Many sermons have been preached on HOW to properly fast, based on this scripture. But the real question for today is… DO you fast?

It seems that few people today have ever experienced the cleansing hunger of fasting. Few incorporate this age old practice into their life. It is just not something that “we do” in modern America.

Have scriptures been rewritten? Has God changed? No! Jesus did not say here “if” but rather “when”. Like it or not, Jesus expected us to fast regularly! That seems an unpleasant truth for most of us. Yet it is exactly that unpleasantness that makes fasting so valuable!

It is the denial of what we want, the deprivation of a basic bodily need, where we find much of the benefit. In the denial we grow power over the flesh. We practice putting the spiritual first, denying our flesh those earthly desires.

But… But… I get so hungry!

Exactly! That is why we are called to do it! If we can not deny food for a time, who is in charge? Our spirit or our body? If we can not deny food for a time, what other earthly pleasures can we not deny? How will we stand firm resisting temptation if we can not even skip a meal?

Among other things, fasting builds strength of spirit over body. It places our very being in order as God intended. It allows us the ability to refuse to indulge in sin, to resist the devil.

“When you fast” is an expectation of Jesus disciples. How long has it been for you? Have you fasted and prayed over that issue you are waiting and seeking God about? How important is it too you, if you are not willing to skip a meal to find time to pay over it?

When you fast… Do it properly, but first… Commit to fast!