There are many good lessons on fasting. We are only going to attempt to do a
short, quick lesson on fasting in order to provoke your own studies on this
important issue.
Derek Prince, a well-known Bible teacher, is quoted as
saying that if we truly desire the perfect will of God for our lives, we will
be required to fast from time to time.
Brother Prince uses the following illustration:
The last 10% of God’s will for
you
can only be obtained with
fasting.
The first 90% of God’s will
for you
without fasting
There are many Bible examples and
even commands about fasting, but I would like to start with the spiritual
principle behind it. God honors unity, especially between spouses. It is powerful, but not necessary, for
two to fast together. One time,
when my wife Carol and I fasted for 15 days, it was very special. I asked the Lord, why it was that I was
feeling “so spiritual” during the fast, and why was it so powerful. He answered and asked me a
question. He said, “Do I live in
you?” I answered, “Yes, of
course.” Then He asked, “What is
it that is standing between Me in you and all the circumstances and Satanic
enemies you face?” I said, “My
flesh.” He said, “Fasting starves
that flesh. The appetite for food
is the strongest part of the flesh, and when you starve that the flesh
diminishes. As you fast, I become
stronger in you.” When I fast I
tell my flesh to shut up and get back into the grave! I have heard that one physically hears better when hungry.
During
that fast some absolutely amazing things took place.
Money began to
come in from a source, which was overdue to us for almost 4 years. We were called on our first mission
trip to Africa, and there were many other amazing things like that. There have been many more times in our
lives when amazing things have happened while we were fasting. We are still learning to fast, and are,
by no means, experts in this area. We have fasted throughout our Christian
lives, although not as regular as we would like.
I know some
people that fast in order to convince God to do something they want Him to
do. They fall on their face, beat
the floor, starve, scream, and pray.
All that does is release soul power. But it is the soul that we are trying to quiet.
I think the
best attitude in a fast is to seek His face, to seek His will, to hear from
Him, to allow His purposes to overtake you.
Kinds of fasts.
Not all fasts need to be a
complete fast. There are juice
fasts, which keep up the body’s energy, there are water fasts, and there are
fasts that just eliminate the “good foods” like Daniel did. A pastor I know did a very effective
40-day fast like Daniel, eating no sugar and no meat, just fruits and
vegetables. It was very
effective. My longer fasts have
included juice and even a mixture of maple syrup (pure) and lemon juice. The maple syrup keeps up the energy and
still allows for an effective fast.
One thing for sure, if there is any doubt about your health, you first
need to contact a doctor before fasting.
Some people say that fasting is very healthy for one’s body; I agree,
but your doctor should be consulted.
The main thing I look for is to make my body crave food and then to tell
it, “No.”
Fasting is the best way to humble yourself.
“But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was
sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own
heart” (Psalm 35:13).
“Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava,
that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for
us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of
the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the
road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, ‘The hand of our God is upon
all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all
those who forsake Him.’ So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He
answered our prayer” (Ezra 8:21-23).
“Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the
twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was
upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along
the road” (Ezra 8:31).
I was in an African nation many years ago and was
fasting. One morning during the
fast the Lord quickened this Ezra Scripture to me. In the next two days we encountered two ambushes. One was potentially very dangerous and
involved two bandits who were sticking their hands through the windows of our
automobile. The Lord protected us.
Some things that the Word of God tells us about fasting
· It
is to be done in a manner of humility and secrecy.
Matthew
6:16-18 (KJV) says, “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad
countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward. But thou, when thou
fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to
fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret…”
I would like
to add, however, that it could be valuable to share your faith about fasting
with your friends. I do not think
that we need to avoid this in the name of humility.
Luke 18:9-14
says, “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they
were righteous, and despised others: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men –
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a
week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much
as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat
his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the
other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted.’
· Fasting
is closely related to prayer and reading of the Word.
1 Samuel
1:6-8, 17 (KJV) says, “And her
adversary also provoked her sore… therefore she wept, and did not eat. Then said Elkanah her husband to her,
Hannah, why weepest thou? and why
eatest thou not? and why is thy
heart grieved? am I not better to thee than ten sons?... Then Eli answered and said, Go in
peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of
him.”
Nehemiah 1:4
says, “So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and
mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
Nehemiah 9:1-3
says, “Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were
assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those
of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood
and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up
in their place and read in the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for
one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshipped the
LORD their God.”
Daniel 9:3, 20
(KJV) says, “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and
supplication, with fasting… And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and
confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my
supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God.”
Joel 2:12
(KJV) says, “…turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and
with weeping, and with mourning.”
Jonah
3:7-10 says, “And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the
decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let
neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or
drink water. But let man and
beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one
turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce
anger, so that we may not perish? Then
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented
from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do
it.’”
Luke 2:37
says, “And this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not
depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and
day.”
Acts 9:9 says,
“And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”
Acts 10:30
says, “So Cornelius said, ‘Four
days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my
house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing.’”
Acts 13:2
says, “As they ministered to the
Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said…”
Acts 14:23
(KJV) says, “And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had
prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord…”
1 Corinthians
7:5 (KJV) says, “…that ye may give
yourselves to fasting and prayer…”
Some Other Scriptures on Fasting:
-
Receiving healing (1
Samuel 1:5-11, 18-20; 2 Samuel 12:15-16, 22-23; Acts 9:9, 17-19). Isaiah 58:8 says, “Then your light
shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily;
and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your
rear guard.”
-
Petitioning God to withhold His hand in judgment. Deuteronomy
9:18 says, “And I fell down before
the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor
drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in
the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.”
-
Preparation to receive word from God. “Then you shall call, and
the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am’” (Isaiah 58:9).
-
Spiritual deliverance. Isaiah 58:6 says, “Is this not the fast that I have
chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the
oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?” Mark 9:29 (KJV) says, “And he said unto them, This kind can
come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”
-
Seeking assistance in time of fear. 2
Chronicles 20:3 (KJV) says, “And
Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast
throughout all Judah.”
-
Mourning another’s death (2 Samuel 1:12; 3:35).
- Out of
concern for another’s safety (Daniel 6:18).
- When
faced with threats on one’s own life (Esther 4:3; 9:1-3).
-
Seeking protection (Ezra 8:21-23).
-
Lacking material provision or when in need. “…in
sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakendness” (2 Corinthians 11:27).
My advice on fasting is to
seek the Lord and allow Him to teach you.
Avoid it if you have health
problems that would be aggravated.
If this is the case, I feel that the Lord will show another type of fast
that would do the same thing spiritually.
If you do not have health problems, JUST DO IT!
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