Warning — Disobedient fasting:

  • Isaiah 58 – Fasting does not always please God.

Examples:

  1. Zechariah 7:1-7
  2. Luke 18:9-14
  3. Mark 2:18-19 – referenced later
  • 1 Samuel 15:22 – “to obey is better than sacrifice”   
  • Romans 14:23 – “whatever is not from faith is sin”

Obedient Fasting:

  • Jesus’ example of fasting – Luke 4:1-14
  • Jesus teaches fasting – Mark 2:18-20 (see also Matthew 9:14-15; Luke 5:33-35)
  • v. 19 – Fasting unneeded and unwanted while Jesus was with them
  • v. 20 – “then they WILL fast in those days” – Jesus says that fasting will happen, not might happen, after He leaves the earth.
  • It is the mark of people who long for Jesus’ presence the way friends long for the presence of the bridegroom 
  • Matt. 9:15 – fasting frequently accompanies mourning
  • The early church fasted
  • Acts 13:1-4 – commissioning God’s work of producing churches (i.e. God-organized groups of Christians)
  • Acts 14:21-23 – appointing elders who will help the growth of the churches

What is the meaning and power of fasting?

  • Psalm 35:13 – it is a sign and practice of humbling ourselves
  • 2 Chronicles 20:1-19; Ezra 8:21-23 – laying down our earthly strength and power, and seeking God’s strength and power instead.  Examples:
  • 2 Chronicles 20:1-19 – Jehoshaphat
  • “for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (v. 15)
  • Ezra 8:21-23 – Ezra
  • “He answered our prayer” (Ezra 8:23)
  • Esther 4:15-5:3 – Queen Esther
  • “she found favor in his sight” (Esther 5:2)
  • Jonah 3:5-10 – Nineveh
  • “God relented” (Jonah 3:10)

Q: What defines a fast?

A: It seems that a true fast must deny, at least in some way, our natural life and flesh, as a sign of humility and dependence on God’s strength.  Some of the Biblical fasts denied drinking water and most (if not all) denied food, though sometimes people still ate certain types of foods during their fast (see Daniel 10:2-3).  As seen in Isaiah 58, God spends more time addressing the heart issues of those fasting than He does the actual physical form of fasting, and perhaps this is why the Bible gives no explicit formula for the outward action of fasting.