1. Transformative Power of Fasting
Becoming the people God calls us to be …
St James, Taunton
3rd March 2019

2. Transformative Power of Fasting
Becoming the people God calls us to be …
HEALTH WARNING
St James, Taunton
3rd March 2019

3.  Jesus says
 “When you fast ...”
Matt. 6: 16-18
not if but when

4. In the OT Samuel ‘fasted and there they confessed’ 1 Sam 7:6
David fasted to plead with God Sam 12:16
Ezra fasted to ‘humble ourselves before God’ Ez: 8:21
Nehemiah fasted in repentance Neh 1: 4
Prayer
Re-building

5. The Sabbath of Sabbaths Fast from evening to evening Lev 16
In the NT
John the Baptist’s disciples fasted Mark 2:18
Jesus fasted forty days and nights Matt 4: 2
The church at Antioch fasted Acts 13:2
Day of Atonement
The Sabbath of Sabbaths
Fast from evening to evening Lev 16

6. + = Purpose of fasting focus concentration Act of devotion to God
dedication +
mindfulness
conscious knowledge
Self awareness
sense of being =
Mutual embrace

7. + = Purpose of fasting Act of devotion to God Self awareness
At One Ment =
abiding
Mutual embrace
reconciliation

8. I get better at knowing God
as I get better at knowing myself

9. Without fast there can be no feast
How to fast
Self discipline – no training required
Self denial – abstention from all forms of indulgence
Change of routine – Special = Holy
Focus on essentials – rather than luxuries
Part of the discipline of prayer and study Vs
Without fast there can be no feast

10. Lent is an ideal time to fast
How to fast
Self discipline – no training required
Self denial – abstention from all forms of indulgence
Change of routine – Special = Holy
Focus on essential – rather than luxuries
Part of the discipline of prayer and study
Lent is an ideal time to fast Vs
Without fast there can be no feast

11. Re-imagining the way you relate to God
Experience of fasting
Visions and dreams
Reflection
Puts things in perspective
Re-imagining the way you relate to God

12. ‘radiant because he had spoken with the Lord’
The face of Moses was...
‘radiant because he had
spoken with the Lord’
Ex 24:29
‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do’
‘your Father sees what is done’
Matt 6:16 -18
Encounter with God
‘For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face’
1 Cor 13:12

13. Transformative Power of Fasting
Becoming the people God calls us to be …

14. Transformative Power of Fasting
Becoming the people God calls us to be …
requires change.
“to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often” Cardinal Newman

15. 40 Days Purification Discipline Meditation Prayer
Do something different for Lent
40 Days
Purification
Discipline
Meditation
Prayer
Be someone different for Lent and ...