Fasting & Praying GuideSample

When Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, He was tempted by Satan. Jesus’ first temptation was to turn stones into bread so that He could satisfy His hunger (Matt. 4:2–3). This temptation was for the satisfaction of fleshly desires. We all have natural bodily desires for things like food or drink or sex, and each of those desires can be fulfilled in a God-honoring way. But many of us also know all too well that those same desires, under the influence of sin, can lead us away from God and control our lives in ways that are not healthy. Satan’s aim was to tempt Jesus with those natural desires of the flesh, but Jesus responded with a deeper truth.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:4).

Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 8, when Moses speaks to the generation wandering in the wilderness.

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:2–3).

Hunger was used by God to humble His people in the wilderness in order to teach them the very lesson that Jesus quotes back to Satan when He is tempted. He had already been fasting for 40 days and was hungry (Matt. 4:2), but it was precisely because Jesus had been fasting that He was able to resist the temptation of Satan. When we fast, we starve that part of ourselves that can easily give in to the desires of the flesh. We want that part of us to go hungry so that our souls can find satisfaction and sustenance in God.

Reflection:

Fasting teaches me to appreciate what I normally take for granted. Gratitude becomes worship.

What are five things you’re grateful for today? Offer them to God as an act of worship.