Skip to main content

Growing in Grace by Fasting by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). The word “grow” is an exhortation and a command, and it implies that if we’re to progress in Christ we must play an active role, by the grace of Christ, in building habits that nurture our progress. Therefore, I am offering a series of devotionals this summer on eight essential habits that help us to grow in grace. For today, let’s consider the place of fasting in the Christian life.

Midway through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said to his disciples, “And when you fast...” Later he added, “The days will come when the bridegroom [Jesus] is taken away from them [Jesus’ disciples], and then they will fast” (Matthew 6:16; 9:15). The Lord said “when” not “if,” and “they will” not “they might.” Jesus assumed that fasting would be a regular part of his disciples’ lives, and so today I want to address three questions: What is fasting? Why should lovers of Jesus fast? How do we go about fasting?

First, what is fasting? To fast is to deny ourselves food or water or other necessities or pleasures of life for a time. It is putting aside good things so that we can feast on great things. It is a way of making space in our lives so that we can give more of ourselves to prayer and worship and the Word of God. And in this way, fasting is a way of intensifying our quest for God.

If you’ll think about this definition for a moment, you’ll see that we can only fast from things that are good. For instance, we can’t fast from stealing or gluttony or coveting or lust. We have to repent from these things. Indeed, the only things from which we can fast are good gifts from God. So again, fasting is putting aside good things for a time that we might feast on great things like prayer, worship, and the Word of God.

Second, why should lovers of Jesus fast? The primary reason we should fast is that Jesus fasted and taught his disciples to do the same. We don’t fast to be religious, or to deny ourselves for the sake of denying ourselves, or to earn the love of God, or to manipulate God into giving us what we want. Plain and simple, we fast because Jesus fasted and taught his disciples to do the same, and as Christians our passion is to be submissive to Jesus and our greatest hope is to be like Jesus.

Third, how do we go about fasting? Much needs to be said about this, and so rather than trying to answer this question here, I will simply refer you to Bill Bright’s helpful little booklet, Seven Basic Steps to Fasting and Prayer (available on our website at www.gcfmn.org, resources > books & articles).

My exhortation to us today is simply this: read Bill Bright’s booklet, ask Jesus to help you, take the seven steps, and learn to fast. Rightly understood and practiced, it is one of the most powerful disciplines in the Christian life. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worship Songs, October 15, 2017

By
We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. My Redeemers Love Hope Has Come I Will Glory In My Redeemer Blessed Be Your Name Here In Your Presence Your Glory Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) -- Sermon Text: John 11:1-16 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).
Post a Comment
Read more

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

By
  One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF.  However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive.   I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church.  In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority.  Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

By
“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit.  Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vendi...
Post a Comment
Read more