Fasting: A Neglected Practice
BIBLE STUDY
Fasting is a common practice in the Bible
Fasting is not uncommon in the Bible and we find multiple accounts of individuals and entire nations fasting in the Bible.
Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights before He started His public ministry (Matthew 4:1-2).
Moses did not eat or drink for 40 days and 40 nights while he was on Mount Sinai (Deut 9:9).
The Israelites fasted and sought God’s strategy as they confronted the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 20:26).
The Israelites fasted the day before they faced the Philistines in battle. (1 Sam)
King Jehoshaphat called the nation of Judah to fast and seek the Lord’s help before battle. (2 Chr 20:3-4)
The Assyrians fasted in response to the prophet Jonah’s call of repentance. (Jonah 3:4-5)
King David fasted for seven days and begged God concerning his and Bathsheba’s infant son. (2 Sam 12:22-23)
Queen Esther called the Jews of Susa to fast for three days before she approached king Xerxes.
Nehemia fasted and wept over the state of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1:4)
Paul didn’t eat or drink for three days after being blinded by the glory of God on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:9)
The church in Antioch fasted and prayed when the Holy Spirit instructed them to send Barnabas and Saul out as missionaries. (Acts 13:2-3)
Fasting is the abstention from food for a period of time
Note that in every example people stayed away from food (sometimes also from drinking) for a limited time only. More often, it’s actually been a short period of time.
We see that (I.) they fasted either a (set) number of days before mayor events. Esther fasted three days before she approached the king. The Israelites fasted on multiple occasions the day before battle.
Or (II.) until they received guidance or a shift in their situation. Paul fasted while he was blind, although when Ananias prayed for him and he could see again, he stopped fasting and ate. His fast happened to be three days. King David fasted and sought God’s favour for his son’s life. Although, when the baby died, he broke his fast, which happened to be seven days. The Israelites fasted until they received strategy for the battle.
When you find yourself before a mayor event in your life, your community, or church, it is a good call to fast and dedicate this time to the Lord. Or maybe you seek the Lord for guidance and breakthrough in a specific area of your life, then take time to fast until He speaks, until your perspective shifts, until you receive peace. Maybe He speaks after a day, maybe three or more.
Fasting is accompanied by prayer and communion with God
We’re not fasting for the sole purpose of not eating food, but to commune with the Lord and seek His face. In the Bible, we find as people stayed away from food, they also stayed away from their daily business. The days or weeks of fasting were a time set apart for the Lord. Fasting was accompanied with mourning, weeping, repentance, prayer, and worship.
LET ME SAY IT THIS WAY: THE ISRAELITES DID NOT FAST DURING THE BATTLE BUT BEFORE THE BATTLE.
Fasting should be a time when we commune with Him, spend time in His presence, and the community of believers.
The Bibles gives us examples of both fasting done in solitude and in community. Every year on the Day of Atonement, the entire Israelite nation fasted (Levit. 16). The church in Antioch fasted, worshipped and prayed together. Jesus fasted and spent time in solitude in the desert with His Father (Matthew 4:1). Moses did not eat and drink while he was in the presence of God on Mount Sinai.
On that note, Moses‘ fast for 40 days and 40 nights is neither recommended nor the standard you should set for yourself. This is impossible in human terms and nothing less than a supernatural account. (Humans can survive no more than five days without water.) Moses was only able to survive and not die because he was literally in the very presence of God the entire time.
Three reasons for fasting
1. Fasting was a core practice of Jesus
When Jesus taught on spiritual disciplines, He included fasting in His top three (Matthew 6). He said when you fast (v. 16) – Jesus assumed that His followers would fast on a somewhat regular basis.
Fasting was a core practice of Jesus’ day. The Jewish community and the early church fasted on a weekly basis. Yet fasting is probably one of the practices of Jesus that we have neglected, underestimated and mistreated the most in our time.
Nonetheless, Jesus also assumed that we would mess it up, get it wrong, and do it for all the wrong reasons. Well, I find that freeing, because it becomes not so much about getting it all right but practising the ways of Jesus.
2. Fasting makes way for miracles and breakthroughs
When the disciples attempted to heal a person and they could not, Jesus’ response was that some things can only be accomplished through prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21).
The Bible holds numerous examples of people fasting before mayor breakthroughs and victories. The Israelites fasted and confessed their sins before battle and supernaturally conquered the Philistines (1 Sam. 7:5-6). King Jehoshaphat called Judah to fast and enquire the Lord’s help. The king placed the worshippers before the army and they experienced victory.
As mentioned earlier, before you face a mayor event or if you seek the Lord for guidance – it’s a good time to fast. However, it’s not a good reason to fast to get something from God or to get Him to do a certain thing – sorry, but this is not how it works. Fasting is much more about seeking His perspective and relinquishing control to Him.
3. Fasting starves the flesh and feeds the Spirit
Paul speaks in the New Testament of the ‘flesh.’ Particularly in Galatians he contrasts acts of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. The flesh represents passions and desires of all kinds that in an excessive manor are harmful for self and others. Drunkenness and gluttony are included in Paul’s list.
God created food and He declared it was good and pleasant for eating. But when Adam and Eve were deceived, they desired something that was not for their good.
So much of our world is set up to indulge our flesh – literally and metaphorically – and take advantage of our lack of self-discipline.
Fasting is a discipline, it requires discipline, and it builds discipline that will impact all areas of our lives not only our diet. What we feed will most certainly grow and what we starve will die. If we feed into time with God – we get hungry for more of Him.