Formations: Fasting | Various Passages

October 23, 2023

Pastor Joshua Lim

Fasting is voluntarily abstaining from food for a set period of time in order to more intentionally focus on God. In our day and culture, we tend to see fasting as something only "serious" Christians do (at best) or as a legalistic asceticism (at worst) - and so, by in large, we tend to ignore this practice altogether. And yet, Jesus assumed that his disciples would fast. The practice of fasting has many formative effects on us, but two major ones are the formation of holiness through self-control and the formation of a deeper hunger for the things of God. As embodied humans, when we actively deny the impulses of our stomach's appetites, we grow in our ability to say 'no' to sinful desires and to say 'yes' to the things of God.