The Hebrew word for fasting is Soowm which means, to cover the mouth. There are more books on the physical aspect by food reformists than on the spiritual aspect by Christian writers. Fasting is the voluntary refusal of food for various purposes like, fighting for justice (Hunger strike), losing fats in the body (Dieting), cleansing the body system (Medical) and unto the Lord (Spiritual). Fasting for spiritual purposes has become a neglected discipline in the Church today. Fasting may provide us with a key to unlock doors where other keys have failed; a window opening up new horizons in the unseen world, a mighty spiritual weapon God has provided for the pulling down of strongholds to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke. Fasting is not a substitute to repentance, forgiveness, prayer, faith or any other Christian discipline, but a supplement to make the Christian disciplines more effective and powerful. Our fasting should not result in producing the works of the flesh, but in producing the fruit of the Spirit. Is 58:4-5 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? Your fasting has to be unto the Lord, offered unto Him, it must be sanctified, set apart, different from the rest. First of all you must repent, forgive, surrender, make Jesus your Lord and walk in faith. Then when you undertake a fast, you must pray at the time you skip your meal, offering your meal to the Lord. This is called sanctifying the fast, a spiritual value is added to your fast, your fasting is unto the Lord and it is powerful. This is what makes it different from the rest of the fasts. We are all engaged in a war that is spiritual in nature, hence we need spiritual weapons in the combat. Carnal weapons like guns, swords, bombs etc. are of no benefit in a war that is spiritual in nature. Fasting, is one such weapon from the many that God has provided us, to break down strongholds. To some, fasting and starving are synonymous terms and they fear it will have harmful effects on the body. They oppose fasting almost instinctively. Why such attitudes to a practice that is so obviously scriptural? In the Old Testament, Moses, Joshua, David, Hannah, Esther, Elijah and in the New Testament, Anna and the early Church fasted and prayed. Fasting is a channel of power. It is one of the secrets of the early Church that seems to be almost lost today. Lk 2:36-37 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phan'u-el, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. Acts 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every Church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed. Acts 13:2-3 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. PRIMARY PURPOSE : To humble oneself in repentance. Other attitudes accompanied with repentance are mourning, sack cloth and ashes. The words "To humble oneself" is used many times in the Bible and very often it means fasting. Ps 69:10 When I humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. Is 58:5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? Ps 35:13 But I, when they were sick I wore sackcloth, I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my bosom, II Chr 7:14 If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Aha'va, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. Israel fasted on the day of atonement There are three important disciplines for a Christian to note, of which Jesus talks about in Matthew's gospel. The giving of alms, praying and fasting. Jesus puts fasting as an equally important discipline as alms giving and prayer. Fasting cannot be neglected just as prayer and almsgiving cannot be neglected, Jesus highlights the point that these disciplines have to be followed secretly, made known only to God and not to man. Mt 6:1-18 "Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. "Thus,when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. "Andwhen you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret;and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Is 58:8,9,11,12 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healingshall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. In the above scripture God speaks about Ten blessings of fasting : The whole chapter of Isaiah 58 is on fasting please read it prayerfully. Fast ye and prayPrayer is powerful and when coupled with a sacrifice it becomes more powerful. Prayer coupled with fasting is very powerful to combat forces of evil. Watch ye and praySacrificing your sleep and praying is very powerful and recommended by Jesus Lk 21:36 "But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man." Mk 13:33 Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come. Col 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving; II Cor 6:4-7 But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; Abstaining from sex and prayScripture talks about abstaining from sex and praying for married couples. Fasting helps us in the following ways: Skipping one meal is roughly a 12 hour fast. God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Fasting, watching, abstaining from sex and doing any form of sacrifice is diligently seeking God. Before Jesus entered into His public ministry, He went through two critical experiences, first the Holy Spirit descended on Him at His Baptism and secondly He was led into the wilderness to fast for forty days. After His Baptism, the Bible says Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit. Fasting brings the power of the Spirit. TYPES OF FASTAbsolute fast Ezra 10:6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God, and went to the chamber of Jehoha'nan the son of Eli'ashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water; for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. Queen Esther instructed Mordecai to neither eat nor drink for three days and nights. When Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, he encountered the Lord and he was struck blind and it is said that when he reached Damascus he neither ate nor drank for three days. Partial fast Normal fast Mt 4:2 And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. Lk 4:2 For forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. Sabbath and Fasting Is 58:13-14 "If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." Solemn Assembly Joel 1:14 Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God; and cry to the LORD. Joel 2:15-16 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. II Chr 20:3-4 Then Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. The responsibility to humble ourselves is upon us, we cannot transfer that responsibility to God. Humble like a child Humbles himself will be exalted Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you. I Pt 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Calling for all Leaders Joel 1:13 -14 Gird on sackcloth and lament, O priests, wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because cereal offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God; and cry to the LORD. Joel 2:15 -17 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, "Spare thy people, O LORD, and make not thy heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?" |