Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow / Livestream
Nick Ely knows the perils of making bad decisions at a grocery store while shopping on an empty stomach.
The lead pastor at Christ Church Central Phoenix confessed to once going to Trader Joe’s to purchase eggs and tri-tip, only to return home with cookie butter and apple cider doughnuts to the astonishment of his wife.
“What we’re hungry for gives shape for what we do,” Ely told a Grand Canyon University audience during Monday's Chapel at Global Credit Union Arena.
Ely elaborated on the meaning of the importance of fasting from a spiritual standpoint.
“And far too often, because of our fallenness, our sinfulness and brokenness, we find ourselves as humans so hungry and filled up by the trivial and temporal that we have no room to be hungry for the great and eternal.
“We have no more appetite for the greatest things. We have no room to be hungry for God Himself. And fasting is a way God has given us to declare war on our wayward hungers and increase our appetite for that which matters most.”
There is a danger in truly displaying the authenticity of fasting, said Ely, who referred to Matthew 6:16-18.
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so that they’re fasting may be seen by others,” Ely said. “Truly I say to you, they have received their award.
“But when you fast, oil your head and wash your face. That your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“I hope as a follower of Jesus in this room, you decide to be hungry for God, open your ears and hearts to Jesus.”
Ely mapped what fasting actually is and how it works while revealing misconceptions and misunderstandings.
Such as:
Fasting is not therapeutic, ascetic, masochistic, magic, meritorious, repentance or radical.
“When Jesus is talking about fasting, He’s not talking for therapeutic or health reasons,” said Ely, adding that fasting is not a way to pay for your sins or earn favor with God.
“ … If you have an idol in your life or have a sinful relationship with a thing, an object or with a habit, you don’t need to fast from it. You need to repent from it.”
What is fasting is for?
“Fasting is for wisdom or to humble ourselves before the Lord, or see God’s face,” Ely said. “ ... It is our opportunity with our body to say with our souls, ‘God, I’m more hungry for you than I am for anything else in this world.’"
Fasting, Ely, added is actually for joy, not drudgery.
“If you’ve eaten the bread of life and tasted the deep, sole satisfaction of being in the right relationship with God, you know nothing else in this world can satisfy you,” said Ely, comparing that situation with being hungry but being stuck on a treadmill and not able to satisfy that hunger.
“God is offering himself, and fasting is a way for you to say, ‘I know the things of this world will never truly and ultimately satisfy me. Only God can do that.’ “
Fasting, Ely said, is a reminder of what you really need and reminds us what we need most in this world is Him. We can find out what we think we need we can live without, as well as a declaration of our deepest priorities.
Furthermore, fasting increases your dependence on God. It also reminds you that you can trust and depend on Him while exposing idols, and it sharpens your self-control.
“An incredible reward,” Ely said of the latter. “We live in a world of instant gratification. If I want it, I can get it now.”
As an example, Ely referred to the food options on campus, food delivery services or a dorm refrigerator.
“If you want to be a serious follower of Jesus, developing the muscle of saying no to your flesh and desires is like a superpower in your Christian life,” Ely said. “Fasting is a way to flex that muscle. Fasting liberates some of your time and attention.”
Ely quipped about taking time out of his day to text his wife about dinner options.
“One of the beautiful things about fasting is every single time you feel hunger, and the hours you would spend ordering food, you can set that time aside and pray,” Ely said. “And seek God and meditate on His word and liberate some of your time and attention and give it to a place that will actually reap eternal award.”
Before concluding Chapel with a prayer, Ely reviewed a primer on Fasting 101.
First, Ely told the audience to make a plan, settling on what you are going to fast on and for how long. Ely said not to be ashamed to start small, beginning with one meal.
Second, Ely said to pick a purpose, aiming at something in your spiritual life.
Third, fill your time instead of your stomach, perhaps reading and memorizing passages of Scripture.
Finally, pay attention.
“Be alert to what the Spirit is leading you in and how God is ministering you to and what He is doing in life,” Ely said.
Those who attempt to fast for the first time should not have high hopes, Ely warned.
“You might be hangry for a while, grumpy, different than you expect," Ely said. But, “I’m confident that in the regular rhythm of setting aside time and attention and appetite to seek the great things of God, to deep hunger for God, that he will meet you there in that place and crucify the desires of your flesh and will make you more hungry for Him and eternal things.”
Next Chapel speaker, 11 a.m., Nov. 4, Global Credit Union Arena: Darryl DelHousaye, Redeemer Bible Church
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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