The Biblical Meaning of Fasting: What to Do and What We Learn From Jesus’ Fast

0:00 Fasting, My beloved, it is not.

0:06 For us to focus on what we eat and what we not to eat.

0:11 In this Holy Church.

0:14 During the Great Length, we abstain ourselves from every dairy product.

0:19 We become vegan one and not only vegan.

0:24 But we also abstain from eating drinking for whatever hours each one can afford.

0:32 To actually do.

0:35 If you can fast with no eating nor drinking at all till lunchtime, then do it till three pm, Then do it till five pm, then do it all depending on what you can take.

0:50 Don't push yourself.

0:52 Beyond the limit where you start fainting and collapsing. But we become vegan nothing of their product, no fish, no meat, nor milk, nothing, nothing, nothing, purely vegan. Some of us, when the Great Length approaches, they start preparing themselves mentally because they were used to the normal lifestyle every day, so now we need to change our lifestyle for forty days.

1:26 So they start.

1:27 Focusing so much on food they lose track what fasting is all about.

1:36 Before we focus on.

1:38 What we eat physically materialistically on what we drink, we need to focus on the spiritual side of us. How do we behave, how do we think?

1:50 How do we speak.

1:52 See I could be fasting physically, but I have broken my fast spiritually because I thought something negative against my brother, my sister.

2:04 I have broken my fast.

2:08 I said something nasty, I judged someone, I spoke behind someone's back.

2:15 You have broken your fast.

2:17 The Lord wants you to learn on how to live for him. Before how to discipline your body. You need to learn how to live for the Lord. The word fast literally means to wait for. That's the meaning of the word fast to wait for.

2:49 Now, I'll ask all of us, when do we wait for.

2:56 The only time we wait for or we wait on when that person.

3:06 Is the number one in our life.

3:09 I will only wait for the one I love the most. I will not wait for someone who comes number ten in that list. I will definitely wait for the one I love the most, no matter how late.

3:25 Or difficult it is.

3:29 And I will only wait for the thing I love the most, and for the person I love the most. The Lord Jesus is saying to all of us, fasting is to teach you.

3:43 On how to wait.

3:46 For the Lord, because if you love him, you will wait for him, no matter how difficult the time or the situation you're going through.

3:59 If you're true love the Lord, you will wait on the Lord.

4:05 First thing, might beloved, is for us to focus. Who are we focused on? And by the way, focus is a gift from the Almighty God to every human being. Why did God give you the gift of focus? Because through focus, God is saying, I want you to see the things I want you to see, and avoid the things I want you to avoid. Because when you focus on someone, whoever is sitting next to that someone, you will not be seeing them clearly. Because when you focus on the person, he is the only one in clarity to your sight. Anyone sitting around that person the vision is blurry. But when you focus on that person, you are only seeing him and him only. Anyone sits next to him, behind, in front, either side matters not because

5:08 my focus on the one I am intending to be focused on. The Lord is saying, when you focus on me, you can't focus on the world. You can't focus on Satan, you can't focus on yourself. Because focus draws you to one place and one place only. You cannot be focused on more than one thing or more than one person.

5:32 It's only one who are you focused on? Who's taking your attention? Is it the Lord or is it the world. Fasting is being focused on the Lord Jesus. When you focus on the Lord, who cares about the world and what is happening in the world. When you focus on the Lord Jesus, he will teach you one thing.

6:01 Silence.

6:02 The world has no silence in it. The world is always chaotic. The world never knows how to be quiet. It is always noisy, always talking. But a person that talks a lot makes no sense. Saint Ephraim, the Great, one of these saints of the church in the fourth century, he says, every time I spoke, I regretted it, But every time I kept silent, I never regretted that. Because the more I spoke, the more I made mistakes. The more I was silent, I never made a mistake. Maybe our fasting needs to be how to learn to be quiet.

6:54 More and more.

6:57 Maybe what are we lacking we need to fix?

7:02 What are you doing the most? Give it up? You like to travel?

7:06 Slow down, you like to run, start walking, you like to talk. Reduce the amount of words you say. You like to build Slow down a bit. Don't run the marathon and start running fast, because halfway you'll collapse. You know it doesn't matter to come first in the marathon. But what matters is you finish the race. Saint Paul says, I ran the race, an old.

7:34 Glory to the Almighty God. I finished it.

7:37 My head is out, I drink collapse halfway. I made it. Whether I came first or not, it doesn't matter.

7:43 I made it.

7:44 It's not about gold, silver bronze. It's about finishing and crossing the finishing line. Even if you are stumbling. I've sit in the marathon. Some of them, they're barely standing. Somebody comes and gives them a hen to finish the race.

8:03 They clapped that.

8:05 Personally came last more than the person that came first, because even through their biggest pains and agony they were going through, but they kept on saying, I'll cross the line now. That is success, Our good God and full of mercy, Our good God, and full of mercy, whose grace and mercy is poured upon all poor my Lord, the compassion of the delightfulness of your love upon your servants, and again transformed them in the hope of renewal to the life of repentance, renew in them your holy Spirit, by whom they are sealed for the day of salvation.

8:45 Purify them by your compassion from all flesh and spiritual blemishes, and assure the hope of their faith by the aid of your grace, and instill the walks of their behavior and the paths of righteousness. Please, along with the saints in your kingdom, by the assurance of the hope of their faith, in the adoption as your children, and in the joy of your absolving mysteries.

9:09 Empower them by the aid of.

9:11 Your mercies, to observe your commandments and fulfill your will, to confess, worship and praise your holy name, the Lord of all father and son, and Holy Spirit forever.

9:23 Ah Men.