Practicing the Way: Fasting

We have been in a teaching series called Practicing the Way. Practicing the Way is really. This season for us is about spiritual formation. This is a fall of spiritual formation for the Gathering Church. We are seeing God move already in mighty ways.

It's exciting. Practicing the Way is a discipleship program created by a church in Portland, Oregon, that we're adapting into our context. Guy named John Mark Comer wrote this material. There's a book called Practicing the Way that you can read. That's helpful.

That's a part of this. And we're. That we're doing that on Sundays as a church. I'm teaching all nine of the practices in a row. And so for nine weeks, we'll be talking about the various practices of Jesus.

And then in our small groups, we're studying it together. And so last week we talked about scripture on Sunday. And then you got into your small groups this week. And I hope that you talked about how to study God's Word, developing a hunger and a love for the Word of God. Man, that's my favorite practice.

I love the Word of God, and I hope that that was a blessing for you, that this week as you've studied it, you've been already starting to see a change in the way that you see and understand and know His Word. Here's the idea for this whole thing is that to be a Christian is to be a disciple of Christ. Meaning we can't just casually believe. We have to actively follow Jesus. And the way that we do that is not easy, but it is simple.

To be a disciple just means to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus and to do what Jesus did. And that's what we're doing in this series. We're learning how to be with him through practices like prayer. Prayer and scripture and solitude. We're learning how to do what he did.

And this will make us become like Him. We're learning a new practice every Sunday and then discussing it throughout the week. If you're not in a small group yet, join one today. And if you missed the first part of this series, you can go to gatherasheville.org practicing the way. And you can find all of our materials and our messages right there.

Today, today, we're talking about everybody's favorite practice, fasting. We're going to get hungry today. Fasting. I love to eat. I love to eat.

And maybe you're with me in this. Some of you guys I know love to eat, but the way that I love to eat, man, I think I just, it's. I have a very Special relationship in my love with food. I've barely ever even been hungry before I became a follower of Jesus. I'm pretty much always eating.

I have receipts for this. I got proof for this. I carry some proof with me everywhere I go. I also have some proof for this in my military career. So I was in the Coast Guard for nine years.

And the team that I was on in the Coast Guard, we had these nicknames for the radio, call signs for the radio. And some guys had, like, some really cool call signs. You know, we had your Maverick and your Iceman in there, right? Some cool call signs. You heard them and you're like, wow, that must be a cool guy.

My call sign was not quite as cool, but it was very accurate. For nine years, I answered radio calls to snacks. I was snacks. If you want to know how you get the call sign snacks, the answer is you eat a lot of snacks. And matter of fact, I wore a plate carrier that's like a bulletproof vest with a bunch of stuff on the outside of it.

And on my plate carrier, I removed two of my ammunition pouches so that I could put in a big pouch right here, a big zipper pouch. And inside of it, I kept a bunch of loose Cheez Its and Tootsie Pops all just mixed in together. So at any given moment, if I was out on patrol or on a mission, you would see me just zipping that off and just crunching on some Cheez Its. Be sitting there trying to interview somebody, talking to somebody who was in trouble. And I'd be like, now, what was your original intent for this voyage, sir?

I didn't do that. I did it in private, okay? I snuck away and found places to eat my Cheez Its. But, yeah, I was snacks. I love to eat.

I love to eat. I barely ever miss a meal. I'm always trying to figure out how I'm gonna feed myself. When Raelle and I got married, we got married at 4pm on a Sunday, because that was the best deal. Somebody knows that was the best deal to get married for a venue was 4 o' clock on a Sunday.

And so that's what we did. And I was headed to the church at 2pm I remember headed to the church at 2pm for my wedding in my suit. You know, I got my hair done, I'm looking beautiful, and nobody had fed me lunch. You guys, people just aren't thinking about is, has the groom eaten today? Nobody had fed me lunch.

So my dad is driving me, and I made my dad stop at Wendy's on the way to the church, I'm eating a spicy chicken sandwich in my suit as I head to the back of the church to go get married. I'm just. I love food. I love to eat. And I'm telling you all of this so that you know that fasting as a practice is one that is not natural for me.

Okay. I hope that it brings more weight when I tell you how important I think fasting is. I think fasting is one of the most important spiritual practices that you will add to your life. I think it's one of the most practical ways that we can grow in our faith that there is. I think there are very few things in your life that you can do that is going to help you become like Christ more and more quickly than fasting.

Fasting has always been a crucial part of people's spiritual rhythm. As long as humanity has had a relationship with God, fasting has been a part of that relationship. We know that they fasted in the days before the law. We know that when the law was written in Leviticus, there are mandatory days of fasting. There's festivals of fasting, days where once a year where they had big fasts that they would take part in the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur that they still celebrate in the Jewish faith.

Today was a day of fasting. We know that there was a consistent practice of fasting situationally. Second Samuel, chapter 12, David's child was sick and it says that he fasted and he prayed for healing. In 1st Samuel 31, we see that they fast as a way of mourning. When.

When Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle, it says the entire nation fasted to mourn the loss. This was a constant and consistent thing throughout the Old Testament world, and it carried seamlessly into the New Testament. Fasting has not gone anywhere. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave some guidelines for a few things that he expected his disciples to do. These weren't optional things.

In Matthew, chapter six, as you read the Sermon on the Mount, I want you to take note of the way that Jesus begins each sentence as he goes through this list of explanations. He says, when you pray, here's how you should pray. Don't use so many words because it's not about the amount of words. It's about the condition of your heart. In other words, I know you're going to pray because you're my people, and this is one of the ways that I want you to do it.

He says, when you give to the poor, not if you give to the poor, giving to the poor is not an optional thing for you. If you're my followers, you're going to be the most generous people in the world. And when you do it, do it so that your right hand doesn't even know what your left hand is doing. You're not doing it in order to be made great. You're doing it because you're my people and my people are generous.

And he says, when you fast. Matthew chapter 6, verse 16. When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. When you fast, because you are my people and I know you're going to fast. When you fast, don't make a big show out of it.

Wash your face, child, look nice, do everything that you can to present yourself well, and this is your offering to the Lord. Fasting wasn't an if you do this thing, it was a when you do this thing to Jesus. When Jesus ascended into heaven, his people right away took up fasting as a regular practice. We know that they fasted situationally, just like we see David and the people of Israel doing in the Old Testament. Acts chapter 13 tells us that they fasted and prayed when they selected Paul and Barnabas to go plant churches on their first missionary journey.

It says while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me, Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. And then after they finished fasting and praying, they laid hands on them and sent them off. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 11:27 that he's offering often in fasting. We see fasting as a part of the prayer process, as a part of the decision process, as a part of regular rhythms of life throughout the New Testament. The New Testament has 75 mentions of fasting.

It did not disappear in the New Testament era. Fasting was and is and forever will be until we are with him again in heaven, an important part of of our spiritual life. In the early church, fasting was so common that we know in the first four centuries of the church, we call that the period of the Church Fathers. In that season, every Christian fasted twice a week, twice a week till 3pm they would fast on Wednesdays and on Fridays from the time they Woke up until 3pm that was their regular practice. When the Christian church was usurped by rome in the 4th century.

When we see that there was a period where fasting kind of Shifted. It was a lot of different things, but by the 6th century, it was law. They had written it into law. They had days of fasting and seasons of fasting that were required for church members. And that was on top of the two days a week that they required people to fast.

Still Wednesday and Friday, these were the traditional days of fasting. This carried on and on and on. It became legalistic, it became dogmatic. People began to resent fasting. And by the time of the Protestant Reformation, one of the things that the Reformers really spoke out against was the dogmatic, legalistic way that people were fasting.

They were fasting out of a place of resentment. They were fasting out of a place of requirement. Nobody wanted to. And so they did not. They were clear, the church reformers were clear, that this is not a part of God's law.

You're not required to fast twice a week. You don't have to fast the way the Catholic Church told you to. And people felt really freed by that. Sometimes we look back on that season and we point to that and say, well, we actually don't have to fast anymore, because since the Reformation, as Protestants, it's not a requirement for us. But you should know that the Reformers fasted twice a week, consistently and always.

John Wesley, one of the great founders of the Protestant Church, who founded the Methodist Church, would not hire a pre. A pastor if they did not have a practice of fasting twice a week. It's in his requirements. There was never a moment where they said we shouldn't fast. There was just a moment where they restructured what fasting was and is.

Fasting has always been seen by the Church as an essential practice, but for some reason, over the last hundred years, that's shifted. And fasting has found its way to something considered or talked about, but rarely done. And I think that in today's world of excess and instant gratification, there are really not many things that would be more beneficial to our spiritual health, our mental health, our physical health, than a regular practice of fast fasting. We need it, Church. We need to be a people who fast.

Let me explain why it's so important. It begins in Genesis, chapter two, the story of your creation. It says, the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And this man became a living being from the very beginning. Beginning, you consisted of two parts.

You were made from the dirt of the earth. The Hebrew word for man is Adam, which comes from the Hebrew word Adama, which is the Hebrew word for dirt. You're dirt, you know, get used to it. And you're made out of the dirt of the ground. And then God breathes his spirit and it gives you life.

That is the image of God inside of you. The spirit is the very part of you that gives you purpose, direction. That makes you special, that makes you eternal. The spirit that he places inside of you is created to live in a holy communion with the Holy Spirit of God. It is important and it matters.

But you are also made out of flesh. And let me tell you that both your flesh and your spirit. Both your flesh and your spirit have cravings and desires and needs. And ever since sin entered into the story of humanity, the needs of your flesh have been corrupted into wants and hurt and hang ups and habits and things that hurt us. Some of those things are wants that are.

They are needs. Things that are good initially. Our desire for food, our desire for comfort, our desire for sex. These things that are good, natural, normal things that exists inside of us, but that our flesh, when overfed, corrupts them into wants that begin to control us. My flesh also wants things that are evil.

Because of the sin that is in me. My flesh has desires for things like vengeance. But God's word tells me that vengeance belongs to the Lord and not to me. My flesh has the desire for power, for money, for. For things of this world.

And if I don't know how to check or control my flesh, I will pursue those things relentlessly with every breath that I have. But the spirit that is in me has needs as well. It has a need to be connected and in community with the one whose breath it is, with the One who made me, with the One who created me. And. And I will never find satisfaction by feeding my flesh.

But I will find it by learning how to feed and prioritize the spirit that is inside of me. Now you got a war going on ever since the day you were born between your flesh and your spirit. And one of these things will rule you. Paul says this in Romans chapter seven. I changed poor.

The poor propresenter slides people. I changed the verses. Romans chapter 7, verse 21. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of my God and my inner being in my spirit.

But I see in my members, my flesh, my body, another law waging war against the law of my mind, holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members or in my flesh. What a wretched Man I am who will deliver me from this body of death. But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh, I serve the law of sin. This war is always at place within you.

It is happening right now. Where one is going to win your flesh or your spirit, and which one wins is just really simple. Whatever you feed will get stronger, and whatever you starve will get weaker. The thing in you that is most consistently fed will be able to overpower the other. It can't be more simple and it can't be more plain.

If you want to be able to overcome your flesh, then you are gonna have to learn how to consistently feed your spirit and how to consistently starve your flesh. That's why we fast. The very first sin happened because of a lack of self control. Because desire for something physical overwhelmed the knowledge and the heart of the spiritual. Adam and Eve are speaking to the serpent.

And the serpent says that if you consume, consume this fruit, surely you will not die. If you consume this fruit, you will be like God, knowing both good and evil. And Adam and Eve, they didn't consider the fruit. They didn't examine it or hold it or think about it. They ate it.

They satisfied their cravings physically. The sin of Esau. If you know the story of Jacob and Esau and Jacob and Esau twins, one of them would get the birthright which would become the nation of Israel, the chosen people of God. And one of them was supposed to be Esau, the firstborn. But Esau becomes hungry one day, and he allows the cravings of his flesh to overwhelm the needs of his spirit.

He trades his birthright for a bowl of bean soup. We just know by studying scripture that that if we allow our flesh to rule us, it will rule us in the wrong direction. And so we have to starve it. We have to learn how to feed our spirit. And that's what fasting is.

We fast for three principal reasons. First, to offer ourselves to God. Fasting is a type of worship. We worship God through fasting. It's sacrifice.

In the Old Testament, you worshiped God and you made an atonement for your sins. And by sacrificing animals and crops, the first and best. And we don't have to do that anymore because Jesus satisfied the atonement for our sins. He came and became the once and final sacrifice for us. We don't have to make up for our sins anymore.

Praise his holy name. But we are still called to sacrifice for the sake of worship. We know this from many places in Scripture, but in Romans 12:1 it says, I appeal to you, therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, for present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. And this is your spiritual act of worship. This means more than just fasting.

It means we keep our bodies holy by not giving into our fleshly desires for the sin that would rule us. It means that we consistently live like we believe and acknowledge that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Paul said in 1st Corinthians 6, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You're not your own, you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.

We do this by practicing holiness, and we do it through fasting. Fasting worships God. That is. So why so often we see people fasting when they're praying for great intercessory prayers, great prayers of intercession. When people are praying for healing and deliverance and renewal in the scriptures, often they fast.

And they do that because they're asking for something from God and they're laying a sacrifice down in return. It is an act of worship, is one of the best ways that we can devote ourselves to Him. Fasting is worship. Fasting helps us grow in holiness. Let me talk about this for a minute.

Because we starve the flesh and we feed the spirit, plain and simple. Because fasting is our most effective weapon in the war we fight against our flesh. A 5th century pope, St Leo the Great said this. Fasting gives strength against sin. It represses evil desires, it repels temptation, it humbles pride, it cools anger, it fosters all the inclinations of goodwill, even into the practice of every virtue.

This logic is simple. Many of the sins that we fall to, we know we should resist. But ultimately we fail at the resistance. We don't have self control. We're not strong enough.

Our desires overwhelm our self control. That's why on the other side of many of those sins is a comedown of an incredible amount of shame and guilt. If self control is a muscle, fasting is the best exercise. If you can deny your body something that it literally needs for a period of time, you can learn to deny your body the things that it just wants. If you're fighting addictions, if you're fighting a porn addiction, the very first thing that you need to do is pick up a weekly practice of fasting, learn how to control your body, learn how to tell it no.

If you're fighting a sin habit, you need to be fasting. If you're fighting gluttony or a lack of self control over food, you need to be fasting. It will help you overcome your flesh. You are called to holiness. If you don't know what holiness is, it's a big church word that just means you aren't supposed to be like the people of this world.

You were called to be different. You don't have anything in common with them really, except that at one time you were like them and now you are not. If you are living like the people of this world, you are not following Jesus. He's called you to holiness. Holiness means simply to be set apart.

I am in this world, but I am not of this world. The choices that I make, the things that I pursue, even the desires of my heart, reflect my God in heaven and not the Prince of this world. And the only way from for me to develop the muscle that is going to allow me to pursue holiness, or the simplest way is for me to consistently look at something that my body needs and say, not today. That's a big no for me, Doc. I'm here to worship and pray.

Fasting will help you. It's what Jesus calls us to do. He tells us to take up our cross and put our flesh to death. That is a call to holiness. Paul calls it crucifying the flesh.

It's a theme through his letters in Galatians. He says, those who belong to Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. To the Colossians, he says, put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, your sexual immorality, your impurity, your lust, your evil desires, your greed. Can I tell you that he's talking about putting it to death? He's not talking about wrestling with this stuff for the rest of your life.

That's not how sin is supposed to work in the kingdom of God. If you are one of his people, you aren't called to wrestle with it and do your best. You're called to put it to death. That means we're done. That means that's who I was and it's not who I am.

That means I did struggle with it and I don't anymore. Because now I'm living free and changed and redeemed in the light of my Lord. And if you want to get to that place, it is a journey. It's a struggle. It's not an easy place to go putting my sin to death.

But if you want to get There you got to use every means available to to you. We do not fight with the weapons of this world. We have divine power to demolish strongholds. Prayer, scripture, fasting, these are the weapons that you have at your disposal. Worship is your weapon.

What even are my notes anymore?

Your desire for pleasure and instant gratification is scientifically hardwired into you. You're searching for chemical releases in your brain, and you can rewire those impulses. You can gain control over them. You can learn to control them. And this is why fasting is so hard.

Fasting is incredibly hard, especially when you're beginning, when you're new to it. But it's like a muscle. It's incredibly hard in the beginning. And the more you do it, the stronger the muscle gets. My fasting days used to be the most difficult days of my week.

I was. I was a disaster. I couldn't think straight. I'd get home at the end of that day, and the first word that my children said to me would make me see red. And now I would say, fasting is always gonna be difficult.

It is a sacrifice. But these are some of the greatest days of peace I have in my spirit. I can do it. I can look forward to it. I'm excited about a fasting day.

Over time, you get better at it. But at first, as you struggle with it, your weakness of flesh is revealed. You're going to find that you have atrophied your spirit and fed your flesh. We fast to amplify our prayers. Prayer and fasting go hand in hand.

In Matthew chapter 17, Jesus approaches a boy who's tormented by an evil spirit. And the disciples have tried to cast it out, and they failed. And Jesus comes and he casts out the demon. And then they say, why were you able to do that? But we couldn't.

They've been casting out spirits. At this point in their ministry. They're doing the things Jesus teaching did, and they're saying, why were we not successful in doing this thing? And Jesus says, because you trust so little. Amen.

I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, and you say to this mountain, move from here to there, it'll move. Nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind doesn't go out except by fasting and prayer. You can do anything by faith, but sometimes it requires fasting and prayer. Sometimes your faith is built through fasting and prayer.

All throughout the Bible, these things, fasting and prayer, go together. When you fast, may your hunger remind you of your dependence on God and let it push you towards prayer. If the only time you pray is when I lead us in prayer on Sunday mornings, if that's the only time you worship, if that's the only time you. You spend in God's word every week, once a week, I want you to fast for 24 hours tomorrow. See what your body does.

Your body will be screaming at you before it is even lunchtime because you feed it so regularly and it is so strong. And in the absence of food, you feel so weak. And I just need you to understand this is what your spirit is doing for six days out of the week. It is starved, it is hungry, and it is in need of more. You cannot feed your spirit once a week and presume you're going to be either strong or well fed.

You are called to more than that. You've been called to pray and to be a people of prayer. You've been called to study God's Word and to be a people of His Word. You've been called to more. And fasting will be the quickest way for that to be revealed to you.

It's great that we feed our flesh every day. Man, I love a lunch meeting. I'd love to get lunch with you this week. But if you are not feeding your spirits, then your spirit will not gain strength. Fast and pray.

So the three things that, that's, that's, that's what fasting is and why we do it. Here's some practical ways to fast. I'm gonna tell you how to fast. Three ways of how to fast. How to fast.

Actually, one thing. How to fast. Don't eat. Heavenly Father, we thank youk so much for this day, for all that yout. Just kidding.

Just kidding. I got better for you than that. But that is kind of the gist of it. If you want to begin fasting. It says in Proverbs, Chapter one, Solomon, the great wise man, says, the beginning of wisdom is this.

Get wisdom. And it's kind of the same way. The beginning of fasting is this. Don't eat. That's what it is.

But I'll tell you three things that help me. Number one is having a rhythm. I love a rhythm. I love a rhythm just like anything else. It's easier to add to your life if you add it to the rhythm of your life.

I have rhythms for everything. And for centuries, believers have fasted in a consistent rhythm. Leviticus 23:27 outlines the annual fast. The Day of Atonement says on the 10th day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly.

Deny yourselves and fast, and present a food offering to the Lord.

Do not do any work that day, because it's the day of atonement, when atonement's made before you and the Lord your God. This is Yom Kippur. The Jewish tradition still does it. It is a rhythm of fasting, a big fast every year. It's a part of a rhythm.

They also did in those days a fast twice a week. They still did it then. That was kind of always been a consistent thing. When Jesus met this young man who wanted to follow him, the man told him in Luke 18:12, if you know the story, this young man comes up to Jesus says, how do I follow you? How do I make.

Actually, what he says is, how do I make sure I get into heaven? And Jesus says, well, you know the law. Follow the Ten Commandments. And the kid said, yeah, I do that. And I've kept all the commandments.

And I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. I'm following the rules, Jesus. I'm fasting twice a week. I'm giving tithes.

And in the context of that story, what I want you to notice is that Jesus treats tithing and fasting twice a week as the bare minimum, because they all did that. They all had a rhythm for fasting. It's a sidebar, but in this story, Jesus says, good job, but if you want to be mine, give everything you have to the poor. And the man goes away because he's rich. He's willing to deny his flesh food, but he's not willing to deny his actual desires.

And these things have to be connected. We see rhythms for fasting all throughout the Scriptures. It's too prevalent in scripture and church history, really, to ignore the rhythms of fasting. I think you need a rhythm for fasting. I have a rhythm for fasting, and I didn't always have a rhythm for fasting.

I used to fast once a year. And then when I was making big decisions, I really. That's kind of what I thought fasting was and what it was for. And I went back to school to get another degree a few years ago. And as I began to study church history, I started to understand how big of a part fasting played in it.

And so in 2021, I'm in the midst of COVID The world is falling apart. I'm pretty sure I'm falling apart. It's a disaster everywhere I look. That is when I began this rhythm of fasting five years ago. And it's kind of a simple rhythm.

Fasting's not normal for me. So it was hard. I love to eat. I told you that. I told you about.

I told you about my wedding. Right. Well, also, at the birth of my first child, Eleanor was born at 5:04pm that's dinner time. And I didn't really know the process here. Okay.

I'd never. But I knew that I didn't like to miss a meal. And I was like, it does not feel like anybody's worried about whether or not I'm having dinner tonight. You know, this baby Raelle's not even paying attention to me at this point. It's rude.

And the nurses are all only looking at her. And I'm like, somebody came in at one point and said, what do you want to eat? And I was like, but what about me? Nobody even asked me what I wanted. And so we, yes, Raelle and I both delivered Eleanor at 5:04pm and if you've ever been in the room when a baby is born, there's a lot of stuff that happens.

Okay? It's a very busy, crowded room. And there's, like, a lot of things that go after the baby is born, a lot of work that's gotta be done. And so I was like, this is the perfect time for me to order a pizza. Eleanor's out.

She's crying, Raelle's crying. Everybody in there's crying. I'm like, she's beautiful. Oh, my goodness. So proud of my wife.

And then they're, like, mashing on Rael's stomach. And I'm like, I'm gonna go make a phone call. And I step outside, I'm like, yeah, like a large pepperoni pizza. I'm at. Yep.

I'm at a hospital. Yep. El Camino Hospital. Yep. Come on.

And. And so it took about 30 minutes. You know, this was in the day when you get a pizza in 30 minutes. And so finally they had, like, done all the things. They'd cleaned her, they'd wait her.

And they were like, john, Mark, it's time. You can hold your daughter now. And right. And I was like, oh, my gosh. But right when they said that, my phone, phone rang and the pizza person was downstairs.

And so I was like, all right, just give me a minute. Just give me a minute. And I just ran downstairs and I grabbed the pizza, and I did hold Eleanor before I ate it. I want you to know I'm not a monster. I was trying to decide if there was a way I could do Both, but she was brand new.

I saved that. I dripped so many sauces on Eleanor's head in those early days, but not that day. But I just. Fasting was hard, man. It was a hard.

I love to eat. And so when I started, I thought I was gonna die every single time. And I remember the spirit saying, you're not gonna die. You're just weak. Your flesh is strong and your spirit is weak.

Keep going. And so I did. And I fast every year at 21 days of fasting. That's a three week fast that we do together as a church. If you're new to our church, don't panic.

We're not gonna ask you to eat nothing for three weeks. We'll explain it more when we get into it. But the way that I do that is I fast multiple days a week. I do a total fast and then I will eat after sunset. And so it's January.

That's pretty early. Okay, so you still will eat. Some people choose to do longer fasts. You'll hear us talk more about that at the end of the year as we get ready for it. But I do that fast.

That's a way of giving God the first part of my year. It's an act of worship and setting it apart. I do a monthly fast where I fast all day on Monday until dinner time, and then every week, twice a week, I fast until noon. That's my rhythm. Sometimes I fast more, but I rarely fast less than that.

It has worked for me. It has helped me to gain a kind of self control that I didn't think was really ever going to be possible for me. I'm an ADHD guy. I'm impulsive and I just thought, this is my wiring. Self control is not my thing.

I just need a lot of accountability. And I still do need a lot of accountability. But I have self control now. And that is because I have a practice of fasting. And as I have fed the Spirit, the Spirit has strengthened me and given me this fruit of the Spirit.

And that's what will happen in you. I'll say this. Jesus warns us in the Sermon on the Mount not to make a show about fasting, but that does not mean you can't fast in community. In the early church, they always fasted in community. Fasting was a community practice.

This was something they did together. They had somebody to encourage them, to stand beside them, to tell them that they could do it. When they thought, I don't know if I can do this. It's okay to call your friend who's fasting with you and say, I'm so hungry, I think I might actually eat the Sheetrock in my house. And that's okay.

That's not dishonoring God. You know, to be encouraged, to be honest, to build yourself up to strengthen that spirit as you starve the flesh. That's okay. What Jesus is telling you not to do is we don't need a weekly social media post of just a glass of water where you say fast day. Hashtag fast day, hashtag holier than thou, hashtag doing great, hashtag starve the flesh.

We don't need that.

Get a rhythm, pick a fast. So I'll say this because I think it's important. Biblical fasting is always food. It's just biblical fasting. When you read the word fasting in the Bible, it is always talking about not eating.

I want to simplify that because in recent years there's a lot of things that we are calling fasting, but those things are abstinent. That's abstaining from something. And that's okay. Abstinence is still helpful. Abstinence is important.

It's a good thing to have in your rhythm. Abstinence will help you starve your flesh and feed your spirit. It'll help you develop self control. It is really good for you to do these abs, these soul fasts, where you're cleansing your body from social media, from the news, from your next door neighbor, whatever it may be. Take a time away from these people.

That's okay. Okay. But that's not what the Bible calls fasting. Fasting is just not eating. So if your health allows for it, I think actual fasting should exist in your rhythm.

Once you decide on a rhythm, decide how you're going to fast. My recommendation, just water, maybe coffee so that you can stay holy. And the traditional regular fast was from waking until 3pm that's what the church did for a long time. Ritual fast days of like the Day of Atonement are from sundown to sundown, 24 hours. You could fast from dinner time one night to lunch the next day.

The timeline just doesn't really matter. Just make it a challenge. Meaning fasting from 11pm to 6am doesn't count as fasting. That's not acceptable unless you work the night shift. Stick to what you decide.

There's not really a wrong way to do it. If you feel called to add a multiple day fast to your rhythm, make sure your body is healthy and prepared. Talk to a doctor. Eat full healthy meals in the days leading up to it. Drink lots of water.

Break your fast with plain healthy food. Don't just gorge yourself. Not everyone can do a total fast. Diabetics and a variety of other health issues may prevent you from it. And that's okay.

Consider a selective fast then. Abstinence. Selective fasting is what Daniel did in the book of Daniel. If you've ever heard of a Daniel fast, it comes from this story where he himself chose not to eat meat or wine or sweets. For three weeks.

Daniel 10, I ate no delicacies, no wine, no meat entered my mouth, nor did I use any lotion. Bro was just dry the whole time for the full three weeks. That's a selective fast. It still requires self control. It gives you an opportunity to starve your flesh and feed your spirit.

And if that's what you have to do, do it. Last thing is this. You just, you need to have a focus and this is important. Don't fast and simply not eat. Don't just starve your flesh.

You have to also feed your spirit. The young man who approached Jesus was fasting twice a week. Jesus still called him the more because this young man wasn't really fasting, he was just not eating. Let me read you the story again. Just then the man came up to Jesus and said, teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?

Well, why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied, only one is good. If you want to enter life, keep his commandments. Which ones? He inquired.

Classic question. Jesus replied, don't murder, don't commit adultery. You shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother, love your neighbors, yourself. Crushing it, Jesus, all of these I've kept.

What do I still lack? Jesus said, well, if you want to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give them to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven. And then come and follow me. And when the young man heard this, he went away, sad because he had great wealth. Fasting is more than just starving the flesh.

It is about feeding the spirit. Both and it is about the mentality that you enter into in. It is about what you are seeking, who you are fixated on, who you are focused on. What do you do with that hunger? When you feel hungry, do you just think about the food you'll eat later?

Or do you try to focus your mind on the one whom you are fasting for? That is what we are called to do. Fasting needs to have a focus. Fasting goes with prayer, with quiet meditation, with a consistent consciousness of God. You could fast for a number of things.

Ezra, a prophet of God in the post exile Jerusalem, fasted and prayed to have what was stolen returned and for protection and travel. He said, I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him the right way for us and our children and our possessions. And so we fasted and entreated our God for this. And he answered our prayer. Have you had something stolen from you?

Fast and pray. Maybe you're making a change or a transition, or you're traveling fast and pray fast to gain wisdom. Paul did this over and over. Good example is Acts 14. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord in whom they put their trust.

They fasted while they were selecting elders. They fasted to seek God's wisdom when they started their ministry and journeys. Fast as you seek God's will. Fast just to worship God. When you're hungry, remind yourself of your great need for him.

God, I am so hungry. And it reminds me that my spirit is starved for you. And so I just you thank, thank you for the way you fulfill me and sustain me. God, you are the only bread I need. You are the one who makes sure that I don't go hungry, that I don't go thirsty.

You satiate me and you satisfy me and I just worship you today. Fast as you worship. Fast as you pray. Focus your fast. You could fast to stand with the poor.

One of the early church practices was that when they fasted twice a week, they would collect the amount of money they would have spent on food, and that was their alms for the poor each week. And you can stand with them in compassion and you can stand with them in empathy, but that's also a way to focus your fast. You just need to fast. You need to starve your flesh and you need to feed your spirit, build a rhythm and get closer to God and get closer to who you are made to be. If you're in here today and you're used to an entire lifetime of your flesh calling the shots and you're tired of it.

You, you've tried everything. You, you don't want to be who you've been, you're trying to get your life right, and you just, you're just desperate for change, then I would give you a step. If you're in here today and you don't know Jesus, you don't jump straight to fasting, there is an easier step ahead of that fasting is in your future, but freedom is in your today. There is one who came to loose the chains of the captives. Who came to sling open wide prison doors.

Who came to bind up the brokenhearted. His name is Jesus, and he's calling you into relationship with him today. And so if you're ready, every head bowed, every eye closed, just pray this prayer. Heavenly Father, forgive me for my sin. Forgive me for the way that I made it about me.

I can't do it on my own. I believe in you. I believe that you are who you say you are. And I need you. So all that I am, from this day on, I am yours.

In Jesus name, amen.