Sermon on the Mount — Fasting

Working through Matthew 6:16-18 , this message takes up fasting, the spiritual discipline most easily neglected. Jesus devotes only two sentences to it, yet Scripture from Moses to Paul to Jesus himself shows fasting woven through the life of God's people. As with giving and prayer, Jesus assumes it: when you fast , not if . Biblical fasting is distinguished from contemporary health or weight-loss fasting; it centers on God, not the body. It functions like a honing steel, surfacing the imperfections other disciplines cannot reach so they can be confessed. Fasting reveals what controls us, reminds us of what truly sustains us, and keeps appetites within their proper channels. The application is measured rather than dramatic. Beginners are urged to start small and seek counsel rather than attempt the long fasts of Scripture, and some, for medical reasons, should not fast at all. The closing word is candid about the accountability that comes once the call has been heard.