Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore

The Dangers and Blessings of Biblical Fasting

For three days, Jonathan Edwards had not eaten anything; for three nights, he had not closed his eyes in sleep. Over and over again, he had been saying to God, “Give me New England! Give me England!” When he arose from his knees and made his way into the pulpit, it is said that he looked as if he had been gazing straight into the face of God. They say that before he opened his lips to speak, conviction fell upon his audience, and many repented.

Carl Lundquist, who was the president of Bethel College for almost 30 years, died a few years ago. For many years of his life, he devoted a lot of energy to studying and promoting personal spiritual devotions and the disciplines of the Christian life. In a letter, he tells a story of how he first began to take fasting seriously. He wrote, “My own serious consideration of fasting as a spiritual discipline began as a result of visiting Dr. Joon Kim in Korea. ‘Is it true,’ I asked him, ‘that you spent many days in fasting prior to the evangelism meeting—even 40 days?’ ‘Yes,’ he responded, ‘it is true.’” Dr. Kim was supposed to preach at a large gospel gathering in Korea with 10 lakh (one million) people in attendance at Yoido Plaza. But six months before the meeting, the police informed him they were revoking their permission for the crusade. Korea at that time was in political turmoil and was under military rule/martial law. The officers decided they could not take the risk of having so many people together in one place. So, Dr. Kim and some associates went to a prayer mountain and there spent 40 days before God in prayer and fasting for the crusade. Then they returned and made their way to the police station. “Oh,” said the officer when he saw Dr. Kim, “we have changed our mind and you can have your meeting!”

As Dr. Lundquist went back to his hotel, he reflected that he had never fasted like that. Perhaps he had never desired a work of God with the same intensity. No growth of God’s kingdom had so much burdened him. Dr. Lundquist said that in the later years of his ministry, he found a modified fast once a week to be very helpful in his life and work. He wrote in his letter, “Instead of taking an hour for lunch, I use the time to go to a prayer room in the college. There I spend my lunch break in fellowship with God and in prayer. And I have learned a very personal dimension to what Jesus declared, ‘I have had meat to eat which you know not of.’”

One of the texts that moved Dr. Lundquist in those latter years of his life was the one we are looking at this morning—Matthew 6:16-18. The thing that gripped him from this text were the words in verse 16, “And whenever you fast…” Dr. Lundquist noticed that it does not say, “If you fast,” but, “when you fast.” He understood that Jesus assumed that fasting was a good thing and that it would be done by his disciples. So Jesus is not teaching on whether we should fast or not. He is assuming we will fast and teaching us how to do it and especially how not to do it. This is what we saw in Matthew 9:15—“When the bridegroom is taken away, then the disciples will fast.”

There are several true saints who are not satisfied with a superficial devotion or ministry and realize that God’s will is that we need to be filled with the fullness of God, as it says in Ephesians 3. Those who have sought the kingdom of God with great intensity have made fasting a part of their lives. Fasting is a great help to prayer. Now listen, here is the key to everything. Get this and you get all that is truly summed up. Listen, fasting is always linked with prayer. Did you get that? Fasting is always linked with prayer. Prayer is not always necessarily linked with fasting. You can pray without fasting. You cannot fast without praying. You can search the Scripture from one end to the other. Read every Scripture in the Bible regarding fasting. There are no times where fasting is without praying. Fasting, then, is not an end in itself, but is an expression of a spiritual hunger that draws us into the presence of God.

The person who prays with fasting is giving heaven notice that he is really in earnest. That he will not give up. That he will not let go until God blesses. Some of us pray so flippantly that we just utter words. I do not think we even have God-conscious thoughts. Others are drawn so into the presence of God that the whole world loses its meaning. What about when you pray? Do you pray unattached to this world, so consumed in the presence of God? Do you meet God when you pray? Or are your prayers words that are easily distracted by the things around you? Fasting is an affirmation of intense prayer seeking God; it is intense love for God; a hunger and thirsting for God where physical hunger is bearable.

Notice that even the Lord talks about this subject beautifully after prayer. Why? Because it is a great help in renewing a dead prayer life and growing in your prayer life. We can see mighty results in our lives from the Lord’s Prayer if we pray that intensely, even with fasting. Most of us have a burden that our prayer life is poor and not up to the mark, and we need to carefully learn this means of grace to grow in our prayer life.

Last week, we saw an introduction to the topic of fasting. I tried to give a biblically balanced view of fasting. We have seen how for saints of all ages—in the Old Testament, New Testament, and church history—fasting was an important part of their lives. Though there is no command, it is a non-compulsory, voluntary, spiritual discipline that shows our hunger and thirst for spiritual things.

Why is true biblical fasting not famous in our time? Oh, there are wrong fasts: fasts that some people think bring them atonement; rituals; penance for their sin. There is fasting for religious purposes, like on Good Friday and during Lent, which are unbiblical. There is fasting to gain righteousness before God or get a blessing. There is fasting to get the body beautiful. There is fasting for political things. But those are not the biblical issues. The Scripture calls for a fast in the life of a believer, and I would venture to say that many of you—perhaps a vast number of you—have never fasted because you have never really understood what the Bible meant when it talked about it.

So that’s what we want to see. There are a lot of abuses of fasting in all centuries. But instead of fearing and erring on the gluttonous end, why don’t we move away from the appearance of evil and be on the side where fasting occurs? We live in a society that loves luxury and ease, in all cultures. One of the marks of wicked people is that their god is their belly. Food is such an important part of their lives. They live only for their stomachs. The Romans were so fond of food that it is amazing. Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. passed a law which placed a limit on the amount of food a person might consume and the amount of money they might spend on food. People were so gluttonous, even Caesar couldn’t enforce his law. One particular Roman who lived in the time of Tiberius Caesar was a wealthy glutton, and it was said that he spent what amounts to about 26 crore on food. And one time, he checked his account and found he only had two crore (about $400,000) left and couldn’t eat the way he wanted to, so he committed suicide. Today, we live in a society where people do not eat to live; they live to eat. Sadly, and I think truly, someone has said the quickest way to a person’s heart is through his stomach. I think business believes that. If they want to sell you something, they take you out and stuff you first.

How should we guard ourselves from this perverted generation? In this demonic society of luxury and food, we should not allow ourselves to be molded to its form. It can make us very sluggish and spiritually dull; it will not help us gird our minds or live a disciplined and holy life. We need to learn self-control by this means of grace. We see Daniel and his friends in a lazy, dull Babylon culture, surrounded by riches and people all eating. For God’s kingdom and glory, he refrains from certain food.

Psalm 141:3-4 says, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil, so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.” Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.”

Fasting has many benefits and helps us bring control over our appetites. We have a soul and a spirit. When we fast, our spirit takes control over our body. Our spirit is saying to the other parts of us, “I am in control. I know you feel hungry. I know you may want a slice of bread or a cup of coffee, but you can’t have it. I am in control of you now, and you must obey me.” Your spirit is taking charge! Experiencing this kind of discipline helps you grow in faith. It helps your inner person take control. Fasting puts all of you on high alert to the things of God. It is a spiritual discipline unto the Lord.

Also, for us people, for killing sin and growing in holiness, fasting can be a good aid. We see so many sins related to food. Those of you who have a regular problem with sin, examine your life. Your food is something the devil could use to destroy you. It is a big fascination sometimes. With good, grand food, we run to eat, not thinking about who it is from—whether it is Nebuchadnezzar or Safir Sharif or Modi or Yogi. We get ourselves into bad situations because we compromise. Sometimes by eating with people we should not be eating with and getting engaged in things we should not be involved in.

Think about it; so many sins because of food. Take the first sin. The sin which made the entire human race fall—how did it come? Food. When Satan wanted to tempt Eve and caused the whole human race to fall, what did he tempt her with? Food. When Noah fell into a horrible and gross and vile sin, he did so because it says he planted a vineyard and drank of the wine and lay uncovered in his tent. Eating and drinking have always been a potential disaster. Esau, who had received the right of the firstborn, a tremendous treasure, and the blessing of the firstborn was his, but for a single meal, he sold his birthright. All his life cried out for that. Why did God destroy many Israelites in the wilderness? In Numbers 11:4-5, God’s people cried, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlics.” In Exodus 16:3, the griping children of Israel said in a sad lament, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots and ate bread to the full.” It was better to eat the way you want to eat and be in a pagan place than to be in the middle of God’s will and not have the kind of food you want. That’s living to eat. Here are a bunch of people who have been delivered from Egypt in a series of incredible miracles, who have been given the law of God, who are marching to the promised land, and all they can do is think about what they would like to eat. Sound familiar? How many today are like this? “Food, food…” Food is their god. For most of us, it is like that. Unless we are put in a wilderness like the Israelites, we will not know our heart.

Do you know the lust for food even found its way into the sanctuary of God and corrupted the house of the high priest himself, even Eli? In 1 Samuel 2:29, it says that God asked that aged priest Eli this question: “Why then do you look with greedy eye at my sacrifices and my offerings which I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest part of every offering?” See that? Now when anybody brought an offering, part of it was consumed on the altar and part of it went to support the priests. And those priests made sure they took the choice cuts and left the rest for God. Their desire for the gratification of an appetite had come to the place where it corrupted the worship of the very priests within the sanctuary of God.

Even New Testament church worship can be spoiled because of that. We are wondering how wrong it can go if we give food every week in the church. All the wrong people will start coming. Paul had some very strong words for the undisciplined congregation in Corinth who were so used to feasting that even when it was time for the love feast and even when it was time for the Lord’s Supper, they turned it into a gluttonous, drunken orgy. He said, “You don’t have houses to eat? You come and spoil God’s house.” And the rich people came and consumed all the food before the poor could come and have any.

A sign of the last days: In Matthew 24:37, it says regarding the time when the Lord returns, “For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” There was an over-indulgence in eating and drinking and a misapplication of marrying and giving in marriage. That is their life. Gluttony and drunkenness as well as the dissolution of marriage seem to mark a time when Jesus will return. See the specific warning in Luke 21:34: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.”

And I’ve found, and I think it’s biblically supported, that when somebody gives in to the passions of their appetite for food, it causes a decline in all other elements of their spiritual life. Let me give you an illustration of that, Jeremiah Chapter 5, verse 7. The wonderful prophet Jeremiah spoke for the Lord these words: “When I fed them to the full stomach, I supplied all their needs, they committed adultery.” In other words, when they got what they wanted and began to live to satisfy their desire for food with fullness, they couldn’t restrain themselves from other lusts which also took over.

You can’t isolate it. In Deuteronomy Chapter 32, verse 15 says the same thing: “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; you are grown fat, you are grown thick, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook God.” Did you hear that? And it may be a spiritual thing, but it’s a physical illustration that an inordinate and insatiable lust to fulfill the appetite led to apostasy. There has to be a balance here, people, and all I’m saying is that on the one hand, you have the sins of gluttony. On the other hand, you have this concept of fasting. And in a society like ours where we are being literally bombarded with food and our appetites are constantly assaulted to give in, fasting is not a common discipline.

So that’s what we want to see. Instead of erring on the gluttonous end, why don’t we move away from the appearance of evil and be on the side where fasting occurs?

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Hypocrisy: A Danger in Fasting

If fasting is going to be built into our lives as a way of seeking all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19), we need to know how not to do it. First, spiritually, on how not to endanger our souls and, next, physically, how to do it. In Matthew, our Lord talks about this spiritually. Let us see. There is a wrong way of doing fasting, and it is very dangerous to our soul. When we do it right, it is a soul-fattening fasting. Here, the Lord corrects their hypocrisy and ritualism and reforms their wrong fasting. We can call it “reformed fasting.” The Lord is saying, “Just like your giving and your praying are wrong, your fasting is wrong.” They believed fasting was a very righteous deed itself. The Talmud of Babylon said that he who blackens his face with ashes and fasts shall shine in the glory to come. They really believed that there would be a special place of glory for one who went through a fasting and covered his face with ashes. In Jesus’ time, this thing had gone beyond its bounds. It was a good means of grace. Like today, it became a ritual by the time of the Pharisees. Like everything, such as prayer and giving, it was abused and became a hypocritical, self-righteous demonstration in front of others. They put on this tremendous pretense, made themselves look as wretched and miserable and dismal as they could, and paraded around, letting everybody know they were fasting so they would be thought of as “super spiritual.”

Frankly, fasting is hard, isn’t it? I mean, if you just say, “Well, I’m going to fast,” all you can think about is eating. There must be a supernatural inducement to fasting to take away that anxiety there. But the Jews were fasting for every reason, and their basic motive was to be seen by others. It was an ego trip—to be “super spiritual” and “super pious”—and Jesus must correct this. It is very interesting that in Luke 18:12, it says the Pharisees fasted twice a week. Remember the Pharisee who came into the temple to pray and said, “I thank you that I’m not as other people, even as this tax collector and sinner over here; I fast twice a week.” Amazing. That is not a biblical prescription. They had come to the place where they did that, and the Talmud tells us they fasted on the second day and the fifth day of the week, Monday and Thursday. And when you ask the Pharisees why the second and fifth day, they will say because it was the second and fifth day that Moses went up and down from Sinai. He went up to Sinai, they say, to get the law on the fifth day of the week. He came down on the second day of the week. And in commemorating that, we fast on the second and the fifth day. But, as spiritual as it sounds, if you look a little closer into Jewish history, in the city of Jerusalem, you will find out that market day was the second and fifth day. And those were the two days in the week when everybody from the countryside came to town. And if you were going to parade your piety, that was the time.

And so on the second and the fifth day, market day, with people teeming in the city and the country, all moving around and milling about, it was a great time—an ideal place for those who fasted for a public pretense to put on their act, and they would do it for spiritual pride. They would walk through the streets with their hair all disheveled. They would put on old clothes and get dirt all over them. They would cover their faces with white stuff so they would look pale and dump ashes on their heads. And they would parade around on market day so everybody would see how spiritual they really were. That is what Jesus attacks in this text.

They Have Their Reward in Full

The warning of Jesus about the spiritual danger of fasting in the wrong way is important. Jesus warns us what not to do and then tells us what to do instead. Look at verse 16 of Matthew 6. “Moreover,” here’s the problem, “when you fast, be not as the hypocrites,” or “an actor on a stage,” “of a sad countenance.” They wanted to look really bad when they were fasting so everybody would know they were in a spiritual mood. Maybe they fasted for one day but looked like they had been fasting for 21 days. Some may secretly eat well but put on a show as if they fasted. And they would cover their faces with ash to make them look pale, wan, and gaunt. He says, “Don’t do that. Don’t fast for an impression.” They disfigured their faces, aphanizo, a word that means they completely covered themselves with this. They were putting on their demonstration, and the real issue is that they do it in order that they may appear to people to fast.

They actually donned sackcloth and ashes as if they were at a funeral. The more they did this, the more people would say, “How holy that man is. Oh, how pious he is. Why, twice a week I see him in his sackcloth and ashes, fasting in the streets. Oh, the obedience of that man. Oh, the piety. Oh, that we could emulate one percent of such great heights of holiness.”

So the hypocrites are people who do their spiritual disciplines “to be seen by people.” This is the reward the hypocrites are after. And who has not felt how rewarding it is to be admired for our discipline or our zeal or our devotion? This is a great reward among people. Few things feel more gratifying to the heart of us fallen people than being made much of for our accomplishments—especially our religious accomplishments. People do so much for that. So Jesus says in the last part of verse 16, “Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” In other words, if that is the reward you aim at in fasting, that is what you will get, and that will be all you get. In other words, the danger of hypocrisy is that it is so successful. It aims at the praise of people and it succeeds. But that’s all. It is full payment.

Why Is This Hypocrisy?

But let’s ask why this is hypocrisy. Here you have religious people. They decide to fast. Instead of concealing that they are fasting, they make it plain that they are fasting. Why is that hypocrisy? Actually, isn’t it hypocrisy to fast, but to anoint your hair and wash your face and not let anybody know that you are fasting? Isn’t the definition of hypocrisy trying to look on the outside different than you are on the inside? So these religious people are letting reality show, right? They are the opposite of hypocrites. They fast, and they look like they fast. No sham. Be real. “If you fast, look like you fast.”

But Jesus calls them hypocrites. Why? Because the heart that motivates fasting is supposed to be a heart for God. That’s what fasting means: a heart-hunger for God. Fasting needs to be for a spiritual reason. It is for those times of deep struggle that you are pulled into the presence of God. In fasting, I am so consecrated to God, which sets me apart to God alone. I forget the world and my physical needs and am singularly in a spiritual struggle to seek God’s face.

But the heart motivating the Pharisees’ fasting is a heart for human admiration. It is for a worldly reason, not for God. So they are being open and transparent about what they are doing, but that very openness is deceptive about what they are feeling. If they wanted to be really open, they would have to wear a sign about their necks that said, “The bottom line reward in my fasting is the praise of people.” Then they would not be hypocrites. They would be openly and transparently vain.

Fasting is also to be a display of humility. Fasting is to show that our hearts have been humbled before God. But these Pharisees are proud of their humility. They are so proud of their humility that they want everyone to see it. And so they practice that humility in the streets where everyone can see it and give them pats on the back, and great spiritual veneration and respect, and the Lord Jesus says this is false humility, not true humility.

So there are two dangers that these fasting people have fallen into. One is that they are seeking the wrong reward in fasting, namely, the esteem of other people. They love the praise of people. And the other is that they hide this worldly desire with a pretense of love for God. Fasting means love for God—hunger for God. So with their actions, they are saying that they have a hunger for God. But on the inside, they are hungry to be admired and approved by other people. That’s the god that satisfies them.

Right Way of Fasting

In verses 17 and 18, Jesus gives an alternative to this way of fasting—the way he wants it to be done. He says, “But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face, so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

The Jews used to anoint themselves with an oil. It was kind of like a way to keep their skin from getting too dry and dull in the heat in the hot part of the world they lived in. And it also had an aroma to it which would make them a little more fragrant because deodorant was not in existence in those days.

Now, understand again, if someone finds out you are fasting, you have not sinned. The value of your fast is not destroyed if someone notices that you have skipped lunch. It is possible to fast with other people. There are all kinds of public fasting in the Bible, including the New Testament, for example, in Acts 13:1–3 and 14:23. Being seen fasting and fasting to be seen are not the same. Being seen fasting is a mere external event. Fasting to be seen is a self-exalting motive of the heart.

Jesus’ Test of the Reality of God in Our Lives

This test will show if God is real in our lives. So Jesus gives us instructions that will test our hearts. He says to us, when we are fasting, don’t make any effort to be seen. In fact, make efforts in the other direction—not to be seen. Fix your hair, wash your face so that as far as possible, people will not even know that you are fasting.

But he goes beyond this and says that your goal is to be seen by God, not people. “But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face, so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret.” Fast to be seen by God in secret.

What Jesus does here is test the reality of God in our lives. Oh, how easy it is to do religious things if other people are watching—preaching, praying, attending church, reading the Bible, acts of kindness and charity, helping the poor, etc. The reason for this is not only the commendation we might get but more subtly, we excuse the sense that the real effectiveness of our spiritual acts is on the worldly, horizontal axis among people. All our focus is only on the rewards from people that we may get for the good works we do, not the vertical axis with God. We look at the praise of people and the support of people. We think about how people will appreciate us for everything. “If the kids see me pray at meals, it will do them good. If the church members see me fast, they may be inspired to fast. If one member gives a donation, announce it so others may also give. If my colleague/wife/roommate sees me read my Bible, he may be inspired to read his.” In other words, we feel that the value of our devotion and good works is the worldly-level, horizontal effect it has on others as they see us.

We measure our success by that: how many members attend church, how many give building fund donations, how much tithe. How many supporters we have. If we keep going like this, God will give full reward to us. We will become a big church with a lot of donations and tithes, but there will be no reward from the Father. We must tune our minds to focus our attention on God, not on how many members or how much money we get. We should measure our success by whether this glorifies God, whether this brings the kingdom, and whether His will is being done. That is how we should measure our success. How dangerous this warning is to us at this time. Our focus should be on God—His glory and kingdom.

The danger is that our entire life becomes justified and understood simply on a horizontal, worldly level for the effects it can have because others witness it. In this way, God can become a secondary person in our ministry, and we simply use him to do what we want to do.

Jesus gives us this great and wonderful test for our hearts to see if God himself will be our sufficiency, even when no one else sees or supports us. Will we perform our devotions and good works when no one else knows what we are doing? How much effort are we putting in when no worldly rewards are coming? Will we continue to do it? Is God real in your life? If so, we will not do things for the sake of men. Is this not the problem with most of us? Why do we not consistently live a godly life and perform our duties, such as reading the Bible, praying, fighting sin, going to church, and tithing? Are you doing it so that God sees? If so, why do we need so many reminders to pray and read God’s Word? How much we would have grown in the last five years if we did it simply because God sees. How much God would have rewarded us! Is God real in your life? If not, you are just another Pharisee, doing things to be seen by men.

When no one is asking, “How are you getting on with your fast?”—when no one but God knows—will you still fast? Jesus is calling for a radical reorientation toward God himself. He is pushing us to have a real, utterly authentic, personal relationship with God. If God is not real to you, it will be miserable to do anything when no one sees. It will be very miserable to read the Bible, pray, fast, and do good works when no one appreciates it. In fact, you will likely not do it unless your pastor asks or someone is watching. The strength to do hard spiritual things comes from knowing that God sees and will reward you. It is very difficult to endure something tough when God is the only one who knows. It will all seem very pointless and inefficient because the entire range of world-level horizontal possibilities will be nullified since no one knows what you are experiencing. All that truly matters is God and who he is, what he thinks, and what he will do.

Jesus’ Promise to Those Whose Focus Is God

See what reward Jesus promises for people who focus on God. This brings us to the last part of verse 18 and the promise Jesus makes about what God will do for those who focus vertically on him and do not need the praise of other people to make their devotion worthwhile. He says, “And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” The word “repay” in the NASB (New American Standard Bible) is probably a little too worldly. It seems to suggest a business deal: we do the work of fasting and God pays up with wages. That is not necessarily what is implied in the word, which simply means “give back” or “make a return.” In some places, it may be money. In others, it may be justice. In others, it may be God’s gracious response to an act of faith and prayer. That is what I believe it is here.

God sees us fasting. He sees that we have a deep longing that is compelling us to fast. He sees that our heart is not seeking the ordinary pleasures of human admiration and applause. He sees that we are acting not out of a desire to impress others with our discipline, but out of a weakness to express to God our need and our great longing that he would act. And when he sees this, he responds. He acts. We have seen him acting in these last weeks of fasting in some remarkable ways. People who have been resistant to the gospel are opening up. People closed off to reconciliation are opening up. People who have long been lukewarm and indifferent are awakening to the greatness of God and their salvation.

What Is the “Reward” Jesus Promises?

But what is the “repayment” or the “reward” that Jesus promises from the Father here? Might it be “the praise of men”? We would be making a fool out of God if we tried to use him in some roundabout way to get what we truly want instead of him, which is the praise of men. That is not the reward he gives.

Might it be money? The very next verse (v. 19) warns against laying up treasures on earth (whether God gives them or not) and says to lay up treasures in heaven—where there is no earthly currency except faith and love.

No, the best place to find out the reward of our fasting is to look here in the Sermon on the Mount. For example, the prayer that Jesus just taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 begins with three main longings: that God’s name be hallowed or revered, that his kingdom come, and that his will be done on earth the way it is done in heaven. That is the main reward God gives for our fasting. We fast out of a longing for God’s name to be known, cherished, and honored, and a longing for his rule to be extended and then fulfilled in history. We also fast out of a longing for his will to hold sway everywhere with the same devotion and energy that the tireless angels show sleeplessly in heaven forever and ever.

For sure, he gives us many, many specific things through fasting. And it is not wrong to seek specifically for his help in every area of our lives through fasting. But these three petitions—hallowing his name, seeking his kingdom, and doing his will—are the test to see if all the other things we long for are expressions of these. Do we want our sons and daughters to be saved because this would hallow God’s name? Do we want North Korea to open for the sake of the advance of the kingship of Jesus? Do we want honest leaders in government because God’s holy, revealed will for his creation is at stake? Do we want our churches revived and awakened with divine power, love, and joy because it glorifies the name of God, advances his kingdom, and brings about his will?

This is what Jesus is calling us to—a radically God-oriented fasting. So, for the sake of your own soul, in response to Jesus, and for the advancement of the kingdom of God’s great saving purpose to glorify his name, join the “Fasting Forty.” Fix your hair and wash your face, and let the Father who sees in secret see you open your heart of yearning to him with fasting. The Father who sees in secret is brimming with rewards for your joy and for his glory.

In Zechariah 7:4, the word of the Lord of hosts came to him, saying, “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even for 70 years, did you at all fast unto me, even to me?'” What a question. God says, “You know all those years when you fasted all the time? Did you think you did those for me? Did you think those were pleasing fasts? Did you think those were fasts that I accepted any more than when you ate and drank?” Verse 7 continues, “Should you not hear the words which the Lord has cried by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity and in cities all around it when men inhabited the Negev and the Shephala?” He says, “Listen, do you think that was an acceptable fast? Should you not have been obedient to the word of the prophets?” In other words, behind the fast, there must be a believable righteous life to make the fast legitimate.

Christians must avoid the performance of spiritual disciplines for the sake of getting noticed by people. Christians must avoid performing spiritual disciplines for the sake of notice by people. Whether it be fasting or giving, or praying, or church attendance, whatever obligations we have in the Word as believers, we should not do them to be noticed by men. The Lord Jesus condemns them. Their fasting is not truly directed towards God. Their fasting is not directed towards the heavenly Father. Their fasting is not a secondary help that God has appointed to help us have that extra earnestness in prayer when coming to Him about some serious matter. Fasting is something by which you get people to admire you. They desire to be praised by men rather than to be heard by the living God in their fasting.

Christian fasting is a normal part of a healthy spiritual experience.

Practical Suggestions on Fasting

Some of us have never had this discipline. We cannot suddenly start fasting for 21 days. It is a new discipline. First, we need to learn to walk and then to run.

1. Start slowly. Begin by skipping maybe one meal a day for a particular prayer. Then slowly move on to skipping two meals, from morning to evening, and then eating at night. We can call this a 12-hour fast. You can drink fresh fruit juice, which is excellent during a fast. Lemon juice is very good physically. Try this for several weeks. In the beginning, you will be fascinated with the physical effects of your experience, but the most important thing is to focus on your inner spiritual state and the reasons for fasting. While fasting for a particular reason, it is a very good time to practice some of the truths we have learned. Outwardly, you can perform the regular duties of your day, but inwardly, you will be in prayer, worship, and song. In a way, this causes every task of the day to be a sacred ministry to the Lord. No matter how mundane your duties are, think about how you can glorify God. Make it a sacred work. Break the fast with a light meal, not a lot of food, to avoid your stomach swelling. This is a good practice that everyone can do. People with diabetes, heart problems, or high blood pressure should limit themselves to this kind of fasting. You should ask your doctors whether you can fast and for how long, based on your condition. Do not say, “The pastor told me to fast, and then my sugar became 500 because of him.”
2. Try a 24-hour fast. Then you could do a 24-hour fast, from one morning to the next morning. Drink a lot of water. You could add lemon juice. You will probably feel hunger pangs, but that is not real hunger. Your stomach, trained over the years, gives you signals of hunger at certain hours. It is used to that, so it tells you to eat. It is like grumbling. You should learn to control that. Martin Luther says that the flesh will grumble, but you should ignore those signals. Soon, the signals will go away. Some people wrongly think, “Oh, I should eat; otherwise, I will die.” No, that is not true. Drink as much water as you want. Your stomach will be satisfied. You must be the master of your stomach, not its slave. If possible, use that eating time for meditation and prayer.
3. Learn from a progressive fast. One man shares his progressive education in fasting. The first time, he felt a great sense of achievement for going a whole day without food and congratulated himself that he did it so easily. Next, he realized that was not the goal of fasting. This brought to the surface so many wrong things in his life. He was a slave to so many things. It taught him to be more dependent on God. Christ’s sufferings became very real. It made him more sympathetic and merciful to others. He realized the pain of those people who are hungry without food and became more helpful to others.
4. Move on to a longer fast. After several weeks of 24-hour fasts, you can try a 36-hour fast—one and a half days, from morning to the next evening. Then maybe try three days and then a week. If the Lord leads you to more than that, please do it. The first three days are the most difficult, but it becomes easier later. The body begins to rid itself of toxins that have built up over years of poor eating habits; all the poison is going out. This is why you may have a coating on your tongue and bad breath. Do not worry about these symptoms, but be grateful for the increased health and well-being that result. After a week, the body will have eliminated the bulk of the toxins, and you will feel good. Your sense of concentration will be sharpened, and it is the most physically enjoyable part of the fast. Losing weight and your stomach becoming a certain shape are good, but that should never be our focus. Also, avoid a lot of coffee, as it can cause gastric acid.
5. Break your fast correctly. It is very important that after fasting, you do not eat a big, spicy meal. Never do that. Your stomach has shrunk and gone into hibernation. Eating a lot after that will cause stomach issues. Start lightly with fruits and then slowly move on to a full meal.

I do not want to make it sound like a big struggle. It is peace, joy, and great freedom in the Holy Spirit. Fasting can bring a breakthrough in the spiritual life that can never happen in any other way. It is a means of grace and brings great blessings into our lives. Even unbelievers realize its benefits. Wesley said that it is not merely by the light of reason that the people of God have been fasting as a means throughout the ages, but they have been taught by God himself, through clear experience, about the great blessing of this means.

A regular fast in the Scriptures would have been abstaining from food, but not from water, for a specific period of time. The most common amount of time was for the daylight hours of a day. So it was a partial fast of food but not of water for the period of the daylight hours of a day. That, by the way, has been the most commonly used fast in the history of the church. Christians would set aside the three regular meals of a regular day, and they would not eat from sunup to sundown. They would, however, take water or some sort of fruit juice or other liquid. Then they would resume their regular practices when the sun had set.

It is interesting that fasting in the Scripture is never an isolated duty. It is always combined with some other spiritual responsibility, and almost always, prayer is explicitly mentioned directly in connection with fasting. Fasting, above all else, is a help to prayer. It is not something that manipulates God into hearing our prayer. But it is something that reminds us of how seriously we are taking the matter that we are bringing to the Lord in prayer. It is a way of impressing upon ourselves, appointed by God, the importance of the matter that we bring to Him in prayer. Fasting is not so much a duty for its own sake, but it is a means to prepare us for other duties, usually prayer. We see examples of this with Daniel and our Lord.

Have you ever engaged in the practice of fasting with your prayer? Have you ever sat back and thought, there are such great needs for your soul, family, and church. Why can we not take each point and fast and pray earnestly for those points? Let me give you some. Make a note of these in a diary. I will devote myself to fasting and praying for each of the following prayer requests.

1. Upcoming June meetings. It is a sad state of pastors in the country. We complain and blame, but how much have we been burdened with the truth, seeing that the crowd had compassion, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few? We have a great opportunity for developing workers. Close to 80 to 100 pastors will attend. Pray with fasting for that meeting.
2. Where are the true shepherds? In the New Testament, the church prayed for church officers before their appointment. What is more important than that prayer? How important is it that the men who will shepherd the souls of our children in the coming generation are chosen by God? I will fast and pray that God would pour out the men that He has chosen and them alone to be our officers.
3. The state of Christianity in the country. The hindrances to the gospel and the new government rules will affect the churches and future generations. God’s glory is blasphemed, Satan’s kingdom reigns, and his will is not done.
4. New souls. Many of our relatives, our own parents, and children are unbelievers. How earnestly are we praying for them? Have you ever thought, “You know the work of missions is so vital, we need to send missionaries out from our own congregation to the far-flung corners of the earth.” I will fast and pray regularly that God would raise up missionaries from our midst and that He would protect the ones He sends and give them an open door of opportunity as they are in the field.
5. Family prayers. They are so irregular and disorderly, which is why there is no peace and blessing in families. There are so many hindrances, sins, and a curse on a family that does not call on God. How much they miss God’s blessing.
6. Young people in our church. Who will pray for them? We ourselves have so much struggle. Their struggles, future, and marriage bring tremendous pressure, responsibilities, and burdens.
7. Revival. Have you ever thought, “Oh, I would love to see more people converted in the worship services here at our church.” I will fast and pray that God would bring conversions under the preaching of the Word. Have you ever thought, “We need revival? We need renewal. We need to find our first love again.” I will fast and pray that God does a work of renewal in our hearts at our church. Give yourselves to this spiritual discipline as your Lord has counseled, and watch heaven’s hand of blessing unfold.