Why Fasting?

[00:00:00] Foreign. [00:00:06] Hey, friends, this is Pastor Chuck Allen, and thanks for giving me a few moments of your weekday. Today, let's continue our conversation about fasting. Wonderfully simple and quietly powerful. [00:00:19] Fasting. [00:00:21] It's. It's not a weird religious stunt. It's not a spiritual diet plan, but it's a way of saying to Jesus, with our actual bodies, you are enough for me. And I want to be reminded of that. [00:00:35] Take Jesus in the wilderness. There's this scene early in Jesus story that just won't leave the room. Matthew tells us that Jesus was taken into the wild by the spirit for the test the devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the test by. By fasting. 40 days and 40 nights. 40 days, no crowds, no miracles, no bread. Just Jesus, the desert, the Father, and an enemy who whispers, if you really are the Son of God. And here's what's stunning. Jesus doesn't fight the battle with full strength. He fights it in weakness. [00:01:13] Hired. [00:01:15] I mean, think about it. 40 days, you got to be exhausted, hungry. I mean, I'm starved at the end of four hours. [00:01:22] And then think about it. He's thin, he's feeble. [00:01:29] It's been 40 brutal days. [00:01:32] But why? [00:01:33] Because Jesus in his fasting, is Jesus choosing to depend, choosing to trust the Father's word more than his own appetite. Choosing to say, I live on every word that comes from God's mouth, even when his stomach is growling loud enough to echo off the canyon walls. Fasting isn't Jesus trying to impress God. Fasting is Jesus showing you and me what it looks like when a human life is completely surrendered to God. [00:02:07] It's not when it's. It's. It's not even like, will I you fast? I mean, Jesus just assumes that we should. And we would. [00:02:19] Later on in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about fasting. Again. He doesn't say if you fast. He says when you practice some appetite, denying discipline, to better concentrate on God. [00:02:31] That's the heart of what he's getting at. [00:02:33] In other words, Jesus assumes his followers will fast. [00:02:37] Not to be seen as super spiritual, not to earn extra credit, not to have some extra hotline to heaven. [00:02:44] He warns about that, actually. He talks about people who twist their faces and make a show out of their sacrifice, using fasting as a spotlight on them instead of on God. And he says that is its own reward. [00:02:59] You get attention, but you miss the Father. [00:03:02] Then Jesus paints a very different picture. When you fast, wash your face, comb your hair so it won't be obvious to others that you're fasting, but only to your father, who's unseen, and your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. It's so simple. Clean up, show up, no drama. Fasting Jesus style is quiet. It's hidden, it's tender. It's you and the Father. It's in secret. [00:03:28] So if you think about it, that's where the real work gets done. [00:03:33] This is why fasting has so much power, and this is why it's such a big deal. [00:03:37] Why does the simple act, skipping a meal or stepping away from something that you normally reach for, that's comfort, carry so much weight? Because fasting is like turning down the volume on your appetites so you can turn up the volume on God. [00:03:53] Biblical fasting is not I'm punishing my body. It's more like I'm training my heart. [00:03:59] And there's a few things that happen when we fast. One, we remember what really sustains us. Food is good, coffee is good, comfort is good. But none of those are God. Fasting lets your soul say, I need you more than I need this. [00:04:13] We see our attachments skip one meal, and suddenly all the cravings start talking. Anxiety, boredom, stress. [00:04:21] Fasting services what we usually numb with snacks, scrolling, and noise. [00:04:27] We join Jesus in his pattern. Before public ministry, he fasts. Before facing temptation, he fasts. [00:04:35] He's not less human when he fasts. He's showing us how to be fully human, dependent, fully surrendered. Open. [00:04:45] Fasting doesn't twist God's arm, y'. All. It's not some superpower key to heaven's power. [00:04:52] It opens our hands. [00:04:54] So you say, okay, Chuck, how does. How do you start? That sounds holy and all, but what does this look like on, like, Thursday in Gwinnett County? Well, start simple, because the way of Jesus is profoundly simple. Start small. Don't begin with 40 days of the wilderness. Begin with one meal. Tell the Lord, for this lunch, instead of eating, I'm going to sit with you and read a few verses and pray, tie it to purpose in Scripture. People fasted to seek God's direction, to repent, to cry out for help, to intercede for others. [00:05:25] So you might pray, Jesus, I'm fasting today for my marriage, for my prodigal kid, for our church, for wisdom, whatever that is. Keep it simple, keep it joyful. No posting, no drama, just quiet joy that the Father sees and it's what nobody else sees. [00:05:44] Let the hunger become the prompt. Every time your stomach growls, let it be a bell that's ringing. Lord, I need you more than bread, more than answers, more than comfort, more than coffee. I want you. [00:05:57] That's where the power is. [00:05:59] Not in how long you go, but in how open you become. [00:06:04] Maybe today, maybe it's a first step into this. Not a spiritual flex, just a simple yes. [00:06:11] Let's pray together. Jesus, thank you for stepping into the wilderness for me. Thank you for fasting, for choosing hunger to show me what real dependence looks like. Teach me to trust the Father the way you did. Show me how to take one small step into fasting. Not to impress anyone, not to earn anything, but to know you more, Father. You see what is done in secret. [00:06:35] So would you take my simple, faltering yes and use it to shape my heart, make me hungry for the right things, for your presence, your word, your will. And as I say no to my natural appetites and desires, help me to say a deeper yes to you. [00:06:52] And I thank you for that. In Jesus name, amen. [00:06:56] Friends, thanks for listening in on the weekday podcast. You're loved, you're prayed for, and as you step into the practice of fasting, even in the smallest ways, remember that you will discover the quiet, surprising power of a life that says God. You're more than enough for me. God bless you. Thanks so much for listening in to today's weekday podcast.