PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Luke 5:36–39
He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
CONSIDER THIS
I have heard church leaders utilize this metaphor of wineskins to advocate for new systems and structures and all manner of new methodologies when it comes to making change in the church. I have never once heard anyone talk about new wineskins as it relates to the one subject Jesus utilized the metaphor to talk about—fasting. Jesus was not talking about new ways of doing church. He was talking about the new way of relationship with him in the midst of his physically embodied absence.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:15–18)
The old wineskins were the Torah (aka the Law) and the temple. These gifts of God mediated the ways and means of a human relationship with the living God. Jesus Messiah, the one greater than the temple, actually replaces the temple with his physical body. Upon his ascension into Heaven, he will send the new wine—the Holy Spirit. This new wine will not be poured into the old wineskin of the temple, but into the body of Christ which is his people on Earth.
Jesus has come to establish a new covenant with a new temple which is the new wineskin—the body of Christ, which is literally our physical bodies consecrated in holiness unto the Lord as a living sacrifice—Jesus Christ as our living head.
Remember this? But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
Now, remember this: But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast. (Luke 5:35). That time is now. Why?
Fasting is not pious legalism. Fasting is not spiritual technology. Fasting is a means of grace, a primary way of abiding in the Vine who is Jesus Christ and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit as his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth. In order to contain and carry the new wine, a new mindset and lifestyle of fasting is in order. This is fasting as an ongoing way of maintaining the temple of the human body as a house of prayer; breaking the soul’s idolatrous bond with food as comfort and restoring food to its place of physical nourishment. (Consider the implications of “soul” food and “comfort” food. The Holy Spirit is the “comforter” not the buffet). And friends, let’s call it—we are living in the midst of a culture one of whose primary idols is food and whose god is its gut.
Fasting is about appetite displacement. Fasting is about learning to carry emptiness as the means to moving in the fullness of the Spirit of Jesus. Fasting is about learning to carry weakness as the means to moving in the fullness of the power of Jesus. Fasting is about learning to carry hunger as the means to moving in the sanctified flesh of Jesus, who said, “People do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Fasting is about learning to carry hunger as the means to moving in the love of Jesus for others—who said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish the work he has given me to do.”
As a result of all of this, I believe fasting is one of the main battlefields in the kingdom of Jesus. Why? Jesus said it plainly:
“And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
THE PRAYER OF TRANSFORMATION
Lord Jesus, teach us to fast.
Something in all of us is good with the old wine, the old more familiar ways. You said it clearly that the time would come for the friends of the bridegroom to fast. We know that time is now—the age of the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Some of us are feeling really burdened because we aren’t fasting. We renounce that burden as not from you. Your yoke is easy and your burden is light. The fact that it feels burdensome to us is the sign it is not from you but from our own broken ways. I refuse to take fasting on as another burdensome requirement. I will instead simply and constantly consecrate myself to you, Jesus, and welcome the indwelling Holy Spirit to fill me. I receive your gentle leadership and guidance in a new way of fasting. We know we have problems with food and all manner of disordered eating. We know the solution is not a better diet and more ordered eating. It is the ever-deepening abiding presence of Jesus Christ in our physical bodies.
Come, Holy Spirit, transform my heart, mind, soul, and strength so that my consecration becomes your demonstration; that our lives become your sanctuary. For the glory of God our Father, amen.
THE QUESTION
How are you processing these thoughts? Are you leaning in or opting out? Where do you want to push back? What resonates with you in this teaching on fasting?
THE HYMN
Today we will sing the hymn, “Spirit of the Living God.” It is hymn 299 in our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
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5 Responses
As I perceive it; fasting is not so much about how much, or the type of food we consume, but rather whether we seek our spiritual nourishment from Kingdom resources, or from worldly one’s. And yes, it ultimately WILL determine how we embrace, proclaim and demonstrate the Kingdom of God, “do church”.
Thanks, JD; this devotion to fasting has turned a corner. It’s not a ritual of doing; it’s who we are becoming.
From trial and error to a means of being “deeper” in Christ, though I must admit, the “deeper” in me knew this truth all along.
Eating within itself is a life necessity. Jesus broke bread with many, as a means of bringing people together, but most eat for pleasure and not nutrition.
However, I can see where improper food consumption curses the body. Its functionality becomes faulty, whereas our minds become consumed by being overweight and sluggish, yet the next thought goes to the buffet at Golden Corral.
We wonder what’s for lunch as we leave for work in the morning, for dinner by mid-afternoon.
Improper food is putting the wrong grade of gas in a car; we chug along with little energy.
How many thoughts a day go into food consumption?
How many conversations?
More than we have about Jesus?
The evil one has many schemes.
Ephesians 6:11
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Food can be one of them.
After all, eating fruit from an improper tree began the plight of mankind.
Staying 💪’n Christ
Ephesians6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power
Thanks, J.D. This is so timely for me. After several months of redefining why I eat and what I eat, losing 40 lbs and using various fasting approaches along the way, I see and feel the physiological benefit to fasting. But I have prayed, Lord, help me u derstand the most important aspect of fasting – spiritual. This devotional today has set me on the good path. Thanks and Blessings to you and your staff.
Why do people say, “The old is better,”?
Drinking old wine spoils the taste of new wine and causes people to say, “The old is better.” But is it? Taste can be deceptive.
Perhaps fasting helps us go beyond routine religion and to acquire a taste for the Spirit’s new wine. When we deny ourselves food so we can focus intently on praying and seeking God, we realize that the old wine of religion and tradition offers little comfort during our body’s desperate cry for food. Routine religion’s lack of supernatural power and life-changing comfort may be why present-day believers in affluent countries struggle so much with moderate, healthy eating.
When it comes to our appetite for food, it’s just us and Jesus. The act of fasting makes us desperate for His presence and supernatural comfort, so if we stick with it, we begin to cry out in prayer like never before. We realize, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick,” (verse 31) and that because we are not yet fully aligned with God, we are still battling spiritual sickness. We become aware that Jesus in His love for us is calling us to ongoing repentance (verse 32) and to always seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
When that realization and desperation burns in our heart it causes us to more deeply surrender to the risen Jesus. Then we more fully receive and embrace God’s Spirit living and working inside of us — changing us from glory to glory and giving us an overwhelming hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ’s new wine.
Thank you, JD, for these insightful articles on fasting and prayer. I have also been reviewing the Prayer and Fasting Course from last March and gaining so much practical insight into how to move toward becoming an Agent of Jesus with the power of the HS “that is at work within us.”
Meanwhile, our less than one year old community church is desiring to move toward a prayer and healing ministry empowered by supernatural demonstrations of power through the HS, “for the good of the world and glory of God.” Being former “dead” life-long United Methodists, there is a great chasm between vision and reality. Incidentally, we are 4 years into disciple-making training in both D groups or “bands,” and larger Life Groups. We are catching the vision at least!
So, the Seedbed articles are helping us in our path forward, and for that, I am personally very grateful. Blessings and thanksgiving for you all.