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To Fast, or Not to Fast?
If you have ever fasted, then you know how challenging and rewarding it can be. Personally I do not like to fast;
I suppose some people do, but I do enjoy the closer fellowship and sense of intimacy and communication that I feel with the
Lord when I fast. I have fasted for different reasons (direction, healing, provision, protection, and assistance) at intervals
of (3,7,12, and 40 days) and I have quit a lot of fasts where I just did not feel the grace to complete it. I have learned
that it is best to just wait on the Lord as far as when, how, and even if you should fast, so that you have His direction
and help in order to complete it successfully. Usually, I have fasted when I have been at a major crossroads in life, or had
a critical need where I felt like I really just needed to hear from God. Motive and God's leading are very important in a
fast, so we really need to ask ourselves why we are really fasting. If we are fasting to lose weight and then just tacking
on some spiritual needs to it, then it is likely that our fast will not succeed because our motivations in fasting are improper.
In the coming days, as we transition out of the wilderness and into our position in this revival and promised land
type ministry, you may feel the need to fast at times to receive fresh direction and provision as God leads you forward and
restores you. The old wells and roads may suddenly start drying up and fading out so it may be a good idea to consider some
fasting and prayer as you go through this time of great change and transition. The main thing is to be led of the Lord and
although we may fast just to get closer to God, we have to be careful not to fast just because we are fearful about losing
something, or of not receiving something. Just trust that the same God that took you through your wilderness, will be the
same faithful God that leads you into your promise land. Your wilderness took many miracles, so just understand that God can
do just as many new miracles as needed to lead you out of it. Most of us probably already know the basic biblical guidelines
for fasting, but I will briefly list them below just in case you do not know them.
1. Don't let everyone know you're fasting just to look pious or holy, and try to just look and behave as normal
as possible when you fast. You want your reward to come from God, and not from man.
MT 6:16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to
show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on
your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who
is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
2. Make sure it's God's leading and timing for you to fast. Don't start a fast just because you're
getting fat; start a diet and exercise program instead. Pray about when you should start your fast, how you should fast, and
how long your fast should be. If there is no grace for you to start a fast, then just walk in faith and keep praying about
what you wanted to fast about; God will help you.
MT 9:14 Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your
disciples do not fast?" 15 Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will
come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
3. Make sure your motives to fast are clear. Good reasons to fast are getting healed, facing big decisions,
the salvation or healing of others, deliverance from demons, financial needs, protection from an attack, receiving empowerment,
direction, or whatever the Holy Sprit leads you to fast for.
PS 35:13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers
returned to me unanswered.
AC 13: 2 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." 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands
on them and sent them off.
EST 4:15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in
Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is
done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."
Fasting doesn't buy you anything from God and He doesn't need you to starve yourself in order for
you to have your needs met. Fasting can be nothing more than dead works if we are doing it out of fleshly motives. Fasting
just demonstrates our desire to communicate with God through self-denial and physical suffering to receive His help. It is
the willful putting aside of the flesh for a season, and the elimination of a lot of the distractions that normally hinders
our ability to hear God's voice clearly. Fasting actually draws out, tests, and purifies what is really in our hearts. God
is actually more interested in the change of heart and actions that fasting can produce, than He is about seeing you having
to go through the suffering and pain of going without food.
JOEL 2:12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping
and mourning." 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
ISA 58:3 `Why have we fasted,' they say, `and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed? "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting
ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your
voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for
bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the
LORD? 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer
with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light
will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the
glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
As far as the actual mechanics of fasting, people fast on just water, just juice, or abstaining from
certain types of foods (Daniel's fast). The fast may last for just one meal, one day, or as long as you feel led and have
the grace to fast. Ask the Holy Spirit how He wants you to fast, and for how long. The body can usually safely fast for up
to 40 days. Do not fast if you have serious health problems, or if you are anorexic or bulimic. Fasting does clean out most
of the toxins that have accumulated in your bodies systems and colon, and the first week or so may be the toughest days since
your body is cleaning itself out. Drink lots of water, and just try to grit it out. Hunger comes in waves and will usually
pass in a few hours, and the sharp hunger pangs will usually subside after about 10 days when your body switches over to burning
your excess fat as a food supply. Your body will eventually figure out that it is fasting, and will adjust to it.
Normally, when you wake up in the morning, your body may feel weak, but it will not be that hungry.
Do not exercise on a fast, it will just intensify some of the negative symptoms. Most of your challenge after this point will
be mental, so avoid food commercials, being around people who are eating your favorite foods, and just understand that some
temptation and spiritual warfare may come to try to knock you off your fast. When you are the most tempted to quit your fast,
just remind yourself that this wave of hunger will pass, and that all food is just flesh and foliage. If you break a fast,
the food usually doesn't taste as good as you thought it would anyway. And when you are tempted to eat a certain food, just
remember that you will eat those same delicious foods again when you are finished with your fast. When you break your fast,
especially if it is a long fast, even though you will be very tempted to do so, do not just start wolfing down food. Break
your fast with some watered down soup, juice, or a liquid nutritional supplement. Also, you may want to be close to a bathroom
just in case you have diarrhea or throw up. The rewards of deep intimacy with the Lord, fresh direction, healing, protection,
and provision, can be very wonderful, so do not give up and God will lead you all the way through your fast.
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