Prayer & Fasting (Part 4): Fasting
TO START
In part four of our Prayer and Fasting series, we discussed the topic of fasting which is for anyone who wants to give their whole lives to God. This week’s message unpacked the fundamentals of fasting.
So what’s your relationship with fasting? Have you tried it before? Do you do it regularly?
To start, Zane pointed us to the words of Christian thinker, Scot McKnight who provided a modern definition of fasting, “a way of praying with our stomachs and our bodies”.
Does this definition of fasting correspond to your understanding or experience with fasting? And how has your upbringing played into your relationship with fasting?
Read Matthew 9:14-15
Why do you think Jesus told the Disciples that they don’t need to fast until he (the bridegroom) is taken away?
Based on Jesus’s words here in v. 15, what role do you think fasting plays in your relationship with God? Does it have any role in our relationship with others?
One of the fundamental reasons behind fasting from food is to help our bodies know that there's Someone beyond food and caffeine that both sustains us and leads us to a greater life than we can fathom but it’s hard to choose the Somebody over whatever physical craving is before us.
What is the biggest barrier to you practicing fasting either for the first time or consistently for an extended period of time? (i.e. Is it picking what to withdraw from? Is it having to make a plan? Is it praying consistently while you fast instead of filling that space with some other thing: work, binge-watching, etc.? Or something else?)
Close
To close of group this week, for everyone who can safely fast from food, we invite y’all to give your group members a chance to make a plan for fasting by individually (in quiet) walking through these three steps to set you up to practice fasting (if it’s not medically possible encourage those folks to consider what they might abstain from):
Pick: Choose the degree in which you will fast (pick a food or drink for the day), pick 1 meal for a day OR consider a full day from sun-up til sun-down (eating in the evening)
Plan: Don’t just skip a meal but plan in advance what day you will do it and how you might spend time with God during that period of fasting.
Pray: As you hunger during that time, you may want to have a specific prayer in mind, “my deepest hunger is for you, God” OR choose another prayer you might try.
After a few minutes… pray this prayer together with your group:
When we crave a different job, and think that will satisfy us…our deepest hunger is for you, Jesus.
When we crave images of pornography, and feed ourselves… our deepest hunger is for you, Jesus.
When we want the family that other families have…our deepest hunger is for you, Jesus.
When we crave food, and the distraction or comfort it brings… our deepest hunger is for you, Jesus.