Not So Fast
Soul Detox - Week 1
January 3, 2021
1. What is fasting?
Fasting is going without food for spiritual purposes.
2. Reasons Not to Fast
To lose
To
To get your
To feel like a
To
Any fasting that doesn’t have God as the focus is meaningless.
3. Reasons To Fast
To seek God’s
To express
To
To focus on
Fasting isn’t about giving up food, it’s about posturing the heart to see Jesus.
“This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” —Matthew 6:9-10
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” —Luke 18:9-14“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. —Matthew 6:16-18