Fasting in the Presence of the Father
Introduction –
When it comes to the hypocritical lives of the Pharisees,
Jesus was clear: Don’t give like they
give, don’t pray like they pray, don’t fast like they fast. We must consider several things. We must understand the nature and purpose of
fasting. We must understand and avoid
hypocritical fasting. But we must also
consider that, today, almost no one fasts in order to be seen by men, because
almost no one fasts. What does this
have to say about our lives in the presence of the Father?
When You Fast – Once again, Jesus
assumes that His disciples will be practicing a particular discipline. There was only one annual public fast in the
old covenant. This was the Day of
Atonement (Lev 23:26ff). All other
fasts, individual and corporate, were called for specific situations. This carries over into the new covenant,
when we see Paul fast, not only at his conversion (Acts 9:9), but also as the
church at Antioch prepares its missions work (Acts 13:2). Here we have an example again not to take
these instructions from the Sermon on the Mount out of context. Being seen fasting and fasting to
be seen are not the same.
The Hypocrites
– In the days of Jesus, the Pharisees were known for fasting
two days a week, Mondays and Thursdays.
These ‘fasts’ were done very openly so that men would see their
devotion. Christ and His disciples are
known for distancing themselves from such practices (Matt 9:14-17). Again, Jesus warns them that if they are
seeking the praise of men, that is all they will get. That wasn’t the purpose of fasting.
What Is Fasting?
– Fasting is the practice of abstaining from food for a period
of time in order to humble oneself before God.
“Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might
humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our
little ones and all our possessions.” (Ezra 8:21) “I humbled my soul with fasting” (Psalm 69:10). Humbling
before God can occur:
During a Time
of God’s Judgment – Joel
1:13-14 – “Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; Wail, you who minister
before the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, you who minister to my God;
for the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your
God. Consecrate a fast, call a sacred
assembly; gather the elders.”
During a Time
of Great Danger – 2
Chron 20:3 – “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and
proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”
During a Time
of Confession – Dan
9:3 – “Then
I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications,
with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”
In all of these circumstances, we see a heart that motivates
fasting is supposed to be a heart for God.
Fasting means one has a hunger for God’s approval, not man’s
approval. And so we see the hypocrisy
of the Pharisees.
Fasting In the Presence of the Father – If I am seeking God,
I am only concerned about what He thinks, not what men notice (Matt
5:17-18). On the one hand, I should
look ordinary, but on the other hand, there should be outward manifestations of
a truly contrite heart. Acts of mercy
ought to overshadow the fast itself.
Isaiah 58 teaches that a true fast should be accompanied with feeding
the poor, clothing the naked (v7), extending healing and justice (v8), the
ceasing of slanderous words and actions (v9). In addition, the result of
soul-affliction should be a true delight in the Lord’s Day and in the Lord
Himself (vv13-14).
An Appropriate Time To Fast – So why is there so
little fasting today?
Humility
– We
are taught to believe in ourselves, find it within ourselves, discover for
ourselves, but never to humble ourselves.
“Rend your heart, and not your garments” – Joel 2:13. An ‘easy believism’ leaves us wondering why
we even have to bother with confessing our sins – ‘what sins?’ But Isaiah 66:2 – “But on this one will I
look: On him who is poor and of a
contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word”, and Matt 5:6-7 teach
differently.
Mealtime Is No
Longer a Holy Time –
Pragmatism has robbed us of the joy of family dinners. Our children receive only the leftovers, of
our time and talents. This has blurred
our sense of broken covenant and broken communion in a time of fasting.
Fasting and
Feasting – Zech
7:4-6 teaches us that if we do not know how to feast, then we will not know how
to fast. The Bible is full of feasting
before the Lord, and culminates in the wedding supper of the Lamb. This is not just about good food and wine,
but it is about those things. And it is
about enjoying them unto the Lord.
Addictions, or
Sins? – We
have not learned to fast with regard to things. Nothing is to control us but the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). “For the life of Christians ought ever to
be tempered with frugality and sobriety, so that the whole course of it should
present some appearance of fasting.” – Calvin
Dave
Hatcher – January 30, 2000