Fasting breaks bonds
Fasting is like having a front row place at the throne of God
He hears and pays attention to your sacrifice if your heart is right
He acts
He performs
He honors what you sacrifice for Him
It is also a form of spiritual warfare Daniel 10
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved,
understand the words that I speak unto thee,
and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent.
And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel:
for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand,
and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard,
and I am come for thy words.
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me;
and I remained there with the kings of Persia. verses 11-13
Disclaimer: No specific instructions from me
Each person, with the knowledge of their bodies and their limitations,
must decide for themselves what they wish to give up
Check with your doctor if you would like
Consider it a sacrifice of the flesh
Some people fast a water only diet for short amounts of time
Daniel fasted a partial fast that God honored:
I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth,
neither did I anoint myself at all,
till three whole weeks were fulfilled. Daniel 10:3
Jesus fasted longer than is humanly possible:
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was afterward an hungred. Matthew 4:2
People might normally die from fasting for extended periods of time
I heard a preacher say:
We’re fasting from Sugar, Bread, Social Media and the News
Their church fasts every month for a whole week
Wow
They fast for specific things in the world
All of those sound a bit painful to me
Imagine putting your flesh to death for specific things in the world
and not just for things that matter to you
They were praying for Israel this month during their fast
God gives specific instructions through Isaiah
about what our hearts should be focused on when we fast:
Full Chapter, Isaiah 58
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,
and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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?
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 rereward.
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;
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:
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.
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.
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,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
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.
Jesus talked about not fasting before men
Fasting to be seen of men is what you call a futile fast, meaningless
Don’t toot your horn and tell everyone
Fast in secret before the Lord
Tell people as little as is necessary, it is unto God, after all
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites,
of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces,
that they may appear unto men to fast.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head,
and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast,
but unto thy Father which is in secret:
and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Matthew 6:16-18
If you haven’t tried it, get with God
and ask Him what He would have you fast from
If you don’t have a purpose that comes to mind,
you can always fast to get closer to the Lord
and that is a beautiful thing you won’t understand
until you actually fast for that purpose
Many years ago, a friend I knew from high school
met a new guy at a Bible study
They started to date
He had also been dating another girl
It turned out, he wasn’t sure who to choose
He felt obligated to the other lady, but liked my friend
“You need to fast!” I told her.
“I don’t care about anything but him”
“Then fast from him”
She did
She decided to fast for 1 month from him
She told him not to call her, write her, or talk to her for a full month
By the end of the fast, he chose her
They were very happily married for many years
until they parted when one of them died
So, just like everything, God is not confined
Give up what is important to you as a sacrifice to Jesus
Could be anything
Something that will sting a little,
give up something that satisfies your flesh
Go without whatever it is for God
and experience your flesh being put to death and the Lord will shine brightly
It’s an amazing experience we all should participate in
The battle of Jericho, they fasted from speaking:
And Joshua had commanded the people, saying,
Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice,
neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth,
until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout. Joshua 6:10
Esther called all the Jews to fast:
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. Esther 4:16
The widow mentioned in the New Testament:
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years,
which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Luke 2:37
Catholics fast something important to them during lent
Anytime you give up something for God,
if it is done with a rightful heart toward God, God will honor that,
whether in this world or the world to come, or both
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall inherit everlasting life. Matthew 19:29