Matthew 6:16-18

Is there something in your life where you know you just need to shove out every single distraction and bring that to Jesus? What are you pleading with God about? We’re talking about fasting today in Matthew 6:16-18, the model that God has given us to do exactly that. 

We take time to understand this passage but also to pull in from other examples as well as some (hopefully) helpful tidbits about approach and timing. Ultimately, we are truly blessed that God invites us into His presence in order to listen to us.

Transcript

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Is there something in your life where you just know that you need to shove out every single distraction in order to be fully focused in on God? It's something beyond asking Him. It's pleading with Him. We're talking about fasting today, and that's the model or vehicle that God has given to us in the Scriptures that helps us to do exactly that. We're looking at Matthew chapter six verses sixteen through eighteen, where Jesus once again teaches his disciples about connecting with God in a way that is genuine and authentic, not like the hypocrites. So Matthew chapter six verses sixteen through eighteen will be our text. We're going to jump into that today, and I've actually done my best to keep this episode short so that you have an opportunity to just kind of sit and focus in on the Lord once we're done, and he may lead you into a time of fasting, and he may not. Either one is okay. So before we do anything else, let's pray. Jesus, thank you for this wonderful day that you've given us. God, thank you that you invite us to dialogue with you, Lord, to reveal and to confess the things that are within us. But God, thank you that you also really do care about these issues in life that move us into maybe more urgent uh requests. God, we ask that you would hear us now. Be with us. Amen. All right, Matthew chapter six, verses sixteen through eighteen. Jesus teaches When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on 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 is unseen, and your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Let's just pause for a moment and listen to God. All right, let's make uh really just one essential observation of this text, and then we'll kind of talk a bit more about fasting. Uh I think Jesus is giving us like the heartbeat here, but I know that there are probably some more questions and different examples that would be helpful for all of us. So the teaching here, I would say, is pretty straightforward, and I'm not really interested in making it more complicated when it doesn't need to be complicated. Jesus is saying, I think essentially that when you fast, do it to seek God and to make it as inconspicuous or unobvious as you can to other people. It's the third iteration of don't be like those hypocrites. And I think it's all pretty uh under understandable here in this context, right? The hypocrites that Jesus points out disfigure their faces, they kind of make a big deal about the fact that they're that they're fasting. And Jesus is simply pointing out, look at when you when you behave like that, when you're doing something to gain attention, that's all that you're gonna get. You're gonna get attention, for sure, but don't expect anything more because you didn't do it for actually good reasons or spiritual benefit or to please God or to seek God. You didn't do any of those things. You were just doing it to kind of spiritually show off, so to speak. And as we look at what fasting is, it to me it's so clear that this really needs to be motivated out of a place of just genuine desire to know God's will for us or to seek Him about something in particular. So I wanted to give us a few examples of fasting and then maybe just talk a little bit about the ins and outs of it. So I wanted to start with Ezra, uh, the first example here. So back in the Old Testament, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Ezra, Ezra was uh was a was a man of God who uh like a prophet, and he was uh instrumental when the people of Judah they had been put into exile and they they had come back and they were rebuilding the temple, and he was serving there as a as a spiritual um force really uh in the life of the people. So this is from Ezra chapter eight, uh verses twenty-one through twenty-three, Ezra's speaking about himself. He says, There by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, the gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his a his great anger is against all who forsake him. So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. Just a couple of things about that moment. Uh we see one that it's not just an individual fasting and seeking God. There are plenty of examples of that in Scripture as well, uh, but he's called a fast, right? He proclaims a fast, and it's not just for himself, it's for everybody who was there helping in Jerusalem to make things happen and to do all that all that needed to be done. So he's obviously asking for some safe passage, and and I loved the honesty of the moment, right? I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen, because I'd said, you know, our God's awesome and he'll protect us when we when we look to him. So he was like, yeah, uh guys, we should really seek God uh about all of this. So it was a it was a time of fasting. We're not told how long, but he proclaims the fast, and uh presumably everybody participates in that, and they go without food and they seek God uh to see what how how things will will turn out for them. Acts chapter 13, verses two and three, so a New Testament example, and this one is maybe a little bit more about discernment and hearing God along the way. It says, While we were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. And this one seems a little bit different. It seems uh like just kind of the way that it reads, like they were already doing the praying and fasting, and in that context, the Lord spoke to the people, the Holy Spirit spoke to the people and said, I want you to do this thing. And it leads us into this kind of second understanding of sort of the the why, right? The why of why we, the why of why we can I say that any more times? No, that's fine. Uh the motivation behind this, right? And we can gain discernment from God about life, about ministry, about our part in that, you know, just things that need to take place. And so when we want to have that close connection with God, when we really do desire to seek his face and have the Lord be the lead in our lives rather than the other way around, uh fasting is a really good uh practice for us to incorporate into that seeking after God. There are a couple of other examples that I won't read fully, but David, King David, fasted uh when his son was sick and dying. You can read about that in 2 Samuel chapter 15, no, nope, chapter 12, verses 15 through 23. Uh that's, by the way, after he had sinned uh against Bathsheba and um and just had strayed outside of what God had ordered for him. There are consequences for that, but he seeks the Lord and he fasts as he does that. But it's it's worth a read. Esther. Esther called for a fast. You can read about that in the book of Esther, chapter four, verses fifteen and sixteen. And it was a moment when she realized that her people were in imminent danger, and she was about to go and ask for an audience with the king. And she knew that she was taking her life kind of in her own hands by doing that. And so she asks all of the people to do that. So her and Mordecai and the people of Israel fasted to ask for God's, I believe, safety, but also his deliverance uh for them in that situation. And then, of course, Jesus fasted, and we read about that in Matthew chapter four, and his fast was for 40 days out there in the wilderness, and then he was tested in all of that. So, all of that just to say that there are plenty of examples of of people fasting, and in each case, although their circumstances were different, they're definitely doing it to seek direction from God, in some cases to seek safety or some form of deliverance from the Lord. And and they've they've recognized that that this needs to be something that is is much more intentional on their side of things, uh, just to really focus in and and bring that request in a very uh passionate and intentional kind of a way. So just a couple of of bits about fasting, um, questions that I feel like people have along the way. Uh yes, the length and approach can be varied. Typically, in the scriptures, it meant food. If somebody's fasting and you read about it in scriptures, you know, they weren't doing a social media fast, obviously, right? But but they were fasting from food. And I think that there is some freedom for us in the midst of like what we choose to cut out of our lives in in that fast. I'll get to that in just a minute. But but food really is important because it does, it's uh an internal thing, right? Like we feel the hunger, and and that is part of the the picture of dependence upon upon God. Some fasts were pretty short, maybe a day, maybe you know, just a couple of days. Others went as long as those 40 days. Um and then if it's gonna be serious to God, it should be serious to you. And I guess that's the advice that I would give when you're thinking about entering into a time of fasting. You know, if you're just kind of cutting out something that you're not gonna miss a lot anyway, uh I I don't know, like is that does it actually matter to you, you know? Um, so I think it needs to be significant. And I recognize, by the way, that people have maybe different health issues where cutting out food might be actually pretty dangerous. Um, but uh find something that that matters to you and give that up so that you can seek the Lord and then keep listening to the Lord about things like the length of time. I wouldn't encourage anybody to just launch into 40 days of no food, like as your starting point. Start start with something simpler, shorter, and uh kind of develop it like a muscle, you know. You might start with something as simple as fasting from a single meal. But if you're just doing one meal, I would really encourage you, make sure you know why you're doing it. Don't just like absent-mindedly skip the meal and call it a fast. No. Be, you know, be thoughtful about it, be mindful about it. One of the more important aspects of fasting is that removal of distraction, a chance to cleanse your mind and your body uh to seek Jesus. And there is something that does happen uh for us when we go without food. You know, our our body we become uh maybe more aware of of what's happening in inside of us, like mentally and emotionally. Um, and then certainly just letting everything kind of uh just get clear and clean again is is something that that will happen for us. And then finally, I would say uh it's okay. It's even good to do this with friends who who want to join in with you. Don't don't force anybody, but to ask people to join in with you. I think that's uh that can be a great encouragement along the way, and and then you can have a chance to maybe even process that together. That's really all I wanted to share with you today. I hope that you're encouraged, and I'll invite you now just to maybe take a few minutes and just be quiet before the Lord and see uh if he's calling you into some form of fasting. If he is, then do it. Go ahead and jump in. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for this good day. God, thank you that you have given us these different ways, these different practices uh for us to connect with you in in really profound and significant ways. God, uh help us to be faithful, help us to follow you, and Lord, would you give us joy as we go about our days? Amen.