Fasting Fasting when coupled with prayer is the best avenue to getting yourself to the point where you can hear from God and be guided by the Holy Spirit. How many of us struggle day by day with this question. Lord, what do you want of me, what do you want me to be doing, is what I m doing the right thing and on and on. It s a constant desire of my heart to know that I am on the path God would have me be on. It has been my experience that fasting can offer a knowing that you are on that path and that God is with you there. One of the things that does often happen after fasting and receiving confirmation from the Lord about something is that no one will understand and many will stand against it. But, that comes with following the Lord and obeying the Lord. Often your actions and your stand may be challenged and often called even ungodly. But, when you do have that confirmation in the spirit and that surety you can stand and not be shaken. What is fasting? according to the Bible by definition and example. H6684: A primitive root; to cover over (the mouth), that is, to fast: - X at all, fast. H2908: (Chaldee); from a root corresponding to H2901; hunger (as twisting): - fasting. G3523: From the negative particle νη ne and G2068; not eating, that is, abstinent from food (religiously): - fasting. G3521: From G3522; abstinence (from lack of food, or voluntary and religious); specifically the fast of the Day of Atonement: - fast (-ing.) Basically, fasting is an abstinence of food and or water. It can be partial such as one of the fast in the old testament or it can be a full fast. The length of time for the fast can vary from a single meal to a full 40 days which is the longest recorded in the bible. I also think that we can include abstinence from such things as entertainment as also set by an example in the Old Testament and for the purpose of this writing it s voluntary. In Daniel he fasted from desserts, meat and wine and did not cover himself with oil. He basically abstained from things that were pleasurable or made him more comfortable. Dan 10:2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks. Dan 10:3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
Another example in the New Testament abstains from physical relationship with your spouse during the time of prayer and fasting. KJV 1Co 7:4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. 1 Co 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. So fasting, as set by example and definition in the bible, for this purpose, can be defined as this: 1. The voluntary abstinence of all or certain food or drink for a period of time. 2. The voluntary denial of pleasurable and or entertaining things such as music, (could include tv, movies, etc) or physical things such as pampering yourself as in Daniel putting no oil on himself and could include physical relations with your spouse. Here are a few of the times of the other fasts mentioned in scripture. Partial Day Dan 6:18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him. One Day 1Sa 7:6 And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Jehovah, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against Jehovah. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah. Jdg 20:26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah. Three Day Est 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. Fourteen Day Act 27:33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take some food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. (Note: I don t believe for most of these men on the ship it was a voluntary fast, for Paul it may have been) Twenty-One Day Dan 10:3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
Why would you fast? Why would you deny your body the food or the water that it needs? Why would you remove things from your life that you enjoy or want that feed you, strengthen you or make you comfortable? Why? Because you desire to come closer to God or to hear from Him on a particular issue that s in your life or someone close to you. Your desire for these things is less than your desire for God. Your desire for God is greater than the desires of your flesh. I think one of the best scriptures to illustrate that point is: Dan 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. It s to seek the Lord, to seek His counsel, His deliverance, His intervention in a matter and to draw closer to Him. It s been my experience that fasting is not so much to move the Lord as it is to enable you to hear the Lord. Many people see fasting as a tool that they can use to manipulate the Lord. If I do this then He has to do that. It s not so. It s an extension of prayer, it s the humbling of your spirit so that you can draw closer to Him. I write this in the hope that you will have that desire to draw closer to Him, our Lord and that you will see that fasting is one of the means our Lord has allotted us to be able to do so. A partial fast is not so trying. Skipping a meal or two you may be OK but here are some things to expect. A headache, I have fasted before when I did not get a headache but many times you do get a headache and often vomiting. I think our bodies are so depleted of good nutrition and are so accustomed to the chemicals in the foods that we go through a period of withdraw. Also, during the period of fasting your body will start to dump toxins. Many times this is where the fast ends for most people. Their lives and their duties do not allow them the time to overcome this period of adjustment without food. You may get sick with vomiting. I varies from person to person and from fast to fast. Certainly the first day is the toughest but for many but people I ve talked with and my own personal experience shows that there are plateaus that you reach at certain days and they can be very difficult. Day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, day 14 and day 21 all seem to be the most challenging days and certainly the 40 th day is a challenge. It seems with my experience and others I've talked with the the last 3 days of a 40 days fast are very trying because you often cannot hold down water. Also, expect the enemy to attack. You will be challenged in your home, your job, your family and more. But stand and it gives you even more of a desire and need to go to the Lord.
Here are some physical things to consider while fasting. Water. You really need to have good clean water. It needs to be water from a source that is PH balanced and chlorine and chemical free. I recall some men in prison that decided to fast and after just 14 days they said he and the others with him lost their hearing and they eventually died. Fasting experts were puzzled by this until they investigated the prison. They found that the water was treated and chlorinated. No one should have lost their hearing after 14 days of basic fasting. So, with that said realize that your body is going to be in shock from the lack of food and any water that you put in it needs to be able to refresh and assist your body in eliminating the toxins that will be released during a fast. You don t want your body battling with the water also. Rest, you ll need to rest more. One of the things I find with fasting is how good and how soundly I sleep after I get over the first jolt of beginning a fast. But you ll need to realize that you may need to sit more, move slower, and be more deliberate in your movements during a fast. One of the most difficult fast I have ever done was the three day fast with no food or water. It all the way around was difficult and very demanding physically. I don t suggest this unless you really feel lead by the Lord. Another thing I have found with fasting is this. Many times you ll know when it s time to fast. I ve experienced what I can describe as the Lord calling me to fast. These seem to be the easiest fast I have done. They are not without difficulty but they are far less taxing on my body and mind then the fast that I start on my own. I ve also experienced this. Sometimes I start a fast and for some reason it s not time to fast or I may be fasting for the wrong reason or fasting from a fleshly, worldly standpoint. Those fast don t often last very long and they are the most miserable times of fasting I have ever had. Another experience is ending a fast before the Lord has called you to end it. You just give into your flesh and eat. The feeling that you have after that is one of deep regret. Because you know that you have just cheated yourself out of something from the Lord and you have in a sense let Him down. I have fasted for various reasons and often with great success in hearing from the Lord. I also have fasted and not received what I wanted. One of the points to really get is fasting is this, you are fasting in order to serve and hear from the Lord Jesus Christ not so that Jesus can serve and hear from you. Although, many times the result of the fast is Jesus serving you because he heard from you and that's what he does. But, the big question is, where is your heart in the matter. I ve fasted both ways, with a pure heart and with a heart that maybe wasn t where it should be. The later really doesn t give you the fruits you want from a fast.
Fasting, I don t think moves God, but fasting, prayer and a heart for Him does. The bottom line is this. We must be a people that hear from the Lord. Apparently we are not hearing from Him as we should or things would not be in the mess that they are in. Fasting I think is what we need to grasp onto as a people of God, as the chosen people, as the remnant, to move to that next level of serving Him and delivering our people out of the bondage that they are in. How many great victories came in the bible after fasting? We are due some great victories. They are needed for our future, for our children. Please pray and ponder and study fasting. Listen to the Lord concerning the matter.