How did Jesus live that long without water?

That is an awesome question! It’s also an interesting one because if you look at Matthew 4:2, it says, “After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry.” It really doesn’t mention that Jesus was thirsty. Maybe Jesus only went without food. But, that brings up another question…what if He hadn’t drank water for 40 days as part of His fasting? I’m with you, I can’t imagine going without a snack for even 30 minutes…but not drinking a glass of water?!?! That seems an awful long time to go without any sort of food or drink, doesn’t it?

But, here’s the thing about fasting. If you trust God and are an obedient servant and occupy the time you would have spent eating with prayer and worshipping God, He will take care of your physical needs, including food and water. God has that divine ability. The key is, though, that you have to replace eating or drinking with worshipping God completely.

Could I do it? Nope. As soon as my stomach started grumbling I’d start taking my mind off of God and thinking, “Man, I need a Big Mac!” Then, I’d start focusing on my hunger making it even worse. Same goes for something to drink…I just don’t think I have it in me to go that long without a drink of water or milk or something. As soon as my mouth got dry, I’d be like, “Whewy! I’m parched!” And then I’d completely stop thinking about God and start thinking about where I could find something to drink.

Of course, once you stop worshipping, God will stop providing for you. Fasting is a hard thing to do because it takes a complete focus on the Lord and trusting in Him to provide for you while you pray and fast. But Jesus was able to do it because He was completely focused on God, the Father, and God’s Word.

How would Jesus live without food for 40 days? Wouldn’t He die of hunger?

This is an awesome question! I’m with you …that seems an awful long time to go without even some chips or some beef jerky or some sort of snack! I don’t think I could go 30 minutes without some Cheeto’s…

But, here’s the thing about fasting. If you trust God and are an obedient servant and occupy the time you would have spent eating with prayer and worshipping God, He will take care of your need for food. God has that divine ability. The key is, though, that you have to replace eating with worshipping God completely.

I heard a funny but cool saying the other day. It said that fasting without prayer is called…hunger! But prayer with fasting is called “feasting in a spiritual sense.”

You know, one of my favorite parts of that whole story is the last verse, Matthew 4:11, that reads, “Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.” That shows that, even though Jesus was God, He was also man and needed, for lack of a better term, “first aid.” It shows Jesus’ humanity. He was hungry, He was tired and He was mentally weary.

Aren’t you thankful that Jesus experienced these things and taught us from experience how to resist temptation, how to live, and, most importantly, how to love? I know I am.