EFFECTIVE FASTING

WHAT IS FASTING?

Fasting is voluntarily depriving oneself of food; Fasting can also be defined as an abstinence from food or drink or both for health, ritualistic, religious or ethical purposes; The abstention may be complete or partial, lengthy, or short duration or intermittent. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that is taught in the Bible. Jesus expected His disciples to fast, and He said that God rewards fasting. Fasting according to the Bible means to voluntarily reduce or eliminate once intake of food for a specific time and purpose.

WHAT ARE THE PURPOSES OF FASTING?

The purposes of fasting include: Developing spiritual strength; including resisting temptation, developing self-mastery, making our spirits master of our bodies, showing humility (Ps. 35:13) “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,” showing sincere sorrow for sin (1 Kgs 21:27) “ So it was when Ahab heard those words , that he tore is clothes and put sackcloth on his body and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning,”; (Neh. 9:1-2) “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,”; (Jon. 3:6-9) “Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 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, test 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 everyone turn from his evil way and from violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God can turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”  Enhancing prayer and meditation, to obtain spiritual knowledge and testimony (Acts 13:2-3) “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.” Then having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”  (Luke 2:37) “Now there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a window of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day.” To obtain spiritual guidance and helping the poor and those in need. Fasting helps one’s spirit to develop dominance over physical appetites (Lev. 16:29, 31) “This shall be a statutes forever for you; In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do not work at all, whether a native of your country or a stranger who dwells among you; It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a stature forever).”  Fasting intensifies one’s prayers and increases access to heaven’s help (2 Sam. 12:16,21) “David therefore pleaded with God for the child,  and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground; Then his servants said to him,  “what is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was a live, but when the child died, you arose and eat food.” (Neh.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.” (Dan. 9:3-4) “Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenants and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments.” In the ancient times people also fasted to mourn (1 Sam. 31:13) “Now when the inhabitant of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Soul, all the valiant men arose and travelled all night, and took the body of soul and the body of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.”  (1 Sam. 1:12) “And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Soul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.” To remember the sadness of exile and to prepare to receive God’s law (Exod. 34:28) “So he was there with the Lord, forty days and forty nights; he neither eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets, the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”  To show devotion to God during a time of national need (2 Chr. 20:3) “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”  (Esther 4:16) “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat or 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.”  (Joel 2:15-17)To prepare for important decisions (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.”   Fasting as a spiritual exercise, however, became an empty ritual for some; both the prophets and Jesus severely criticized such hypocrisy, calling the people instead to a life of true holiness and Christian discipleship.  Opinions differ on whether fasting ought to be a part of Christian life today. Some Christian practice regular fasting while others don’t and think that only men of God ought to fast on a regular basis. My opinion and thought on this is; prayer and fasting should be part and parcel of a Christian on a regular basis for one to understand spiritual matters and to conquer every demonic force. There are some territorial spirits that do not leave easily, therefore one ought to prayer and fast for effective results. (Matt.1 7: 14-21) “And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

EFFECTIVE FASTING- Isaiah 58:6, 7

“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? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? The people of Isaiah’s time were diligent in attending to formal worship.  They went to the temple daily and delighted in listening to good teaching and preaching (v 2) “Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God.”  They magnified their own actions, such as fasting, in language similar to the Pharisee in Jesus’ well known (v. 3; Luke 18:12) ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?’ ‘Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “In fact in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers; and to the Pharisee who justified in himself that he was righteous and despise others saying, “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess,” But true fasting is defined not merely as an external performance or ceremony, or the wearing of a sad expression of the face (v. 5; Matt. 6:16) “Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?; “ 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 may 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.” Fasting that pleases God loses the bonds of wickedness, the chains which have been used to bind and oppress the poor. This kind of fasting feeds and clothes the needy and lifts up the downcast.

The New Testament exhorts the believer to work hard so that “he may have something to give him who has need” (Eph. 4:28) “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” Christ Himself tells us that kindness extended to Himself (Matt. 24:40) “Then the righteous will answer Him saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to the one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” The parable of the sheep and goats is concerned with how God’s grace is seen in redeemed human lives. The final judgment will be according to the evidence- not according to what was professed but what was practiced, not according to what was said but what was done. The works in view are not such as ever earn salvation; they are works of love, which reflects a life redeemed by the saving work of Christ through the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:6) Although the benevolences rendered through life may have consisted of the most elementary works of kindness and mercy, they nonetheless are evidence of genuine faith, because they represent what the believer has sincerely been able to do for Christ’s sake. (Matt. 6:3, 4) Speaks thus, “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

FASTING FROM THE HEART

(Joel 2:12, 13) “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “turn to Me with all your heart. With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. A time of judgment was near for Israel. A day of darkness was pending which would bring calamity. The prophet’s message was that even at that late moment, it could be averted by repentance. One of the expressions of that repentance for which the prophet called was fasting. Fasting alone as an external expression of repentance is not sufficient and will change nothing.  But sincere fasting can be a genuine expression of sorrow for sin. When there is a return to God with all the heart, the repentance is accompanied by true weeping and mourning, fasting becomes more than just external penitence. Fasting, weeping, mourning and the rendering of garments are only expressive symbols. There is always the danger of putting them in the place of inward reality which they imply and represent. When they fast or express repentance externally, the people of God should avoid this mistake and let the outward expression always demonstrate an actual turning to God.

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 (Matt 6:17, 18)Halleluiah.

“Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen and Amen and Amen.”