What
is Fasting?
Let us look at a
word focus from the Nelson Study Bible NKJV pg. 817
Fasting is the
Strong's Concordance number (6684).
The Hebrew root word simply means, “to
abstain from food.” At times
fasting meant abstaining from drinking, bathing, anointing with oil, or sexual
intercourse as well. In essence fasting acknowledges human frailty before God
and appeals to His mercy. What about this, Fasting
acknowledges our frailty to God the Father and appeals to his mercy. Just
imagine in your mind coming in front of the Father as a child saying Please
Father help me. I am weak but You are strong, only through You I am strong. Have
mercy on me Lord please help me. Just
letting God know our position is under his mercy. Without him we are not
anything.
Fasting was a
common practice in the common world with the morning of the dead, intercessory
prayer, repentance, contrition (Con-tri-tion is a
sincere remorse for wrong doing) and
times of distress. Fasting was required for the
Day of Atonement. The
Day of Atonement (At-one-ment) is a Sabbath of solemn rest. It is more sacred
and strictly observed than a normal weekly Sabbath. There were also 4
fasts days that commemorated the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
Fast varied from one day up to seven days and could last up to forty days on
extraordinary occasions. The strict fasts lasted from sunset to sunset, whereas
the lenient fasts lasted from sunrise to sunset. But no matter what type of
fasting was performed, the prophet Isaiah admonished
(advised) his people to participate in
acts of righteousness and social justice with their fasting.
Matt 4:1-11
1.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by
the devil.
2. And when He had fasted forty
days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3. Now when the tempter came to
Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones
become bread."
4.
But He answered and said, "It is written,
'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the
mouth of God.'"
5. Then the devil took Him up into
the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6.
and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.
For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their
hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'
7. Jesus said to him,
"It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
8. Again, the devil took Him
up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world
and their glory.
9. And he said to Him,
"All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship
me."
10. Then Jesus said to
him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You
shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"
11. Then the devil left Him,
and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
(NKJ)
I want to point out something here in v. 7 and v.10.
Notice how Jesus reminds satin who is the ruler over him by His words. You
shall not tempt the Lord your God.
He even adds a little twist to v.10. You
shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve. Praise
God that is Powerful. It is good to
know we have such a wonderful Father. No matter what the tempter puts in front
of us we can over come through Jesus.
You can see how evil forces confront us in our daily walk
with lust, desires, and temptations. Things can become so overwhelming in our
lives if we take our eyes off Jesus. We see the Spirit led Jesus into temptation
in v. 1. What did he do? He fasted
40 days and nights. Then satin
appeared tempting Him. Jesus used the Word of God to responded to all three
temptations. “For it is written”. The Word of God is our Sword; it is double
edged and sharp cutting at both ends. Jesus could have easily changed the stones
into bread. But it was not God’s will for this to be done. This temptation by
the evil one was to try and expose any weakness. There is no weakness in God He
is omnipotent therefore satin lost the battle with Jesus. The foundation of how
we should act and respond to things when tempted has been laid. Through Jesus
Christ we can receive strength to battle the forces of the enemy. God will give
us power to rattle the gates of hell and shake its very foundations; we can put
the enemy on the run. But we must not abuse the power and authority that God
gives us through Jesus; we must remain in his perfect will. And what is Gods
will? His Word. Look at v.11 what happened when satin left. Angels came and
ministered to Him. Praise God, can you imagine what this might have been like? I
am not going to attempt to explain with words. But in my mind it must have been
a wonderful Praise and Worship Service!!!
A man’s son is healed. The disciples could not exorcise
the demon due to their faith had failed. They ask Jesus why? And here is the
reply they received.
Matt 17:20-21
20.
So Jesus said to them, "Because of
your unbelief; for
assuredly, I say to you, if you
have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from
here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
21. "However,
this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."
(NKJ)
"There
is Power in Verse 21"
How is it this kind of faith goes out except by
prayer and fasting? Fasting will
undo unbelief.
The
disciples ask Jesus privately, why could we not cast out this demon?
And Jesus answered them in
v.20. (But look at v.21) How can you
obtain the faith as a grain of mustard
seed? The answer is given by prayer
and fasting.
Look
at the end of v.20, and
nothing shall be impossible to you.
The answer is given in v21 by
prayer and fasting.
Let
us take a look at some people in the Bible who prayed and fasted and what was
the result of their faith. First let us
examine the book of Ester.
Esther 4:16
16. Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and
fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and
my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not
according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. (KJV)
Without
going into great detail Ester was a queen of Persia and of Jewish decent. She
had agreed to intervene for her people with the king. Haman had
sought to kill all the Jews in the kingdom
of Ahasuerus due to Mordecai’s refusal to bow down to an earthly king. Notice
what she ask. She asked for her people to fast for her, also her maids, and
herself would do the same. She wanted to seek God at this critical juncture. But
there is still something amazing with what Ester was doing. To intervene for her
people with the king she had to intercede to God for her people. She knew what
she was doing could hold grave circumstances. She was afraid that she was not in
great favor of the king due to he had not contacted her in quit sometime. But
her main cause was doing that of Gods will. Notice the statement at the end of
the verse if I perish, I perish. She did not put herself first, but under
submission to Gods great authority she took a stand to be a humble servant to
him. She was willing to give all that she had, her life, to complete the mission
that God had set out for her to do. Her faith was built upon through prayer and
fasting.
Take
a look at what Job did.
Job
23:12
12. Neither
have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of
his mouth more than my necessary food.
(KJV)
Job continued to maintain his integrity that he kept the
ways of God. He had not gone back from His commandments, but had esteemed them
more than his necessary food.
Job 42:8-10
8. Therefore take unto you
now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for
yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will
I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of
me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
9. So Eliphaz the Temanite
and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the
LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
10.
And the LORD turned the captivity
of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as
he had before. (KJV)
There is something similar about
Job and Ester along with some other books of the Bible. We see it at the
beginning of this message when the disciples could not cast out the demon. They
were interceding on the boy’s behalf. A link is being formed between the power
of prayer and fasting, intercessory prayer, and simply standing in the gap for
someone. Remember we have to have faith in God for it all to work. Prayer and
fasting will undo unbelief.
Ezek 22:30
30.
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and
stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I
found none.
(KJV)
God
lifted the hedge from around Job so satin could get in. Instead of Job’s
friends standing in the gap praying for him they accused him of committing sins.
This sounds like some of the would be do good-er Christians today. They like to
point the finger more than they like to pray. I have a WORD for YOU.
“REPENT”. Nowhere in the Holy Bible did Jesus Christ teach such a thing. So
quit being a hypocrite get yourself prayed up and pray for others Praise God.
What has happened is that you have fell into a trap and snare of satan. It is
human to make mistakes; It is ignorant to remain it them bless God. Do not be
deceived by the devil. We
should never be found unwilling to stand in the gap for anyone. What was it
satin-petitioned God to be removed from around Job? " The Hedge". God
hears and answers prayers even when the ones we pray for do not pray for
themselves. Maybe someone needs some help in closing the gaps in the hedge. When
we stand in the gap and intercede and pray with or for that person when they are
in need or in trouble, we then come in agreement. God honors unity between his
children and answers the prayers.
What
did Job do? He interceded for his friends, once this was done Jobs transgression
stopped. This intercessory prayer and fasting along with standing in the gap is
manifesting to be one powerful weapon in the arsenal of God that he provided for
his soldiers.
I am so glad that Jesus Christ
was the man that God found that could stand in the gap for us. If it were not
for the Son of God we would have perished. Thank you Lord for standing in the
gap for us. Give us knowledge, wisdom, and discernment to stand in the gap for
others.
Once God has prepared and conditioned you with his battle
plan then you can go into intercessory prayer and fasting with the full Armour
of God adorned and rejoice in being victorious. If you are a child of
God I believe what the prophet Isaiah said in 54:17
Isa 54:17
17.
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every
tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the
heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith
the LORD.
(KJV)
When you are battle ready to fight for the Lord you can
not loose. You can bind up, cast out, set captives free in the mighty name of Jesus. You can
watch demons flee at the mention of his precious Holy Name.
Let us look at this story in 1 Samuel and see how we can
get into condition to let God prepare us.
1 Sam 7:1-10
1. And the men of Kirjath-je'arim came, and
fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the
hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.
2. And
it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-je'arim, that the time was long;
for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
3. And
Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD
with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among
you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will
deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
4. Then
the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD
only.
5. And
Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.
6. And
they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the
LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD.
And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.
7. And
when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to
Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the
children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8. And
the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God
for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
9. And
Samuel took a suckling lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the
LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him.
10. And
as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to
battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day
upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.
(KJV)
Look
at what we just witnessed in the reading of Gods word.
v.3
Prepare your hearts unto the LORD. Repent from your sin. Receive the restoration
of a divine blessing.
v.6
Samuel gathered them all together at Mizpah. He gathered them to have a prayer
meeting. They fasted on that day; they drew water and poured it out before the
LORD.
The
pouring of water was symbolic of repentance. Think of this. “We draw deep
breaths and with the water of our heart and soul we pour it out before the
LORD”.
For
example no one wants to use a dirty glass. God is the same way about using dirty
vessels. In that dirty glass we draw some water into it to clean it up. We pour
out the water which carries all the dirt away.
The
glass is clean, now it can be used. When we clean up our lives and pour it all
out before LORD our vessel is clean. Now God can use us.
v.8
This is powerful, the children of Israel said unto Samuel Cease not to cry unto
the LORD our God for us. Just look at this statement, Praise God they wanted
Samuel to intercede and to continue to intercede for them. There is power in a
non-selfish prayer. There is power when we set our own agenda aside and uplift
someone else to the LORD in Prayer. Look at the awesome authority God displayed
before a nation. This was from praying, fasting, being repentant, and being used
by God.
You cannot expect anything supernatural from
God to happen if you fast and pray but have not repented of your sins. Remember
if the vessel has to be clean for God to use it. Read closely the words of the
prophet Isaiah.
Isa 58:1-14
1.
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my
people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2.
Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did
righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the
ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
3.
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we
afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your
fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4.
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of
wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard
on high.
5.
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his
soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes
under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
6.
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and
that ye break every yoke?
7.
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor
that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him;
and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8.
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall
spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of
the LORD shall be thy reward.
9.
Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he
shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the
putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10.
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted
soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the
noonday:
11.
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and
like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12.
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou
shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called,
The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
13.
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on
my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,
nor speaking thine own words:
14.
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to
ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob
thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
(KJV)
Isaiah chapter 58 is known as
the fasting chapter of the Bible. We can find some good teaching from the
Prophet Isaiah. God tells us what is right and what pleases him when we pray and
fast. We need to be sure our motivation is right. Do not fast for strife. Do not
let your prayer and fasting become a reason for a diet. If you do then it is for
a wrong reason. You will probably loose some weight fasting but seek Gods will
or your effort will be in vane. Be led by the Spirit, pray and fast as a faith
and belief in God, and according to his will. Do not broadcast or appear that
you fasting keep it between you and God.
Isaiah
had told the people in verse 3 and 4 that they are finding pleasure in fasting
and not keeping the Sabbath. Verse 13 and 14 their fasting for strife and debate
has exposed hypocrisy of the peoples worship. Verse 5 describes the way the people were fasting was not
acceptable to the LORD. It focused on self-righteousness and not on justice for
others.
There
are many, many more verses in the Bible that teach us about Prayer and Fasting.
From what we have seen here in these few scriptures we have gained a great deal
of knowledge by following God's Word.
Be
smart and careful when you enter into a fast. Do not enter a 40-day fast unless
you know it was a Word from God for you to do so. It has been said not to fast
over 3 days without water. Do not cause yourself physical harm or fast as a
reason for a diet. You can fast a meal, sweets, meat, and other sound Biblical
teachings.
Sometimes we have to suffer and be broken and ground into
what we need to be so the Potter can mold us into the shape he wants our lives
to be. Things happen that we cannot explain or even understand the why. But I do
know that I have received a great blessing and the Holy Spirit has revealed to
me that this is something we should all partake of. I believe there is great
power through Jesus to be gained if we will follow God's teachings in Prayer and
Fasting.
I will not even split hairs with anyone about fasting TV
or other unnecessary items like that. All I will say is if it is not good
Christian programming you should be reading your Bible or other good Christian
material. So do not even bring it up unless you want a Holy Ghost filled message
preached to you about guarding you eyes. What you let pass through them enters
your heart, Amen. You need to REPENT!! yourself bless Jesus, letting satan put
some old lying spirit on you that you can fast some old nasty program, you do
not need to be watching to begin with! Amen.
I was
talking with my wife Sandra, and I will share with you a little of our
conversation. Why do you
think we cry sometimes when we pray? You know when a potter works on a vessel it has to be wet and
moist so it can be molded into the shape desired. We
are made of clay, God has given us tears so we can become wet and moist so He
can mold us into the vessel He desires.
Look
into your heart, and give it all to Him. Seek His Face, and be led by the Spirit. Know the power God has
in store for you.
May
God bless you.
