The Reward of Fasting
Matthew 6:1,4 NLT
“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:5-6 NLT
“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:16-18 NLT
“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
Matthew 5:6 TLV
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Matthew 5:8 TLV
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Daniel 10:3 TLV
“I ate no rich food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I anoint myself with oil, until the end of three weeks.”
1. When You Fast It Will: Develop Your Character
Luke 4:1-2 NKJV
“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.”
- Fasting is a proving ground for your character
- Fasting will prepare you to deal with the tempter
- Fasting is a means for you to learn what it means to go from independence to inter-dependance
- Fasting prepares you to handle the power that He wants you to walk in to fulfill your purpose
2. When You Fast It Will: Develop Your Faith
Matthew 17:20-21 NKJV
“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
3. When You Fast It Will: Deepen Your Passion
Revelation 2:4 NKJV
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
Psalms 34:8 NKJV
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
Psalms 84:1-2 NKJV
“How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
Psalms 84:5 NKJV
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.”
Psalms 84:7 NKJV
“They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.”
Psalms 84:9-12 NKJV
“O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!”
