Why Fasting Leads to Spiritual Breakthrough | Season 03, Episode 04 | Simple Truth Podcast

Have you ever tried to change your life? You prayed about it. You read the Bible about it. But the struggle was still there. You want a breakthrough. You want freedom. You know that if you could just open yourself up to God, you will do something great, but you just can't seem to do it. So why do we sometimes feel stuck? The reason is that knowledge alone doesn't soften our heart. Information, it doesn't overpower our flesh. There is a discipline that Jesus practiced. A discipline that Christians in the Bible embraced. A discipline that actually weakens our flesh with its bad appetites. And it sharpens our spirit to make us sensitive to hearing God. It's called fasting. And it's not for show. It's not to impress people. It's not to punish our body. It's certainly not to lose weight. but it's to humble our soul, to prepare our heart, and to position us for a real spiritual breakthrough. In this episode of the Simple Truth Podcast, we're uncovering what biblical fasting really is, why it matters, and how God uses it to bring freedom, clarity, and power into your life. If you've ever wanted a deeper spiritual growth and a breakthrough from something holding you back, this is for you. Let's get into it in this episode of the Simple Truth. Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast, where we open the Bible to uncover simple, biblical, and essential truths that can transform your life. And now, here's your host, Ted Ross. Hi, my name is Ted Ross and this is the Simple Truth Podcast. Your home for biblical truth clearly taught and freely given. Today's episode is the third discipline out of the five key disciplines for Christian growth. Today we're going to talk about fasting. So the name of this episode is why fasting leads to spiritual breakthrough. So let's get into it. Why does this episode matter? Well, what is fasting? Fasting, it's a voluntary abstaining from food for a spiritual purpose. It's done to humble your flesh, to quiet your carnal appetites, and to heighten your sensitivity to God's spirit. God actually designed fasting, as we're going to see when we get into the scriptures, to humble us and to position us for a breakthrough. Fasting, it isn't extreme. It's actually a discipline that Jesus expects from us. In fact, some spiritual opposition. It actually requires prayer and fasting to deal with it. This episode shows you what is fasting, why you should fast and I should fast, and what happens when you fast. Next episode, we're going to discuss the practical details of how to fast, and the types of fasts. Yes, folks, there is so much on fasting and there's so many important topics that we literally made it into two episodes and you're going to love it. I'm sure you're going to love it. So, let's get into it. So, why is fasting key to spiritual breakthrough? Remember, this season we're exploring five key disciplines for Christian growth. So, we looked at reading the Bible out loud. We looked at meditating on God's word. Today, we're talking about fasting. And then we're going to discuss prayer as well as being led by the spirit. Here's the challenge though that many Christians face. You can read the Bible and you can learn the truth about God. You can meditate on God's word and reflect deeply and internalize God's word. But if your heart is hard, your growth is limited. You heard that? So you could read the Bible, you could meditate on God's word, but if your heart is hard and hardened, you will find your growth as a Christian will be limited. You will feel stuck in the same place and you will want a breakthrough. And what do I mean by a breakthrough? A breakthrough, it's a sudden progression. It's advancing and it's overcoming a major obstacle. So a breakthrough is where you're pushing and pushing and pushing against something. It could be a bad habit. It could be an issue in your life. It could be an issue in someone else's life. And fasting will give you a breakthrough and it'll break through the obstacle and you will deal with it no more. Spiritual breakthroughs, they don't start with more information. It actually starts with heart preparation. And that's really where fasting comes in. Which brings us to the first simple truth of the episode. Fasting prepares your heart for spiritual breakthrough. We're going to take a look at Mark chapter 4. All Bible verses are from the King James version, so feel free to follow along. We're going to take a look at Mark chapter 4. And before we take a look at it, remember to understand how to prepare your heart, you must first understand the different conditions of the heart. And Jesus actually explains this clearly in the parable of the swer, which you may remember from one of our very first episodes is actually the most important of the parables. Why? Jesus explains why. And we're going to talk about that in a second. Mark 4:3. Here's Jesus talking. Listen, that's something for you and me. Pay attention, folks. A swer went out to sew. Okay? Now, many of us weren't raised in a farm culture. We weren't raised around farmers. So, it might take a second for us to say, "What does it mean to be a sewer?" And what does it mean to sew? A sewer is a farmer, and they're scattering seed by hand over a plowed field. So, you can imagine a field that's plowed. It's prepared for seed. And you can imagine a farmer grabbing a handful of seed and throwing it a distance to spread it across that field and it's preparing it to grow. Sewing is often associated in the Bible with certain aspects of things like patience or expectation of future harvest. So, I'm not going to give it away just yet, but this is a bit of a foreshadowing of what really this sewer is doing and what it means to sew and what the ground means, which we're going to discuss in a second. So Mark 4:4 and it happened Jesus said as he sowed remember this is the sewer that some seed fell by the wayside and the birds of the air came and devoured it. H okay some of the seed as the sewer was throwing the seed some of that seed it landed on the wayside. Now the wayside it's a road or a path. It's not a part of the plowed field. And what happens is the birds of the year came and they devoured it. So for the seed that fell by the wayside, it fell on a road or a path, think of like a driveway or something that's even concrete. There's no way that if you were to throw seed onto concrete, you're going to plant a field on that concrete. And what happens is the birds come immediately and grab that seed and they eat it and they take off. Okay. Mark 4:5. We're now going to see a second condition of the soil. The first was wayside. It was like concrete or a road and it has no way that you could grow something on it. But now we're going to take a look at the second one that Jesus described. So Mark 4:5, some fell. This is seed on stony ground where it did not have much earth and immediately it sprang up. That's the seed because it had no depth of earth. Stony ground is rocky soil. So, if you could imagine, if you're throwing seed and it lands on a soil that's a mixture of rocks and soil, there's a little bit of soil. So, it's enough for the seed to be able to grab onto. But when the seed tries to grow, there's no depth of earth. It can't grow on a rock. And so, it really it springs up, but it doesn't have anything beneath it. Mark 4:6. But when the sun was up, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away. So the seed that was thrown and it fell on stony places, it had little bit of earth. It immediately sprang up. The sun came, it scorched, it had no roots, it withered. Okay, got it. Verse seven. And some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Thorns is like a thorn bush. It's like a prickly plant or like a weed. In Israel, there was a variety of thorny bushes that would show up across the wilderness. And so, you can imagine this sewer throws the seed, but it's landing among thorn bushes. And so, while there is soil deep down in there, as it's starting to grow up, the seed gets choked up. and there's no way it could yield to crop because it's contesting and it's choked by the thorny bushes that are all over it. To be choked is to be strangled. It's to be suffocated. It's to be overpowered. So the seed that's thrown by the sewer gets overpowered by the thorns. So some seed that fell among thorns means the thorns sprang up alongside the crops and they went ahead and choked the seed. Mark 4:8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased, and produced some 30fold, some 60, and some 100. So this last condition that we're describing, so remember the wayside was like concrete, like a driveway, like a road. And then we described the idea of something being stony. And then we described something being thorny. And now we're describing good ground. This is what you think of when you think of a plowed field. The seed was thrown and it landed on good ground. And when it landed on good ground, it created a crop and that crop increased. It had roots and it produced produced what? Fruit. And the fruit, some of it was 30fold, some 60 and some 100. To be good ground is to be noble, to be excellent, to be honorable ground. That's an interesting word. It implies some form of moral goodness that extends beyond just a physical appearance. And the fact that it yielded means that it gave it granted or it bestowed a crop or fruit. This some seed that fell on good ground. It yielded a crop. Interestingly, some of it was 100 times the seeds thrown, some 60 times the seed that was thrown, and some 30 times. So, all of it was prosperous. Some of it was even more prosperous than others. Verse 9. And Jesus said to them, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. That word hear it means to hear or to listen or to understand. So it's both the physical act of hearing as well as the deeper understanding or comprehension of what is heard. So for Jesus to say hear this, he's not just saying physically hear this. All the people there could physically hear his message. However, not all could spiritually receive his message. This is a call, you could say, from Jesus. A call out to those who were spiritually sensitive for those who were in the audience who had ears to hear to understand the significance of the parable of the swer. Now, you might be asking this question, Ted. I heard everything you had to say, but what does it mean? Well, we're not actually talking about farmers and seed, are we? That's not why Jesus told this parable. Remember, a parable, it's a comparison. It compares something spiritual and something physical. So, for him to describe a sewer sewing seed to a farming culture who would clearly know what it means to throw seed, to clearly know what it means to throw seed on wayside like hardened concrete or hardened road or to throw it onto stony ground or thorny ground or good ground. He was talking to people who clearly understood the parable, but the question is, did they have ears to hear what it really meant? So, what exactly are we talking about? Let's take a look at it together. So, we're going to skip to verse 13. So, I'm skipping over 10, 11, and 12. And I'm doing it just to maximize time. Feel free to read it on your own, but really the gist of it comes from verses 13- 20, which we're going to read. So, Mark 4:13. And he said to them, "This is Jesus. Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" Wow. Understanding the parable of the swer. It's actually important to understanding all of Jesus's parables. This parable is a very important one. It's foundational and it unlocks understanding of all other of Jesus's parables. This is what Jesus is saying and we're about to see that. First of all, the seed is the word of God. The seed is the word of God. The soil is the condition of our heart. So the sewer, we'll discuss in a little bit. It's Jesus Christ or it's a minister, somebody who's proclaiming God's word. They're throwing that word of God. They're scattering that seed. And how that seed hits us is based on the condition of our heart. The key issue with the parable of the sewer and we're going to discuss it when it comes to fasting. It's not about intelligence. God's not looking for people who have some, you know, astronomical IQ. It's not like a high IQ means you you totally just understand the things of God. It's really about the spiritual receptiveness of your heart. I'm going to say that again. Being a Christian is not about intelligence, but it's about how well your heart can receive God's word. Breakthroughs in your life, in my life. They depend on the receptivity, how receptive you and I are to the word. Not necessarily us being exposed to the word, but how receptive we are to the word when we are exposed to it. The word is powerful, don't get me wrong. But fasting, it prepares the soil of our heart to receive that word. Mark 4:14, the swer sws the word. Okay? The swer is Jesus Christ. And anyone else who proclaims God's word. Could be a ministry at your church, could be a parent to a child, it could be someone you know, it could be really almost anyone. The seed is the word of God. This is what Jesus is saying in Mark 4:14. The swer sws what? Sews the word of God. That's the seed the sewer is sewing. Let's see how God's word, it's the seed of breakthrough. Whether it bears fruit in your life, it really does depend on the condition or the state of your heart. That's really what the parable of the sewer is all about. Mark 4:15. And these are the ones, Jesus says, by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. Remember, the wayside is a road or a path. I like to think of a concrete driveway because for most of us that maybe is a good analogy, something we could understand in our life or it could be a street near a plowed field. The wayside heart is a hardened heart. It's resistant. It's distracted. It's indifferent. It's closed to the things of God. That's a wayside heart. The seed that fell by the wayside, it means that the birds, aka Satan, comes and devours the word. The enemy, as you'll see in this verse, moves quickly to prevent understanding and faith from taking root. So when the seed is thrown, when the word of God is thrown onto a wayside heart, the birds aka the devil comes and eats up that seed before that seed could take root and there's understanding in that Christian's life. The word never penetrates that heart, but it simply sits on the surface and it's removed by the birds before it can produce conviction, transformation, or breakthrough. But fasting softens the heart. It softens the soul. And it increases spiritual sensitivity to the word. Here's an example of what wayside ground looks like. So think about this where for those watching YouTube, what we're showing is we're showing a car on a road, like an asphalt road, and it's next to a plowed field in which plants and crops are growing. But you'll notice that if you were to throw seed onto the asphalt road, it would never grow like it does in that field. And this is an example of that resistant enclosed wayside heart. Mark 4:16. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who when they hear the word immediately receive it with gladness. Remember stony ground is rocky soil. The stony heart is a shallow heart. It looks receptive on the surface, but it lacks depth. A stony heart, it's emotional, it's impulsive, but it's also not deeply rooted. They can hear God's word and they're genuinely excited, but they have no root. Verse 17, what happens when this happens, right? Verse 17, and they have no root in themselves. and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. The stony heart receives the word with emotion. It's excited. But the stony heart also abandons the word when pressure or opposition arises. For Jesus to say that there's no root in themselves, the word was received emotionally. But that word never becomes firmly established in the heart and it never bears fruit. When tribulation or persecution arises, when Jesus says this, this means when pressure, difficulty, opposition, or suffering comes because of the word, the stony heart abandons that very thing that it once embraced. The stony heart, it collapses under pressure because it is carnal, because it is weak. But fasting, it gives you spiritual strength that will endure trials. You see what we're doing here, folks? We're describing the parable of the swer and the conditions of the heart because that is what happens in how you receive God's word. That's how you get a spiritual breakthrough. And we're discussing this in the context of fasting because fasting is a discipline that prepares your heart. Here's an example of stony ground for those watching it and I'll describe it. What we're looking at is we're looking at in Israel a desert place. It's full of rocks and every so often there's a little small plant that's barely growing among those rocks. Remember stony ground is not 100% stones. There's a little bit of dirt. There's a little bit of earth and what happens is when a seed lands on that earth, it'll spring up, but it can't make roots because the stones are preventing it from doing so. So, when the sun comes out, it scorches the plant and it can't produce crops. Now, let's take a look at Mark 4:18. Now, these are the ones sown among thorns. They are the ones who hear the word. Remember thorns, it's like a thorn bush, a prickly plant, a weed. And remember, when we talk about thorny ground, we're describing that there is some soil down under there, but there's all these prickly plants and these weeds that ends up trying to choke things out. They hear the word. That's what's interesting about it. Not like the wayside heart. Remember, the wayside heart was hard. They were closed to God's word. The thorny heart is actually receiving it's initially receiving God's word. But what happens is the thorns end up choking God's word. So while you can get the seed into the thorny ground, the external desires and the pressures, they actually end up choking God's word and it can't grow. So let's see what chokes the word in the thorny heart. Mark 4:1 19. and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. The thorny heart, it lets worldly cares and desires choke the word. So remember the word is initially received but these thorns choke the word out. The cares of this world, what is that? Those would be worries, stresses, anxiety over daily life or survival. You know, one of the thorns in your life is a preoccupation with your personal wants and your personal desires. That is one of the thorns that Jesus describes. The second kind of thorn that Jesus describes is the deceitfulness of riches. It's an obsession with wealth, with comfort, with success, or with material wants. So, one of the first types of thorns was worry, stress, anxiety, the day-to-day worries. The second kind of thorns is an obsession with money, with comfort, with success, with material things. And the third kind is the desire for other things. What is that? It's an intense desire. ambitions, strong attachments to things that aren't God. So, what does that happen? When you have strong desires for other things that aren't God, it divides your heart's loyalty. But fasting, here we are back to fasting. Fasting, it purges worldly distractions. It refocuses your heart back on God, and it allows God's word to grow and to thrive inside of you. Here's an example visually of what thorny ground is. And you can see just how prickly and how thorny and how weedy those plants are. And you can imagine that if you threw a seed into there, it may find the soil somewhere among all those thorns and it may start to grow. But those thorny prickly weeds are going to choke that plant and very little is going to be able to make itself out. Certainly not enough to be able to produce crops or fruit. Mark 4:20, "But these are the ones sown on good ground." These are the seeds that are sown on good ground. Those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit. Some 30fold, some 60, and some 100. The good heart is receptive to God's word. It's humble, and it's prepared to receive God's word. The good heart is free from hardness. So, it's not like the wayside heart. It's free from shallowess, so it's not like the stony heart. And it's free from distractions, so it's not like the thorny heart. Jesus says they hear the word and they accept it. The good heart doesn't just listen to God's word, but it internalizes God's word and acts on God's word. And the good ground bears fruit. The word results in a visible and tangible breakthrough. It would include breaking bad habits. So God's word is ministered and it goes out and the good heart receives that seed, receives that word and that word starts to grow and that word bears fruit and that word breaks bad habits and that word frees people and that word blesses others and that word builds Christlike character. So it's conforming you to the image of Christ and that word guides you into your purpose. I want to stress this one because quite often as Christians, we're focused and on our own personal blessings and I understand I understand why you'll pray for yourself and seek after things for yourself. But God has a purpose for you and that purpose for you is to bless others. So when you are bearing fruit, you are bearing fruit for the kingdom, which means you are going to be doing things that will be a blessing and that will be instrumental to changing the lives of others. It could be children. It could be elderly. It could be colleagues. It could be family. It could be people you know. Could people you've never even met. God has a purpose for you. And bearing fruit in the kingdom is a wonderful, wonderful thing because as you obey God, he blesses you for it. Fasting prepares your heart to be this good soil. The soil that increases 30fold, 60fold, 100fold. That is where you and I want to be. Here's an example visually of good ground. Here are a beautifully plowed field with trees coming up from it that are bearing substantial amount of fruit. So much fruit it can't even fit in the basket that's here. That's what you and me want to be. So let me ask you this question before we now pivot and start to define what fasting is. Why are some Christians in a church successful and other Christians in the very same church are less successful? same sewer. They probably have the same ministers, the same preachers, same seed. They're teaching the same things in that church, but two people in the audience are very different in terms of their success. The difference is the heart condition of the Christians. That's what we're hearing in the parable of the sewer. The sewer is sewing the seed, but based on the condition of each person's heart, they're receiving the seed very differently. A receptive heart is a good heart. It's good ground. But you could be hardened like a wayside. You could be shallow like stony. Or you could be distracted like thorny. And it begs the question, which heart are you? Ask yourself the question, which heart that we just listed are you? It's a trick question. The answer for you and for me is that all of them are our hearts. Do you understand? All of the hearts Jesus described describes our heart. Every Christian has a mix of heart conditions that appear at different times for different topics. So, I could be listening to God's word or reading God's word out loud. And depending on where I'm at on that topic or where I'm at in my life, my heart may be in a different condition. So at times my heart could be wayside for something that God has to say to me. Or at times my heart may be stony. I receive it but I have no roots. Or my heart might be thorny. I'm obsessed with the anxieties or the stresses of the day. Or I'm coveting after things or I'm desiring after the things and it chokes up God's word that he has for me. Or it may be good. I will receive God's word and it will multiply 30, 60, 100fold. If you want spiritual breakthroughs, if you want a sudden progression that overcomes some kind of major obstacle in your life, you need to cultivate the soil of your heart consistently. It's not a one-time thing. It's not a one-time effort. That's why we are teaching here on the Simple Truth Podcast season 3. We're teaching the five disciplines. We're teaching ways for you to cultivate the soil of your heart so that as God ministers to you by his word, you can receive it, keep it, act on it, and be blessed by it, have a breakthrough. Fasting is critical to this. That's why fasting is a key to spiritual breakthroughs. And fasting doesn't change the seed, but it changes the soil. I'm going to repeat that one more time. Fasting doesn't change the seed, but it does change the soil. It changes our heart to be able to receive that seed. So, what is fasting? Well, fasting, as we opened up with, it's a voluntary choosing not to eat food and sometimes drink for a spiritual purpose. Fasting in Hebrew, it literally means abstain from food. Fasting in Greek literally means not to eat. So those are the definitions of the word fasting. It means to abstain, not to eat food, sometimes drink. In the New Testament, fasting traditionally included one of the following. Sometimes folks did a one-day fast without food. But remember, in our next episode, we're going to get into great details on how to fast, but I wanted to open this up so at least you understood some of the basic traditions in the New Testament. So sometimes fasting was a one-day fast without food. sunrise to sunset, like the day of atonement. Often they would allow water, but they weren't eating anything. So, this was a common type of fast in the New Testament. Sometimes it was a multi-day fast. When they did a multi-day fast, they did it a little differently. They would abstain from normal or enjoyable foods. So, they would eat very plain, very bland uh foods that weren't exciting in any way, shape, or form. or they would do a multifast where they reduced the intake of food. So they ate food but they ate less food. So there wasn't a total abstinence of food but there was a minimal amount of food that they were eating. As an important note for this teaching, this teaching it's spiritual guidance. This is not meant to be medical advice. Please certainly consider your health and if you need to consult with a health professional if you're going to be attempting fasting, especially if you've never attempted it before. Why is fasting key then to a spiritual breakthrough? Well, it's key because fasting it weakens the dominance of the flesh. When we describe the flesh in the Bible, we're talking about the body as well as the unregenerated part of the soul. Okay? So, remember your soul, it contains your will, your intellect, your emotions, like your personality. And you'll find that at times as you're walking as a Christian, you will find yourself being regenerated in your soul, right? You're going to find changes in your mind, in your emotions, how you approach things, what's your will. But quite often for most Christians, there's part of your soul that's been renewed, right? A renewing of your mind, and there's a part of your soul that's still unregenerated. So often in the scripture when it describes the flesh, yes, it is talking about your physical body, but it's also talking about that part of your soul that still acts like the old man. Fasting also sharpens spiritual sensitivity. Fasting intensifies prayer. Fasting, it positions us to receive God's direction and God's power. Biblical fasting, it's deliberately denying our physical appetites to seek God with greater focus, with humility, and with dependence. And it does get results. Which leads us to this simple truth. You should fast from time to time. Let's take a look at Matthew 9. In Matthew 9, what we're going to discuss is that fasting, it was a common spiritual discipline in the New Testament. And Jesus is actually questioned why his disciples were not fasting at the time. So Mark 9:14, then the disciples of John came to him, Jesus, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" Now that word fast in the Greek is to abstain for food for spiritual reasons. And in here those disciples of John said that they and the Pharisees fast often which means they fast frequently. It was a common habit, a common tradition, a common discipline in the New Testament for people to fast frequently. Matthew 9:15. And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?" Now Jesus pulls in a parable. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and then they will fast. Jesus said here that fasting, it comes from a longing for Jesus, the bridegroom. And Christians would now fast because we desire God's presence, God's direction, and God's power. Let me drill into this. In Jewish culture, a wedding, it was a time of joy, not a time of mourning or a time for fasting. So for Jesus to say, can the friends of the bridegroom? So we would be the friends, the disciples would be the friends, and Jesus would be the bridegroom, it says, would they mourn, aka, would they fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? No. Because they're having a wedding. It's a time of joy. So while Jesus was physically present with those disciples, it was not going to be a season of fasting. That's what Jesus responded with. However, when Jesus is taken away, aka Jesus is crucified, then his disciples and his followers, that's you and me, Christians, will fast. Fasting is a Christian discipline. It's a habit and it comes from having a relationship with God. And it is an expression of our spiritual hunger for God's presence and for God's work in our lives. In other words, we abstain from food to draw closer to God. Let's take a look at Matthew 6:16. In here, we're going to see how fasting, it must come from sincerity and humility, not some kind of desire to be seen or admired by other people. Fasting is between you and God. Has nothing to do with everybody else. Matthew 6:16, quote, "Moreover," this is Jesus talking, "when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward." Jesus said, "When you fast," notice what he just said there. Jesus didn't say, "If you fast," Jesus said, "when you fast." Jesus assumes fasting is a part of his followers lives. Fasting is an expected Christian discipline. He says don't be like the hypocrites when you fast. A hypocrite is an actor performing to an audience. Don't be an actor. Don't be a people pleaser. Don't be somebody who's saying the right things and putting your face a certain way to evoke some kind of response from people. Don't be a people pleaser. be a godleaser. He says that they have their reward. If their goal is human approval, then that's the reward they're going to get. They're going to make their faces look sad. He said they're going to appear to be fasting. So others look at them as go and say, "You're so righteous. Look how righteous and holy you look. Who cares? Who cares what they have to say?" the other people looking at you and saying you must be so holy and so spiritual and so righteous. That is a pretty vain and pretty empty reward. What Jesus is saying is that they get their reward. It's human approval, but they're not going to get anything from God. And ladies and gentlemen, you and I are here. We're listening to this podcast. We're discussing these topics because we want everything God has for us. We want to be conformed into the image of his son. We want to fulfill our purpose. And we want to do everything God has called for us to do. We want to experience every blessing he has for us. And we want to be a blessing to everyone else in Jesus' name. Which means we want a reward from God. And we're not seeking the reward of others. Thank you, Lord. Now, let's take a look at Luke 4:1. In this verse, we're going to see how Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to fast and to overcome the devil. Luke 4:1, then Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness. To be filled means he was filled to capacity with the Holy Spirit. And then it says that he was led by the spirit. He was guided. He was persuaded by the Holy Spirit. and he was persuaded by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. Remember in our last season where we discussed the wilderness experience in great detail because we were discussing really what it means to be a Christian, right? What is a Christian in the wilderness? It's the desert. It's a solitary place. So, the Holy Spirit led him into a solitary place into the desert. Luke 4:2 here we're going to see that fasting it strengthens your spirit by humbling your flesh right that's your body that's your unregenerated part of the soul just like Jesus did Luke 4:2 being tempted for 40 days by the devil and in those days he that's Jesus ate nothing and afterward when they had ended those 40 days he was hungry right Jesus fasted that's what the spirit led him into the wilderness to do. And it says being tempted, he was tested. He was tried. He was proved by the devil for those 40 days. And remember, the devil, he's a false accuser. That's what that name means. He's an evil supernatural being who opposes God, but he's lost, folks. He's judged. The devil has no authority over God. And I love that. The devil's a created being. And no matter what evil he tries to do in the world, it is God who's ruling in his kingdom. And anything the devil can do, he has to get approval from God before he could even do it. Thank God. It says Jesus ate nothing. Jesus abstained from food and he did it to humble his soul, to overcome his flesh, and to overcome the devil. Fasting strengthened Jesus's spiritual focus in the wilderness and his reliance on God the Father in a season of testing. Does this sound like you? This could sound like you. Are you? Do you need to strengthen your spiritual focus and your reliance on God? Are you in a season of testing? Then you should seriously consider fasting. Fasting was a precursor to Jesus's breakthrough out of the wilderness and the start of his ministry. Which leads us to our next simple truth. Fasting humbles you and releases God's power and protection in your life. Let's take a look at Isaiah 58:5. What we're going to see in this verse is that outward fasting displays without humility they won't get a breakthrough. Okay. Isaiah 58:5 here God says is it a fast that I have chosen a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bull rush and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast? and an acceptable day to the Lord. So for God to say, is it a fast that I have chosen? God is challenging Israel out of the mouth of his prophet Isaiah, he's challenging Israel's outward fasts, right? They were fasting externally. They were fasting to be seen. They were doing all these outward religious actions, but they weren't fasting on the inside. God wanted them to humble their soul, right? That's the fast he desired after. He wanted his people to be humble in humility. It's a loneliness. It's a meekness. It's coming to a place where you say, "God, I have a complete dependence on you. I need you. If you don't come through for me, I'm going to perish." Right? It's getting real. It's keeping 100 with God. That's humility. And it says, "Is this a fast that I have chosen?" Again, here we are looking at Hebrew fast. It's abstaining for food, possibly drink, to humble yourself before God, to intensify prayer, and to seek God's intervention. The fast that God approves of and produces breakthroughs. It's not just physical denial. It's not just outward. It's a humbling of your soul, your will, your intellect, your emotions. It's a loneliness, a meekness, a dependence on God. Isaiah 58:6, in this verse, we're going to see that true fasting, it involves sincere humility, and God responds by breaking strongholds, freeing those in bondage, and bringing breakthroughs. Isaiah 58:6. Is this not the fast that I have chosen? Oh, praise God. This is where it gets good, folks. This is a good list. quote, "To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke." Praise God. This is the fast God chose. So, this is the fast that I have chosen. This is the fast that God selected. He made a deliberate choice. This is the fast that God wants. If you come fasting in humility, God will deliver these types of results. To loose bonds of wickedness, that's to break the chains of sinful behavior. Praise God. To undo heavy burdens, that's to remove a crushing pressure. To let the oppressed go free. It's producing freedom for people who are crushed and they're bound. And it breaks every yoke. It destroys what's been mastering you. There are things that are evil and inappropriate and destructive and they have mastery over you. This fast destroys those things so that you are no longer bound. The fast that God chose, and I'd love to spend this entire episode on this topic, on these verses, but we've got to keep moving. The fast that God chose, it breaks the chains of sin. It lifts oppressive burdens. It frees the crushed. and it destroys every form of bondage. And you know what, folks, those are breakthroughs. Isaiah 58:7 in this verse, we're going to see that fasting is not just about your own humility, but it's also about showing mercy, justice, and care for other people. That's part of it being an inward fast. Isaiah 58:7, is it not to share your bread with the hungry? Right? This is the fast that God has chosen. And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out when you see the naked that you cover him and hide not yourself from your own flesh. Right? To share your bread with the hungry. It's to feed those without food. To bring to your house the poor. It's to have generosity for the needy, for people who've been excluded. If you see the naked that you cover him. is to provide clothing or dignity to other people. Not to hide yourself from your own flesh, is to care for those close to you, to not ignore the needs of your family or your neighbors or your community. This is critical, folks. So, yes, you are denying yourself food. Yes, you are humbling yourself before God, but then you're also committing yourself to doing things that you know God would approve of. In Isaiah 58:7, here's some examples that God gives. He's talking about feeding those who are hungry, caring for those who are needy. If you're seeing someone without clothes, providing clothing or dignity to them, and not hiding yourself from those in your community. This is a list God provides. Be led by the spirit. There may be other things. God may want you to do something while you're fasting. He may want you to pray for the nation or pray for Israel or pray for others. He may want you to go ahead and pray for a family member or make a phone call. So fasting is not just about not eating. It's about humility and it is about obedience. True fasting, it helps the hungry, helps the marginalized, helps the naked, helps those around you. Isaiah 58:8. In this verse, we're going to see that God-honoring fasts unlock spiritual breakthroughs. Isaiah 58:8 says, "Then your light shall break forth like the morning." Love it. You do that God fast, that God-appointed fast, then your light shall break forth like the morning. Your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Your light shall break forth. Fasting provides clarity and guidance. Remember in our uh previous episode we talked about a light to our path. We talked about this idea that a light brings clarity and guidance onto the steps you're taking today as well as the steps that you're taking throughout your life. And it says God says, thank God. It says your healing shall spring forth. That's restoration, wellness. It's a renewal in your spirit, in your soul, and in your body. That's the parts of a Christian. We're going to discuss that in a future episode. It says, "Your righteousness shall go before you. Your right living will lead the way." That means God is going to be working in your heart and you're going to be walking uprightly in your right living. It will lead the way. It'll be right out front. The Lord shall be your rear guard. God guards and protects you. What is a rear guard? Let's take a look. A rear guard is a military formation. And so for those of you who are watching this on YouTube, you can see that in a military formation, you have the vanguard. That would be the troops on the left. They're the very front. They're leading the way. Then you'd have the body of troops in the middle. This is the largest part of the army. Then you'd have flank guard on your left and on your right. They're the ones who are going to protect your sides. And then the very back you have the rear guard. The rear guard has veterans. They protect your supply lines. And the rear guard ensures that the enemy can never come up behind you and take advantage of you. The rear guard shields an army from attacks from behind. So for God to say that he will be your rear guard, it means first he protects you from unseen threats. You are progressing, you're advancing, you're pushing your way, and you're doing the will of God. And God protects you from threats you can't see. He also secures our progress and our breakthroughs, which means we continue moving forward. So, as we're moving forward, we're obeying God, and we're doing his will, he will go ahead and protect our progress, and he'll protect every breakthrough we have so that we can continue moving forward. Praise God. Matthew 6:17. In this verse, we're going to see that fasting is an inward devotion to God. And we're not to advertise that sacrifice. Okay? Matthew 6:17. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face. So when Jesus says when you fast, again, Jesus didn't say if you fast, Jesus said when you fast, right? He said anoint your head. In Jesus's time anointing the head, it was a sign of cleanliness. It was a part of normal daily life. And Jesus says wash your face. He says maintain personal hygiene and appearance. In other words, Jesus is saying when you fast, maintain your dignity. Maintain normaly. When you're doing your fast, keep your focus on God rather than on your own discomforts. And certainly don't publish your discomforts to other people. Matthew 6:18 quote so that you do not appear to men to be fasting but to your father who is in the secret place and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Jesus is saying fast in secret because God sees it and it will produce breakthroughs for everyone to see. For Jesus to say do not appear to men to be fasting. Don't fast for the attention of others. We saw this before in a previous verse, but instead fast for God's intervention on your behalf. And it says here, quote, "But your father who is in the secret place." Fasting is directed toward God. It's personal. It's private devotion. To be in the quote unquote secret place, you set aside worldly distractions. You humble yourself. You make yourself lowly. And you focus on God. That's what the purpose of the fast is for. And then your father who sees in secret, God observes your private devotion, your sincerity, your humility, your loneliness, the fact that you're not eating, the fact that you're praying, the fact that you're doing good deeds, good works, works that you know God wants you to do as a part of a fast. He will reward you openly. So while you're fasting secretly, God rewards you openly. God will respond with visible, tangible breakthroughs. you will have sudden progress overcoming some major obstacle and it's almost as if others would say that person is blessed. We've covered a lot today folks. So we are going to cover in our next simple truth episode. We're going to discuss how to fast. So we discussed what fasting is today. We discussed why Christians should fast. We discussed what happens when you fast. But how should I fast? Well, join us for our next episode where we discuss how to fast for spiritual breakthrough. Thank you for listening to this episode of The Simple Truth. If this episode challenged you, then good. Fasting, it isn't comfortable. It isn't convenient, but it is biblical and it is powerful. When you humble your soul before God, when you quiet the flesh, when you seek him in the secret place, he responds. He softens your heart, he breaks chains, he brings light. He brings a breakthrough in your life. Remember, fasting, it isn't about earning something from God. It's about positioning your heart to receive what he already desires to give you. So, don't just listen to this teaching, practice it. Ask the Lord how he wants you to apply it. Start small, stay sincere, stay humble. And if this episode helped you, make sure to like, subscribe, and share it with someone else who needs a spiritual breakthrough. Next episode, we're going to get into the practical details about fasting, how to fast, and the various types of fasts. It's been a pleasure talking about the Bible with you. I pray God bless you, keep you, and turn your heart into good ground. Until next time, thank you for listening to the Simple Truth Podcast. For additional episodes, visit us at www.simpletruth.org.