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Friend, your Abba knows!

Matthew 6:16–18 Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance… but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

After the Lord’s prayer, Yeshua (Jesus) now turns to fasting, bringing the spiritual exercise of fasting inward. He has already spoken of giving and praying in secret. Now the pattern in prayer is also for fasting; Kingdom living is devotion before the Father, not performance before men.

He says "when you fast," not "if." Fasting was already woven into Israel's spiritual life. The Hebrew word tzom (צוֹם) means a voluntary humbling of the body before God — appearing in times of repentance, mourning, intercession, and consecration. It is the whole body saying, "Abba, I need You more than bread."

But like giving and prayer, fasting can be corrupted by the desire to be seen. The hypocrites disfigured their faces so everyone would notice their sacrifice. Their hunger became theater; their devotion, advertisement. So Yeshua touches the heart of fasting. Fasting is meant to humble the flesh, not feed the ego — to turn the heart toward God, not the eyes of others toward us. The moment it becomes performance, it's already polluted. The body denies food, but the soul still feeds on attention.

"Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward." Yeshua cuts to the heart of motives. If the goal of fasting was admiration, admiration becomes the payment. If the fast was done to be seen, then the reward of being seen is all it receives. The Lord is investigating our motives.

Yeshua instructs, "Anoint your head and wash your face." In other words, don't advertise your hunger or use sacrifice to draw sympathy. Let your fast remain between you and the Father. This doesn't forbid corporate fasts — Scripture has those — but the Lord is addressing the motive that turns devotion into display.

In Hebraic thought, the face reveals the inner life — Scripture speaks of seeking God's face and walking in His countenance. And now, Yeshua warns against a false face, forming our countenance to appear more devoted than we are. That isn't humility; it's religious acting. True fasting needs no costume.

The hidden fast simply says, "Abba, You are enough." It doesn't announce itself. It doesn't try to win anyone's sympathy or wear hunger like a badge. It just says, "I want You more."

Fasting isn't a hunger strike to twist God's arm. It isn't a transaction, and it isn't a performance. It's surrender — your body agreeing with your soul that God comes first. It breaks the normal rhythm of appetite and routine, so your heart can seek Him deeper. Yeshua put it plainly: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Fasting doesn't pretend the body doesn't need food. It says the whole person needs God more.

And He sees it. That's the promise — "Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." Nothing hidden is forgotten. No quiet sacrifice goes to waste. The hunger nobody noticed, the prayer said under your breath, the repentance no one else heard — He was there for all of it.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed is the person whose fasting has nothing left to prove, who doesn't need an audience to validate what the Father already knows, whose hunger has quietly turned into worship because you seek more intimacy with your Abba.

Friend, your hidden surrender isn't hidden from the Father. You don't have to announce your hunger or prove anything to anyone — just fast before the One who already sees in secret. Let your appetite bow to the King. Let pride go hungry while your hunger turns into worship. Wash your face, lift your eyes, and seek Him without needing anyone to notice. The reward was never the admiration of people — it's nearness to God. Let this hunger remind you: you were made for more than bread. You were made for His presence and His Word.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

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