Week 2 || Day 6
PURPOSE OF FASTING: TO DEVELOP DISCIPLINE
Our spirits function in much the same way that the muscles in our body do; the more they are exercised, the stronger they get. Fasting gives our willpower muscle an unbeatable workout that not only builds its ability to refrain from certain foods, but also builds its ability to discipline ourselves in all areas of life.
Fasting submits our mind and body to the spirit of God. Your spirit will start to have dominion over your mind and your body. In Phil. 3:19 Paul says this, “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.” He’s saying that those who constantly appeal to the flesh, who are constantly pleasing the flesh, for them, destruction is their end.
You see, you are a spirit-being and your spirit is meant to rule over your mind and your body. But most of us are just ruled by our worldly desires.
Galatians 5:16 (NIV) says, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” That’s it? Walk by the Spirit? It has to be more complicated, right? There must be more hoops to jump through. But there aren’t!
In the garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve they could feast on ANYTHING they wanted. Think of all of the things they could have eaten; Avocados, mangoes, grapes, raspberries, sweet potato... anything. Except one thing. Just one. Don’t eat of THIS fruit. But what do they do? They succumb to the seduction of earthly things; power, dominion. But we aren’t left in that place of brokenness. Jesus comes along and he’s baptized and led by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness and the very first thing Satan tempts him with is not money, not power, not fame, or glory.....it’s food.
It’s the same temptation as the one in the garden.
And Jesus Christ answers, saying, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 NLT
Jesus overcame for you!
Illustration: A few years ago Samuel was working out of town and for six weeks he was gone from early Monday morning until Friday evening. This meant a lot of Monday-Fridays of me sitting at home with the kiddos, taking care of all of my usual tasks and adding those that he does to them. It was a rough stint for awhile but I found a way to comfort myself. It’s called the CREAM CHEESE DANISH. And you can buy them the cheapest at Costco. But Costco doesn’t sell things in packages of one or two. NOOOOOOO...... Costco sells them in packages of eight. And they’re nearly the size of my face. Well....the kids convinced me to buy these and my intention was that only THE kids would eat them. But then they went to bed, I was alone and wanted something tasty. And their golden-brown, flaky pastry filled with the slightly sweet cream cheese filling called to me. And soon I found myself finishing multiple cream cheese danishes. I found myself committing gluttony.
Now, we don’t often discuss gluttony as a sin in America. In fact, we reward it. There are eating contests for pie, hot dogs, donuts, hamburgers and any other food you can think of. We celebrate it and cheer them on and then give the winner a prize! As a culture we don’t view gluttony as one of the “big offenders” when it comes to sin. But I believe that the overindulgence of things in life is what is killing this western world. We’re eating ourselves to death; both physically and we’re feeding on things of the world, spiritually, that are malnourishing our lives.
I read a statistic from 2013 that said that America produces 10 billion donuts a year. They say that is enough that if we put them side by side they could go around the world 19 times.
We have a deep affection for food. We have a deep desire to please the flesh on a daily, hourly basis. The Bible calls it the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. John says that this desire “comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2:16 NIV
Fasting brings us to a point of telling our bodies that they are not in control of us. It allows us to build discipline for the things of God. It allows us to withstand temptation because we’ve done it in the most basic of human needs - our appetite!
————————————————————
Kids SEEK, too!
Note to caretakers: Fasting is a discipline not a punishment. It is about the heart. It’s important to make sure we’re not using the biblical discipline of fasting to punish poor behavior.
Kids’ Illustration: Henry was a very impatient child.
He could hardly focus on one task before jumping into another.
One day, while watching a movie, he decided that he wanted to be a rock climber. So he told his grandfather, “I want to become a rock climber! What should I do?”
His grandfather took him to a climbing gym and introduced him to the climbing instructor. The instructor trained Henry in different climbing moves. And even though the little boy was very enthusiastic, he didn’t want to practice only one thing at a time. He wanted to do it all!
Days passed and Henry didn’t get better at climbing. He frowned at his grandfather, “I am not getting stronger. What will I do now?”
His grandfather took him on a walk by the beach and pointed to the cliffs. “Do you know, Henry, that the water breaks down these rocks?”
Henry’s eyes widened, “Really? But these rocks are so big! How can the sea break them down?”
His grandfather smiled and watched as Henry lightly splashed around in the water, “It takes many years, Henry. It doesn’t happen overnight. Just like you cannot become a great rock climber overnight. You need to be disciplined in your work and be patient. Then you will one day reach your goals. Discipline is hard to find, though. Ask God to help you develop discipline for the things you’d like to grow in.
We achieve our goals through discipline. We develop discipline as we seek the Holy Spirit’s help.
Kids’ Activity for Today’s Prayer Focus:
————————————————————
Bible:
“People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4 NLT)
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16 NIV)
“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:19 NLT)
————————————————————
Quote for Today:
“Fasting reduces the power of self so that the Holy Spirit can do a more intense work within us. “ - Bill Bright
“Fasting is not nearly so deadly as feasting.” - J. Harold Smith
“More than any other Discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us.” - Lynn M. Baab
————————————————————
Points to Ponder:
Do you have areas you are struggling to have discipline in? Take a second to write them down. Commit to praying over each of these areas as you continue your fast.
Ask God to reveal how you can continue to grow in self-discipline as you seek Him through fasting. When we realize that fasting helps us in the area of food discipline, it is much easier to see other pursuits of discipline as achievable.
————————————————————
CLOSING PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we love you. We ask that you continue to fill us with your Holy Spirit as we submit our lives to you today. We pray that you would help us with the discipline needed to choose you above all else and to bring all areas of our lives into agreement with your will for us. Father, we thank you for your presence. It’s so glorious, wonderful and available. Your eyes go to and fro throughout the earth seeking out those who are hungry and those who have faith. May we be that people. In the name of your precious son, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
————————————————————