Prayer and…

 Last week many of us engaged in traditional Thanksgiving Day feasts. - There's the turkey and the stuffing and the rolls and the cranberry sauce and the green bean casserole and the corn casserole and the sweet potatoes and the au gratin potatoes and the mashed potatoes and the gravy and the pecan pie and the pumpkin pie... Thanksgiving is a holiday that is known for an abundance of food!

I have to confess - I eat it multiple times a day, every day! It's been my experience that you kind of need food to live. All life requires some kind of food to live. That's how we're designed. But I want to go the opposite direction this morning and talk about 'not eating'. If you remove the "e" from 'feasting' you have 'fasting'. I want us to take a look at some of Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 6:16-21 (NIV)...

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. (17) But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, (18) so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

(19) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (20) But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

As we read this passage, I think it's best to start with…

I. A bit about fasting…

Just so we're all on the same page, spiritual 'fasting' specifically refers to abstaining from food for a period of time for religious reasons. I know there's a lot of talk about intermittent fasting for health reasons; for controlling blood sugar or weight loss. But there's a huge difference between intermittent fasting and spiritual fasting. This type of 'fasting' is a spiritual discipline that we don't really talk about much in the modern Church. We talk about other disciplines such as praying, reading the Bible, serving – but fasting - doesn't usually come up very much.

There have been discussions over the years about whether or not Scripture commands fasting for the Christian. Is it a requirement? Is it as much a part of Christianity as communion or baptism? So what does the Bible say on the subject? There are a handful of scriptures that talk about 'fasting' and examples of people's 'fasts', but the first mention of fasting that I could find is from Exodus 34:27-28 (NIV)...

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." (28) Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant - the Ten Commandments.

'Forty days and nights without eating or drinking' – pretty extreme, but it was done for a specific purpose. I can't imagine Moses was simply too busy to eat for all the time it took to write out just Ten Commandments. The purpose wasn't just to 'fast' so he could write the commandments, but God didn't want anything to distract Moses from the time they spent together. The purpose of Moses' fast was to focus completely on God.

I couldn't find any scripture that explicitly commands 'fasting,' but there are many examples where it was commonly understood that if you followed Jesus – fasting would be somewhere in that relationship. So…

A. Why fast?

Fasting and prayer always go together in the Bible. If all you do is fast without prayer, it's just a diet. Fasting is a way to intentionally seek God by denying the physical in order to focus on the spiritual. Fasting is about laying aside something that we see as important or essential in order to intensely pursue God and learn His mind.

How often do we allow circumstances or things, rather than God, to control us or our attitudes or emotions? (I seem to let that happen frequently...) Fasting helps keep the natural desires of our physical selves in check and balanced with our spiritual selves.

In our current culture - we are so full on food and work and entertainment and our phones and every other distraction that we can find that we have no appetite left for God. Fasting helps us understand our absolute dependence on God and on Him alone. Fasting is a discipline that works to recapture our hunger for God. The act of fasting says to God, 'I'm willing to forgo anything in order to be in your presence'.

Why fast? As far as what we see recorded in the Bible - Jesus never commanded fasting; He never said, "Thou shalt fast." But He did expect that His followers would practice fasting at some point because He wanted them to pursue God above everything else.

And 'fasting' can't just be a religious 'duty'. Personally, I think there may be too many 'religious people' in this world. 'Religious people' are all about doing the right things but perhaps for the wrong reasons. Religious people tend to focus on their good deeds rather than the reason behind those deeds and it's then that their self righteousness tends to show.

I don't want people to look at me and simply see a religious person. What I want for them to see is a spiritual person. And I don't think that's always what they see. But that will only happen if I focus daily and intently on my relationship with Jesus. If I want to become a spiritual person who draws people to Jesus rather than pushes them away – I need to practice prayer and fasting. And prayer needs to go hand in hand with any fasting - or it simply becomes an act of 'self righteousness' rather than a pursuit of God.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)...

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. (25) Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (26) Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. (27) No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

I know it can feel like - 'Great, one more thing I've got to do. I've got to pray regularly and read my Bible and serve others and now I've got to fast...' But it's not about what you give up - it's really about what you receive through those things.

When I feel like I'm getting stagnant in my relationship with God – I should pray and fast. When a national event or crisis arises – I should pray and fast. When I have big decisions to make, or I'm going through a tough time – I should pray and fast. When there are spiritual issues in the Church that are so much bigger than me – I should pray and fast.

We've talked about fasting and what it is and why I should do it – let's look at…

B. What it's not

Fasting isn't something you do just so that God will owe you something. Just because you skip a few meals doesn't mean that you're magically holy and that God has to answer your prayers the exact way you want Him to. Fasting isn't something you do to earn God's love or salvation. God loves you whether you fast or not and we are saved by grace, not by our works. And fasting isn't something you do as a substitute for obedience.

I'm reminded of the tradition of lent. It's not something that we focus on like some denominations do. But it's not a bad idea. If you're not familiar with the tradition – it's where people give up a certain thing or fast from something important to them for about 40 days before Easter. Once again – not a bad idea, if it's done for the purpose of focusing a person acutely on God.

- But just as people in Jesus' day turned a good thing like fasting into just another religious act to gain them 'brownie points' – some do the same with lent. Many people around the world participate in all sorts of drunken parties and overindulgence in pre-Lenten festivals believing that as long as they then confess their sins and then fast for a while – then it's all cool with God.

Fasting isn't something you do as a substitute for obedience to God. And Jesus encouraged people to fast privately, as an act only for God and then made it clear that God would then reward them. And I think we should each ask ourselves - based on 'how I live...'

II. Where is my 'storehouse'?

I found it interesting that Jesus went right from the subject of fasting into talking about storing up our treasures in Heaven. In His mind, there was a link between our relationship with material, physical things and our relationship with God. What is it that steals your focus off of God in your everyday life?

Food is a big part of my life, but I also have a lot of 'stuff'. As we're getting closer to getting in to our new home - I'm again realizing just how much 'stuff' there is. I have stuff that I've been storing for one reason or another, but now I'm evaluating things differently. It's not a matter of 'do I want it' but more, 'do I want it enough to move it and then unpack it again'? In that light - things that I previously thought were important enough to hold onto suddenly lost much of their worth. It's very easy to underestimate how much of a hold our possessions have on us.

What's your relationship with stuff and money and does it benefit or detract from your relationship with God? Jesus said these words in Luke 12:16-21 (NIV)...

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. (17) He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' (18) Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. (19) And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'

(20) But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' (21) This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.

Jesus wasn't condemning things or money or even being wealthy. What He was condemning was the man's relationship with that money over his relationship with God. Are we more concerned with what we store up for ourselves here on this earth than we are with our future in Heaven with God? Are you using what you have for God's purposes?

Fasting is about putting aside food to focus on God. Being generous with the money and things with which we have been blessed is about giving up our control over stuff, or its control on us, to focus on God.

A. It's about focus

What's most important to you? What do you focus most of your time and energies on? The Sunday school answer that all 'good Christians' should answer is 'God'. We know that's supposed to be the answer – but what truly has most of your focus? Have we spent as much time seeking God as we've spent trying to make money? Jesus said, in Luke 11:34-35 (NIV)...

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. (35) See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

On what do you focus? Is it mostly physical and material - or is it spiritual? And do you need to make an adjustment?

Matthew 19:23-26 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (24) Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (25) When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" (26) Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Once again, Jesus is not bashing the rich – but warning His followers about the immense power that money and things can have over us. When you intentionally take your focus off of money and things and place it onto God – money and things begin to lose their power over you. It's about focus and…

B. It's about priorities

When we fast – we put God higher on our priority list than food. When we are generous with God and others – we put God's values higher on our priority list than money and things. Ultimately, do we put our faith in food and money and things to sustain us or do we put our faith completely in God?

Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV)

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (32) For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

- Jesus' words; His promise – 'seek first God's kingdom and God's righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well'. You get your priorities right and everything else falls into place.

The day after Jesus performed a miracle and fed a group of 5,000 with 5 loaves and two fish – Jesus shared this with his followers in John 6:27-29 (NIV)...

"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." (28) Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" (29) Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

If you're pursuing anything else before your relationship with Jesus – your priorities are out of order and you will be disappointed in the end.

So What?

Denying ourselves anything isn't a popular thing in our culture and here I am suggesting during the holiday season that you could think about denying yourself food to focus on God. I'm suggesting you evaluate your relationship with money and things… So if any of this bothers you - it's probably a sign you might really want to think about it a bit more.

Let's be honest here - I like food. That doesn't make me a bad person; it's natural, it's how we were designed, to crave food. But I really want to be known as a person who craves God more, more than anything else!

I'd like to ask two things – first, that you pray for me as I grow in my practice of prayer and fasting and my relationship to money and things. Pray that I would fervently seek God every day and that my 'self discipline' would grow.

Second, I'd like to encourage you to focus on working on your practice of prayer and fasting and your relationship with things. I want to encourage you to be very intentional in seeking God and His will in your life. And, if you do choose to fast – please don't tell me about it, 'and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you'.