Why Fast?

[00:00:00] Thank you for tuning in to the World Changers Church Gold coast podcast. Grab your Bibles and settle in as we dive into this special series. Hello and welcome to this teaching on why fast. Today we're looking at a biblical perspective under the New Testament of what fasting is and how it can apply to our lives as New Testament believers who have put our faith in Jesus Christ. Now, I'm excited to share this with you today. It's something that I. I've been walking out with the Lord since I got saved, since I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. The church I was at before, they used to fast annually, every year, and I had a lot of questions about it. Why? Why do it? What's the purpose? What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to do it? When should I do it? So many questions. And I was one of those Christians that didn't just take everything at face value. I needed to know why I was doing these things. My faith was in Jesus. I was sold out for Jesus. I had no problem with him being my Lord, my Saviour, and that by faith in him alone I was saved. But I needed to know why I had to believe or why I should believe the things that I was being told. So I had a ton of questions. I was probably very annoying to some of my pastors, but I think it's important. And here's one of the things I've learned over my walk with the Lord too, is that God's not afraid of our questions. He's not insecure, and that if we ask him something, we might find out that, you know, it's all been a big fad. No, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And he is not a man that he should lie. And he is faithful and true and can be trusted. [00:01:38] So he is not afraid of your questions. Come to him with your questions. That's faith right there to come and say, God, I'm not really sure about this. Can you show me, Holy Spirit, teach me these things. Show me why I should believe this, why I should follow this. And I guarantee you that God will answer that and he will be so happy that you've come to him with those questions. So let's pray together today before we jump into this teaching. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, I just thank youk so much for this time that we have today to share youe Word, to explore youe Word, and to gain understanding, Lord God, of what it is to fast and why we should do it under the New Testament. Lord, Holy Spirit, I ask you to open the eyes of our understanding and to show us what it is that you need us to see so we can ultimately draw closer to you and see more of you in our lives. It's in the precious name of your son, Jesus Christ that I pray. Amen. [00:02:38] Amen. So, so we're going to jump into this teaching today on why fast. And like I said, I've been studying this and living this for a good while now. And God in His grace has walked me through a journey of understanding. And really my heart today is just to hopefully share some of that with you. And for the purpose of that, you can enjoy the benefits, not the religious burdens, but the benefits of fasting and how it can bring such joy to your life and fruit to your life. So let's look at a couple of questions now let's look at why, why should we fast and what is fasting? [00:03:19] The first thing we have to understand is that as followers of Jesus Christ, we are under grace. We are not under the law. We are no longer under the works based religion or the law of Moses, where it was a do and I'll do kind of covenant that God had with his people. [00:03:35] We are no longer under the law. We are under grace. And so there is no requirement to fast in the New Testament. It is not something that we have to do. It is not a requirement. And also, fasting does not manipulate God. It does not move God. It does not change God. God is unchanging. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. Nothing we do will change God. He is the same forever. And fasting does not increase our righteousness or our holiness or any or our acceptance before God. We are already made accepted before God because of Jesus and our faith in him alone. So there's no requirement to fast. We're under grace. We're not under the law. We don't have to do it and it doesn't move God. It's not how like our fasting is going to somehow make God hear our prayers and respond to us now, oh, look at me, God, I'm fasting. You should respond to my prayers now. Now. It doesn't work like that. Fasting doesn't change God. It doesn't manipulate God. God will respond to us based on faith. God will respond to us based on his promises. God will respond to us based on his faithfulness. There's nothing we can do to change that. God will bless us because that's who he is. That's his character. He wants to bless. And if we get into alignment and agreement with that, then blessings will flow in our lives. So we don't manipulate God or move God through fasting, and we don't appear more righteous or become more holy or become some spiritual super saint by fasting. It doesn't work like that either. We are already perfected and accepted in the Beloved by Jesus Christ and our faith in him alone. The blood of Jesus is what makes us new, is what makes us accepted before God. He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So it's by faith alone in Jesus that we're righteous, holy and accepted before God. So fasting doesn't change that? No. So fasting, what's the benefits of it? Why? Why should we do it? [00:05:36] Well, let's look at that a little bit and let's unpack it together and let's really just break down fasting from the New Testament point of view. So fasting, no matter the length of time, can be very beneficial to our walk with the Lord. And when it's done with the correct understanding, like we are today, where we're exploring Father fasting, so it's done with the correct understanding and with a right heart posture, it can quickly increase our spiritual growth and maturity and bring great reward to our lives. [00:06:07] Simply put, fasting is removing a lesser thing from our lives, and we'll explore what lesser things may be, but it's removing a lesser thing from our lives to prioritize more time with God. And we could do this through spending time in His Word, focusing on his presence, through prayer and through worship, by reading or listening to devotions, or taking communion daily, by fellowshipping with one another. These are all ways that we can prioritise God in our lives and replace those lesser things. And when we remove those lesser things and fill it with God, it increases our awareness of Him. [00:06:46] And it does that not just in the moment when we're taking that time to spend with God, but everywhere we go, we're all of a sudden more aware of God's presence in our lives. God's moving in our lives, God's leading in our lives, his direction in our lives, because we've filled ourselves up with him, we've made space for him, and we've removed those things that may be distractions. [00:07:09] But it's important to remember that fasting without prayer, so without communion with God and time spent with God is just a religious work. There's people in the world that fast from all sorts of things. They fast from food, to lose weight, whatever it might be. So fasting without communion with God is just a religious work. It's just a carnal thing. So we have to make sure that when we're fasting, we're doing it so that we're spending more time with the Lord and making time for him through His Word, through worship, through prayer, through communion, through fellowship, through devotion, whatever that might look like for you. And we'll look at that a bit more as we go. [00:07:45] So you might be thinking, why then? Why do I need to remove these lesser things in order to prioritize time with God? So let's look at this in the Scriptures and see what Jesus has to say. So if you've got your Bibles there, turn with me to the Book of Mark, and we're going to be in chapter four. I'll give you a little bit of time to get there, and I'll just explain. In this chapter, Jesus is telling us a parable to illustrate how God's Word is like a seed. And that seed is planted in the ground, and that the state of that ground is actually a picture of the spiritual conditions of our hearts. And the spiritual conditions of our hearts or the ground will determine how that seed grows, grows, or matures, and ultimately what it produces in our lives. So if we look at Mark, chapter four, hopefully you're there now and we're turning to verse 14 to start. [00:08:40] Jesus says here, he says, a farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others. The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don't have any deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's Word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's Word. But all too quickly, the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things. So no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God's Word and produce a harvest of 30, 60, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted. [00:09:39] That's amazing. So Jesus is revealing the four types of ground or the four types of spiritual heart conditions here. [00:09:48] And notice that only one of those grounds produced a harvest produced fruit. Each of us can have varying conditions at any time in our walk with the Lord. Some of us can be in that phase where we hear the Word but it doesn't really resonate. So the enemy comes and he snatches it away. Some of us can be in that place where we love the Word, but then we get a little bit maybe persecuted for that word or say, oh, you shouldn't believe that. That's crazy talk. Why are you believing that spiritual gobbledygook, that Christian nonsense? And then we kind of put it down, we forget about it. We don't really dive deeper into that Word. And then sometimes others can, you know, be fully on fire for God and just love His Word and understand that it's his promises to us and that there's so much good in that and. But we just get wrapped up in this world and the cares of this world, paying our bills and, you know, looking after our families, going to work, just, just trying to make it through the day to day and, and that can choke the Word's production in our lives. And that's kind of those lesser things that become something that steal the fruit of God's Word and the impact of God's Word in our hearts. So all of us can have these different conditions and then hopefully most of us in that place where we've got that good, good ground and the Word of God is being planted in our hearts and it's producing in our lives through increased faith, through increased love, through joy, through all of those fruits of the Spirit that are beginning to harvest in our lives by a love for sharing the gospel. You know, hopefully we have that producing in our lives, but we can all be at varying stages and at multiple stages at any one time, if we're totally honest. And so Jesus is helping us to show us these different types of our hearts and giving us understanding through the Holy Spirit of like, hey, maybe just take a moment to see where you're at and what condition your heart is in. And is there things that you can do to maybe just help that soil? So one of those things that we can do to help the spiritual condition of our hearts is fasting. It is removing those lesser. [00:12:06] So fasting helps us direct our focus and our thoughts and attentions away from those lesser things, from those cares of this world, from the distractions, from the persecutions, whatever it might be, that those things that distract us and fasting will ultimately bring us into a closer union with God because we're taking our focus away from those things that are a distraction and putting them onto God through, like I said, the Word, through time in the Bible, through listening to podcasts, through devotion, through fellowshipping, through prayer, through worship. [00:12:42] And the fruit of this in our lives, through fasting will be an ability or an awareness more of God in our lives, being able to hear him more clearly, being able to see His Word come alive in our hearts, being able to discern the Spirit's leading and be. And be more reliant on him rather than on, you know, the lesser things, on our finances, on our own abilities and strengths. Because we're so, we're fasting from those things, we're removing those things and becoming more dependent on God. [00:13:17] And who doesn't want that? Who doesn't want more of God's leading, more of God's direction, being able to hear him more clearly, being able to trust him more fully, being less reliant on ourselves and on the systems of this world, and being dependent on Him. Who doesn't want more of that? I know I want more of that in my lives. And fasting has been a way that's really helped me with that. [00:13:39] You know, there's a saying that I've heard and it's been said in multiple different ways, but it's really resonated with me. [00:13:46] It's been said that Satan might not be able to tempt a righteous man, but he may definitely be able to distract him. And that is so true. A lot of the times, you know, I don't fall into the trap of obvious sin. I don't fall into, you know, doing those things that are just obviously in opposition to God's word. But I can get distracted just by the cares of this world, just by those lesser things, you know, and they're not necessarily always bad things. My family is not a bad thing. My church is not a bad thing. My work is not a bad thing. But it can never become greater than God in my life. It should never take the place of God. It should never be a distraction so much that I don't spend time or prioritise God. And that's what fasting will do. It'll just reset us to be putting first the thing that matters most, which is our time with God. [00:14:38] You know, this world is designed to gratify what the Bible calls our flesh or our carnal nature, which is really, simply put, just our five senses, our emotions as well. And these, these things really play on that, that unredeemed part of our lives, on that non Christlike part of our nature that we all have and are in a process of renewing through knowing God. And there can be many distractions in our lives. These can like I said even be really good things. But some of these distractions might be our own desires and our own agendas. You know, trying to achieve things in life, whether it be status or wealth or generational impact, whatever that might be. If we're doing that out of our own desires, then they can become a distraction. [00:15:24] They could be money, could be your hobbies, could be relationships in your lives, could be social media, tv, whatever. There's so many things that can pull us away from fellowship with God, and these are those things that during a time of fasting, we decide to put down so that we can prioritize that time with Jesus. And like I said, not all of these things are bad. But as a Christian, we're not supposed to be consumed by the world. We're supposed to be consumed by God, not the things of this world. And when we allow lesser things to consume our lives, whether they're good or bad, we are ultimately shifting our focus away from God and putting it onto something that is not going to bring a spiritual harvest to our lives. [00:16:09] So fasting invites God to take first place in our lives again. It allows us to take control over that carnal, that flesh nature, those five senses being controlled by our emotions, and say, no, I'm not going to be controlled by these things. God is my priority. God is my focus. I'm going to trust in him and His Word and what he says, and I'm going to make sure that I'm being led by Him. Him and not by those distractions, or not by my own feelings, or not by my own thoughts and agendas, but by God and His Spirit. [00:16:41] So how am I supposed to fast? That's the next question. Right. Okay, I understand what fasting is now. It's about removing these lesser things, these carnal things, these things that don't bring spiritual benefit to my life and making time for God, making time for what matters most, which is him and His Word and fellowshipping with him and knowing him more. So I understand that's what fasting is about. I understand it's not a requirement. I don't have to do it. It's not going to change the way God loves me or sees me or how he answers my prayers. It's simply allowing me to prioritise him more in my lives. I know it's not going to change the way he moves on my behalf. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I know that God's not going to love me less or more because of my fasting. He loves me the same because of Jesus Christ. And he could never love me more or less because my faith is in Jesus and that's all that matters to God. So we understand that about fasting now. And we understand that it's something that can bring great benefit to our lives when our heart postures are in that position. [00:17:37] So how am I supposed to do it? [00:17:40] Well, I'm going to challenge you today. [00:17:43] Fasting firstly is between you and the Lord. It is personal and it is private. When you look In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 16 and 18, Jesus tells us, hey, when you fast, he says, don't let other people know what's going on. Don't let other people see you. Make sure you look exactly the same as you always would. Don't try and appear like you're somehow holy because you're fasting. It's between you and the Lord. God sees your heart, Jesus says, and he will reward you based on that. It's not based on whether or not people see you and praise you. It's about you and God. It's personal and it's private between you and the Lord. You can see that in Matthew 6, verse 16 and 18. [00:18:26] But fasting can also be done corporately. [00:18:30] There are many, many, many, many times in the Bible that nations and groups of people fasted together to seek God's presence and his guidance. You can see it in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Book of Judges in Chapter 2026 talks about how there was a nation that fasted and sought the Lord. Ezra talks about it first, Samuel David talks about it in the second, and then in the Book of Acts, it talks about how the people separated themselves with prayer and fasting so that they could hear God, hear the Holy Spirit, and knew who to send out to the nations, which is ultimately Paul and Barnabas. So fasting not only is a private and personal thing, it can be done corporately as well. Ultimately, there's no right or wrong way. Remember, we're not under the law, we're under grace. And fasting truly is about a heart's desire to seek God, to know God more, and to prioritize him over those lesser things. So this is the challenge for you as you begin to understand more about fasting and maybe put fasting into practice in your life as an exercise. Take some of this time. Take some time to observe your day. [00:19:37] Have a look. Is the first thing you do when you start your day spend time with God? Or do you check your phone or your emails or your social feeds? [00:19:47] How about instead you do a Devotional, or you write down what the Holy Spirit is saying to you or just simply pray when you wake up. Lord, thank you for this day. God. I'm so excited for everything that you have for me. Help me to know you more today. [00:20:02] Make sure that first thing that you do when you start every day is to spend time with God. So observe that. Is that what you're doing? Maybe that's something you could put into place. Secondly, as you observe your day, do you take time throughout it to speak with Jesus? [00:20:19] Do you set aside time to just chat with the Holy Spirit and ask him, hey, Lord, how do I do this? Lord, how's your day going, Lord? Help me with this. [00:20:28] Perhaps you could look at skipping a meal, maybe lunch or a different time of the day to read God's word or to do a devotion or to worship or to pray or to call a friend and to and talk about Jesus. These are ways that you can remove some things and prioritize God and bring God back into your life more and more and more and make more awareness of Him. How about as a third thing, are you filling your downtime or your relaxing time with scrolling social media or watching tv? If that's what you're doing, perhaps you could instead pray again or read the Bible or call one of your friends and pray for them or with them or talk to them about the Lord. These are things that we can do to prioritise God in our lives more and remove some of those lesser things that don't necessarily bring spiritual benefit to our lives. [00:21:22] And lastly, maybe how do you look at how you finish your day? Do you finish your day with God? [00:21:29] If not, maybe you can take communion as a family or individually. [00:21:34] You could start a gratefulness journey where at the end of your day you sit down and you just note down the things, things that you're thankful for and you're grateful for that God's done throughout that day. Maybe he's helped you in your workplace. Maybe he's brought a new person into your life that's made you feel God's presence. Maybe you've laughed, maybe you've cried. Whatever these things are, take that moment to jot down some things that you're grateful for and you're thankful to the Lord for in your day. That's a fantastic way to prioritize God and to make yourself more aware of his presence in your life. To remove, you know, just simply. I'm just going to go to bed now. I'm just going to watch a scroll through my phone or Watch a TV show until I fall asleep? No. How about taking some time to journal down or to take communion with God? Those are things you can do. [00:22:26] And there's many other ways that you can practice fasting in your life. We as a church are going to corporately pray and, and we're going to have some time where we can come together and pray together. And we'll have daily devotions that you can read and you can listen to and you can absorb yourself in to hear about more of the heartbeat of fasting and some of the things we've put in place to draw you closer to God no matter what you choose to do. Again, remember, there is no right or wrong way to do this. We, we are not under law. We are under grace. God loves you and he is for you and he wants you to know him more. As much as you want to know Him. He wants that more than you do. [00:23:10] But know this, you will not do this perfectly. No one ever does. [00:23:14] You will be challenged. Whether you're choosing to fast food, social media or something else, you will be challenged by your flesh to not make time for God. Your flesh is gonna wanna kick back. [00:23:29] It's not going to want to prioritize time with Jesus. It'll wanna sleep in, it'll wanna eat, it'll wanna scroll your social media feed, it'll wanna check your emails. But the challenge is to capture that moment through the grace of God, through the strength of the Holy Spirit, to capture that moment and choose to prioritize God. Choose to put down that lesser thing and choose God. It could be simply praying, lord, I am finding it hard right now. Please Lord, help me to stay focused on you. That is a great prayer and a great start to any anything you set out with. The Lord. Ask for his wisdom, ask for his strength, ask for his hand on your life. And I promise you, as you do this more over the next few days or however, however long you're going to go for, I promise you it will get easier. And this is the best part. You will be excited for the time you've set aside for God because God is going to meet you in that place, I promise you that. [00:24:33] And you will be hungry for more of God. Because now you've seen and you've realized that only he can truly satisfy you. Not the lesser things, not the other things, but only God will truly satisfy you. And as you prioritise that, as you make time for that, I promise you that God is going to show you new, wonderful and miraculous things. [00:24:56] I'm going to pray for you now. And I hope that this teaching has blessed you and brought some understanding to you. And I really pray that as you set that time aside to fast and to seek God, that there is going to be such a spiritual harvest in your life and you are going to be so much more in love with Jesus because of this time set apart. So let us pray now. Dear Lord. Thank you Lord God for this revelation on fasting. Lord thank you Lord God that you desire for us to come to you more than we desire it. Lord God and you have ultimately made a way through Jesus Christ for us to know you Father. To come into your presence. Father. And to learn of you. Father. So Holy Spirit, I ask that you strengthen us for this time of fasting. I pray Lord God that you would just help us to stay on track, to be strong and bold in our faith, to put down those lesser things, Lord God. And to prioritize our time with you, Father. Lord I thank you Lord God for everything that you're going to do in our hearts, everything we're going to see in our lives. Lord God and I pray that every person that sets this time aside for you, Lord God, would walk out of this time would a renewed and a refreshed and an awakened spirit to your love and your goodness, Lord God, so that we can ultimately share that with the world and see many others know you. [00:26:16] I pray these things in the precious name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, God bless you is our prayer. We hope that you will join us back here for more teachings as you continue to seek God and as he continues to reveal himself to you. God bless you. Take care. Thank you for joining us. As always you can reach us at World Changers Life. We continue to pray God's blessings over you and your walk with Christ.