Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Matthew chapter 9, verse 15.

And Jesus said to them, can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

So let me give you a little context behind this verse, and then I want to give you a challenge

in your life. So the context here is disciples of John the Baptist coming to Jesus and asking

him, why do we fast, like put aside food for a meal,

a day, for days in order to pray and seek God, why do we and the Pharisees do this discipline of fasting?

But your disciples are not fasting.

Like the followers of Jesus were not fasting like others were. And Jesus said to

them, can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? So basically he says,

hey, I'm here with them. That's why they're not fasting because they're with me. They're actually

eating with me. They're walking with me. They're talking with me.

But then he says, the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them. In other words,

Jesus is saying, when I'll be gone. And then they will fast. So this is one of the places we see

fasting talked about in the Bible where we see different

reasons for fasting.

Sometimes we fast in confession over sin.

Sometimes we fast for wisdom and direction.

We could talk about all kinds of different passages that talk about fasting.

But here in Matthew chapter 9, Jesus says, one of the reasons you fast is because

you long to be with him. The bridegroom is gone, and we long for his return. Part of the purpose

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