Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 1211 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Disciples Fast and Worship - Worldview Wednesday


Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1211 of our trek, and it is Worldview Wednesday. Creating a Biblical worldview is important to have a proper perspective on today’s current events.

To establish a Biblical worldview, you must also have a proper understanding of God and His Word. On our Worldview Wednesday episodes we are in a series in which we are covering another detailed review of a book from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. We are taking a deep dive and will share Dr. Heiser's insights into the question, which is also the title of his book “What Does God Want?”
Disciples Fast and Worship


Last week we studied how disciples fellowship and pray. This week we will explore two more specific responsibilities of disciples.
The first one is disciples fast.
Fasting may be unfamiliar to many readers. Generally, to “fast” from something means to abstain from that thing. To “fast” from food means to go without eating. This is the kind of fasting we see most often in the Bible, though not always. Jesus fasted (Matthew 4:2). He presumed the disciples would follow his example and warned them to not be hypocrites when they did so (Matthew 6:16-18). Fasting isn't about drawing attention to yourself. It’s between you and God.



Fasting isn't merely about abstaining from food. You can fast from all sorts of things in whatever manner you want. Jesus wasn't recommending a strategy for losing weight. He had something else in mind when he fasted and when he talked about fasting. While the Bible contains many instances of fasting, there are no specific rules. Paul noted that married couples might fast from sex (l Corinthians 7:1-5) to devote special attention to a matter of prayer.

But why do it? Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 7:5 about couples agreeing to abstain from sex for a time give us an indication, "Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control."

Fasting is a spiritual practice designed to help us focus on prayer. How does it do that? Perhaps an example helps. If you decide to fast from food for a day, whenever you're hungry, you are reminded to pray. Your fasting is a reminder and directs your attention to the reason you decided to fast.

Another way to think about fasting is to ask what distracts us from prayer or, more generally, our walk with God. The answer might be our phones, television, or some hobby. These are all things we can set aside for a time (“fast” from) to bring our minds back to God and prayer. As an example, what if you decided to do a 24 hour fast from technology. Every time that you would usually check your phone or Facebook you would be reminded to pray instead.

Early church communities fasted so as to collectively focus on prayer (Acts 13:1-3; 14:23). In the Old Testament, community fasting was also a way to show collective sorrow for sin and repentance (Jeremiah 36:6; Joel 2:12).
Next, we will study how disciples worship.