Man Does Not Live On Bread Alone

One thing i've been enjoying with my long commutes to work this week is the chance I get to worship and listen to podcasts on the way there. This week I stumbled upon David Platt's podcast, Radical Together and the one I zeroed in on was titled "Fasting from Food to Feast on God" (you can find the podcast on iTunes HERE). Most of this post will be coming from the podcast so I don't take any credit for the points here. I've touched on fasting a few weeks ago in a post, but I want to expand on it a bit more here.

Platt defined fasting as "periodically abstaining from food as a physical expression of a spiritual reality."

The idea of fasting is found all over the bible, in the Old Testament with Nehemiah, Ezra, and Esther, as well as in the New Testament in Matthew in The Sermon On the Mount and in Acts. Fasting was often done before decisions were made (Nehemiah), or as a way of asking God for protection (Ezra). In Acts, fasting was done when calling out missionaries and as the church sent them out! Matthew 6:16 clearly says "when you fast..." and not "if you fast", and it is sandwiched between Jesus' talks on prayer and giving. Do you think fasting is necessary and should be a regularly practiced spiritual discipline?

Fasting reminds us that not even physical nourishment is most important in one's life. As I read up on fasting, it has really changed the way I see food. I'm sure we have all taken breakfast, lunch and dinner for granted sometimes; you're hungry so you cook and you eat, but even though it is essential for survival, we are not to be mastered by it and in no way should it be the most important thing in our lives. Whenever I come to the table for a meal, I feel like i've been learning to "eat humbly", where I recognize that food is a blessing from God, the fact that we can even make choices on what we want to eat is a luxury. I also remind myself to always go to the LORD first. I remember rambling a prayer so I could eat quickly when I was younger, and that just showed that I was mastered by my stomach and my appetite rather than the LORD Himself. 

David Platt shared in his podcast four prayers one can pray while fasting to help focus on God all the more. 

"I will delight in your glory" - let us find satisfaction, joy and pleasure in God more than in food or anything else in this world. Fasting doesn't have to be that dreary, painful, saddening experience we may all imagine when we think of fasting, but rather it should be a joyful, as a time to worship and give glory to God, remembering that his love is better than life, and that we should be thirsting and longing for God!

"I need your grace" - as we remember God in our times of fasting, we also confess and repent of the sins in our lives, calling out to God for his grace and his mercy. He is a God who loves to show mercy, let us feast on his mercy.

"I submit to your will" - we need to learn to say "more that I need or want food, I need and want to do your will so that your kingdom will be built with my life". Pray that you would see where God wants you to be, be it on mission, whom to disciple, or whom to care for.

"I long for your return" - Matthew 9:14-15 says "then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast" and Jesus said to them "can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast." As Jesus leaves, they (including us) will fast as we wait eagerly for his return. 

Platt makes the statement that "if we are not fasting then we are content with what we have and this world. We are not longing for Christ". And as Christ will return when the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world (Matthew 24:14), fasting is directly related to the great commission as we ask God to bring the nations to Him. 

Matthew 4:4 tells us that "man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God". Therefore, let us feast on the Bread of Life, which is so much greater, better and more satisfying.

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