QUOTES ON FASTING

Martin Luther preached about fasting in a sermon based on Matthew 4:1ff, saying “Of fasting I say this: it is right to fast frequently in order to subdue and control the body. For when the stomach is full, the body does not serve for preaching, for praying, for studying, or for doing anything else that is good. Under such circumstances God’s Word cannot remain. But one should not fast with a view to meriting something by it as by a good work” (What Luther Says, St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, Vol.1, 1959, p. 506).

“Throughout its course, the life of the godly indeed ought to be tempered with frugality and sobriety, so that as far as possible it bears resemblance to a fast. But, in addition, there is another sort of fasting, temporary in character, when we withdraw something from the normal regimen of living, either for one day or for a definite time, and pledge ourselves to a tighter more severe restraint in diet than ordinarily.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 2, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960, p. 1241).

“Is fasting ever a bribe to get God to pay more attention to the petitions? No, a thousand times no. It is simply a way to make clear that we sufficiently reverence the amazing opportunity to ask help from the everlasting God, the Creator of the universe, to choose to put everything else aside and concentrate on worshiping, asking forgiveness, and making our requests known-considering His help more important than anything we could do ourselves in our own strength and with our own ideas. (Edith Schaeffer, The Life of Prayer, Wheaton, IL.: Crossway Books, 1992. pp. 75-76.)

RECOMMENDED READING

John Piper, A Hunger for God, Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer, Wheaton, IL.: Crossway Books, 1997

Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Colorado Springs, CO.: Navpress, 1991.

Lauren F. Winner, Girl Meets God, New York, NY.: Random House, 2002.

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, San Francisco, CA.: Harper & Row, 1988.

FASTING DEFINED

1. A Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes. (Donald Whitney)
2. The voluntary denial of a normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity. (Richard Foster)

FASTING IS EXPECTED

Matthew 6:16-18

FASTING IS TO BE DONE FOR A PURPOSE

1. To strengthen prayer . . . Ezra 8:23, Nehemiah 1:4, Daniel 9:3, Acts 13:3

2. To seek God’s guidance . . . Judges 20:26, Acts 14:23

3. To express grief . . . 2 Samuel 1:11-12

4. To seek deliverance or protection . . . 2 Chronicles 20:3-4

5. To express repentance and the return to God . . . Joel 2:12

6. To humble oneself before God . . . Psalm 35:13

7. To express concern for the work of God . . . Nehemiah 1:3-4, Daniel 9:3

8. To minister to the needs of others . . . Isaiah 58:6-7

9. To overcome temptation and dedicate yourself to God . . . Matthew 4:1-11

10. To express love and worship to God . . . Luke 2:37

Outline taken from Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, pp. 159-180.

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