For more years than I would like to think about I was either unaware of or lacking interest in a subject that the Bible has much to teach us about. It is a subject that I do not remember hearing preached in any of the thousands of sermons I have heard since becoming a believer at the age of thirteen. Jesus talked about it, and expected His disciples and followers to include it as part of their life in commitment and service to Him. Both Old Testament and New Testament saints practiced it, and it has been shown to bring great victories when situations seemed otherwise hopeless.
In fact, it has often seemed to be the one ingredient that aids in seeing breakthroughs and answers to prayer, something extra that prayer alone does not always seem to accomplish. It will seem strange to some in saying something like this, because surely prayer is the incredibly amazing gift given to us by God through which we have the privilege of approaching Him with our petitions, believe that He will answer, and find that many times our prayers are supernaturally granted. But if there is something that increases our faith and the effectiveness of our prayers, and keeps us humble as we pray, we should certainly find out what this is and ask God to help us include it in our Christian life and service.
What I am referring to is clearly taught in the Bible. So, what is this additional weapon God gives us the privilege of incorporating into our prayer lives? It is the practice of fasting.
Many people think of fasting today as a way to lose weight, and a true fast will certainly do that. But there is a supremely more important purpose for fasting than the physical benefits experienced. It can have a very definite impact not only on ourselves and our own spiritual growth. It can also be a catalyst to dramatically bring deliverance, healing, spiritual renewal and revival to communities, and sometimes even bring change for good at the national level.
Fasting, that is, fasting with a definite purpose in mind is deciding to eliminate food from consumption for a specific length of time. I said above that Jesus taught this discipline, and here is what He said about it:
“Moreover, when [not if] you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:16-18).
It is clear from the scriptures that Jesus expected His followers to fast just as much as He expected them to support the work of God with their giving and prayer (See Matthew 6:1-13). In other words, just like giving and praying, fasting is not optional for the Christian! This will be a big surprise to many professed believers. It is something Jesus taught that needs to be a part of our on-going relationship with Him. So, to repeat, Jesus did not say if you fast, but when you fast.
Also, when Jesus was being questioned by the disciples of John the Baptist as to why His disciples did not practice fasting and John’s did, Jesus said:
“Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15, emphasis added).
The fact that Jesus emphasized fasting as an expected discipline for His followers must obviously be because it has significant value. As I said at the beginning of this chapter, I spent many years unaware of my need to include fasting in my life and lacked interest in the subject. Like me, you may be surprised at how much is said about fasting in the Bible. Here is a partial list of scriptures. I suggest reading them slowly by giving time for the Holy Spirit to minister to you through His Word (emphases are added):
Judges 20:26. Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
1 Samuel 7:6. So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.”
1 Samuel 31:13. Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
2 Samuel 12:16. David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
1 Chronicles 10:12. All the valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
Ezra 8:21. 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.
Nehemiah 1:4. 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.
Esther 4:16. “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
Psalm 35:13. “I humbled myself with fasting.”
Isaiah 58:6. “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?
Jeremiah 36:9. Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.
Daniel 9:3. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Joel 2:12. “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
Jonah 3:5. So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
Zechariah 7:5. “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?
Matthew 4:2. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
Matthew 6:16-18. “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 17:21. “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Luke 2:37. 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 13:2. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Acts 14:23. So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
1 Corinthians 7:5. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
2 Corinthians 11:26,27. In perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often.
Fasting, meaning abstaining from food for specific periods of time can be a valuable means of gaining spiritual insight, support and encouragement during times of seeking God in prayer. This is something that many professed Christians sadly ignore or are unaware of as a beneficial practice for believers. However, it has been practiced by individuals and groups from the very beginning of the New Testament Church, as well as extending back into Old Testament times. And let us not forget that Jesus himself did not start His ministry until after He fasted forty days and nights in preparation for ministry and victory over Satan.
Those who have experienced as least short periods of fasting for two or three days or more while earnestly seeking the Lord, know that such a spiritual exercise can have a beneficial humbling effect. It can provide new and deeper insight into how God sees us and how we see ourselves. It usually surprises individuals as they experience the Bible becoming more alive to them during such times of seeking the Lord.
In a few words, the value of fasting should definitely not be considered as a means to twist God’s arm into meeting our perceived needs or desires, but to position ourselves before God in all humility so He can begin to minister to us according to His will for us. It is often during such times of seeking the Lord that He will reveal more of His purposes and plans for our lives.
Yes, the Bible clearly indicates that sincerely offered prayer accompanied with fasting can be expected to bring powerful results. As said, it is not the idea of trying to twist God’s arm to do something, but to position ourselves before Him in sincere humility to seek His face for His will to be done in our lives.
I believe the devil will do whatever he can to defeat the effectiveness and desires of the Christian who is seeking the Lord through prayer and fasting. I can speak from personal experience in my own life on the enemy’s attacks when I have set aside time for prayer and fasting. Satan and the powers of darkness are very aware of attacks against their kingdom on the spiritual level. We can see the reaction of Satan when immediately after Jesus had been baptized in the Jordan River and filled with the Holy Spirit, he attacked Him with the most vicious and alluring of temptations as we see recorded in Matthew chapter four.
As mentioned above, the fact that it was not until after Jesus had received the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1,2) when He was baptized in water by John the Baptist, that Satan came on the scene to tempt Him. It is an interesting question to consider why Satan had apparently not paid much attention to Jesus during the years of His physical development until He was thirty-years old. The message for us is that first of all, we should be filled with the Holy Spirit, and secondly, being empowered with the presence of the Holy Spirit we can expect Satan to take note of us. However, we know we can have power to resist the enemy’s attempts against us through faith in Jesus Christ and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
What was Jesus doing during the forty days He was in the wilderness? He was fasting, and surely this would have been combined with prayer to His Father. So at a time when Jesus’ body was the most weak physically, which is expected and normal when fasting, Satan took the opportunity by tempting Him to satisfy His physical hunger by using His power to make bread out of stones. But Jesus did not come into this world and exercise the power of the Holy Spirit to satisfy His own needs, He came to be a Savior and a Servant for others. He said, “…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
In other words, when Satan tempted Jesus, He was not to be sidetracked but remained faithful to His mission. Question: If Jesus needed to engage in fasting for victory over His enemy and deliver others who were victims of satanic oppression, should we expect to have the same kind of victories over Satan without the preparation we need through prayer and fasting? I think the answer is obvious. Prayer with pure motives and combined with biblical fasting will bring great victories over our enemy. We should remember that biblical fasting is generally the absence of food but not water. This is why the Bible says that Jesus was hungry after the forty-days of fasting, but not thirsty.
I hope that some of my readers will go before God and ask His direction for your own lives, especially how he would like you to continue seeking him in your quiet times. As you earnestly seek the Lord, I believe He will speak to you and guide you regarding the discipline of fasting
Comments