Week 3: Hungry for God

Introduction

For two weeks we’ve talked about our bodies and our food. Today we’re going to talk about something many Christians have never done: going without food on purpose to seek God. It’s called fasting.

[Ask for a show of hands, or just ask the room to consider: Who has ever fasted? Who grew up in a church that practiced it? Share your own experience, or your hesitation.]

For most of church history, fasting was normal. Early Christians fasted twice a week. Today it has almost disappeared in many churches. Maybe it sounds extreme, or legalistic, or like something only super-Christians do. I want to show you from Scripture that Jesus meant it for ordinary followers like us.

1. Jesus expected His followers to fast

[Read Matthew 6:16–18.]

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about three practices: giving, praying and fasting. And with each one He says “when,” not “if.” “When you give.” “When you pray.” “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.”

Later, when people asked why His disciples didn’t fast, Jesus said, “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matt 9:15). We are living in those days. Jesus has ascended to the Father, and we wait for Him to return. Fasting is part of that longing.

And the early church did it. In Acts 13, the leaders in Antioch were “worshiping the Lord and fasting” when the Holy Spirit set apart Paul and Barnabas for missionary work. Some of the biggest moves of God in the book of Acts started with fasting and prayer.

Notice what Jesus warns against, though. Don’t fast to be seen. The religious leaders of His day made sure everyone knew they were fasting. They looked miserable on purpose. Jesus says they have their reward: people noticed. That’s all they get.

Instead, “anoint your head and wash your face.” Look normal. Keep it between you and your Father, “and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Fasting is not a performance. It is a private conversation with God.

2. Fasting teaches us we live by God’s word

[Read Matthew 4:1–4.]

Before Jesus began His public ministry, He fasted for forty days in the wilderness. Matthew says, with some understatement, “he was hungry.” And that’s exactly when the devil showed up: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy 8: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

That’s what fasting teaches us. We think we live by bread. We think we need that snack, that coffee, that meal on time. Fasting shows us how much we lean on food for comfort and control. And when we feel that hunger, we turn it into prayer: “God, I need You more than I need this.”

Fasting doesn’t earn anything from God. It doesn’t twist His arm. It changes us. It clears space. It makes us hungrier for Him. As the psalmist says, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Ps 42:1).

[Illustration: What happens to your mood when you’re hungry? What does it reveal about how much you depend on food?]

3. True fasting leads to justice and generosity

[Read Isaiah 58:3–7.]

In Isaiah 58, God’s people are frustrated. They say, “Why have we fasted, and you see it not?” And God answers bluntly: on the day you fast, you still exploit your workers and fight with each other.

Then God describes the fast He wants: “to loose the bonds of wickedness… to let the oppressed go free… Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him?”

True fasting doesn’t just make us more spiritual. It makes us more generous. When I skip a meal, I feel for a few hours what many people feel every day. That should move me to act. One simple practice: take the money you would have spent on the meals you skip, and give it to a food pantry or someone in need.

How to start

If you’ve never fasted, start small.

1. Choose one meal. Skip lunch one day this week. Drink water.
2. Replace the meal with prayer. Use that time to read Scripture and pray. Without prayer, it’s just skipping a meal.
3. Use your hunger as a reminder. Every hunger pang is a nudge to pray.
4. Give. Put what you would have spent toward someone who is hungry.

And again, if you have a health condition, if you’re pregnant, if you have diabetes, if you’ve struggled with an eating disorder, or if you’re a young person, please don’t fast from food without talking to your doctor. You can fast from something else: social media, TV, shopping, your phone after dinner. That is a real fast. God sees the heart, not the menu.

This week’s challenge

Choose one fast: a one-meal fast with prayer, or a fast from something other than food. Tell God why you’re fasting, and keep it between you and Him.

Closing prayer

Father, we confess that we often live as if we live by bread alone. We reach for comfort in so many places besides You. Teach us to hunger for You. Let our fasting be honest, humble and hidden. And let it make us generous, quick to share our bread with the hungry. Jesus, You are the bread of life. Make us hungry for You. Amen.