Upside Down - fasting: Experiencing God’s Presence Through Spiritual Hunger

Today, we are talking about a spiritual discipline the church rarely talks about: fasting.

Fasting from food is something most people do not like to do. We love to eat.   We love to raid the refrigerator at 10:00 PM.  We finish off that pan of brownies, bag of Doritos, or the leftover birthday cake.

Let me throw out some information that might surprise you about food and America:

Did you know that the average American consumes roughly 1,885lbs of food per year?

• The average American consumes:

• 29lbs of French fries every year.

• 23lbs of pizza every year.

• Drinks 53 gallons of Soda every year.

• Eats 24 lbs of ice cream every year.

One final nugget: By the time an American is 80, they will have eaten nearly 68 tons of food during their life! We like to eat!

We stress eat. We go out to eat. We Door Dash food. We can stare at a full refrigerator of food, a full pantry of food, and say, “I don’t have anything to eat…” And, for many of us, if we don’t eat at our regular time, we get hangry. Hangry is when you are hungry, and you get angry and irritable.

Let’s read what Jesus said about food and fasting…

Matthew 6:16-18 (NLT2)
“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17  But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. 18  Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

In this passage, Jesus pokes a little fun at the religious leaders who practiced fasting. The religious leaders made themselves look MISERABLE when they fasted because they wanted people to admire them. Made themselves look disheveled. They messed up their hair. They rubbed a little dirt on their face. That’s why Jesus said, “When you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.”

Before we go further, let’s make sure we all understand what FASTING is:

Fasting chooses hunger to experience God’s presence

That does not sound very appealing, does it? Depriving ourselves of food goes against the needs and demands of our bodies.  Intentionally going without food seems kind of…HARD.

For medical reasons, not all people can fast.  Some people may struggle with an eating disorder, and fasting may trigger a condition they are trying to overcome. Not all people are physically able to abstain from food. They may fast from technology, entertainment, Social Media, and their phones…

But Biblical Fasting always refers to choosing hunger to experience God’s presence. You could fast by skipping a meal, fast for 24 hours, fast for three days, or thirty days. I knew a Pastor who fasted for 40 days leading up to a scheduled revival at his church. Biblical Fasting does not have a “set length of time.”  But fasting is a spiritual discipline done to seek God’s presence, direction, and next steps for your life.

Now, if you are a follower of Jesus…you might ask, “Why on earth would a born-again, forgiven, spirit-filled person, deprive themselves of food? Why would we intentionally make ourselves miserable, hangry, and irritable?”

A follower of Jesus has received Jesus as their Savior, repented of their sin, and surrendered their life to Jesus. They know they will never be punished for their sins because Jesus paid the penalty for their sin on the cross.  They are already guaranteed HEAVEN. SO WHY FAST?

The answer can be found when we look at the life of Jesus.

At the beginning of his public ministry on the earth, Jesus went out into the wilderness to fast for 40 days.

Matthew 4:1-2 (NLT2)
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2  For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

For forty days, Jesus did not eat a single bite of food. As each day passed, His body began to consume itself. The average first-century Jewish person was lean and physically fit. They walked miles every day, worked with their hands, and ate simple meals built around grains, fruits, and fish. So, when Jesus fasted, His body started burning through the small amount of fat He had for energy. Once that was gone, His body began feeding on His own muscles just to stay alive. His face grew hollow, and his eyes would have sunken into his face. His skin would have hung loose, his heart rate would have slowed, and even his body temperature would have dropped. Toward the end of his fast, Jesus would’ve felt dizzy, weak, and cold. His hands would’ve trembled. His mouth would’ve been dry. Every step, and every breath would hurt and require effort. He would be barely able to stand…

And that’s when the devil showed up and tempted Jesus to break his fast and turn stones into food.

Matthew 4:3-4 (NLT2)
During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4  But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Jesus could have turned the stones into bread. He could have satisfied the gnawing hunger of his body. But instead, Jesus resisted the temptation to break his fast because the craving for God’s direction and guidance was stronger than his craving for food.

If Jesus, God in the Flesh, fasted to continue to develop his dependency on God…shouldn’t his followers make it a common practice?

I have fasted more since arriving at Beach Church than I have in my entire ministry. Fasting makes me uncomfortable.  Yet, it reconnects me with the presence of God in a way that regular scripture reading and prayer can’t quite do.  There is something about hunger that sharpens your focus and dependency on the Word of God.

For followers of Jesus, fasting must be accompanied by reading the Bible and pouring your heart out to the Lord in prayer.

Fasting brings focus through Scripture and prayer

If you fast without reading scripture and praying, you are only starving yourself. Fasting demonstrates that I agree with Jesus that we do not survive only with food, but by every Word of God.

In the Old Testament, there was a prophet named Jeremiah.  He spoke about God’s word as NOURISHMENT to his spirit.  He said:

Jeremiah 15:16 (NKJV)
Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.

God’s word brought joy and rejoicing to the heart of Jeremiah. Because of his preaching, Jeremiah became a laughingstock. The Israelites had thrown him into a sewage cistern. They had placed him in stocks and made fun of him. Jeremiah was at the end of his rope and ready to walk away from the calling that God had on his life.

He said…

Jeremiah 20:9 (NKJV)
…"I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.

For followers of Jesus, the word of God strengthens our inner man.  It strengthens our spirit.  The Word of God is our nourishment and strengthens us to be able to stand against temptation…

So begin fasting on a regular basis.  Fast for a day.  Fast for a couple of days. Spread your Bible open like a plate of food, and read it.  Soak nourishment up from it. And, if you are at a crossroads in your life…

Fast with others before your next big step
(Acts 13:2, 1 Cor. 7:5)

Wait a second…Jesus said we shouldn’t let anybody else know we are fasting. As the first church began to grow and reach people, a group of Pastors gathered together to focus on what God wanted for their NEXT.

Acts 13:2 (NLT2)
One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.”

When these men in Acts fasted, they joined in hunger and prayer, seeking ONLY what GOD wanted the church to do next. Then, because they fasted together, the Holy Spirit spoke to them and told them to send Saul and Barnabas out to tell the world about Jesus. The Spirit told them their Next Big Step.

What would your LIFEGROUP look like if you regularly fasted and prayed for individuals who were walking through a difficult season in their marriage?  Or a health issue?  Or a financial problem?  What if your LIFEGROUP began to FAST and PRAY for one another?

Husbands and wives – what if you began fasting together before you took your next big step?  What if you fasted and prayed for your children once a month or once a week?  What if you fasted and prayed for your relationship to strengthen and improve?

As followers of Jesus, you should not take the next big step without fasting.

And fasting isn’t just for the big steps; it is for daily dependency on God.

• We can fast if our walk with God is not where we would like it to be.

• We can fast if our relationship with our spouse is not where we would like it to be.

• We can fast if we are troubled in our finances.

• We can fast and pray for our children.

• We can fast and pray about issues at work.

• We can fast if we are unclear about a direction we need to go.

• We can fast for a friend to experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

• We can fast and pray that our character would become more like God.

Fasting is one of the most underused, overpowered disciplines in the life of a believer.

And if you can’t think of one thing personally to fast over, I want to invite you to fast for our church. God is moving in our church, and I want to ask you:

Will you fast with me Fridays through December?

Why do we need to fast for the church?

Our combined attendance is now over 2,600.
We’ve baptized more than 250 people this year. People are surrendering to Jesus left and right. God is moving and everything is going great, right?  Why fast? Because, with growth comes growing pains…

• We have more people who need help growing in their faith

• We have more people circling the parking lot and trying to find a space to park…

• We have more people to get plugged into a LifeGroup…

• We have more children, more teenagers, more people surrendering their lives to Jesus.

• We have a need for more leaders, more staffing, and more generous givers.

So, will you join me in fasting on Fridays and seeking God’s next for Beach Church?  Maybe you skip a meal. Maybe you fast from media or entertainment if food isn’t an option. The key is: replace what you give up with Scripture, prayer, and worship.

And, you won’t be fasting alone! You will join hundreds of other people serious about turning Myrtle Beach and The Grand Strand Upside Down for Jesus.