Throughout the New Testament fasting and prayer are often mentioned together. Following the example of Jesus and the Early Church believers, we, too can draw near to God while fasting. In their Crosswalk. Fasting and prayer can help us hear from God. Fasting and prayer can reveal our hidden sin. Fasting and prayer can strengthen intimacy with God. Fasting and prayer can teach us to pray with right motives.
Fasting and prayer can build our faith. Not only does fasting and prayer help us focus on God, but through that time, it brings us closer to Him and changes our hearts.
Niles and Little write, "When we fast and pray, we are taking time away from a meal or an activity to devote our entire being to focus on God.
We find we are more sensitive to the voice of God, more attuned to hearing what He has to reveal to us. Gently, God whispers in our mind what we were really thinking at the time of our sin, what our true intent was and we are shocked…momentarily. Then like a light turned on in a pitch black room, we see it.
We did mean harm. We were manipulative. Even though our recognition makes us want to hide our face, our loving Savior lifts our chin to look into his forgiving eyes. As we repent, we no longer want to hide, but to praise and worship the very one who confronted our wrong. There is a regular fast which consists of abstaining from all food and drink except for water Matthew —3; Luke Apart from supernatural enablement, the body can function only three days without water.
A partial fast is when one abstains from some particular kind of food as in the case of Daniel while in Babylon Daniel ; cf. As noted above, a liquid fast means that you abstain only from solid foods.
Again, most who choose this path are sustained by fruit juices and the like. A complete or absolute fast that entails no food or liquid of any kind Ezra ; Esther ; Acts should only be for a very short period of time. For anything longer than three to five days, seek medical advice. There is also what can only be called a supernatural fast, as in the case of Moses Deuteronomy , who abstained from both food and water for forty days enabled to do so only by a miraculous enabling from God.
You may also wish to fast from all food for only a particular meal each day. In other words, you may choose to skip lunch for a day or two or a week, or dinner, or even breakfast.
All such forms of partial fasting are entirely appropriate. Begin by skipping one meal each day for two to three days and setting aside the money it would have cost to give to the poor. Spend the time praying that you would have used for eating.
Be sure that you break the fast gradually with fresh fruit and vegetables. Do not overeat after the fast. Chili and pizza may sound good after several days of not eating, but please, exercise a little restraint and say no!
When starting your fast, consider possible dietary restrictions. For example, if you are a diabetic or have any other physical condition that requires a strict diet, be especially mindful not to put yourself in a compromised position as a result of a fast.
The point of the fast is to combine it with a more intense, focused time of prayer that brings a greater communion with God, a greater empowerment of the Spirit, and a greater earnestness in your soul.
For more Practical Guidelines for Fasting, click here. The most common type of fast is fasting from food for a period of time, but are there other types? Is there a small group at church that you've thought about joining but it's during the time your show is on? Do you spend your Saturday binging Netflix when you could take some time to mentor someone God has placed on your heart? This is also a good time to evaluate how much of your time is spent watching TV and whether you need to cut back to make time for other priorities.
A discipline intentionally engaged in by millions of people throughout the centuries, it is still practiced today.
The practice of refraining from eating or drastically reducing our food intake for a certain amount of time can focus our thoughts and sharpen our responses to certain situations. When we break from our regular routines of eating at certain times of the day, we allow our bodies to assist our minds in understanding that, for a time, we are going to be denying ourselves one thing in the interest of pursuing or considering another, typically higher, question or goal.
Why do people fast? While in the modern world, fasting has become popular for weight loss and other purported health benefits, individuals and people groups in ancient times fasted to show their devotion to their deity, to demonstrate the depth of their sorrow over a sin or some situation in their lives, or to show their commitment to a certain cause—among other reasons. Author, editor, and professor Joe Carter has collected ten reasons for biblical fasting 1 :. To strengthen prayer e.
To express grief e. To seek deliverance or protection e. To express repentance and a return to God e. To humble oneself before God e. To express concern for the work of God e. To minister to the needs of others e. To overcome temptation and dedicate yourself to God e. To express love and worship for God e. Christians who want to pursue a fast will benefit from studying other instances in the Bible where fasting was practiced. To pursue this kind of topical study, a simple internet search will bring up many different resources.
But the prophet Isaiah provides us with perhaps the clearest explanation and understanding of fasting in the Bible. Portions of Isaiah 58 emphases mine will serve as a framework for studying why, how, when, and why Christians today should pursue fasting:. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways , as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. Isaiah —2. All of these reasons are wonderful goals to pursue for individuals whose hearts are right and whose motivations are pure.
According to the Harpercollins Bible Dictionary, public fasts were accompanied by prayer, supplication, and sackcloth, while private fasts were seen of acts of penance. Below are some examples of fasting in the Bible, and there are many more examples to be found. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Moses fasted for 40 days and forty nights, without food and water Scripture says. Here, we witness a supernatural fast in the pages of Scripture. Only God could sustain Moses for that long without substance. At the end of the fast, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
This particular fast is in response to a vision Daniel had, but this is not the first time in Scripture to record Daniel fasting. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
If the child in fact was only seven days old, he was not even named or circumcised yet, and so not counted among the Israelites. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness and survived on a diet one who lived in the wilderness might survive on. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. Jesus did not need food to sustain Him. The providence of the Father would sustain Jesus through the forty days in the desert. A supernaturally divine fast, impossible for just a man to survive, but Jesus was not just a man.
He was the Son of God. The early church was under severe persecution. They had an uphill battle ahead of them, yet they persevered. There was fasting prior to the consecration of teacher and elders Acts and during times of trials Acts The strength they gathered in getting as close as they could to God, many times through fasting, gave them the strength and supernatural direction they needed to make decisions about leaders and carry the gospel message forward.
For more verses about fasting in the Bible, click here. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
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