1. #1 What’s the Point of Fasting?
Matthew 9:14-17

2. #1 What’s the Point of Fasting?
Matthew 9:14-17

3. A deep longing and hunger for God: Psalm 42:1 “my soul pants for you”
#1 What’s the Point of Fasting?
Matthew 9:14-17
A deep longing and hunger for God:
Psalm 42:1 “my soul pants for you”
Psalm 27:4 “one thing I ask…”
Psalm 73:25 “…nothing I desire besides you”
Psalm 63:1-5 “I seek you…I thirst for you…long for you…I will be satisfied by you”
+ Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6)

4. this much I want you, Lord.
#1 What’s the Point of Fasting?
Matthew 9:14-17
Word + Spirit = Power, satisfaction
Fasting:
this much I want you, Lord.

5. Jesus & disciples did not fast (v14, Luke 7:34)
#1 What’s the Point of Fasting?
Matthew 9:14-17
Jesus & disciples did not fast (v14, Luke 7:34)
Why? He was with them! (v15, Isaiah 62:5)
…But they will fast, when Jesus has gone.
Then they will be sad – mourn (2Cor 5:8)
We don’t get close to God through ritual
That’s like an old, hard, wineskin.
Instead we fast in a new way:
Longing for more of what we’ve tasted

6. this much I want you, Lord.
#1 What’s the Point of Fasting?
Matthew 9:14-17
Fasting:
this much I want you, Lord.

7. my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land
#1 What’s the Point of Fasting?
Matthew 9:14-17
Psalm 63:1-5
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
 my lips will glorify you. 
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
 with singing lips my mouth will praise you.