The Reward of Fasting

·50 min·5 clips

He argues fasting isn't about grief or earning favor but a 'new wine' response to the gospel's finished work.

The episode opens with a reading of Matthew 6:16-18 about fasting in secret, followed by a testimony from Sharon about a media fast that revealed her phone dependency and brought clarity to God's voice. The host then addresses the congregation, explaining the night's focus on fasting during the Lenten season. He distributes cards and envelopes, instructing people to write 'cost' on one side and 'reward' on the other as a tangible commitment for the next 40 days. The teaching centers on Matthew 9:14-17, where Jesus responds to questions about fasting by comparing his presence to a bridegroom at a wedding and introducing the 'new wine' metaphor. The speaker interprets this as a shift from Old Testament fasting—driven by grief, repentance, or consecration—to a New Testament approach fueled by the gospel's finished work. He outlines three rewards of fasting: directing us to true comfort in the Holy Spirit rather than escapism like food or media, increasing spiritual power to overcome struggles like gossip, and inviting deeper intimacy with Jesus. Personal anecdotes illustrate each point, including his habit of seeking comfort in pastries and a dramatic story where he prayed for a man named Robert's healing, offering his own health, and later endured a severe kidney stone. That painful experience, he says, brought unparalleled closeness to Christ. The episode concludes with prayer and an invitation to place the completed cards in a basket, to be retrieved after Lent, emphasizing that the reward of knowing Jesus outweighs any cost.

As heard by us

A candid teaching on secret fasting turns screen habits into a call toward spiritual freedom.

Fasting is framed as a quiet test of attention and allegiance. The episode begins with Matthew 6:16, setting visible religious performance against devotion practiced in secret, then turns to Sharon from Lighthouse, whose media fast reveals how easily her phone and games had…

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Why you'd press play

If your phone keeps winning your attention, you may recognize the fight this teaching puts on the table.

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