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Fasting has been so spiritualized that
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many miss what it is, an act of dominion
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>> When you fast, you tell your body no.
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Not because food is evil, not because
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but because you are training something
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deeper than appetite.
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You are practicing the art of delayed
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of choosing what is true over what feels
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of reminding your body who is in charge.
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This matters because everything in your
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life that matters requires this same
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Marriage requires you to say no to what
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attracts you elsewhere. [music]
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Integrity requires you to say no to the
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The calling God places on your life
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requires you to say no to comfort.
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You cannot master these larger
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disciplines if you cannot master the
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small one, the discipline of your own
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Jesus fasted. [music]
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He spent 40 days in the wilderness
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This was not a show of piety.
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This was a recalibration,
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a reminder to himself in [music] the
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face of ultimate temptation that bread
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does not sustain life,
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that the word of God does, [music]
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that some battles are won not through
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but through the willingness to deny
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Paul wrote about bringing his body into
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but through training,
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The person who cannot say no to hunger
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But here is what most miss.
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Fasting is not primarily about food.
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When you fast, you are practicing faith.
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and yourself that you trust him
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more than you trust comfort,
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that you are willing to sit with
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deeper alignment with what is true.
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Fasting also teaches you something else.
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How little you actually need.
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How much of what you consume
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How much of your life is devoted to
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masquerading as needs.
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And notice what emerges in the silence
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That is where the real discipline
