January 16th, 2024
One of my favorite aspects of fasting is that it makes us more aware of our need for God. It’s fascinating that the less you eat, the hungrier you become for spiritual things, rather than food! While people may fast for many different reasons, a Biblical fast is spiritual. We don’t fast as a diet or cleanse to start a new year; it’s a spiritual reality. However, it does have physical effects.
One of the side effects of fasting is physical weakness. It’s inevitable that as you limit or stop your intake of food, your physical body won’t be as strong. When Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness, the Bible tells us that “He was hungry” (Luke 4:3). He wasn’t exempt from the effects of His humanity just because He is the Son of God. It was at that point though, at His physical weakest, that the enemy came to test Him. However, He had food the devil was foolishly unaware of. Jesus overcame every temptation by the Word of God! See, at His physical “weakest,” having abstained from natural sustenance for forty days, He was actually spiritually stronger! It was at this point, after being baptized and affirmed by His Father, and then being led into the wilderness to fast, that Jesus began His miracle ministry. Luke 4:14 says,
“Jesus returned [from fasting] in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.”
Fasting always empowers!
However, what I want to talk about this week, though related to fasting, isn’t just about fasting. See, fasting makes us aware of our need for God because it aligns us with His heart and sensitizes us to hear His voice. It also makes us aware of our own spiritual state. Just as you have a physical body that needs food to survive and be strong, you have a spirit that must be fed and strengthened. That’s true whether you’re fasting or not! Spiritual strength is something the Bible speaks of often. When you accept the sacrifice of Jesus and are born again, the Bible says you are like a newborn. We need the “milk” of the Word of God, the elementary truths of the Bible, to grow. However, as we grow up in Him, we need the meat of the Word, because meat will make you strong. Hebrews 5:12-14 says it like this:
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
The Word of God itself, is our spiritual sustenance! In John 4:32, Jesus told His disciples, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” Deuteronomy 8:3 says,
“He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
We have to learn to eat the meat of His truth and be strengthened in Him. We live by every Word He speaks! However, if we just eat and never do anything with it, that alone won’t make us strong. Physical strength only increases as we use the muscles we have. We only test our physical strength when we try to lift something heavy! It’s the same with our spirits. If we never do anything spiritually, we won’t be strong. Fasting is one way we exercise our spirits. We deny our flesh and allow our spiritual “muscles” to work as we seek God in His Word and presence!
We have to understand though, that spiritual strength isn’t something we can muster up. You can’t determine in your head to be spiritually strong. You can’t fight in your flesh to overcome sin, temptation, sickness, or poverty. You will never be able to overcome by your own willpower. Spiritual strength has one source: totally dependency on Him. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul recounts what Jesus said to Him:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
It’s not that we’re “weak,” but that we understand we have no strength apart from Him. The power of God dwelling in our spirits is our source of spiritual strength. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Why is joy our strength? It’s because true joy is found only in His presence, and His presence is where our strength resides. Psalms 16:11 says,
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy.”
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28,
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
He didn’t mean “Come to me, and you’ll never work again” or “Come to me and sleep, while I go save sinners.” When we come to Jesus, we receive His strength. When we come to Him, He lifts the baggage we’ve been trying to bear in our own stubbornness. You aren’t a beast of burden; you’re His child. When we come to Jesus, He gives us the strength and grace to do what He’s called us to do!
To conclude, I just want to share a few more scriptures about spiritual strength. Especially if you’re fasting, I encourage you to read every one of these verses out loud. They will strengthen your spirit!
Exodus 15:2 - “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.”
2 Samuel 22:40 - “For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.”
1 Chronicles 16:11- “Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!”
1 Chronicles 16:26-27 - “For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.”
Psalm 28:7-8 - “The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.”
Psalms 46:1 - “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Psalms 73:26 - “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalms 84:5 - “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.”
Psalms 138:3 - “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.”
Isaiah 30:15 - ‘For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”’
Isaiah 40:29-31 - “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Jeremiah 16:19 - “O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come…”
2 Timothy 2:1 - “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus…”
Ephesians 3:14-16 - “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being…”
This week, I pray as Paul did, that you would “be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being.” I pray that you would be “strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” He alone is our strength. When we find our strength in Him, we cannot grow weary or fainthearted. We cannot fall into sin or hopelessness. We cannot struggle with fear or doubt. There is fullness of joy in His presence, and it’s found in dependency. There is power in Him to accomplish everything He’s called you to do! It’s time for the body of Christ to rise up in strength, knowing our source is Him, and Him alone!
One of the side effects of fasting is physical weakness. It’s inevitable that as you limit or stop your intake of food, your physical body won’t be as strong. When Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness, the Bible tells us that “He was hungry” (Luke 4:3). He wasn’t exempt from the effects of His humanity just because He is the Son of God. It was at that point though, at His physical weakest, that the enemy came to test Him. However, He had food the devil was foolishly unaware of. Jesus overcame every temptation by the Word of God! See, at His physical “weakest,” having abstained from natural sustenance for forty days, He was actually spiritually stronger! It was at this point, after being baptized and affirmed by His Father, and then being led into the wilderness to fast, that Jesus began His miracle ministry. Luke 4:14 says,
“Jesus returned [from fasting] in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.”
Fasting always empowers!
However, what I want to talk about this week, though related to fasting, isn’t just about fasting. See, fasting makes us aware of our need for God because it aligns us with His heart and sensitizes us to hear His voice. It also makes us aware of our own spiritual state. Just as you have a physical body that needs food to survive and be strong, you have a spirit that must be fed and strengthened. That’s true whether you’re fasting or not! Spiritual strength is something the Bible speaks of often. When you accept the sacrifice of Jesus and are born again, the Bible says you are like a newborn. We need the “milk” of the Word of God, the elementary truths of the Bible, to grow. However, as we grow up in Him, we need the meat of the Word, because meat will make you strong. Hebrews 5:12-14 says it like this:
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
The Word of God itself, is our spiritual sustenance! In John 4:32, Jesus told His disciples, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” Deuteronomy 8:3 says,
“He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
We have to learn to eat the meat of His truth and be strengthened in Him. We live by every Word He speaks! However, if we just eat and never do anything with it, that alone won’t make us strong. Physical strength only increases as we use the muscles we have. We only test our physical strength when we try to lift something heavy! It’s the same with our spirits. If we never do anything spiritually, we won’t be strong. Fasting is one way we exercise our spirits. We deny our flesh and allow our spiritual “muscles” to work as we seek God in His Word and presence!
We have to understand though, that spiritual strength isn’t something we can muster up. You can’t determine in your head to be spiritually strong. You can’t fight in your flesh to overcome sin, temptation, sickness, or poverty. You will never be able to overcome by your own willpower. Spiritual strength has one source: totally dependency on Him. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul recounts what Jesus said to Him:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
It’s not that we’re “weak,” but that we understand we have no strength apart from Him. The power of God dwelling in our spirits is our source of spiritual strength. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Why is joy our strength? It’s because true joy is found only in His presence, and His presence is where our strength resides. Psalms 16:11 says,
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy.”
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28,
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
He didn’t mean “Come to me, and you’ll never work again” or “Come to me and sleep, while I go save sinners.” When we come to Jesus, we receive His strength. When we come to Him, He lifts the baggage we’ve been trying to bear in our own stubbornness. You aren’t a beast of burden; you’re His child. When we come to Jesus, He gives us the strength and grace to do what He’s called us to do!
To conclude, I just want to share a few more scriptures about spiritual strength. Especially if you’re fasting, I encourage you to read every one of these verses out loud. They will strengthen your spirit!
Exodus 15:2 - “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.”
2 Samuel 22:40 - “For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.”
1 Chronicles 16:11- “Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!”
1 Chronicles 16:26-27 - “For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.”
Psalm 28:7-8 - “The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.”
Psalms 46:1 - “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Psalms 73:26 - “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalms 84:5 - “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.”
Psalms 138:3 - “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.”
Isaiah 30:15 - ‘For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”’
Isaiah 40:29-31 - “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Jeremiah 16:19 - “O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come…”
2 Timothy 2:1 - “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus…”
Ephesians 3:14-16 - “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being…”
This week, I pray as Paul did, that you would “be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being.” I pray that you would be “strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” He alone is our strength. When we find our strength in Him, we cannot grow weary or fainthearted. We cannot fall into sin or hopelessness. We cannot struggle with fear or doubt. There is fullness of joy in His presence, and it’s found in dependency. There is power in Him to accomplish everything He’s called you to do! It’s time for the body of Christ to rise up in strength, knowing our source is Him, and Him alone!
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