"Fasting to save my life" (Part II) What does fasting achieve?

Last week we discussed how God, The Apostles, The Church and the Bible are all clear in teaching that fasting is a required practice among Christians. When we look to these resources, we realize the absolute relevance of fasting for everyone who considers themself to be a Christian who lives and abides by the Holy Spirit.

Now that we understand the obvious need for fasting among faithful, let us further explore the struggles we can face while fasting and also learn of the spiritual gain we can receive when we overcome these struggles by faithfully abstaining from eating certain foods and partaking in sinful practises. Of course fasting and prayer go hand-in-hand so we will also briefly discuss our need for prayer specifically during a fasting period.

Many of us would be familiar with past examples of fasting taking place by God’s people for various reasons. For the most part, people fasted from food out of their repentant desire to draw closer to God (Rogation of the Ninevites Jonah 1-4), to strengthen themselves against the temptations of the flesh (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13) and to help them faithfully live by the Holy Spirit abiding within them. (Mark 9:29 NKJV, Galatians 5:16)

During the Great Fast (Soma Raba) which is canonically observed in our Church for fifty days preceding Resurrection Sunday, we look to our Lord Jesus Christ’s example of fasting in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights and try to imitate His humility and Godly strength during this time. (We hold the fast with an extended nine days and break it on the fiftieth day). The significance of this fast alone opens our ‘spiritual eyes’ up to a wealth of knowledge and understanding about what fasting can truly achieve for us when we study the details in depth.

Firstly, we see that Christ was lead into the wilderness alone by the Holy Spirit immediately after His baptism. The wilderness was a place without walking paths, without protection from the elements and as Mark states, was populated by wild beasts (Mark 1:13).

And see whither the Spirit led Him up, when He had taken Him; not into a city and forum, but into a wilderness. That is, He being minded to attract the devil, gives him a handle not only by His hunger, but also by the place. For then most especially doth the devil assail, when he sees men left alone, and by themselves.¹ (St. John Chrysostom)

It is here that we can relate to Christ being alone in the wilderness, as we His followers who have also received baptism in His name, are also living in the wilderness of this unruly, sinful world. When we are distant from God because we desire the things of this world more than God (James 4:4), the tempter, satan tries to catch us off guard and lure us in through our fleshly weaknesses. Today these temptations have become that much easier to see and access through widespread international media and alluring marketing campaigns that make us believe we cannot live without these fleshly indulgences in our lives.

The 21^st Century wilderness we are living in and surrounded by today is a world that is governed by satan (1 John 5:19), the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4). The very same temptations that tempted Christ in the wilderness are the temptations that this world throws in our faces every single day; from the moment we wake up, leave our homes and return back and go to sleep.

When we read Matthew 4:1-11, we learn how the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness alone to fast for forty days and forty nights. It is at the end of His fast when Christ is hungry and His flesh is awaiting the fore coming temptations. While Christ is in this state, satan finds the opportune moment to try to tempt Him with the first of three temptations. 

Firstly, satan purposely questions Christ’s identity as the ‘Son of God’ after witnessing Christ’s baptism and hearing God call Jesus His Son (Matthew 3:17).  He then tries to tempt Him to break His fast (Matthew 4:3) to prove that He is the Son of God, and to influence Him to disobey the Father’s will.

“behold with how much craft he draws near, and wickedness; and for what sort of opportunity he watches. For not in his fast, but in his hunger he approaches Him; to instruct thee how great a good fasting is, and how it is a most powerful shield against the devil, and that after the font [of baptism] men should give themselves up, not to luxury and drunkenness, and a full table, but to fasting.” ² (St. John Chrysostom)

For us baptised Christians today, this is the equivalent of being tempted by fleshly desires (things that make our bodies feel good) such as: fornication, adultery, vanity, food indulgences (top restaurants, various fast food chains, watching recipe show after recipe show), gluttony and basically making food and our physical pleasures our priority in life. We see how Christ here adheres to His fast, and rebukes satan with powerful scripture (Deuteronomy 8:3)

The second temptation Christ receives is to test God. When satan sees Christ use scripture to fight him off, he also tries to use scripture (Psalm 91:11-12) out of context, to tempt Christ again by assuring Him that God will protect Him if He jumps off the highest point of the temple (Matthew 4:5-6). Today, we also test God in our wilderness by limiting Him with our own thoughts on how He can work in our lives. (Refer to blog article: Limiting God). Christ again rebukes satan by replying with scripture (Deuteronomy 6:16).

The third and final temptation Christ experiences in the wilderness is that of idolatry, power and greed (the love of money). Satan tells Jesus to bow down and worship him in order to receive abundant wealth and power (Matthew 4:8-9). Unfortunately today, people’s ignorance toward God and His ways in order to gain wealth, prosperity and power is very evident. We see how people like celebrities go against their ethics and morals in order to become wealthy. We see how gaining some money makes people greedily want more. We see people cheating, lying, stealing and gambling out of their greedy desires to attain wealth and power. And this is how the ruler of this world – satan successfully uses our weaknesses to shift our focus away from God and follow his ways (or bow down and worship him). This is especially what he wants for us who have been baptised into Christ. Jesus’ final rebuke of satan here uses scripture again. “Fear the Lord your God and worship Him only”. (Deuteronomy 6:13)

Every verse of scripture that Jesus quotes in His defence are from Moses’ words in Deuteronomy when the Israelites were being tested in the wilderness for forty years and were disobedient to God and His word during this period. Jesus’ righteous actions here reverse the sinful actions of the Israelites... While the Israelites grumbled against God during His gracious providence, here we see Christ uphold God’s word during His forty days in the wilderness during a period of fasting and need.

Glory be to Christ our Lord who by the power of the Holy Spirit, the mighty word of God and His faithful fast, defeated satan’s attacks that were intended to make Him fall. For, for this cause even He fasted, not as needing it Himself, but to instruct us.³ (St John Chrysostom) Christ teaches and leads us by perfect example. (Hebrews 4:15)

To gain strength in times of temptation in our “wilderness” and during times of fasting, we must look to our Lord’s perfect example by observing our Church fasts; being vigilant in prayer and reading God’s word the Bible. (Ephesians 6:13-19) These all go together with fasting to keep ourselves spiritually alert and strengthen us from physical and spiritual attacks of the enemy who as St. Peter mentions is prowling around like a roaring lion waiting to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Let us undertake this fast to conquer our fleshly desires that can lead to sin and instead allow our bodies to submit to the Holy Spirit of God within us and live (Galatians5:16).

Recommended reading: St Ephrem's homily on the Lord's fast

Continued next week… Part III and Final

How and why fasting was practised by our forefathers and Our Church today

This week’s song: Malka d’Malkeh – Bishop Mar Odisho Oraham

1.        NPNF1-10. St. Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chrysostom, Saint, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (1886) pp. 134

2.        NPNF1-10. St. Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chrysostom, Saint, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (1886) pp. 135

3.        NPNF1-10. St. Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chrysostom, Saint, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (1886) pp. 135

Fasting to save my life (Part I) Non-Apostolic versus Apostolic view

When you think of the concept of “fasting” some may envision juice fasts and detox fasts that are becoming more popular these days for being proven to help people lose weight and save lives by healing the body from disease and even some cancers! On the other hand, the concept of “fasting” for some may automatically bring to mind the Church and their faith in Christ.

The current world-Christian view on the relevance of fasting hit me rather ironically the other night when I was watching the concluding part of a documentary called “Juicing to save my life.” Quite literally, a man undertook a juice fast for 2 months and it helped save his life. This non-Christian man, with a new outlook on life actually stated, “THE BIBLE says that Jesus fasted, so we should do it too!” Such a clear and simple message to even non-Christians, so why has this matter become such a controversial subject among people who claim to be Christians who stand by the ‘Bible’s teachings alone’?

Fasting is not a commonly discussed topic among western Christian circles. It is hard to come by literature, books, devotionals and media that mention our need to fast as Christians. In fact, most western versions of the Bible have actually omitted the word “fast” from some important verses of the translated text.

So as we enter into the time of our canonized Church fast; the 50 day Great Fast (Soma Raba) commencing 19^th February, I’d like to draw our attention to the reasons for spiritual fasting, and also investigate the belief of some Christians who feel there is no need to fast or hold to Church Calendar fasts at all!

Over the years of reading various Christ-centred literature, hearing sermons and having many conversations with leaders and lay-men from non-Apostolic Christian denominations, I have learned that the vast majority of them hold to the belief that Christians do not need to fast. They concede that this is a man-made “legalistic” tradition that should be abolished because we are now living in the grace of Christ. Unfortunately, like many other of their reformed doctrines, they stand with an ignorant view toward the necessity of fasting among many other Apostolic teachings and traditions we hold to.

Because of the widespread teachings of these reformed beliefs through international media, and a well-structured evangelical system, some members of our own Holy and Apostolic Church have become confused or ignorantly wandered away from the Orthodox (original) faith, doctrines and traditions which are founded on Christ’s teachings and have been passed down through the generations from Christ Himself and His Apostles.

Now, these non-Apostolic friends of ours who preach ‘Sola Scriptura’, (BIBLE ONLY), are either too ignorant to see what the BIBLE truly teaches about fasting, or their ironically “man-made” reformed teachings which have been passed down from their Church founders since the 16^th Century have clearly misinterpreted the Bible.

If in fact we look to the Bible alone, starting from the Old Testament, the very first fast that God enforced was on the first man. He commanded Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden saying "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17). Of course we see man here sin against God by disobeying His command after giving in to the temptations of satan.


In the New Testament, it was the Lord Jesus who set the law of fasting in Christianity when He fasted forty days and forty nights (Matthew. 4:2). "He did eat nothing, and when they were ended, he afterward hungered." (Luke 4:2). The Lord Jesus was not in need of fasting but fasted as an example for us. He imposed fasting to show us its powerful spiritual impact especially when coupled with prayer.


Our Lord’s authoritive words again deemed fasting necessary when He replied to the question of John's disciples, who wondered why His disciples did not fast. Our Lord said, "Can the children of the bride chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast in those days." (Matthew 9:14-15 &; Luke 5:35)

Again we see Our Lord clearly command His followers to fast during His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus Himself commands them, WHEN you fast, you should do it in this way. (Matthew 6:16) He doesn’t say, if you feel like it, or if you think it’s right… But Christ teaches us how to fast because it is for the good of our salvation.

Among the many verses in the Bible which directly address salvation, one in particular is often drawn out by Reformists and magnified out of its Biblical context to speak against Apostolic traditions; Ephesians 2:8-9. Their interpretation is we are saved or justified by grace through faith alone and works are not necessary. Through these and similar verses, both Apostolic and non- Apostolic believers can come to a unified agreement that we are indeed living in the grace of Christ now. But we come to a difference of opinion when our Apostolic faith teaches us that to live in the grace of Christ we are justified through our faith and works such as partaking in the Church Sacraments and adhering to the canon laws of the Church (Fasting is one of them).

As St. James clearly states in James 2:26, faith and works are equally important for our salvation. Namely, the acceptance of God’s grace in our lives through faith and works together, help us to continue to work out our salvation (Philippians2:12) as we  hold to and grow in our faith in Jesus Christ through His Church and Church teachings which encourage faithful and edifying deeds among her members.

The simple truth is God’s inspired word and the true interpretation of the original meaning is unchangeable. His Word should be applied to everybody and every era without being superseded, maligned or taken out of its context. God taught His people to fast and God’s people fasted. Jesus taught His Apostles and His followers to fast, and Jesus and His followers fasted. Some of our early church history books which were written before the Bible was even put together, also teach of how our blessed saints and Church forefathers fasted regularly and as a result of their great faith performed amazing miracles. The Church has subsequently set canon laws for us their children to continue to do the same.

As members of this Holy and blessed Church, we must hold to its teachings, practise them, teach them and always remember that our teachings and traditions are instated by Christ Himself and His Apostles; as stated in our Church Catechism:

The Apostle St Paul writes, “ . . . therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught whether by word or our epistle ...”(II Thes 2:15)

We have been taught to reject those who teach to the contrary, or they are outside that of the Apostles teachings. ¹

So let us look to Our Lord Jesus, His Holy Church, The Apostle’s teachings and the Bible which are all very clear in stipulating the need for God’s people to fast.  Let us imitate Christ, the Prophets, Apostles and saints who taught us by way of example. If we long to unworthily follow in their faithful footsteps, we must stand fast in our faith and traditions and endeavour to do the same.

Part II continued next week…  How do we fast and what does fasting achieve?

1         A Catechism of the Assyrian Church of the East, the Revd. C H Klutz, B.A., B.Th., M.Th. and the Revd. George Toma, B.A., M.A., D.Min,P.p. 116 (2006)

This week’s song: Orthodox Psalm 104 (English)

Limiting God

 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 
 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 
So are My ways higher than your ways 
And My thoughts than your thoughts
Isaiah 55:8-9

Have you ever indirectly told God how to do His job by expecting Him to react or work in your life or in the lives of others in a way that you think would be best? Many Christians can get caught in the trap of thinking they “know how God works”, purely because they have been reading the Bible, going to church and generally being “good Christians”. By thinking in this precarious way, we are in fact limiting God, or “putting God in a box”, so to speak. This is simply and unconsciously done when we place a boundary around God and His capabilities, based on our own limited knowledge and expectations of how we think He should work in our lives.

Based on precedent experiences we can think of numerous scenarios of how we think God should work in our lives or perhaps even in the lives of others. But do we ever stop to contemplate that “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways? (Isaiah 55:8-9) He affirms this to us through His word to humble us, and remind us that we are merely His creation and His perfect ways for us are beyond our own understanding. St. Paul tells us clearly in Romans 9:20, “shall what is created question (or think they know better than) its creator?”

It seems silly to put limitations on the creator of all things. But when we think we've got God ‘figured out’, that’s essentially what we are doing. Through past experiences we liken God to somewhat of a formula of expectations; If I do this, then God will react this way, if I do that He will react that way. Or, God’s worked in this person’s life this way, so surely He will work in my life the same way. What many of us do not realise or sometimes forget is that God has an individual plan and purpose for each and every one of us. The closer we draw near to Him by faith and witness His presence through the Church, the more we are able to open up our hearts to accept His will for our life and our life’s purpose.

Through fear of the unknown however, or lack of faith, it’s easier for us to trust in our own knowledge and life experiences rather than to wholeheartedly trust that God can work in new, wondrous and incomprehensible ways for our betterment. This mindset simply reveals that our knowledge of God is limited, our faith and trust in Him is limited and we need to draw closer to Him by faith, in order to grow and overcome these fears and uncertainties.

If or when we realise that we are actually limiting God in our life, there is a way to overcome and grow from this. Firstly, we have assurance from His word that, “nothing is impossible with God” as the Archangel Gabriel stated to St Mary in Luke1:37. We should also know that when we seek Him through His word and His Church we can also begin to learn who this infinite, immeasurable being is. God is beyond time (omniscient), God is beyond strength (omnipotent) and God is everywhere (omnipresent)!!! He has a proven track record of working in the lives of faithful people over history by various and numerous means, to fulfil His individual will and purpose in them for His glory.

Imagine if the young Virgin Mary had trusted in her own knowledge, and not faithfully believed the incredible notion that she, a dedicated virgin would miraculously conceive the Messiah of the world through the Holy Spirit? (Luke 1:26-38)

Where would we stand today by means of salvation if her faith in God’s might and incomprehensible ways had failed?

Or Abraham, had he not trusted in God’s word and His sovereignty, would he have moved his entire family and livelihood away from the only country he had known, to travel to a foreign country at God’s first command? (Genesis 12:1-5) And would he have received the abundant blessings had he not willingly attempted to sacrifice his only promised son Isaac on the altar at God’s seemingly contradicting command? (Genesis 22:1-19)

Let us look to Church history and learn from St George the Martyr... If he had shrunk back in fear and denounced his faith in Christ instead of believing that this was God’s good and perfect will for him, would he have valiantly marched forward to receive the numerous tortures by his persecutors unto his ultimate death? Where would he have stood right now if he thought God could not possibly work through these painful circumstances? And what would be of the many people who took courage from his faith in that era of Christian persecution and even today?

Just like these faithful saints before us who rested in the assurance of God’s love and providence (Jeremiah 29:11-13), the Lord wants us to respond to Him in faith by means of trusting in His power, in His promises and in His purposes. It means we should be able to lay whatever problems we have faithfully at the altar, ready and willing to sacrifice them to Him and believe that His ways are best for us, even if we can’t see the final outcome yet. It means we confess to Him that we are weak, unworthy sinners who are in need of His perfect guidance and are willing to accept whatever challenges come our way, knowing that our good God can use them for our good when we trust Him. (Romans 8:28)

What personal knowledge or “wisdom” is limiting your faith on how God can work in your life? What is stopping you from surrendering all of your fears and uncertainties and giving them to the Almighty who cannot be contained or limited, but is the only one who can lead you onto the right path He knows is good for you? Proverbs 3:5-6

This Week's Song- Francesca Battistelli: I’m letting go

Noticeable Women

Genealogies, to some who are not too familiar with their significance in the Bible, may just seem like a boring list of endless names that are too hard to pronounce or may even seem irrelevant. New readers of the Bible may ask, “What's the use of listing someone's family tree (essentially what a genealogy is), in the Bible?” We may even be tempted to turn the genealogy pages all together and get into the ‘real stuff’.

But when we realize that the Holy Bible is God's inspired word to us 2Tim 3:16, we should know that every single page of the Bible is important for reading and shares important information about God and His plans and purposes for us, even if it may be hard to understand sometimes.

There are numerous genealogies in the Bible which all bear importance of their own. Starting from the Old Testament and leading into the New Testament. As a matter of fact, the very first book in the New Testament starts off with a very important genealogy... The direct linage of Jesus Christ. And this genealogy is the one we will shed some more light on.

The book of Matthew was written to a Jewish audience. Matthew, being a Jewish Apostle and eyewitness of Christ, was inspired by God to write the gospel of his eye-witnessed accounts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and share them in a way that the Jews who were living under the Mosaic Law would be able to understand and relate to. So we see as we turn to Matthew Chapter 1 verse 1, of how the writer traces Christ's linage all the way back to their Father Abraham, the Patriarch of the promises and King David, the shadow of the coming Messiah. It was through these men that God had promised to bless the world and the many generations to follow through the coming Saviour.

There is much to learn about Christ’s incarnate nature and purpose through Matthew’s recorded genealogy here. But today, we will focus on the significance of the four women that Matthew thought necessary to single out and mention as belonging to Our Lord Jesus Christ's family linage.

Firstly, it should be noted that the mentioning and documentation of women’s names in a genealogy was not a normal custom, in fact it went against the Jewish traditions and culture of the day. However, Matthew purposely moves in this somewhat controversial direction to illustrate an important point to his Jewish audience and for us readers today...

We learn of Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah, and mother of Perez and Zerah, who used conniving ways to avenge Judah's mistreatment of her, by fooling him into sleeping with her while she disguised herself as a prostitute. God showed Tamar His mercy by allowing her to fall pregnant with Judah's twin sons, which saved her from being lawfully executed for her misdeeds. Genesis 38:1-30.

Matthew makes clear mention of Rahab, a Gentile prostitute who knew of the One and Only God of the Israelites, and faithfully feared Him. God showed her favour by saving her and her family from death at the hands of the Israelites when she helped the Israelite spies escape Jericho unharmed. It was agreed that as long as Rahab and all who wanted to be saved remained in her house, they would not see death. Joshua 2, 6:22-25. Rahab’s significant faithfulness is also mentioned by St. Paul in the book of Hebrews 11:31 and by St. James in James 2:25.

Ruth, of whom a whole book in the Old Testament is dedicated to (Ruth1-4),  is a young Moabite (Gentile) widow who selflessly continues to live with her Israelite mother-in-law after the passing of her husband. Despite the advice to go back to her father’s home in Moab and re-marry, she proclaims to go wherever her mother-in-law goes, and worship the God her mother-in-law worships. Ruth risks the lack of providence and security that only a husband can give her and places her trust and hope in God.

Ruth exemplifies the characteristics of a Godly woman, even though she is a Gentile, Moabitess who would ordinarily be looked upon as an outcast. God rewards Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi by blessing the young woman with a marriage to her Israelite kinsmen redeemer, Boaz, who together have a son Obed, who becomes the grandfather of King David. 

Uriah's wife Bathsheba the Hittite, is famously known to have committed adultery with King David while her husband was away at war (2 Samuel 11). Though her sinful actions and those of King David were displeasing to God, they were both shown mercy and grace when God later allowed Bathsheba to become the mother of King Solomon - King David's successor. 28 generations later we see this same linage beget Christ the Messiah who is prophetically called the "Son of David".

The common pattern seen among these four women is that although they were unworthy of God’s blessings because of their sinful lives or because they were Gentiles, they were shown grace and mercy from God and responded in faith. God saved them from the detrimental circumstances in their lives and used them as chosen vessels to bring about the birth of His one and only Son and their saving redeemer – Jesus Christ.

We see Matthew make deliberate mention of these sinful, Gentile women, to prove that Christ who is perfect God, took on the nature of a man Philippians 2:5-7, and came from a linage of sinful Jewish and Gentile men and women, to die for and save all sinners; Jews, Gentiles, Men and women who respond to Him by faith and righteous deeds. (Galatians 3:25-29)

The last woman mentioned in the genealogy is a complete and utter contrast to the four women above… The Blessed Virgin Mary; a faithful Israelite girl from the family of King David, who was brought up worshiping in God’s temple and was chosen to open up a new chapter through her blessed character. When we look to the Virgin Mary, we see the special place she was given in bringing about God’s salvific plan through the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus Christ; the prophesied Messiah and saviour of the world.

So if we Christian women and daughters of God believe that we too are faithful, Godly women in Christ... What noticeable things are we doing to show for our faith? For just as St. James writes: For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2:26.

Or if we are admittedly unfaithful women, what is stopping us from turning to the one and only loving God who will mercifully forgive us when we unworthily reach out to Him? When we turn to Christ in faith will He not use us for His glorious purposes as He did to these women before us? (Ephesians 2:10)

These women, whom God blessed in His grace and mercy were allowed the extraordinary privilege to be called ancestors of His Son and will forever be remembered in history. How will you accept the grace that God is showing you through Jesus Christ and His Church today? Make history in your life. Offer your heart to Christ in faith today, and consider yourself blessed to be a part of His family...His Church family (2 Corinthians 6:2).

This week’s Song – Beautiful Beautiful, Francesca Battistelli