Patrick Jansen van Rensburg
Matthew 6:5 (NIV) “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-17 (NIV) 16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,”
1. God expects us to pray and fast.
When you pray and When you fast, indicates that Jesus expects us to pray and fast. Jesus takes it for granted that we will pray and fast. He does not say if you pray or fast, but when you pray.
The Lord expects us to pray and fast.
2. What is the purpose of fasting?
It is a God appointed way to humble ourselves before God.
James 4:10 (NIV) “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
1 Peter 5:6 (NIV) “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. The way up is down. The lower down you go, the higher up you will end.
The Bible says humble yourself. Do not ask God to do it. It is an act that you must do.
Leviticus 16:29 (The Voice) “This directive stands for all time: on the tenth day of the seventh month, all of you must humble yourselves and do no work—all native-born children of Israel as well as outsiders living among you.”
Leviticus 16:29 (AMP)“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month (nearly October) on the tenth day of the month you shall humble yourselves [by fasting] and not do any work”
To humble yourself is too fast.
Ezra 8:21-23 (NLT) “And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we travelled. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen[a] to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” 23 So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.”
Ezra chose to follow God, trusting on God, not kings, through fasting. In many situations we are confronted with the carnal way of should we take God’s ways. God ways always work.
