A Theology of Fasting - Tim Conway

Our church is designating this week

as just a week where

we are going to give ourselves

to seeking the Lord in a special way.

Often times, we call it a
week of prayer and fasting.

Not that everybody in
the whole church fasts

for an entire eight days.

But during that time, what we want to do

is encourage the folks in
the church to fast.

Meals, days, and often times,

when I am encouraging
the church and others,

we're encouraging the church

to give ourselves to this,

inevitably, somebody asks -

(You asked, right?)

Inevitably, somebody asks:

What about fasting?

How often?

(Incomplete thought)

This is not useless at all -

I mean laying hold on
the Lord like this is not.

He has heard our prayers
again and again and again.

We do this, not out of ritual,

not out of just tradition.

We do this because we
lay hold upon the Lord

in a special way and the Lord answers.

The Lord has blessed us

with so many answers to
our prayers through the years.

He is a God who hears prayer

and He has vindicated Himself

as that kind of God repeatedly.

We talk about fasting.

I get questions on a
pretty much quarterly basis.

Every three months, we
try to set aside a week

where we give ourselves

to some very special praying,
fasting, seeking the Lord.

When I use the term fast,
questions come up.

What is it?

What do we fast from?

How often?

Are you talking about
fasting for an entire week?

What are you talking about here?

How often? What should be the frequency?

So what I thought I would do tonight,

I think this is a very healthy study,

just by way of remembrance.

What I want us to do

is to just do a topical study tonight

on this theme of fasting.

Let's look at what Scriptures says.

So what I want you to
do is to go out of here

with a good feeling
of what it's all about.

You are trying to think about,
how often should I do it?

And by the way, just because
we call special fasting weeks,

doesn't mean that Christians
can't fast all the time.

They can fast on a regular basis.

(Incomplete thought)

It is not like it is mandatory

and legalistically we're forcing
everybody to do this.

If somebody didn't fast

during our week of prayer and fasting,

certainly there is no crime in that.

But we just want to encourage it.

For the sake of unity, have the church

really beseeching the Lord

in a special way all at one time.

When you were out of here today,

I really want you to
have a feel for this,

maybe more than you had when you came in.

What's the significance of it?

And how often should we do it?

And if the church calls a time

of special prayer and fasting,

should I fast for a meal?

Should I fast for a day?

Should I try to fast for
three consecutive days?

Or seven consecutive days?

I mean, what is this?

For one, when we talk about fasting,

you know what I am talking about.

I am talking about abstaining from food

as prescribed in our Bibles.

And I know that people who
don't hold to the Bible fast.

People fast for health reasons.

People in other religions fast.

And I am not talking about
fasting just in a generic way.

I am talking about fasting
as it's found in Scripture.

I am talking about
God-prescribed fasting.

What does it look like?

You know, in the New Testament,

it is not like there are huge amounts

of verses that we can go to.

There's a couple of handfuls.

So let's look at them.

Look at Matthew 4:2.

What I want to do is just go through

a number of these verses

from the New Testament

and just see what we can glean from them

just in a casual reading.

(Incomplete thought)

The purpose for this
is a theology of fasting.

That's what we can call
the message tonight:

"A Theology of Fasting."

What does God teach us?

What is the teaching of God on fasting?

So Matthew 4:2.

After I get done with these
New Testament passages,

I want to look at one
in the Old Testament,

which I think is very helpful.

Matthew 4:2.

Jesus - we know that
our Lord Jesus Christ

fasted for how long?

Forty days.

Now look, as I was saying on Sunday,

you do not want to say:

Well, He was God. Or, He is God.

He is God.

I am not denying the deity of Christ.

But I am saying Jesus Christ
fasting and his hunger

was the fasting and the
hunger of a human being.

God becoming flesh.

God taking upon Himself,

robing Himself with mankind in a way,

in a manner in which He is like us

in every respect, save sin.

What I mean by that is his hunger

was just as real as yours.

And when He fasted,

His fasting affected Him
just like yours does.

You know where I am going with that?

It's possible for you to fast
for forty days and not die.

If you are not accustomed to fasting,

you may think one day
and you are ready to die.

You may think you miss breakfast

and get about to three
o'clock in the afternoon

missing lunch and you are ready to die.

There are people that feel that way.

You just feel like I can't do this.

Jesus Christ fasted for forty days.

(Incomplete thought)

I know two pastors that
just in the last year

did forty day-fasts.

You can fast for forty days.

So if you're wanting to know

how long it is even safe?

I am not saying go without
water for forty days.

We'll have another casket
up here if you do that.

But you know, you can go
forty days on water, you can.

You can go forty days on juice.

My point here is our Lord Jesus Christ

fasted for forty days as a man,

as one made like us in every respect.

I just point that out.

And by the way, our
Lord was given to fasting.

He did it.

It was something that
was part of His life.

At least here.

At least when He was being
tempted by the devil.

We see that He fasted.

Now, let's go to Matthew 6.

Matthew 6 has one of the
most important texts

on fasting in our Bible.

Because it is one of the two passages,

or one of the two incidents

where our Lord gives us instruction -

very specific instruction on fasting.

Of course, these different accounts

can be found in the
different synoptic Gospels.

But we basically have two accounts.

We have His teaching

in the Sermon on the Mount
here in Matthew 6

and then we have that occasion

where the disciples of John

and the disciples of the Pharisees

came and they asked Him -

the disciples of John
and the Pharisees fast

and your disciples don't fast.

These two passages are Jesus's instruction

in the New Testament on fasting.

If you want to study the most
important passages on this topic.

These are the ones you want to look at.

He teaches us some
very valuable things here.

Matthew 6: 16.

This is often been said:

"When you fast..."

"And when you fast..." verse 16.

"When you fast..."

There is an assumption
in the way He says that:

"When you fast."

When the Lord Jesus Christ looks at us

as His followers and He says,

"When you fast this is the
way I want you to do it."

He's definitely implying that He
believes that as followers of His,

this is something that is going
to be characteristic of our lives.

"When you fast" doesn't
mean you won't fast.

When you fast does not mean

that it is going to be
something that as a Christian

that should be foreign to you.

"When you fast" means

I believe that My followers
are going to fast.

In fact, His instruction as given

to these disciples of John

and these disciples of the Pharisees

who come to Him and ask Him.

We are going to get to
that text in a few minutes.

He says, "They don't fast now

because I am here. I am with them.

But when I go, they will fast."

Jesus is saying My followers
are going to fast.

He is not speaking specifically
to His followers there.

Although indirectly He does.

Here He is, directly to us.

He is looking at His disciples.

And you remember.

He gathered,
Sermon on the Mount.

He especially called
out His disciples there

and He began to teach them.

There were crowds behind there.

He kind of have the inner group there.

And he would say to us: "When you fast..."

This is part of the Christian life.

"Do not look gloomy like the hypocrites."

Okay, He does not want us fasting

in a hypocritical manner.

In other words, He
doesn't want us appearing

to be something that we are not.

He doesn't want fasting
just to be seen by men.

He says: "They disfigure their faces

that their fasting may be seen by others.

Truly I say to you,

they have received their reward."

What's their reward?

Their reward is that they
want to be seen by men

and get what they want.

They get seen by men.

They got what they wanted.

They didn't want anything more than that.

They fasted to be seen by men.
They got seen by men.

Everything is good.

They got what they wanted.

"But when you fast, anoint your head

and wash your face."

(Incomplete thought)

This doesn't mean that nobody else

can ever know that you're fasting.

If they do, if they find out

then all of a sudden all
your fasting is negated.

That's not what this means.

I mean, look, if you're married,

and your wife is
cooking meals for you,

(Incomplete thought)

There's times when you need to
communicate with people

that you're fasting.

I don't believe for us to have
a week of prayer and fasting

where we kind of know

that there is a lot of the one anothers
in the church that are doing this.

That's not what this is about.

It's got to do with motive here.

It's got to do with whether
you're doing it to be seen.

Motives is the issue here.

They do it for a motive.

They have a reason.

The hypocrite wants to
appear to be something.

You don't need to flaunt it.

When you fast, try to cover
it up as much as possible.

But you're going to get into situations

where you may have to tell somebody

or you may have to make it
apparent that you are doing that.

"When you fast, anoint your
head and wash your face

that you fasting may
not be seen by others

but by your Father who is in secret."

In other words, the
reason that we're fasting

has to do with our Father
who sees in secret.

When I fast, when you fast,

Jesus is assuming we will fast.

It is part of the Christian life.

What He is pointing out here

is you do this in a way,

not for the sake of men.

Not for them seeing you.

You do it because it's got something
to do with God the Father.

In other words, when you fast,

there are implications that have to do

with your relationship with the Father.

You keep reading here.

"Your Father who sees
in secret will reward you."

Now there is a textual issue here.

Some translations actually add "openly"

or "in the open," for everyone to see.

It is a textual issue.

Whether it is there or not,

It does not take away from the fact

that God is going to reward you.

In other words, we fast,

because there is a
Fatherly reward in fasting.

There are benefits. I
want you to see that.

Jesus is saying there is
a spiritual benefit to fasting.

You need to see that.

This is not a vain exercise.

It's not like, oh,
fasting - well that's neat,

you know, you tack it on our life.

We are not like the hypocrites.

You remember how Jesus tells us a story

about tax collector and the Pharisee

that go to the temple to pray?

You remember that story? Luke 18.

What is Jesus say about the Pharisee?

Well, he began to pray:

"God, I thank you I am not like other people

and I am not like this

and I am not like this
tax collector over there.

I fast twice in the week."

Let me tell you this,

all fasting is not profitable.

But there is fasting that's profitable.

That's plain from Scripture.

There is fasting that
doesn't do you any good.

There is the hypocrites here in Matthew 6.

All they get is seen by others.

That's the end of what they get.

(Incomplete thought)

You know what's not explicitly said,

but is definitely implied through here?

Faith.

Because you're doing this in secret,

which means you believe that God...

Remember how it says over in Hebrews 11?

We must believe that God is
and that He's a rewarder.

That's what we have here.
The Father rewarding.

He is a rewarder of them
that seek Him diligently.

You know what fasting is?

It is one of the things that
God has given to us;

one of the methods God
has given to us of seeking Him.

It is turning away from
the physical appetites

and seeking the Lord in special ways.

Turning away from gratifying
that physical appetite

and seeking the Lord
in a very special way.

That's what this is for: seeking the Lord.

Faith. You do this in secret.

You do this when nobody is watching.

Because you know God is watching.

You know the Father is watching.

You know He is there in secret.

And you're fasting because you're wanting

to lay hold on Him.

You want to seek Him.

Let us jump to Matthew 9 now

in the other account that
I was telling you about

where you get the disciples.

Matthew tells us it is
just disciples of John.

The three synoptics

kind of present the people

that are asking from
different perspectives.

But in Matthew 9:14,

the disciples of John -
this is John the Baptist -

they come to Him saying:

"Why do we and the Pharisees fast,

but your disciples do not fast?"

I guarantee

it is not a good thing

to be in one of the first two groups.

You know what? It was okay to
be disciples of John at first.

But you do not want
to stay a disciple of John.

You want to make that transition over

to being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Why? These guys are out of touch.

These guys are out of touch

with what is happening in this world;

what is truly happening.

They're out of touch with
the significance of Christ -

the fact the Messiah has come.

The Kingdom of God is at hand.

They are out of touch with that. Why?

Because, fasting as Jesus
teaches us right here,

has everything to do with Him.

Notice. Jesus said to them in verse 15,

"Can the wedding guests mourn

as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The days will when the bridegroom

is taken away from them
and then they will fast."

Here is what I want you to see.

(Incomplete thought)

Can the wedding guests mourn as long as

the bridegroom is with them?

You all see that. Matthew, mourn.

This exact account in Mark, chapter 2.

You do not have to turn over there.

But you know, it does not
use the word mourn there.

You know what word it uses?

You know what word Mark uses? Fast.

Mark uses the word fast.

Let me just read the Mark
account - Mark 2:18-20.

"Now John disciples and
the Pharisees were fasting.

And people came and said to Him:

'Why do John's disciples and the
disciples of the Pharisees fast,

but your disciples do not fast?'

Jesus said to them,
'Can the wedding guest fast

while the bridegroom is with them?'"

As long as they have the
bridegroom with them?

"They cannot fast.

The days will come when the
bridegroom is taken away from them,

And then they will fast in that day."

Mark's account is actually more extensive,

more detailed account than
what Matthew gives us.

What is very interesting is this:

Matthew uses the word mourn

in exactly the same place

where Mark uses the word fast.

Interchangeably.

That means they are synonymous.

I hope that helps in thinking
about what fasting is.

Mourning. Why do we mourn?

Why would you mourn when the
bridegroom is taken away?

Because there are longings there.

There is desire there.

I want Christ back.

This is not good. I don't like this.

And you know what,
we should not be content.

This is a healthy discontent.

You should not be
content to live by faith.

Say what?

The Bible says we should
live by faith. No!

What I mean is you should
not be content to stay here

and live by faith forever.

You should want to see Him face to face.

You should want to embrace God.

You should want to see Him.

You should want to stand in His presence.

You should want to walk with Him

and talk with Him and
fellowship with Him forever.

This isn't any good.
Well, it is kind of good.

It is good if you are a Christian

and you are walking with the Lord here.

Even the most that Christians
experience here is not what we want.

We want consummation.

This is like we have been betrothed.

(Incomplete thought)

Who gets engaged and wants
to stay engaged forever?

That's what we are dealing with here.

We don't want this.

We don't want to walk by faith,
not by sight for eternity.

We want to walk by sight.
We want to see Him.

It doesn't mean we don't trust Him.

But we want to see Him;
we want to be with Him.

We want the veil ripped back.

And until that happens, we
are longing after something.

We want more. I want more.

I want Him to manifest Himself more.

I want more of His presence,
more of His power,

more of His help. I want more.

Don't you want more?

That seems to be what this is all about.

They can't fast while I am here.

Why? They've got the bridegroom.

This isn't just random

or sporadic exercise of the Christian.

This has to do with what we desire.

That's what I want the church to do

and I want the church to fast
several times a year at least.

I hope you are fasting outside of the
times the church calls for a church fast.

I don't want people to do it mechanically

or just because we got into the tradition

of starting the year with a
week of prayer and fasting.

This has to come from desire.

This has to come from unfulfilled desire,

unfulfilled passion, unfulfilled longing.

That is what He is talking about here.

Let us go further with this.

How about Luke 2:36?

We are going to get
closer to the heart of this.

I think we are already hitting on it.

I hope this will help bring
it into even greater clarity.

Luke 2:36.

You may remember,

there was a prophetess named Anna,

the daughter of Phanuel
of the tribe of Asher.

"She was advanced in years,

having lived with her husband seven years

from when she was a virgin."

Then as a widow until she was 84.

She did not depart from the temple.

Notice this: "Worshiping with fasting

and prayer night and day."

Here is what I want you to see.

Look, our lives are to be
lived for the glory of God;

whatsoever we do,

whether we eat or drink,

or don't eat and drink.

We are to do everything
for the glory of God.

This is about worship.

Worship comes from the
Old English "weorthscipe."

It has to do with the
worthiness of something.

Worship is when we are recognizing

the worth of something.

There is nobody more
worthy than God Almighty.

There is nothing more worthy.

He, alone, is worthy of our worship.

And she, Anna, was
worshiping with fasting.

Fasting is a form of worship. Why?

(Incomplete thought)

Think about this:

When I fast because of the
reason given in Matthew 6,

because I long for the Father's reward.

When I fast because the bridegroom

has been taken away,

and my longing is for Him.

When I need God;

when I need what God can give me;

when I need God Himself;

when I am longing for that,

that's worship.

Look, when we're needy people

and we are coming to God
and we are desperate,

and we need His help -

but more than that; more
than what He can give us.

We need Him.

We want Him.

That's worship.

Isn't it? Isn't it the heart
and soul of worship

when we are wanting God
more than anything else?

When I say, you know what?

I want God!

I will give up food for
these seasons in my life

because I really want Him.

I want Him more than food.

I need food. I get hungry.

But I have a hunger in my soul for Him.

And you see, that is worship.

(Incomplete thought)

The last New Testament verse
(well, actually, there's two)

I would take us to are found in Acts.

The early church.

We see them fasting. Acts 13.

Acts 13 is the chapter in Scripture

where we see the missionary endeavor

taking root and form.

Paul and Barnabas are sent
out of the church of Antioch.

Paul's first missionary journey.

Acts 13:1.

"Now there were in the church at
Antioch prophets and teachers,

Barnabas,

Simeon who is called Niger,

Lucius of Cyrene,

Manaen, a lifelong friend of
Herod the tetrarch and Saul.

While they were worshiping
the Lord and fasting..."

Now we know that with Anna who
was worshiping with fasting,

Here, the ESV anyways says

"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.

And after fasting and praying,

they laid their hands on
them and sent them off."

Now, were they fasting
just as a typical practice

and that's when the Spirit came?

Or did the Spirit somehow
move through a prophet

and indicate these men
needed to go the mission field?

They saw this as being
such an important event

that they needed to fast.

I don't know the exact order here.

It almost seems like if
you take it at face value,

it seems like they were fasting.

The Spirit in the midst of their fasting

indicated maybe through
a New Testament prophet

that these were the two
guys that were to be sent.

And they continued in
their praying and fasting.

But anyways, the prayer and fasting

seems to go hand in hand

with the sending out
of the first missionaries.

They are going out and cross

from Asia over into Europe

and we know all the churches
that would be established.

This is a major matter.

This missionary movement

is flowing out of this praying and fasting.

We go a little further
in the book of Acts.

Acts 14:23.

Now Paul and Barnabas -
they're moving around

through the churches and are coming back

to churches that they've
already established.

Churches that were already planted.

Acts 14:23,

"When they appointed elders
for them in every church..."

and now they are going back to these
churches that they originally planted.

Now they are going back to them.
These churches are springing up

and they are appointing elders

and they are doing this
with prayer and fasting.

It is like when Paul and
Barnabas are designated

from the church of Antioch to go out.

When Paul and Barnabas themselves

go into these churches

and elders are being appointed.

It is being done with prayer and fasting.

Why? Because there's this
desperate need then.

You want to be right about the leaders

that you are choosing to take the Gospel

out on missionary endeavors

and who is going to be
overseeing the churches.

This is a time of desperation:

Lord, we need answers from You.

We need Your help.

We need clarity. We need discernment.

You can just see, it's
times of great need.

They commit themselves
to prayer and fasting.

Those are the verses in the New Testament

where you find fasting come up.

You get a feel for what it's about.

Now, I want to take you to
an Old Testament passage

in the remaining 25 minutes or so.

This is a great passage.

Turn in your Bibles first to Ezra 4.

We have to build the setting here

before we can just dive right into it.

If you don't get a feel for the setting,

you kind of lose some of this.

So if you go to Ezra...

Let me just tell you,

if you want to do a
real interesting study,

very carefully study Ezra,

Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.

Haggai and Zechariah are the two prophets

that God sent into Jerusalem

in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Those four books are all
from the same time period.

It's that time period of the
rebuilding of the Temple

after the Babylonian captivity.

They all go together.

Two of them are side by
side in the minor prophets

and two of them are right before
the Book of Job and Psalms

and that area of your Bible.

But they go together.

It is very interesting if you start
looking at the timetables.

And often, they measured the time

by whoever was in the leadership,

whether that was Cyrus or Darius.

And they talk about if
you go back before that,

it was Nebuchadnezzar -

in the certain year
of Nebuchadnezzar.

Anyway, let's look at this.

Ezra 4:24.

Actually, glance back up to Ezra 4:4

since you're right in the same chapter.

I want you to see this.
What happens in Ezra 4:4?

What do you see happen there?

Fear.

Let me tell you what happened.

70 years of Babylonian captivity go by.

70 years.

Which prophet prophesied
they'd be in Babylon 70 years?

Jeremiah.

Daniel picked up on that,

Daniel prayed right there towards the end.

What happens?

Cyrus comes along and Cyrus says:

"Any Jews that want to go back
to Jerusalem and rebuild?

Go back. "

So they go back.

And first thing they did,
they built the altar.

That was the first thing they did.

Second thing they did, was they laid

the foundation for the Temple.

In 4:4, they quit work on the Temple

after they have the
foundation laid out of fear.

(Incomplete thought)

Listen, even though they had
a commission to do this,

the capital is a long way away.

By the time they get to this point,

Cyrus isn't even there anymore.

What they get is that people

who did not like the Jews.

Antisemitism was very
much alive back then.

They did not want these
Jews rebuilding the walls,

or rebuilding the Temple.

They did not want that.
They were opposed to it.

They tried various ways
to stop them, scare them.

They managed - they scared them.

They got the foundation completed

and then they terrified them.

The Jews quit.

Now I want you to jump down to Ezra 4:24.

"Then the work of the house of God

that is in Jerusalem stopped."

They got the foundation
done and it stopped.

And notice this:

"It ceased until the second year

of the reign of Darius, king of Persia"

Cyrus was gone by the
time this work would resume.

It would resume in the second year
of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.

Now jump to Haggai and Zechariah.

We want to look at those two momentarily.

They are right at the end of the Old
Testament in the minor prophets.

Haggai is very short.
Zechariah is a bit longer.

But remember that,

the work would not resume

until the second year
of this reign of Darius.

So now, if we go to Haggai -

are you all there?

Everyone got it?

Old Testament. Last book is Malachi.

Jump back before that.
You've got Zechariah.

Before that, you've got Haggai.
Little tiny book.

Notice how it starts. Haggai 1:1.

Remember, back in Ezra,

we saw that the work on
the house of God ceased

until the second year of the reign
of Darius, king of Persia.

Now, Haggai picks up in the
second year of Darius the king.

This is the precise year

that the building is going to resume.

The second year of Darius the king.

Now jump over to Zechariah 1:1,

which is your next book in your Bibles.

Zechariah 1:1.

And you're going to see,
it starts in the eighth month,

in the second year of Darius.

Again it is the same. It's the same.

That text that we had there in Ezra 4:24,

that the building would resume,

is the exact same year that
both of these books start.

Why? Well, I'll tell you what happened,

they quit out of fear

and God sent both these prophets

in the very year that they would resume

to kick start these people
into resuming the building.

They were wrong to quit.

They weren't trusting the Lord!

They were living in fear.

And if you go back and read Ezra,

what you find is God sent

Haggai and Zechariah to them.

These are the prophets sent to them

to kick them in the rear
and get them building again.

God was not happy that
they stopped building.

Now, let's just keep moving along here.

Go to Zechariah 7.

Zechariah 7:1 starts in the
fourth year of king Darius.

Now, I'm just going to tell you this.

In Ezra, we find out that the Temple

was completed in the sixth year of Darius.

Zechariah 7 starts in the fourth year.

The construction was kicked back
into gear in the second year.

We know that it's finished
in the sixth year.

Guess where the fourth year puts you?

Right in the middle of the reconstruction

of the new Temple.

We are going somewhere with this.
Just hang with me here.

You got to picture yourselves.
This is Jerusalem.

They have been in fear of their enemies.

They quit.

After they foundation was laid, they quit.

God was not pleased.

God sent these prophets.

Told them: "You need to start
rebuilding, you need to trust Me."

(Incomplete thought)

What you've tried to do
has not been blessed,

because you have
not given first priority

to the rebuilding of My Temple.

That is what He told them
through these prophets.

And so they resumed building

in the second year of Darius.

They finished it in the sixth year.

Zechariah chapter 7 is in the fourth year.

It is when the Temple
is half-way restored.

That is key.

Now, look at Zechariah 7:2.

Now, the people of Bethel...

Bethel was 11 miles north of Jerusalem.

There were Jews there as well.

Jews that came back -
they didn't all go to Jerusalem.

Many of them went back

to where their families came from.

Not all of them went to Jerusalem.
Many were in the surrounding cities.

And so you've got a
bunch of Jews in Bethel

11 miles north of Jerusalem.

"And they sent Sharezer
and Regem-melech..."

Interesting - these are still
Babylonian names on these Jews.

And they're men to entreat
the favor of the Lord.

In other words, they are sending

an entourage from Bethel
11 miles to Jerusalem.

Why? Check this out - verse 3.

"Saying to the priests

of the house of the Lord..."

You see, they sent them
to where the priests were

and where the house of the Lord was

which at this time is halfway rebuilt.

"And the prophets..."

We know who the prophets are.

You can see that in Ezra.

That's these two guys,
Haggai and Zechariah.

Notice what they say:

"Should I weep and abstain?"

Abstain? What is that? That is fasting.

If you doubt it, down to a few verses,

he tells us that is exactly what it means.

Abstain from food.

Should we weep?

Doesn't it go hand in hand with mourning?

Like we saw in the New Testament,

where mourn and fasting
are used interchangeably.

They are talking about
weeping and abstaining.

It goes hand in hand.

I was leading you back to fasting.

"Should I weep and abstain
(or fast) in the fifth month

as I have done for so many years?"

Now, the "so many" years is seventy years.

He is going to tell us
that precisely in verse 5.

God is going to tell us.

What are the seventy years?

The seventy years are
when they were in captivity.

What they are saying is this:

they sent these two select
men with their entourage

11 miles to Jerusalem to the
priest and to the prophets,

and they are saying, hey guys,

go ask the priests and the prophets

whether we are supposed
to continue to fast

in the fifth month like we
have been for seventy years.

Why would they have done that?

To express their mourning for the fact

that Nebuchadnezzar came in and wiped out

the temple and burned
it and it was destroyed.

That is basically what is going on here.

Fifth month of the year, these people
have been fasting for seventy years.

They have a question as to
whether they should continue.

And here's the thing,
the temple is being rebuilt.

It's like, well, we want to know,

should we keep fasting

for the sake of the Temple,

when the Temple is actually
now getting rebuilt?

Does is make any sense to keep fasting?

We fasted before because
we lost the Temple.

Nebuchadnezzar burned it.
We were mourning.

But now that it's being rebuilt,

should we still keep on
weeping and mourning?

Is that even right?

And we are hearing word

the thing is well under construction.

It is likely to be completed.

Do we keep fasting?

So they sent this delegation

to the priests and prophets in Jerusalem.

Notice Zechariah 7:4- 5.

"Then the word of the
Lord of hosts came to me."

This is Zechariah.

Verse 5:

"Say to all the people of
the land and the priests,

when you fasted and
mourned in the fifth month..."

They not only fasted then; they
were asking about the fifth month,

but God throws in here the
seventh as well for these.

Here we get the exact number of years,

these seventy years
while they were in captivity.

"Was it for Me that you fasted?"

Was it for Me that you fasted?

Now we are getting back
at the heart of why we fast.

Was it for Me? What an answer!

But there is more! Read verse 6 with me.

This is interesting because
their question is about fasting.

"When you eat and when you drink..."

Wait, God just said to them:

"When you fasted and
mourned in the fifth month

and the seventh for seventy years,

was it for Me that you fasted?"

And then He goes right on to say -

their question isn't even
about eating and drinking,

It's about whether they should continue
mourning and abstaining - fasting.

But He goes on to say,

"When you eat and when you drink,

do you not eat for yourselves

and drink for yourselves?"

It's like, wow... Lord.

Why do You give them
that bit of information

when they are not even being
asked about eating and drinking.

Do you get the idea that
what was so important

to the Jews - and it is!

This is a really important
question for these Jews.

They felt it so critical to figure out

whether they should continue
this or not continue this,

that they actually go
to the extent of sending

a party of men to
Jerusalem to get an answer.

They obviously find Zechariah.

Zechariah's a man who can
give them an answer, right?

He is a prophet of God,

He's got a connection with the Lord.

They want to know.

Why would you even ask that question?

Why would you even send
this delegation to find out?

Because you want to know
what pleases the Lord.

They are thinking, they are
discussing among themselves.

They are getting together
at Bethel and thinking,

"Should we continue this?"

Which is pleasing to the Lord?

Is it pleasing to the Lord that
we continue to fast?

Or is it pleasing to the Lord that
we discontinue this fast?

That is what they are asking about.

But you see how God answers?

God is saying to them what's
really and truly important to Me

is missed by your questions altogether.

You see, you are sitting there thinking

that whether you fast or don't fast

is going to make the difference.

And God is saying it's not
going to make any difference.

I am not pleased with you
when you eat and drink.

Nor I am pleased with you
when you don't eat and drink.

You see the Lord's point?

Your fifth month fast has been no
good because you don't do it for Me!

You don't do it for Me.

If that's all the Lord has said;
if He had stopped right there,

they'd be going home thinking:

Oh, okay, so God is not
pleased with the fast.

Ok guys, Bethel we need to stop fasting.

God will be pleased with this.

No! It was necessary that
He say the next thing,

so that they really get the point.

You guys have a bigger issue

than whether you are
fasting or not fasting.

The way to please God
is not for these people

to simply quit the fast.

The Lord says that's
no good either because

you give the fast up and then you
go back to eating and drinking.

You don't do that for Me either.

Our primary question about fasting,

because you get all the time:

How often should I fast?

How long should I fast when I do fast?

What should this look like?

Do I fast for a meal?

Do I fast for a whole day?

Three days? Seven days?

(Incomplete thought)

Look, I'll tell you this,

if you are Christian,

Jesus is clearly saying

that fasting can be beneficial to you

in order to receive the
reward that God has.

The greatest reward that
God can give you is Himself,

and greater manifestations of Himself.

That is the greatest thing
He can give you.

He is the greatest treasure
that He has to give.

And the thing is

When you try to concern
yourselves with how long?

What should my frequency be?

What should this look like?

There is definitely benefit in it

if you are doing it for the sake of God.

If you are just doing it mechanically;

if you're just doing it because
it has become tradition or habit,

because the rest of church does it

because GCC has this tradition

of starting out each year with
a week of prayer and fasting.

Okay, you're going to do this because...

Look, the real issue in this is

you can eat and drink to the glory of God.

You can fast and do that
to the glory of the Lord.

And then you can go back to eating

and you can do it to
the glory of the Lord.

You don't have to feel a bit guilty.

But the driving motivator here

should be desire for God;

it should be desire for Him;

it should be doing it for Him.

He is saying you did not fast for Me

and when you eat and drink,

you do that for yourselves.

Our sights are set on the Lord.

This is all God-perspective
here in fasting.

That's the real issue.

We don't want to get
so hung up on ritual.

The Pharisee: "Oh, I
fast twice in a week."

You can get to where fasting
just becomes ritualistic.

You just do it to do it.

You do it because it is almost like

you feel there is some magic about it.

I fast and somehow I
am twisting God's arm

to do this or do that for me.

That's not what this is about.

You have to remember,

Jesus is talking about when we fast,

there is a God who sees in secret.

What's He looking at?

Not just your fasting exercise.

He is looking at your heart!

Didn't Jesus come along and say,

"You know, Isaiah said the
right thing about you guys!"

He was specifically talking about

where Isaiah said that these people

draw near to Me with their mouth.

But their hearts - they are far from Me.

God looks at the heart.

When you are taking about fasting,

(Incomplete thought)

there are times not to fast.

There are times when
the bridegroom is there.

It is time not to fast.

But the bridegroom has been taken away.

We ought to be desperate.

There ought to be lots of times

when we're just desperate for
having Him draw nearer.

Do you ever get just desperate?

It is like I don't have enough of God!

This is clearly the most important
question we need to be asking:

"Are we doing this for God?"

As far as frequency, it is something
you and I have to work through.

It's something we have
to ask questions about.

Just the question about
whether we fast or don't fast,

you can tell, God thinks that's
not the most important thing.

It's a trifle.

They totally miss what's essential

when they are asking a question like that.

That's all we ask.

Brethren, we need to beware of ceremony,

tradition, and ritual in all of this.

We need to be guided by desire,

That's a good thing to fast for!

God, give me more desire for You!

You got this promise sealed
with the blood of Jesus Christ,

that if you fast in secret,
there are rewards.

I'll tell you this,

Jesus did not say you
will get these rewards

whether you fast or not.

He did not say that.

He did not say that this
whole thing of fasting

is just indifferent whether
you do it or not

you get the same thing that you
would have gotten anyways.

That's never said about prayer
and fasting in Scriptures.

What you need to know is this:

there are people in this
world, Christians that fast,

and they received rewards from the Father

that other people don't receive

because they don't seek
the Lord the same way.

They are not as desperate.

They don't need Him.

And so they don't get.

Scriptures says you don't
have because you don't ask.

We can easily say, you don't
have because you don't fast.

There may be things that you will not get

unless you seek them

with real diligent prayer and fasting.

Again, there is a textual issue,

but there is a place where Jesus in Mark 9

talks about this kind only
goes out by prayer and fasting.

He is talking about spiritual battles,

won or lost, that hinge
on prayer and fasting.

The textual issue is that

some of the manuscripts have
fasting and some don't.

But even that regardless,

prayer is there in all of them.

It is the fact that there is a kind of
prayer that goes along with fasting.

It is an intensified way
of seeking the Lord.

When you heart is towards Him

and you heart is yearning towards Him,

God sees us fasting like that,

it is very pleasing to Him.

Very pleasing when we're desperate.

When we're longing because the
bridegroom has been taken away.

It is worship.

Do we not see that with
Hannah? It is worship.

This is a way to worship.

God never wants you to worship
when it's only with your lips

or it's only in a mechanical way
performed by your body.

We can grit our teeth and not eat.

God does not want that.
That's not true worship.

Worship is from the heart.

God wants us to worship with all our
heart, mind, soul and strength.

That is what He is looking at.
That's what is pleasing to Him.

That's not just a matter of
"Should I fast or should I not fast?"

It is more about where
the heart is in all of it.

If our heart is desperate for God,

you would think fasting
is going to be something

that is going to be simultaneous
to our desperation.

In this life, when we
want, and we desire,

and we hunger, and we
long for more of Him,

more of that reward that only He can give.

We know by faith He is watching,

by faith we know that He rewards us.

The big things are things
you are desperate for in life -

those things you know if God
does not give them to you,

you will not have

the salvation of people's souls,

the advance of the Gospel,

big things in life, major things.

You are trying to figure out,

you know, if you want to marry somebody,

or you're trying to figure out
leadership for the church,

what missionary is going to be sent...

These are appropriate
times to be fasting -

big decisions in your life where
you need to lay hold on God.

You need an answer. You need Him.

You do it for Him.

Any approach to God that makes Him great.

Not that we do, but you know how
we talk about magnifying the Lord.

That doesn't mean we make
Him bigger than He already is.

When we magnify the Lord,

all we do is come closer and
closer to a proper perspective

of what He is, who He is, how He is,
what His attributes are.

But brethren, when we are
going to God in desperation,

you know what that does?
You know what it communicates?

I recognize, I am needy,
I am desperate, I am helpless,

I am bankrupt, and He is
the fountain of all good.

He is Jehovah Jireh. I need Him.

He is the provider.

He is glorified when
we view Him like that.

If we really recognize how
utterly desperate we are

and bankrupt we are in ourselves,

and just the riches that are to be had;

this treasure house of
riches that are in Christ.

Like I say, the greatest riches that
God can give us is His own Son

and His own Self, fellowship with Himself.

Brethren, you get overwhelmed
by the presence of God

and you don't want anything
else in this world.

There is nothing greater than that.

And for Him to sweep us
ultimately up into His presence

where we can behold Him face to face

and be married to Him, be His bride,

walk with Him and talk
with Him, behold His glory.

There will be nothing greater that just
beholding the glory of Jesus Christ.

Don't you want more now?
Aren't you desperate for that?

That's what it is all about
when you hunger after that

and you actually fast
because you long for that.

That is worship.

God is very pleased
when your heart is in it.

If you get to the place
where you feel like

my heart is not in prolonging this fast.

I feel like right now, I could
sit down and eat a steak.

I could do that more to His glory.

Then do it. Eat your steak!

If there is nothing in your life that
is that desperate at that moment,

go eat your steak!

And praise God for it!

That's a word on fasting.
Brief theology on fasting.

Hopefully, that helps maybe
bring a little more clarity.

Father, we pray that the reality of this

that we've seen in Scriptures might be
true in our lives and true in our church

especially in this season

where we give ourselves just such fasting.

Make us desperate for You, Father,
we pray in Christ's name. Amen.