Upside Down Kingdom
Pt. 14 Dealing With Your Fasting
Matthew 6:16-18

Worship God with your APPETITE
Throughout history in various cultures, the practice of fasting or not eating for a certain amount of time was common (Jonah 3:5-9). Fasting (Heb. tsoom, root meaning ‘to cover the mouth’) in the OT would often include the tearing of clothes or wearing rough fabric, being covered in ashes to show repentance and brokenness, and skipping eating to pray (Lev. 16:29; Joel 2:12, 13; Ezra 8:23). Fasting is an outward response to an inward cry where we fast from food to feast on God. In Jesus’ time, food wasn’t plentiful for most, and they struggled to make a living from the ground. So, for people to voluntarily skip a meal or meals evidenced a serious situation or commitment. Godly men like Moses, David, Daniel, Jesus, and the Apostles used fasting to ask for wisdom, mercy, or a miracle. They implored God to move through them and for them (Ex. 34:28; 2 Sam. 12:16; Dan. 9:3-5; Luke 4:1, 2; Acts 13:2, 3). Believers should prepare their hearts and bodies to fast. A believer’s appetite is a spiritual hunger for God over a physical hunger for food.

Worship God with your ATTITUDE
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus referenced the ‘trinity’ of a Kingdom citizen’s spiritual disciplines—“when you give”, “when you pray”, and “when you fast” (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16). The three pillars of giving, praying, and fasting are the foundation of Christian faith and practice—that God owns our property, God owns our desires, and God owns our bodies. Believers give financially, as God is the owner of everything we possess and we’re just the managers of His property (Luke 6:38; 2 Cor. 9:7). Believers pray continually knowing God responds to the hearts of His children and we align ourselves with His will (Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17). And, believers fast to present their bodies as living sacrifices to the God who gave their body to them (Rom. 12:1, 2). Christians fast to discipline themselves to focus on their faith rather than their food. As fasting was common for the religious in Jesus’ day, it became a show for some to display their piety (Luke 18:12). Jesus made it clear God is not impressed by our actions but moved by the motives behind our actions. As God is the provider of our daily bread, when we fast we are trusting God by saying ‘no’ to a natural desire to say ‘yes’ to a spiritual one. Our fasting doesn’t manipulate God, but it can move His hand for us!