Well, if you'd open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6, we're making our way through the Sermon on the Mount.
And last year, I pre- last year, we were at Matthew last year.
Were we at Matthew last year? Yeah, we were at Matthew last year.
Well, last week I preached a sermon on the Lord's Prayer.
And unfortunately, I ran out of time, so I wasn't able to get to verses 14 and 15.
And so I've heard back from a couple of you this week saying, we were waiting for you to get to verses 14 and 15.
Would you please explain it?
So let me explain it briefly, and then we'll get into this section Jesus talked about on fasting.
Well, in verses 14 and 15, what they are is Jesus elaborating on something from the prayer itself.
And so if you look at back in chapter 6, verse 12,
and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,
what Jesus is doing is, having modeled that in how we pray to our God,
he now comes back in verses 14 and 15 and elaborates on it.
He says,
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
And so that is a sobering word for many people when they hear that.
And it should be.
So this is an elaboration, but it's a warning.
And what is he warning against?
Jesus is warning against a kind of hypocrisy.
A kind of hypocrisy that would be,
I can pray these kinds of prayers,
and I can ask God to forgive me for my sins,
but not be willing to forgive those who've sinned against us.
Now if you want to read a parable in Matthew,
turn to Matthew chapter 18.
We're not going to do it this morning,
but there's this parable in Matthew 18.
It's the parable of the unforgiving servant.
And Jesus is making the same point.
He is warning his followers that they need to forgive as many times as needed.
And so the parable of the unforgiving servant
is a very helpful way of understanding what Jesus is saying here.
So Jesus is giving a warning here to not be hypocritical in our prayer life
when it comes to forgiving others when they've sinned against us.
It's sobering, and it's a call to be self-reflective.
But what we also see is at the beginning of that section in prayer in verse 5,
Jesus starts by saying a warning against the hypocrites.
And so here he closes that section on praying
with another warning about hypocrisy for us.
Well, that's a little brief explanation on that.
In this passage in Matthew 6, 1 through 18,
Jesus talks about generosity,
talks about prayer,
and now he turns to this topic of fasting.
Just a show of hands,
who's heard a sermon on fasting before?
Would you raise your hands?
Oh, that's surprising.
Okay.
All right.
I thought it was going to be a little less than that, actually.
Let me read what Jesus says.
And when you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites,
for they disfigure their faces
that their fasting may be seen by others.
Truly I say to you,
they have received their reward,
but when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face
that your fasting may not be seen by others,
but by your Father who is in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret
will reward you.
Fasting is the purposeful forfeiting of food.
And there are a variety of reasons why
people from all walks of life fast.
People fast because they're having a colonoscopy the next day.
People fast because they simply
don't have enough money
to eat three square meals.
It's a tragic thing.
People fast in order to lose weight really quick.
They really want to squeeze into those pair of jeans.
People fast so that they can compete.
I had a dear friend in high school
who was a top-notch state wrestler.
And the things that he would put his body through
to cut weight in order to compete.
And he would fast.
Why?
To compete.
Why?
To win.
And he was good.
People fast because they're emotionally overwhelmed.
Maybe you've been there.
You are just so overwhelmed by things of life
that the last thing on your to-do list is to eat.
Similarly, people fast because they're preoccupied with a task.
I do this.
You get dialed into something,
and you're hammering it out,
and you forget to eat.
And then there's religious fasting.
The Muslim fast of Ramadan
is one of the five pillars of Islam.
And it's a religious work to win God's approval.
Muslims fast to garner favor with God
to make themselves acceptable to God.
But praise be to our God of the Bible
that only Christ's blood in righteousness
can make a sinner acceptable to God.
And having put our faith in Him,
we are acceptable to God.
Muslims will fast out of a fear of God
in order to win His approval.
We don't.
We don't fear God.
We fast in order to feast on God.
Christians fast from food
in order to feast on God.
And so this morning,
I'm going to give you six tasty morsels of truth
that are designed to whet your appetite
to feast on God through fasting.
Six tasty morsels.
Now, if you read verse 16,
Jesus starts with these words,
and when you pray.
He doesn't start with saying,
and if you pray.
He starts by saying,
and when you pray.
No.
And when you fast.
Sorry about that.
And when you fast.
According to Jesus,
Jesus assumes His followers are going to fast.
fast.
But I'm not sure if we're all there.
I think many of us have never fasted.
And so I don't want to assume
that we're all fasting.
I don't want to assume
that we all know what it means to fast.
And so this morning,
six tasty morsels
to prime your pump,
to whet your appetite,
to feast on God
through fasting.
You ready for tasty morsel number one?
Fasting is a spiritual exercise
with the goal of godliness.
Fasting is a spiritual workout.
We all know the importance
and benefits of physical exercise,
don't we?
My doctor is very interested
in how much I exercise.
Because he's very much interested
in my overall health.
But we all know
that physical exercise,
working out,
isn't limited to physical bodies.
If you would just turn in your Bibles
to 1 Timothy,
just flip over a few pages,
Matthew,
Acts,
General Electric Power Company,
Galatians,
Ephesians,
Philippians,
Colossians,
Thessalonians,
and then you should be in
Timothy.
1 Timothy 4.
1 Timothy 4.7,
the Apostle Paul
strongly urges
this young pastor
named Timothy.
And here's what he says.
If you look at halfway through,
he says,
rather,
train yourself
for godliness.
For while bodily training
is of some value,
godliness is of value
in every way
as it holds promise
for the present life
and also
for the life
to come.
And so,
what Paul is saying is,
Timothy,
you really got to
spiritually work out, buddy.
Spiritually work out.
It will result
in spiritual health,
what he calls godliness.
And that godliness
bears fruit
both now
and in eternity.
And then if you look down
at verse 16,
not only is it healthy
for Timothy,
it's going to be healthy
for his congregation.
So,
Paul commands Timothy
to train yourself
for godliness.
And that Greek word
translated train
is where we get
the English word
gymnasium from.
Gymnast.
And when you think
about that,
you probably think of
some kind of gym,
people exercising in it,
training their bodies,
athletes working out.
And so,
literally,
what this would read
is,
but you,
Timothy,
you train yourself
for godliness.
Christians don't
drift into godliness.
Christians purposefully
pursue godliness
like an athlete
trains for an event.
Godliness.
So,
Paul is urging
Timothy to spiritually
work out
so that he experiences
increasing spiritual health,
godliness.
And it benefits him,
his flock,
all to the glory of God.
So,
train yourself
for godliness.
The goal
of a spiritual discipline
like fasting
is godliness
to become more like God.
To be like him
and his character.
To be like Jesus.
And so,
when we bring it back
to Matthew chapter
5 and 6,
it'd be like this.
Jesus says in Matthew 5,
48,
it's a command,
be perfect
as your heavenly
Father is perfect.
perfect.
What he's saying there is,
hey,
train yourself
for godliness.
Train yourself
for perfection.
Train yourself
to become mature.
And so,
as we come full circle
back to Matthew 6,
1 through 18,
what Jesus is doing here
is he's cautioning
his disciples
in how they practice
their righteousness.
He's saying
how to go about
their spiritual workouts.
Don't go showboating
with your spiritual exercises.
Nowhere does Jesus
forbid giving to the needy.
Nowhere does he forbid
publicly praying.
Nowhere does he forbid fasting.
What he forbids
are acts of piety
that are to be done
to be seen by others.
That's what he's forbidding.
So again and again,
Jesus says,
do your spiritual exercises
for an audience of one.
Your Father who is unseen
and who sees the unseen.
Our pursuit of godliness
through the spiritual disciplines
is first and foremost
for God's eyes only,
which reminds me
of a 1980s hit,
for God's eyes only.
Way back machine.
fasting is one spiritual exercise
to grow in godliness
for the glory of God.
And I just want to remind you again
of those first four words
in verse 16.
And when you fast.
It's not an if.
It's a when.
When you fast,
Jesus assumes his disciples
will train themselves
for godliness
by employing
this particular
spiritual exercise
called fasting.
And what I'm going to tell you
in a little bit
is that fasting
is forfeiting food
to feast on God.
So morsel number one,
fasting is a spiritual exercise.
Morsel number two,
fasting is one of many
spiritual exercises
exercises for a Christian.
There's a bunch
of different exercises
you can do.
I mean, I'm not sure
if you've ever been
to a gym before,
one of those
kind of build your muscle gyms,
but you walk in
and all of a sudden
there's all these
kind of machines
and all these different
ways you can work out
and build your physical health.
I've got some friends
that every week
they get this,
this email goes out
and they are describing
this exercise
they're going to do
and invite everybody
to come and do it.
But the thing is,
these exercises are crazy.
But when they do it,
they do it in order
to benefit
and grow in their
physical health.
The spiritual disciplines,
and this is Donald Whitney
from his 1991 classic
The Spiritual Disciplines,
the spiritual disciplines
are those practices
found in Scripture
that promote
spiritual growth
among believers
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
And he goes on
to list ten.
Here, let me just tell you.
Bible,
prayer,
worship,
evangelism,
serving,
stewardship,
fasting,
silence and solitude,
journaling,
learning.
Ten disciplines.
Ten different workouts
for a Christian
to grow in godliness.
It's a great book.
I've got an old version.
It looks like this.
But this past year,
I read another book
on the spiritual disciplines
that I like more.
And it's this book.
It's called
Habits of Grace
by David Mathis.
And I would just strongly
recommend this book.
It's outstanding.
And so,
it's Habits of Grace,
our habits,
His grace.
This is God at work
in us.
And he,
just to give you a taste of it,
he organizes his book
in three categories.
Hear God's voice,
getting Bible in you.
Having his ear,
prayer,
and in that section
includes fasting,
and then belong
to his body.
Spiritual disciplines
of one anothering,
of being together,
all about
growing in godliness.
So,
fasting is one of
many spiritual disciplines.
But,
I want to,
I want to steer you clear
of two mistakes
when it comes to
the spiritual disciplines.
The first mistake
is one of legalism.
And here's the thinking.
It's,
it's thinking that
your right standing
with God
depends upon
your practice
of the disciplines.
It's thinking that
the practice
of
something like fasting
earns us
favor with God.
It does not.
Our
standing
with God
is accomplished
in Jesus alone.
It's only on the basis
of Jesus' blood
and righteousness
imputed to us
by faith
that we're made
right with God.
So,
a spiritual discipline,
fasting,
for example,
is actually
an outworking
of our salvation.
It's not to
earn salvation.
It results
from being
saved.
God's
good works
don't save us,
but we were saved
for good works.
Ephesians chapter 2,
1 through 10.
And so,
reading your Bible,
praying,
giving,
evangelism,
those are all
outworkings
of what God
has already established
in us through Christ.
It's all
to grow
in godliness,
not to win
God's favor.
That's legalism.
The second,
second caution,
the second mistake
is much more subtle.
And I think
that it's the mistake
that many of us make.
It's the self-dependent
spiritual disciplines.
It's thinking
that my growth
in godliness
depends on me.
Now,
Paul does command
Timothy,
train yourself
for godliness.
And so,
we do have
a responsibility,
but God
gives the growth.
Our habits,
His grace.
Now,
in order to help
you understand this,
I want to share
with you an illustration.
An illustration
of oars
and sails.
The difference
between a rowboat
and a sailboat.
I'll never forget,
20 years ago,
I was mentored
by a man named Thomas,
and he shared this with me,
and I've held on
to it ever since.
When somebody
becomes a Christian,
Christians can think
about the Christian life
as a rowboat.
It's like,
I've got to make progress
in the Christian life,
and I've got to
row this boat.
And so,
hand me the oar
of Bible reading,
and hand me the oar
of prayer
right when you're saved.
I've put my trust
in Jesus
by faith alone,
and now it's on me
to make progress.
And so,
I grab the oar
of Bible reading,
I grab the oar
of prayer,
and I start,
I start pumping
through the water.
Oh yeah,
I'm making progress.
And then someone else
says,
you know,
you should really start
giving some of your money
back to the Lord.
Okay,
alright,
I can work this.
Three oars now,
I'm working it.
I should start fasting.
Okay,
I'm working four oars now.
And then Donald Whitney
comes in and says,
actually,
you've got ten oars,
and so,
I am going to somehow
manage ten,
what's going to happen?
I'm done.
I'm lying in the bottom
of my rowboat
thinking,
what just happened?
The Christian life
is not a rowboat.
Christian life's a sailboat.
And so,
what we're called to
is hoist sails
in order to capture
the movement
of God's Holy Spirit.
And so,
when I read my Bible
in the morning,
I'm raising the sail
so God will act upon me
and move me.
And I raise the sail of prayer.
I raise the sail of fasting.
I raise the sail of evangelism.
I raise the sail of stewardship.
These are all sails
and they're made out
of the same fabric.
Bible.
And the Holy Spirit of God
fills my sails.
Fills your sails.
You know that scene
from Master and Commander
when Captain Jack's
on the front of his boat
and it's blowing
and all the sails are up
and he's just smiling.
When you are,
when God's filling your sails
through the disciplines,
there is great joy.
But when you're trying
to row your boat,
there is just drudgery.
And so,
you know how you can
avoid these mistakes?
You raise your sail
every morning.
Fasting is just one sail.
The difference between the two
is who is powering the boat.
Who's powering the rowboat?
Who's powering the sailboat?
Sign me up for the sailboat.
So,
this second point
I've tried to make here
is fasting
is one of many
spiritual disciplines
and they're not oars.
They are sails.
The third morsel.
Fasting is an act
of humility.
Fasting is an act
of humility.
James 4, 6.
God opposes the proud
but gives grace
to the humble.
When I hoist my sail
in the morning,
it's an act of humility.
I want to be empowered
by God.
Fasting is a self-imposed
forfeiting of a basic need.
And classically,
that basic need
is the need
to eat.
Eat food.
So, fasting
means going without
something good
in order to gain
something great.
We're going to forfeit
food in order
to feast on God.
And so,
all throughout the Bible,
we see people fasting
for different reasons
but the fasting
is always moving
towards God.
It is always
this act of humility
towards God.
Humbly seeking God.
And so,
we see corporate fasts
throughout the Bible.
So,
the nation of Israel
were commanded
by God
to fast
once a year.
This is the command
on their calendar
that wouldn't change.
And that fast
was linked
to the Day of Atonement.
Yom Kippur.
A day in which
a goat lost its life
and its blood
covered the people.
And so,
the people of Israel
would fast
and mourn
their sin
towards God
on the Day of Atonement.
It was a command.
The whole nation did it.
Big corporate fast.
And then,
if you read Jonah,
there's this other kind
of fast.
This city
of Nineveh.
Now,
Jonah was a really
cranky prophet.
Just,
he was cranky.
And so,
he shows up
in the city of Nineveh
and he spoke
out of his crankiness.
He essentially
told this whole city,
walks in,
turn or burn!
And he walks away.
And you know
what God did?
God moved
in those Ninevites.
And they turned.
And you know
what they did?
The king of Nineveh
called a fast
for all people
and animals.
No eating.
No drinking.
We are repenting
before the God
of Jonah
that He would have
mercy on us.
Remember Esther?
Haman is the bad guy
and he wants
to destroy the Jews.
Esther tells Mordecai,
will you call a fast
for three days?
Get all the people
in Susa praying
so that when I go
before the king,
He will give me,
God will give me favor
and I will be able
to be used by Him
to help deliver
God's people
living in Susa.
We see corporate fasts.
And it doesn't stop
with the Old Testament.
It goes in the New Testament.
In Acts 13,
we see churches fasting.
The church in Antioch,
after fasting and praying,
sends out Paul and Silas
on their first missionary journey.
They're fasting and praying
towards gospel advance.
Acts 14, 23,
there's more prayer and fasting
connected to the appointing
of elders in a church.
So we see all this corporate fasting
taking place all throughout Scripture.
We see nations,
we see cities,
we see churches fasting together
towards God.
It's a seeking of God.
And then we see individual fasts as well.
David fasting,
seeking God on behalf of his son
that was born of Bathsheba,
that was born of infidelity.
Do you remember that?
Daniel, in Daniel chapter 9,
upon reading Jeremiah,
he reads that there's going to be
a 70-year desolation
upon the city of Jerusalem.
And he looks at his calendar
and he's like,
oh man, that's getting close.
And so what does he do?
He fasts and pray.
Confessing the sins of the people,
petitioning God,
oh Lord,
make your face
to shine upon your sanctuary
which is now desolate.
Send forth a remnant God
to get reestablished in Jerusalem.
And of course,
then there's Nehemiah.
When he hears the report
that Jerusalem is in shambles
and the walls are broken,
he responds personally
by fasting and praying for days.
Pleading with God.
Confessing the sins of the people.
asking God to give him success
on behalf of God's people
because remember,
he was a cupbearer of the king.
And of course,
when we turn to the New Testament,
you don't have to go beyond
Matthew chapter 4.
Jesus has himself fasted
for 40 days and 40 nights
in order to be prepared
for being tempted by the devil.
In Matthew 9,
some disciples come up to Jesus
and say,
Jesus,
why aren't your disciples fasting?
And Jesus is like,
I'm the bridegroom.
I'm here.
They won't fast while I'm here.
But when I leave,
you better believe,
they'll fast then.
What's the point
of humbling yourself
through the forfeiting of food?
food?
It's so that you can have
a focused time of seeking God.
You're essentially saying,
Father,
I want to seek you
more than I want to eat.
We forfeit food
in order to seek God's face
and feast on Him.
So fasting
is a humble act
that was morsel number three.
Morsel number four
is fasting
is a feast.
Fasting is a feast.
We forfeit food
in order to feast on God.
When we think about fasting,
I don't know
if you're like me,
but when I think about fasting,
I'm kind of like,
all right,
what am I going to have to give up
and what's going to be the effect?
I really like scrambled eggs.
I really like juicy cheeseburgers.
Mmm,
I don't want to give those up.
And then,
man,
if I go without coffee,
I'll have a headache
and I might be a little cranky,
there's the hunger pain things,
and then there's the food lust.
You know,
if I'm fasting secretly,
I'm watching somebody else eat,
I'm like,
ooh,
juicy cheeseburger.
so we're always aware
of what we have to give up
and the physical effects,
so yes,
fasting means
forfeiting food,
which is not easy,
nor is it fun.
But what makes it all worth it
is the spiritual feast
it allows.
Christians forfeit food
forfeits food
in order to feast
on God.
So let me try to get specific.
let's say you say,
this coming Thursday,
this is,
you're not going Facebook
with this.
This is for your father's eyes
only.
This Thursday,
you're like,
okay,
I'm going to fast.
But you need a feast.
We know what you're going to go without.
What are you going to feast on?
Feast on God's word.
So you're like thinking,
okay,
Thursdays I usually have
ham and cheese sandwiches
and instead of
a ham and cheese lunch,
I'm going to feast
on Ecclesiastes.
I'm going to feast on Proverbs.
I'm going to feast on Hosea
or Romans
or 1 Corinthians
or Jude,
which is a great book.
That's what I'm going to feast on.
Man cannot live by bread alone
but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God.
I'm going to feast on that
this Thursday.
I'll let my hunger pains
drive me to finding
my satisfaction
in God's word.
Or maybe it's not feasting
on Ecclesiastes.
You're like,
you know what,
I am just,
this whole fellowship thing
is new to me.
I don't know
what the Bible says
about one anothering
and so you just
pile up
all the New Testament
says about one anothering
and on that Thursday
you're like,
I'm feasting on
what the New Testament
says about one anothering
and I'm going to let God
do a satisfying,
filling work
in my soul
over that.
Or maybe it's joy
in the book of Philippians.
Or maybe it's the Holy Spirit
in the Gospel of John.
You just camp out
and you feast
on God's word.
So there's one way
you can feast
on God
and then there's another way
you can feast
on God.
You feast on God's presence
by communing with Him
through prayer.
You could do the Lord's prayer.
We talked about that
last week.
Oh, Father,
I know that I can't
claim You as Father.
I can only claim You
as Father
because You've claimed me
as Your Son
by the Son.
Hallowed be Your name.
And so your feast
for Thursday,
lunch,
is taking your time
and praying through
the Lord's prayer.
Communing with your God.
Or maybe it's not that.
Maybe it's you're acutely aware
of a spiritual need.
You lack wisdom
in a particular area.
You're like,
I don't know if we should move.
I don't know if we should
sell our house.
I don't know if we should
go from two incomes
to one income.
But you know what?
Here's what I do know.
I'll set aside that Thursday
in order to just
go before my God
and commune with Him
over.
That's how important
it is to me.
Maybe you're
gonna,
you,
there's this one sin
that's got this headlock
over you
and you just can't
pull out of it.
Set that Thursday aside
to,
to fight,
to confess,
to plead,
to ask God
to deliver you,
to weaken
and strengthen.
Feast on that.
Or maybe
you're just aware
of marriages
in crisis
or children
who are
wandering
spiritually
or
you've just been
so aware
of this country
called North Korea
and you just
want to spend
one lunch
just asking God
to open up
this country
to the gospel
of Jesus Christ
and He radically
changed the whole
regime.
You've got a lot
of options.
This is no
little feast.
You've got a lot
of options
to feast on God.
Fasting is a
feasting
on God.
I hope that's
whetting your appetite.
Morsel number five.
Fasting can get
hijacked
by hypocrisy.
Remember Jesus'
warning?
Look at chapter six.
Beware of practicing
your righteousness
before other people
in order to be
seen by them.
He doesn't call it
hypocrisy there
but that is what
it is.
And then we see
in verse three.
Excuse me,
two.
Thus when you give
to the needy
sound no trumpet
before you
as the hypocrites.
Verse five.
And when you pray
you must not be
like the hypocrites.
Verse 16.
And when you fast
do not look gloomy
like the hypocrites.
What's so hypocritical
about going public
with your fasting?
What's so wrong
about that?
Well, it's when
you turn a humble
seeking of God
into a prideful
desire to be seen
by men.
That's the hypocrisy.
And Jesus says
keep it secret.
Just do it for
your father's eyes
only.
It's all about
your motive.
That's what it
boils down to.
Who you are
fasting for.
Who you are
seeking
by fasting.
That's what Jesus
is getting at.
So faster
beware.
Fasting
can get
hijacked
by hypocrisy.
That was a little
bit of a bitter
morsel,
wasn't it?
A little bit
of a sour
morsel,
but an important
one.
Morsel number
six.
Fasting
doesn't need
to be intimidating.
Fasting
doesn't need
to be intimidating
when you realize
it's a gracious
feast that awaits.
remember
Jesus assumed
his disciples
would fast.
It's not
if you fast
but when you
fast.
And remember
we forfeit
food in order
to feast
on God.
Communion
with God
is the goal.
We're pursuing
godliness
through this
spiritual exercise
but ultimately
it is to
experience
his presence
for his glory.
So let me
just encourage
you very
specifically.
if you're
new to the
whole idea
of fasting
start with
lunch.
Just start
with one meal
and just
start with
forfeiting
the food.
Enjoy the
coffee.
Enjoy the
orange juice
but just
start simple.
And when
you start
make sure
you plan
your spiritual
feast.
Make sure
you know
what you're
going to do
when you
fast.
You've
got a
feast
you're
going to
dial up
a feast
whether
that's
Ecclesiastes
or praying
for North
Korea.
And when
you are
fasting
let the
hunger pains
lead you
to your
God.
Let them
focus
your
feasting
on
God.
Let them
help you
to think
about God's
word or
to pray
about a
specific
thing.
You're
saying
I'm
doing
this
because
I
want
to
bring
glory
to
God.
Keep
it on
the
down
low.
Remember
this is
for God's
eyes
only.
And if
someone
finds out
don't
panic
like your
private
fast has
now gone
public
on
WikiLeaks.
Don't
worry
about
that.
Just
be
matter
of
fact
about
it
and
change
the
subject
and
move
on.
Now
you
maybe
notice
this
call
for
our
church
to
fast
and
pray
on
November
6th.
Remember
there's
precedent
in our
Bibles
to
pray
corporately
but
more
importantly
it's
why
we're
going
to
pray.
We're
not
going
to
do
this
in
order
to
be
seen
by
men.
We're
going
to
fast
and
pray
together
on
November
6th
in
order
to
seek
God
together
for
wisdom
and
the
welfare
of
our
nation.
This
falls
along
the
lines
of
Esther
and
Nehemiah
and
Daniel.
So
six
morsels
this
morning.
I
hope
they
whet
your
appetite
to
feast
on
God
through
fasting.
But
in
closing
I
want
to
remind
you
of
this
that
Jesus
fasted
for
you.
Jesus
fasted
that
we
could
feast
on
God
and
I'm
not
talking
about
the
40
days
and
40
nights
he
spent
in
the
wilderness
getting
ready.
I'm
not
talking
about
that.
He
was
faithful.
That
was
essential
to
our
salvation
but
I'm
talking
about
another
kind
of
fast
the
Son
of
God
conducted
for
you.
He
gave
up
his
glory.
He
fasted
from
the
rightful
worship
he
deserved
in
order
to
make
himself
nothing.
Taking
the
form
of a
servant.
He
humbled
himself
by
becoming
obedient
to the
point
of
death
so that
we
could
feast
on
the
salvation
God
has
provided.
He
lived a
33
year
fast
from
glory
that
we
could
feast
forever
in the
presence
of
God.
Jesus
fasted
that we
could
feast
on
God.
Let
pray.
God
in
heaven
we
do
thank
you
so
much
for
your
word.
We
thank
you
God
that
you
are
a
God
who
speaks
and
is
speaking.
God
would
you
move
the
ball
in
as
we
seek
to
follow
you.
Would
you
help
us
to
take
these
steps
of
practicing
our
righteousness
in a
way
that
pleases
you.
God
we
want
to
be
perfect
as
you
are
perfect
and
we
want
to
do
that
in
a
way
that's
pleasing
to
you.
God
would
you
give
us
strength
would
you
fill
our
sails
by
your
spirit
for
the
glory
of
your
name
Amen.