The Grove 10 Years – Week 9

Key Points

Fasting is an issue of the heart — fasting is the subject, but the heart is the goal.

1. 01 Prayer is fundamental and not marginal, central and not supplemental — it is our unlimited access to the limitless source of life and power.
2. 02 Biblical fasting is abstaining from food for the sake of prayer, meditation, and pursuing Christ — starving the physical in order to feed the spiritual.
3. 03 Jesus attacks hypocrisy in giving, praying, and fasting, because self-glory is the root of all hypocrisy and it blinded the Pharisees standing face to face with Him.
4. 04 Fasting is never commanded in the New Testament, yet Jesus says "whenever you fast," and Scripture shows it accompanying repentance, fear, mourning, desperation, direction, and wisdom.
5. 05 Never fast for the sake of direct results — fasting is not a vending machine, but an opportunity to humble our hearts and let His Spirit direct our path.

Discussion Questions

1. 01 The speaker said the most Christ-like Christians he has known are the most prayerful Christians, and that poor attendance at prayer meetings is a heart issue. What does your own prayer life reveal about your dependence on God?
2. 02 He listed symptoms of self-glory: speaking much and listening little, critiquing others but not receiving criticism, being overly controlling, struggling to celebrate others' success, caring deeply about others' opinions, little gratitude, self-reliance, and unwillingness to serve in low positions. Which of these do you recognize in yourself, and what would repentance look like?
3. 03 Why do you think Jesus connects fasting so directly to being unseen by men? How can a spiritual discipline meant for self-denial so easily become self-promotion?
4. 04 The speaker warned that we must never fast for the sake of direct results, because that is "controlling the blessing." How do you see that bargaining mindset show up in the way you pray?
5. 05 In 2 Samuel 12, David fasted and wept, God did not grant his request, and David went into the house of Yahweh and worshiped. What does that response teach us about approaching God when He answers differently than we want?