Fasting is not:
- Fasting is not a hunger strike
- Fasting does not happen by accident
- Fasting is not to punish the body
- Fasting is not to get what you want from God
Fasting is:
- Fasting is this holy moment when one abstains from food and sometimes water, with the desire to commune deeply with Yahweh, our shelter, our provider, the one our soul calls Abba, Father
- Biblical fasting always centers around God, His holy character, and His holy kingdom
- Fasting is often connected to praying
- Fasting is mysterious
Repentance fast
Tragedy fast
Formative fast
Esther 4:15-17
15Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
17So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.
“So when you give to the needy . . .” Matthew 6:2
“And when you pray . . .” Matthew 6:5
“When you fast . . .” Matthew 6:16
Matthew 9:14-16
14Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”
15Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.