.     Fasting

A  Fasting is the deliberate temporary abstinence of food for the purpose of spiritual renewal

B.     Luke 4:2 “where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”

C.      Leviticus 23:27 "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire”

D.    Zechariah 8:19  “This is what the LORD Almighty says: "The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace."

E.     Esther 4:16 "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 maids 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."

F.      Daniel 10:3 “I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.”

G.     Luke 18:12 “I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

H.    Didache prescribed two weekly fast days Wednesday and Fridays

I.       2 Corinthians 11:27 “I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.”

J.        Watchings

K.    Matthew 6: 16-18  When you fast…

L.     Mark 2:18-22 Why do your disciples not fast?

M.   Fasting should center on God 

1. Between you and God
2. Luke 2:37 We should be reminded of people like Anna
3. Zech 7:5  "Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

N.  Fasting reveals the things that control you

1.      Time spent thinking about, preparing and eating food

2.      Psalm 69:10

N.    Anger, jealousy, fear, being impatient and other traits … if they are in us they will surface during fasting.

O.    So in fasting we are not abstaining as much as we are feasting on the word of God. (John 4:32f)

P.      Fasting helps us to keep our balance in life.  We too often allow unessential things to control our lives and ignore what is important.

Q.    Learning to fast

1.      Fasting is not for everyone

2.      Start with a 24 hr. lunch to lunch fast

3.      Maybe drink a few juices

4.      Try this once a week for a few weeks

5.      Break your fast with fruits, vegetables and a lot of inner rejoicing

6.      Then go into longer fast drinking only water but use it liberally

7.      Your stomach will often let you know that it wants to be fed but after an initial time it will come under control

8.      Do not draw attention to yourself

9.      prayer and fasting go together

10.  p. 59 of Foster’s book

11.  When you break a fast eat lightly (fresh fruits and vegetables juices) for your stomach will have shrunk. Be careful not to overeat.

12.  But remember it is what happens to you spiritually that is important and not what happens physically.

13.  Things can happen to you spiritually that would happen in no other way but through a period of prayer and fasting