DAY 8

    01.18.21 | by Adam Boyd

    Matthew 6: 17,18 

     But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,  so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

    Jesus talks about "reward" two times in regards to fasting in verses 16 through 18 of Matthew 6. What rewards do you think he was talking about? 

     The most obvious reward would be that we receive the petition that we have desired from God. That would certainly be a reward. Then there is the reward of the magnified presence of God in your life which fasting can produce. There is also the increase of spiritual power that fasting can produce. Jesus specifically mentioned this in regards to casting out demons (Matt.17:21).

     The last reward I will mention is that fasting, like all prayer, is something special between you and God. Jesus said it is both "private" and "secret". It is a sacred experience between you and God that no one else can share in. it is the closeness that we feel to God when we fast and pray. It is something precious between us and God. 

     It's like God said to Abraham. God told him that he was going to give him the son he so desperately wanted and that he was going to give him all the land that his feet had walked upon. But God wanted Abraham to make no mistake, "I am...thy exceeding great reward."