God’s Greatest Adversaries Are His Gifts

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.
It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for
heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not
the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we
drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God
describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is
a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The
greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts.
And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but
for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an
appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable,
and almost incurable.

~ John Piper, Hunger for God, p. 14

Fasting, Porridge, and Homesickness

First thing first. I am a stranger to the spiritual discipline of fasting. When I read Richard Foster's classic Celebration of Discipline, which outlines different kinds of spiritual discipline, I deliberately skipped the chapter on Fasting. But in the last couple months when I was preparing for a series of sermons on the Lord's prayer, my mind always thought about fasting for some unknown reason. This nagging thought became stronger when I meditated on the verse "Give us this day our daily bread".

By way of observation, I noticed something interesting about the 'strategic' place the verse resides. It is somewhat sandwiched between Jesus' teaching on fasting (Matthew 6:16-18) and Jesus' fasting before being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-4). Second, on the one hand, Jesus taught us to pray "Give us this day our daily bread" and on the other hand when tempted by the devil said "Men do not live on bread alone, but on every mouth that proceeds from the mouth of God." Now you see why I was intrigued by the connection between bread and fasting.

That sent me back to Foster's neglected chapter on fasting, which then led me to other things, and I found many enriching insights.

My first personal encounters with fasting took place when I was a new convert. A naive and restless teenager, I was dead curious why people in the church starve themselves then prayed like crazy as if armageddon was gonna happen that day. So I decided to jump on the fasting bandwagon. I can vividly remember that during those hours of skipping lunch, I fought very hard not to think about the legendary chicken porridge that the skillful ladies in the church prepared for those who participated in the day of fasting. Good things come to those who wait, and indeed... the porridge tasted like heaven.

That was basically my spiritual experience of fasting, which was more about the porridge than about God.

As I studied and read more about the subject, I began to learn the true meaning of fasting. The following are some memorable quotes I came across I thought are worth sharing here:

Fasting, if it be considered in itself, without relation to spiritual ends, is a duty nowhere enjoined or counselled. But Christianity hath to do with it as it may be made an instrument of the Spirit, by subduing the lusts of the flesh, or removing any hindrances of religion. And it hath been practised by all ages of the church, and advised in order to three ministries; 1. To prayer; 2. To mortification of bodily lusts; 3. To repentance.
Jeremy Taylor, Rules for Christian Fasting

More than any other single Discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface. If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. David said, "I humbled my soul with fasting" (Ps. 69:10). Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear—if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first we will rationalize that our anger is due to our hunger then we know that we are angry because the spirit of anger is within us. We can rejoice in this knowledge because we know that healing is available through the power of Christ.
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 64.

Fasting is a laudable practice, and we have reason to lament it, that it is so generally neglected among Christians today
Matthew Henry

I wonder whether we have ever fasted. I wonder whether it has ever occurred to us that we ought to be considering the question of fasting. The fact is, is it not, that this whole subject seems to have fallen right out of our lives, right out of our whole Christian thinking
Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Of fasting I say this: It is right to fast frequently in order to subdue and control the body. For when the stomach is full, the body does not serve for preaching, for praying, or studying, or for doing anything else that is good. Under such circumstances God's Word cannot remain. But one should not fast with a view to meriting something by it as by a good work.
Martin Luther

Why do we fast? There are many excellent reasons for fasting. Here is what I can gather from the Scripture and books:
1. To expose the true conditions of our hearts (Matt 4:4)
2. To learn to hear the still, small voice of God (Acts 13:2)
3. To make a space for God to reorient ourselves (Matt 6:9-11)
4. To express our homesickness for the Lord; his name, his kingdom, his will be made perfect on earth (Matt 9:15)
5. To help our prayer life

I would recommend these two excellent resources for those who want to seriously consider engaging themselves with God through the discipline of fasting: A Hunger for God by John Piper and Your Personal Guide to Fasting and Prayer by Dr Bill Bright.

Day of Fasting

We had our corporate fasting-and-praying day last Tuesday. It was historic because in the short 3.5-year history of the church, it was our very first day of fasting as a congregation. It was timely because it was held on the famous Cup Day in Victoria when 'the race that stops the nation' is on. When the eyes of the nation are fixed on the strongest, fastest horses (and the bets that go with them), some two dozens people were fasting, worshipping, and praying for the nation, the church, and those we love deeply. I was reminded of the verses that the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 20:7-8:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.

Obviously the psalmist was not thinking of Melbourne Cup Day when he wrote 'horses'. No, his mind was transported back to a more telling example of the pride of men. He was thinking of the horses and chariots that the Pharaoh's mighty army were riding when they were fast approaching the Israelites who were exiting Egypt. It does not take a Sun Tzu or Douglas MacArthur to predict whether or not those mighty chariots and horses can take the Israelites captive. With children and elderly people in their midst, there is no way the two million exodus can move faster than a turtle. But something then happened.

The Lord showed mercy to his people, and demonstrated to everyone alive then and today that trusting and boasting in the things of the world will result in a total disaster. Only the name of the Lord is a trustworthy source. Only the Lord of the universe is worth our complete trust. The latest global financial meltdown is a case in point. The Cup Day in many ways is not dissimilar.

As a church, when we were worshipping and fasting and praying we were testifying that we do not share the world's preoccupation with the best and mightiest of the world. When we humbled ourselves before the Lord, we acknowledged that the things that look very tough and valuable in the world can collapse and fail overnight, and that only the name of the Lord is a strong tower to which the righteous runs.