Matthew 4:1-3a (NIV) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him…

Jesus thought that it was a good idea to fast pray and in the verses above, we see that He was specifically led by God to go into the desert to be tempted. It’s curious to think that the Son of God would even need to fast and pray; after all, He was the Son of God, wasn’t He? If He was God in the flesh, why did He need to fast and pray?

When Jesus took on flesh, His flesh (like all flesh) could experience temptation.  While the Holy Spirit directed him to the desert to be tempted, He must have also led Him to fast and pray. God knew that Satan would go after Jesus with the full force of hell itself and sure enough, Jesus was tempted with every kind of vile and filthy temptation that Satan could think of. Jesus was actually tempted to do the wrong things that Satan was suggesting but He did not give in. Could it be that the reason why He appeared so steadfast and spiritually ready to face the onslaught of filthy temptations was that He had fasted and prayed? It is mind-boggling to think that Jesus, the Son of God, would need to do anything other than just be Himself but since He had subjected Himself to being born of the flesh, He needed to be spiritually prepared.  

Jesus was so prepared after fasting for 40 days that He blew right by Satan and literally handed him his head with the way He handled what Satan threw at Him. Although He did feel the weight of the temptation each time Satan tempted Him, there was no way that He was going to waver because He was so spiritually prepared that there was absolutely no room for failure.

Jesus was showing us how to face temptation and utterly defeat it. The Bible says that we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) and since we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we have the potential to handle temptation just like Jesus did when we prepare ourselves like He did through fasting and prayer. Strengthening your spirit through these spiritual disciplines will ensure victory for you throughout your lifetime. 

I pray that this time of fasting has strengthened you spiritually and has deepened your love for Jesus and your desire to live a powerful and effective Christian life that is marked by victory at every turn. 

Pastor Joey Vazquez