel i ng and stri fe… You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voi ce to be heard on hi gh… Is not thi s the ki nd of fasti ng I have chosen: to l oose the chai ns of i nj usti ce… to share your food wi th the hungry and to provi de the poor wanderer wi th shel ter — when you see t he naked, t o cl othe them… ”

B. Scr i pt ur e wa r ns th at in th e last days th ere wi l l be ma ny “for bi ddi ng to ma r r y , and com m anding to abstain fro m me a t s , ” etc. (I Ti mot hy 4:1 - 3). We are to test th e spirits, to see whe t he r th ey be of God (I John 4:1).

IV . Ho w lo n g should I fast?

A. Bible per sonal i t i es fasted and sought God di l i gent l y unt i l th ey obt ai ned fro m God wha t th ey desi r ed (see th e exam ples of Hannah, I Samuel 1:6 - 8, 17 - 18; and Paul , Act s 9:9,17 - 19) — or unt i l th e Lor d ma de it evident th at wha t th ey req u ested sim ply woul d not be obt ai ned (as in th e case of David, II Samuel 12:15 - 23).

B. The len g th of a fast ma y vary:

1. On e n i g h t ( Da n i e l 6 : 1 8 )

2. On e d a y ( I Sa mu e l 7 : 6 ; I I Sa mu e l 1 : 1 2 , 3 : 3 5 ; J u d g e s 2 0 : 2 6 )

3. Thr ee days and t hr ee ni ght s ( Est her 4: 16; Act s 9: 9, 17 - 19)

4. Seven days ( I Samuel 31: 13, I Samuel 12: 16 - 23)

5. Four t een days ( Act s 27: 33 - 34)

6. Twent y - one days (Dani el 10:3 - 13)

7. For t y days.

 Mo se s a t t wo d i f f e r e n t t i me s ( Exo d u s 2 4 : 1 8 , 3 4 : 2 8 ; De u t e r o n o my 9 : 9 , 1 8 , 2 5 - 29; 10:10)

 El i j ah ( I Ki ngs 19: 8)

 Jesus (Matthew 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2)

V. Wh e n should I fa s t?

Ma n y occations f o r fasting a r e r e co r d e d i n Scr i pt ur e.

A. The or di nat i on of elders to mi ni s t r y

 Act s 13: 3 “ So af t er t hey had f ast ed and pr ayed, t hey pl aced t hei r hands on t hem and sent them off.”

B. In tercession fo r th e people of God

 Exodus 24: 18 Deut er onomy 9: 8 - 9, 12 - 20 , 23 - 27

 Ezr a 10: 6

 Dani el 9: 3 - 4 Joel 2:12 - 14, 17 - 18 Jonah 3:5 - 10

C. Humbling and chastening of oneself.

 I K ings 21:27 - 29 “Have you noti ced how Ahab has hum bl ed hi m sel f before m e?”

 Psal ms 35: 13 “ … and humbl ed mysel f wi t h f ast i ng… ”

 Psal ms 69: 10 “ W hen I weep and fast, I must endur e scor n… ”

D. Seeking th e Lor d and Hi s wa y

 1 Chr oni cl es 20: 3 “ Al ar med, Jehoshaphat r esol ved to i nqui r e of the Lor d, and he procl ai m ed a fast for al l Judah.”

 Ezr a 8: 21 - 23 “I procl ai m ed a fast, so that we m i ght hum bl e oursel ves befo re our G od and ask hi m for a safe j ourney for us and our chi l dren, wi th al l our possessi ons. I was ashamed t o ask t he ki ng… to pr otect us fr om enemi es on the r oad, because we had tol d the ki ng… The graci ous hand of our G od i s on everyone who l ooks to hi m … So we f ast ed and pet i t i oned our God about thi s, and he answer ed our pr ayer .”

E. Repentance and confession of sin

 Nehemi ah 1: 4 - 7 “W hen I heard these thi ngs, I sat down and wept. For som e days I mo u r n e d a n d f a st e d a n d p r a ye d b e f o r e t h e Go d o f h e a ve n . ”

 Nehemi ah 9:1 - 3 “… the chi l dren of Israel were assem bl ed wi th fasti ng… and stood and confessed thei r si ns… one fourth part of the day… they confessed… ”

F. Receiving healing

 I S am uel 1:5 - 11, 18 - 20

 II S am uel 12:15 - 16, 22 - 23

 Isaiah 58:8

 Act s 9: 9, 17 - 19

G. Pet i t i oni ng God to wi t hhol d Hi s hand in ju d g m en t

 Deuter onomy 9: 18 - 25 “Then once agai n I fel l prostrate before the Lord… I ate no bread and drank no water, because of al l the si n you had com m i tted… because the Lord had sai d he woul d destroy you.”

H. Pr epar at i on to receive wo rd fro m God

 Deuter onomy 9: 18 - 25

 Isaiah 58:9

I. Spi r i t ual del i ver ance

 Isaiah 58:6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of in ju s tic e a n d u n tie th e c o rd s o f th e y o k e , to s e t th e o p p re s s e d fre e a n d b re a k e v e ry yoke?”

 Ma r k 9 : 2 9 “ He r e p l i e d , ‘ Th i s ki n d ca n co me o u t o n l y b y p r a ye r . ’ ”

 Ma t t h e w 1 7 : 2 1

J. Seeking assistance in tim e of fear

 II Chronicles 20:3 “A larm ed, Jeh oshaphat resol ved to i nqui re of the Lord, and he procl ai m ed a fast for al l Judah.”

K. Mour ni ng another’s death, out of concern fo r another’s safety, or when faced wi t h th reats on one’ s own life

 II S am uel 1:12; 3:35

 Dani el 6: 18

 Est her 4: 3; 9: 1 - 3

L. Seeking protection

 Ezr a 8: 21 - 23

M. Lacki ng ma t e r i a l pr ovi si on; in need

 II Corinthians 11:27 “… I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food… ”

VI . Fasting is an ext rem el y val uabl e and im p o r ta n t fa c e t of the Ch r i st i an life ; but it is not an in fa llib le me a n s of “getti ng what we want ” from God.

Jeremi ah 14:12 “Al though they fast, I wi l l not l i sten to thei r cry… ” Exampl e: I I Samuel 12: 15 - 23 (Davi d’ s son di ed anyway.) Ob e d i e n c e i s b e t t e r t h a n s a c r i f i c e ( I Sa mu e l 1 5 : 2 2 ) .