Walk

341. Fasting

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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