Fasting is spiritual and physical

Author Jentezen enlightens us that "fasting is a constant means of renewing yourself spiritually". It allows you to escape from the monotonous routines of life and you are literally offering yourself to God as a living sacrifice!

I've noticed in my own life that there is a parallel between my physical and spiritual life. "Fasting stirs a hunger in your spirit that goes deeper than the temporary hunger you experience in the flesh"

Consider for a moment the person who eats tons of junk food on a daily basis, this person is malnourished because even though they are obese, they have not been eating the right thing. In the same way, we can be overloaded with church activities and still be undernourished concerning your real relationship with God! Fasting can reverse this! Matthew 5:6 states "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled"

Fasting: How Much? How Long? How Healthy?

The types of fasts are:

1. Absolute - no food or water
2. Normal - no food, just liquids
3. Partial - normal fast for specific time or eliminating certain foods

A fast can last for whatever amount of time you choose except for the only during the hours when you are sleeping! There is no magic trick for getting manifestation or intimacy with God. Popular biblical fasts lasted 3, 7, 21 and 40 days. There are also references to 1/2 day fasts and 24 hour fasts. Your relationship with God should never be reduced to a formula. If you want to fast for 2 hours, 2 days or 2 weeks, do not let the status quo deter you. Don't get bogged down on the details and be practical about your fast. If you have never fasted in your life, maybe you shouldn't attempt the 40 day fast!

Remember:

1. If it doesn't mean anything to you, it won't mean anything to God. (don't fast from cauliflower, if you don't even like cauliflower, what kind of sacrifice is that?)
2. Without prayer, it's just dieting or a hunger strike!

Fasting is like spring cleaning for your body!

Fasting: Dethroning King Stomach

We've already established that fasting, praying and giving are duties of a Christian, so why is it that the fasting portion has been neglected? Even though fasting is not only about food, this post will focus on fasting from natural food. Could it be that food has been the issue since creation? God had Adam and Eve on a partial fast, they could eat anything they wanted except from the tree of good and evil (Genesis 2:8,9 & 16,17) but they broke the fast and cancelled out the promises God had for them..... for an apple... Jentezen Franklin remarks that "They ate themselves out of the will of God for their lives!" Could this be true in our lives?

King Stomach needs to be dethroned, don't let a cookie talk you out if an intimate relationship with God. This may seem like a mental willpower game (and partially it is) but discipline is a spiritual force. There won't be a convenient time to fast, just do it! Of course you can't abstain in your own natural will but if God sees that you have a genuine desire to fast, He will provide you with the grace to endure.

Other examples of gluttony destroying lives:

1. Account of Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezekiel 16:49, 50) - the issue was not just about homosexuality but overeating, pride and idleness
2. Esau sold his birthright for food! (Genesis 25: 27-34; Hebrews 12: 15-17) - Esau was hungry and Jacob convinced him to exchange his inheritance for red lentils and bread and he impulsively agreed.
3. Complaining about manna, where is the meat? (Numbers 11:4-7, 18-20, 34) - God sent an abundance of meat, many people died while the meat was in their mouths! They were buried in the "Grave of Lusters" - a memorial of those who ate themselves out of the Promised Land!

Our lust for food and immediate gratification can be dangerous. Dethrone King Stomach. See my post on discipline and diligence - how can you defeat devils if you can't defeat a donut?

Fasting - for your breakthrough

The practice of fasting should not be limited to religious monks, ministers or priests. Fasting is restraining from food for a spiritual purpose. It leads you into a more powerful, deeper, intimate relationship with God. Fasting is for everyone who is considered a follower of God.

Matthew 6 outlines three specific duties of a Christian:

- giving

- praying

-fasting

There is a huge difference between fasting and hunger strikes/dieting! 

Author Jentezen Franklin challenges us "Could we missing our greatest breakthroughs because we fail to fast?"

In Matthew 17: 15-21, a father tries everything to rid his sons of demons including bringing him to the disciples to cure him. He goes to Jesus and he is immediately cured! Jesus explains in verses 20 and 21 that because of the disciples' unbelief and refusal to fast and pray, they could not cast out the demon. 

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. But this kind of demon won’t leave except by prayer and fasting.

In other words, Jesus lived a life of fasting and praying, therefore nothing was impossible for Him!

Please note that belief is a key ingredient to everything scriptual. If you fast and in your heart you do not believe that there is power, don't expect to see any power!

For more references on the power of fasting, read Daniel 10. Daniel prayed, his answer was released immediately but the angel was delayed for 21 days. His decision to fast and pray released the angels of God and revealed the purpose of God!

Fasting ushers you into a place where you can hear God clearly. God still speaks to His people, the question is "are you listening?" Are you deafened by spiritual wax? Do you have too much mental clutter? Is your soul too noisy? Fasting brings you closer to God and allows for breakthrough. Nothing will be impossible for you!

Fasting: this is NOT a public announcement

Matthew 6: 1-18 advises that fasting should be a personal act, let's review some of the do's and don'ts

Caveat: this is not a public announcement, do not try to get attention by announcing to everyone that you are fasting.

DO
- beware of practicing your righteous acts to be noticed by men (v1)
- give to the poor in secret (v2-4)
- pray meaningfully in secret to God (v5-9)
- pray the Lord's prayer (v10-15)
- anoint your head and wash your face so your fasting won't be noticed (v16-18a)

DON'T
- practice your "good deeds" to get public recognition or admiration
- announce to the public that you helped someone in need
- act like the hypocrite who prays out.loud to be seen by men
- pray meaningless repetitions
- put on a gloomy face  and neglect your appearance to get attention about the fact that you are fasting

If you do the dos, you won't have to worry about the donts.

Your Father who sees you in secret will reward you openly (v18b)

Fasting

I'm not a very religious person (I just love God and have a relationship with Him) meaning I do not believe in doing rituals just for the sake of doing. I consider myself a very purposeful being so I need to know the reason for doing something. Throughout my life, I have participated in corporate fasts as well as individual fasts but recently I have been questioning the purpose of fasting and my motives for doing so. I've participated in partial fasts (excluding certain foods); absolute fasts (consume only water) and non food related fasts where I "fast" meaning abstain from something negative.  

Gregory Dickow has a powerful 40 day Fast from Wrong Thinking! This means that any thought that does not line up with God's Word should be rejected!  Another non-food related fast was avoiding anything that consumed too much of my time and did not yield produce results, this can include people, social networks, randoms, etc

I started doing my research and all my search results pointed me to a book by Jentezen Franklin. On Sunday night after my marathon trip to CT, I slept by Sybil, I glanced over at her bookshelf and the first book that caught my eye was Fasting by Jentezen Franklin! I scanned through her copy and the table of contents convinced me that it was something I needed to purchase. So I did. 

Can fasting simply be chalked up to not eating for a few days in exchange for something from God? If it were, wouldn't more people have results? Wouldn't that be a selfish, unbalanced, one-sided relationship? Join me on the journey to learning about a custom that plagues the Bible, if Jesus fasted, I definitely should!

Fasting: What's the secret?

The author Jentezen Franklin promises to teach how to transform our lives through fasting. The book should
*teach how to release the anointing, favor and the blessing of God in the life of a Christian
* outline the types of fasts in the Bible
* explain the connection between fasting and prayer (lets face it, fasting without prayer is a diet!)
* highlight the essential components of a fast
* state what to expect physically, mentally, spiritually

Fasting can help you renew your zeal for God and produce a fresh encounter with God.

The Secret: fasting is the secret key that unlock's heaven's door and slams shut the gates of hell.