Fasting | When You Fast . . .
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข What activities do you enjoy doing together as a family?ย
โข Share about your relationship with your parents or guardian when you were a child.
โข When listening to a loved one, what are the things that usually distract you from giving them your full attention?
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โ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ.โ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ฒ:๐ญ
(Read also ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ฒโ๐ญ๐ด.)
Spiritual disciplines are practices that help us know and experience God more, be more like Christ, and continually rely on and be filled with the Holy Spirit. These are not meant to help us earn Godโs favor or our salvation, but help us position ourselves to receive Godโs grace every day. Fasting is abstaining from certain things, mainly food, as a spiritual discipline. During a fast, a greater amount of time than usual is devoted to prayer. This was a normal practice in both the Old and New Testaments. It can be done as a personal spiritual discipline and as a community. Today, let us learn what Jesus said about fasting.
๐ญ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐.ย
โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต . . .โ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ฒ
Fasting is ingrained in Jewish tradition. It involves humbling ourselves before God, turning away from sin, and showing mercy and compassion to those in need (Isaiah 58:5โ7). As followers of Jesus, we too are called to fast to seek God. When we fast, we deny our physical bodies its necessities, so that our inner being can be more in tune with the Spirit of God. Fasting is not simply a suggestion, but an essential part of our walk with God. When do you usually practice the spiritual discipline of fasting?ย
๐ฎ. ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.ย
โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต, ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐บ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ.โย ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ฒ
For many, fasting has become a vain tool because people have used it to gain othersโ attention and make an impression. The Jews had a regular time of denying themselves food, yet many missed nurturing their spirits when they fasted. To some, it became about letting others see their obedience on display. However, the point of fasting is not so others would be amazed by us. Jesus said that because they had fasted with this heart, they had received their rewardโto be recognized and seen by others. In Isaiah 58:3, why was God not pleased with the fasting of His people?
๐ฏ. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.ย ย
โ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โย ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ณโ๐ญ๐ด
The primary reason we fast is to draw near to God, so we can know Him. Though God is already near, we need to take time off our busy schedules to take pleasure in drawing near to Him in our hearts. Our goal is definitely not about coming to God and twisting His arm until He meets our agenda or set of requests. Our goal should be to seek Him, know Him, hear Him, and seek His will. As we fast, we are to take joy and delight in having time with our Father. As we know God and His will, we experience how close God is to us, we will have a thriving relationship with Him, and our faith will grow. How has your relationship with our heavenly Father grown through fasting?ย
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โข How may you dedicate more time in prioritizing seeking our Father over your physical needs?ย
โข Do you have time for a personal fast and fasting with your church community? Commit to join a regular time of prayer and fasting with your local church and set aside time to regularly and personally seek God in fasting.ย
โข How can your fasting not just grow your relationship with God but also your heart for others? Commit to include in your prayers those who have yet to know God as their Father.ย
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โข Thank Jesus for the example that He has set for us on what it truly means to fast.
โข Pray for a greater desire to seek God and be closer to Him through fasting. Pray that as you take the time to seek Him you will have sharper ears to clearly hear His voice.
โข Pray that as a church community, our corporate prayer and fasting will serve as an open door for more people to know God and grow in their relationship with Him.