Creatures of Habit: FastingSample

Fasting: The Heart of the Habit 

We live in a culture where we can get anything we want, anytime we want it. From Amazon to simple click-and-buy ads on social media, we have everything we need at our fingertips. We live in a day and age where everything is accessible and available with a simple click.  All of this convenience means we don’t often choose to go without something. 

When the Bible talks about fasting, it is the idea that we are to do away with or go without in order to gain something greater. So, what is the something greater? Or better yet, WHO is greater? In fasting, we go without something in our lives, so that we can draw near and experience God in a great way. 

We go without to remember that we go with God.

The Bible is so clear on this idea that we see it in the Old Testament and all the way through the New Testament. Jesus even modeled fasting in Matthew, chapter four.  

“For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry” (Matthew 4:2).

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be with Father God. In the wilderness, in the fasting, Jesus was with his Father. This is the heartbeat of fasting in the life of a believer and the reason why fasting is important. In going without, we get to be with the Father in a unique way.

In Joel 2:12-13, we see that the nation of Israel needed a reminder about how to experience God. In Joel, the call is for God’s people to return to Him.

“Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning” (Joel 2:12).

Do you need to turn and return to the Father? What might you need to go without along the way?

• What can you go without in order to gain Christ? 
• What is something in your life that you can let go of so you can gain Christ?

Today, read from Matthew 4:1-11 and Joel 2:12-13 and take some time to think about what you might choose to go without.