Mazie First Baptist
June 15, 2025
  • Today we move on to ta subject that is not practiced very frequently today, fasting. We are going to look at a couple of different things when it comes to fasting. 1. What is fasting 2. Are we commanded to fast 3. Why should we fast. Jesus picks back up on His teachings on the one living the true kingdom life, He once again gets to the motives behind our acts of righteousness, and shows us the proper way and the proper motive that should be behind all of our actions as believers, and that is pleasing God rather than man.
    Matthew 6:16–18 ESV
    16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

    What is Fasting

    As defined by Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible fasting is a deliberate and often prolonged abstinence from food and sometimes drink. It is abstinence from the pleasures of the flesh. Now in Jesus day the Pharisees fasted twice a week, usually on Mondays and Thursdays. In Old Testament times fasting was seen in times of mourning, in preparation for battle, and in preparation for revelation from God. In the New Testament we find no instructions pertaining to frequency, duration or any other details on fasting, except what we are looking at today. It is associated with sadness, prayer, charity and seeking God’s will in the New Testament. Jesus instruction here makes the assumption that fasting was something they would practice—He says when you fast— now lets look at verse 16.
    Matthew 6:16 ESV
    16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
    We see again the comparison to the hypocrite—the self-righteous person. The person who is fasting for the approval of man and just as the one who prays for men to see, they have received their reward. When they fasted they would look terrible. Their faces would have a look of anguish to cause others to ask, what’s wrong—then they could brag about what they were doing. Look at me, look how holy and righteous I am. These have received their reward—the praise of men. Remember it is about the motives of the heart. 1 Corinthians 4:5.
    1 Corinthians 4:5 ESV
    5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
    Why we do what we do is it for the praise of men, is it to check off the box, making our own righteousness, or is it to honor and glorify God, to love and serve Him. How many of us are more worried about what’s for lunch than being here with God. We cannot even abstain from food for a couple of hours. In light of what Jesus is teaching us here we should evaluate a few things in our churches—are we more concerned with the external statistics such as attendance numbers, how many members our church has, how many baptisms have we done, how much offering have we taken in—our focus needs to be on the internal not the external. Jesus is telling us to focus on the heart to focus on Him.

    Are we Commanded to Fast

    Are we commanded to fast—there is no specific command in the New Testament on fasting, but is clear that Jesus knew it was something the people would do. The Jews were only commanded to fast on The Day of Atonement. I want us to look at as not something we have to do, but something that is beneficial when done correctly.
    Matthew 6:17 ESV
    17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
    “But when you fast” now Jesus is not commanding we fast, He understands that it is something they are regularly doing, and will continue to do. He tells them don’t do what the hypocritical self-proclaimed righteous are doing, they are to clean up their act—look as if everything is normal. He does not wat it to be easy for others to tell they are fasting. It should be business as usual, like your not fasting. Again we see the underlying message to seek God’s approval over that of man’s, and this should be applied to all our acts of righteousness. When we fast we should not look sad or discouraged, weak and starving, we are to show the strength and help of our LORD.
    Matthew 6:18 ESV
    18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
    The proper appearance when we fast is so that only God knows we are fasting. our appearance should be normal, our attitude should be normal, we should not be drawing attention to what we are doing. We should not let every person we come into contact with know we are fasting—if you do you should question your motives. When we fast it is a matter between ourselves and God. We see the same promise as for hen we pray in secret. Now Jesus does not tell us what this reward is and that should not be our focus—what we will get. What we get from fasting is a byproduct of our devotion to God.

    Why Fast

    Since fasting is not as common as it once was in Biblical terms, why should be fast. For one it shows our devotion to and our dependence on God. When we temporarily deprive ourselves of food for the purpose of prayer and vigilance to God’s plan for our lives it can have a profound spiritual impact. The idea is a self sacrifice in order to hear from God, and to prepare ourselves for His service. How long has it been since you have genuinely sacrificed in order to develop a closer relationship with God. Again, we can’t even make it a couple of hours without worrying if we are going to make it to lunch on time, we loose interest, and our focus goes elsewhere. Many of us are willing to sacrifice more for our personal priorities or even our priorities at work than we are for God. We have gotten things seriously confused. I want to also clarify what true fasting is not. Now what I am talking about there is nothing wrong with, and it is probably a good idea, but it is not true fasting. Okay so what am I talking about, some will say they are on a technology fast, that they are abstaining from TV, Video games, Computers, or their phones. Again I think these are good, and we should do this, but they are not true fasting. Fasting is depriving yourself of something you need, and contrary to what some people believe you do not need TV, Video games, Computers, or even your Cell phone. Fasting is to deprive yourself of food to cause you to be more in tune and sensitive to God. it is to open ourselves up to Him, making Him a priority over our physical desires, we are saying God we choose to make you a priority. It is a safe bet to say that none of us are on the verge of starving to death. Paul tells us we are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). Jesus fasted for 40 days to prepare for His temptation, now I am not saying to fast for 40 days. We must be wise about it, spend some time in prayer before you fast, allow God to lead you to fast, not just doing it because. We should fast because God leads us to do it.

    The Sermon on the Mount

    What are we willing to give up in order to grow closer to God? Do we present ourselves as living sacrifices?

      • 2 Corinthians 1:3–4ESV

      • Hebrews 12:5–11ESV

      • Romans 5:3–5ESV

      • Ephesians 6:4ESV

Mazie First Baptist
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