WEEK 5 SERMON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR GROUPS

The Future Church: Practice of Fasting

Introduction:

The Future Church series explores how the church can adapt and thrive in a changing world, often drawing inspiration from the Bible and the early Christian community. We will focus on topics such as cultivating intimacy with God, understanding how to follow Jesus, connecting with the church community, serving others, and giving in response to God’s grace.

Something To Talk About:

Christian fasting is a spiritual discipline that involves temporarily abstaining from food or other physical comforts to focus more intently on God, seek a deeper relationship with Him, discern His will, express repentance, or prepare for spiritual battles. It’s a humble act of self-denial performed in secret, not for show, to create a spiritual hunger for God that is more profound than physical needs.

It’s weaning you off the pleasure principle: John Piper says fasting cultivates a desire for God by detaching from worldly pleasures. This allows a focus on significant spiritual matters. Fasting is about delaying gratification in favor of a more substantial, long-term reward. Perhaps you can recall a time when you had a great passion to live fully for Jesus Christ. What happened to that? Your appetite was spoiled, diminished by legitimate comforts and pleasures. So, the question is, “How do you keep the legitimate pleasures of life in their proper place?” One answer is—by fasting from legitimate pleasures that could be mastering you. Take a month without television, computer games, golf, or social media. Or go six months without buying new clothes or expensive coffee. Drop a sport for a semester. You will be surprised at the freedom you discover.
It’s revealing what’s in your heart: Fasting reveals what is in your heart by removing the distractions of daily comforts, such as food, to expose the underlying desires and spiritual conditions that control you, fostering a deeper connection with God, and allowing for self-examination, repentance, and transformation. Fasting will indicate whether your heart is focused on worldly things or on spiritual needs, ultimately revealing true spiritual priorities and leading to greater dependence on God. When you give up something you regularly turn to for satisfaction, such as food, your reliance on that item or its substitute for comfort becomes apparent. Emotions such as anger, pride, or bitterness can surface during fasting, revealing aspects of your “unfiltered heart” that might otherwise be concealed. Fasting allows the Holy Spirit to reveal your actual spiritual condition, leading to feelings of brokenness over sin and a greater desire for repentance and a transformed life.
It’s reordering our desires: There can be a misunderstanding about what the church believes about the purpose of fasting. Fasting is not just a way that we Christians deprive ourselves of good things to suffer needlessly. God created the world with inherent goodness and does not want His creation to suffer needlessly. While fasting can certainly be personally challenging, that does not make it a bad thing. In truth, fasting is a practice of reorienting ourselves back to God, who is our ultimate happiness, when we have come to focus more on the world for our happiness. God created us not just to exist, but to live well, to live a life of virtue and holiness focused on Him. Fasting can contribute to this reorientation and fundamental transformation within us. The secular medical community has recently come to recognize and acknowledge the value of fasting. Numerous online articles can be found that advocate for fasting as a means to reorient the body toward a state of optimal natural health.
It’s drawing on the Power of God to overcome sin: Fasting as a spiritual discipline that strengthens believers to overcome sin and resist temptation by focusing their spirit on God and making it more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Fasting helps develop self-mastery over fleshly desires and can break spiritual bondages, drawing one closer to God to receive His grace and power for spiritual victory. Fasting involves self-denial, which helps develop discipline and mastery over the flesh, weakening sinful desires and strengthening the spirit. Fasting provides an opportunity for deeper fellowship with God, which attracts His presence and grace. When individuals draw near to God through fasting and prayer, He draws near to them, empowering them to overcome sin. Fasting serves as a powerful act of humility and repentance, signifying sincerity in turning from sinful ways.

Discussion Questions:

What do you think or feel when you hear the word “fasting?”
Is your response positive or negative? Why do you think that is the case?
Have you fasted from anything in the past? If so, what did you learn from the experience? How can you take what you learned into your next fasting experience?
Read Matthew 4:1–11. Is it surprising to you that Jesus practiced fasting? Why or why not? Jesus’ time in the wilderness was important preparation for the mission God gave Him. What does the passage suggest about the connection between fasting and resisting temptation?
What are your most significant concerns about fasting? How can you pray about those concerns?
Why is it essential for fasting to be purposeful and done with a specific goal or for a matter of deep concern?
How does fasting cultivate self-mastery and spiritual strength?
In what ways can fasting help you “feast” on God and draw nearer to Him?
How can you use fasting to focus more on God through prayer and reading the Bible?
What is one thing you will take away from this discussion and try to apply to your own life regarding fasting?
How can you support and encourage one another in your fasting practices?

Take one thing home with you:

Fasting is a powerful, spiritual weapon when we face challenging situations. In the Bible, we read about others, such as Queen Esther, who fasted when facing the extinction of her people. Her response was to ask her friends to fast with her as she prepared herself to approach the king and intercede for her people. She did this knowing that, according to the Persian law of the time, this could be cause for her death.

Ezra fasted when he was about to journey back to Jerusalem from Babylon with his family and treasures (Ezra 8:21). He knew that danger lay ahead. Without God’s intervention, the trip would be impossible.

There are various ways to fast, but ultimately, the purpose is to deny your body the pleasure of food. It does not move God, but it does move you from a place of unbelief to belief.