Fasting is a struggle against the flesh and is emotionally and physically demanding; in this we discover what we really hunger for.
Scripture reading
Deuteronomy 8:1–20 (NLT)
1“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.
2Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.
3Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
4For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.
5Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you for your own good.
6“So obey the commands of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.
7For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills.
8It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey.
9It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.
10When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
11“But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.
12For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in,
13and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!
14Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.
15Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock!
16He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.
17He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’
18Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.
19“But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.
20Just as the LORD has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the LORD your God.
Key passages
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 — “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
Fasting thought
“Do you have a hunger for God? If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul’s appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called ‘fasting.’” John Piper
Prayer
Father in heaven, as I move forward in this fast, help me to turn every hunger pain, thought or craving towards you. Teach me to feed on your word and to find a deep satisfaction in your truth. Today, Father, I want to experience the sweetness of your word. Amen.
Take a few moment to journal what God had taught you today. Leave a reply below.
LifeBridge International Church 
Fasting is communion with God and filling my mind with healthy thoughts. It’s also a time to reflect on how much spiritual and emotional strength I am experiencing when I deny myself of food.
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I’m thankful for this opportunity of fasting as it does reveal more of what’s in my heart. Not every revelation is pleasant 🙂 but nevertheless, I find myself hungering more for God. May He increase and may I decrease.
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We are wanting to know you more, God, help us to stop nibbling at the table of the world, sampling what the world has to offer. But, turning to God moment by moment to feast on the treasures found in the Word, and complete satisfaction in knowing you.
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“Do not forget! Remember.” Words Moses repeats to God’s people before they enter the promised land. “Stay humble. Be Disciplined. Fear the Lord. Remember the Lord and obey His commands.”
It’s been 20 years since the terrorist attack in NYC. And the words “Remember” have become a theme for this terrible day in US history. And there are so many things to remember however the one thing I will never forget is how the country came together after this. It didn’t matter what political party you were, social class you were in, or color of your skin, there was UNITY. 20 years later I see a nation that remembers this tragic day, however, have forgotten the unity that followed.
And doesn’t this reflect our spiritual life as well. During a fast we are laser focused on God and what His word says. We diligently seek Him and feel close to Him. But when the fast ends we slowly begin to fade back into the comforts of life. Slowly forgetting the goodness of God. Slowly walking away from the disciplines fasting provided. We look to the other things of life for comfort and joy instead of the One who gave us all we needed and asked.
Father God may I remember Your goodness. Be thankful for Your provision. May I stay humble. Be disciplined. Fear you and obey your commands. May I not forget and always remember.
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Always the bigger place for God, the smaller place for the world! How great it could be all my thoughts my heart my living my everything filled with God’s word!
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