WHAT IS BIBLICAL FASTING?
“But the days will come when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
Matthew 9:15
• A fast is a physical way of saying that you desire to be with the Bridegroom so much that you will deny yourself the worldly satisfactions you crave. It is expecting Christ’s return.
• It is an act of love to Jesus. It is saying, “I want You more than anything!”
• It is a gift from God. This is a practical and physical way you can draw closer to God and experience more of Him in your life. You could see it as a sacrifice, but more than that, it is God’s gift to you so that you can seek Him more deeply.
• Fasting food is the most common way of fasting, but some can’t fast food for medical reasons. So do not go on a fast if you have a medical condition such as an eating disorder, pregnancy, or some other physical condition which requires you to eat a balanced diet. Always be wise and consult a doctor when necessary.
• Fasting could be fasting some other type of pleasure such as movies, tv, social media, caffeine, etc… Anything where you let go of something physical for the reason of drawing closer to God can be seen as a fast.
• True fasting is an exchange. It is not just abstaining from something. It is abstaining from something so that you can feast on God. Don’t fill your life with other things or busyness while on a fast. The purpose is to exchange that for time with God so that you can seek Him.
• True fasting is fasting with the right motives. It is not something you do that has magical powers. Wholeheartedness, wisdom, and understanding are important.
• Fasting must be born out of desire. A good perspective of fasting is this: “Don’t start fasting until you come to a point where you can’t stand not to fast.” Many people fast because they just think it’s a good Biblical thing to do and then it becomes a dead ritual. If you fast because of desire for God, you will be fasting for the right reasons. Ask God to give you the desire.
• True fasting is never forced. It is always voluntary. Don’t let people put you under condemnation if you don’t fast or if you fail in a fast.
What is Your Heart Motivation?
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”
Matthew 6:16
• Don’t try to fast in your own strength. It is a grace. Many people just try to do it in their own strength, thinking that the more they just persevere and push, the more magical the power of fasting will be. The truth is that you need simply to surrender to God more and more and allow God’s strength to work in your life.
• Don’t try to attract God’s attention. You fast to move your own heart, not God’s heart. Fasting is not a way in which you become God’s favourite. You are already noticed by God and are the apple of His eye. You fast because you desire to move into a place where you are more open to God and more aware of what He is doing.
• With the wrong heart motive you will experience “burnout.” You will feel dead in it. When you try fast in your own strength, you will miss the truth of fasting which actually should be a refreshing time for your spirit. No, it is not easy, but when your focus is right, you are set free and realize the true power fasting produces in our lives. True Biblical fasting does not lead to burnout, but rather to experiencing the supernatural.
• Be careful of pride creeping in. Don’t think that just because you fast you are a better Christian than others who don’t fast. Realise rather that the more you fast for the right reasons, the more humble you actually become and see that you are the one who is in need of more of God.
• When you fail in a fast for whatever reason, it often leads to brokenness. Condemnation sets in. Many people fail in their attempts to fast, and because of that, they never fast again thinking that they just can’t do it. They consider that they are not good enough Christians to persevere in fasting.
• You could be deceived into believing that your fast isn’t worth anything. The inward noise of your addictions are confronted, and you will be tempted to give into them and miss the true blessing of fasting.
• You feel irritable and cranky during a fast at times. This is natural. What human being without food would be their normal self? Rrealizing this, you need to pay all the more attention as to how you deal with people so that you won’t hurt people just because of your own discomfort.
What is Your Heart Motivation? (Continued…)
• Because you fast, the temptation comes to become judgmental on others who don’t fast or who fast in different ways than us. This ties in with point on pride.
• You could become bruised, broken and angry. When you fast and don’t see God coming through for you with your desired result, it is easy to turn around and tell God how much you’ve sacrificed for Him and that He has let you down.
• Fasting could become a mere dead ritual in your life. Its just something you do because it sounds like a good idea and you have done it so many times, that you lose sight of the true reason for fasting.
• Through fasting, your heart motive will be strengthened and concreted in your life. You need to realise that you are prone to spiritual pride (as we all are), and if you fast with pride in your heart as your focus, it is just that which will be concreted in your heart. It is so important to have the right motive for fasting, because wrong motives will blind us in the future. This is the prayer all of us need to pray with humility, “Holy Spirit, search me!”
The Rewards of Fasting
“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:17-18
• Fasting takes you to a place of greater pleasure in God. You enjoy God more and more as you leave physical things behind and pursue spiritual things. The spiritual things of God become more real to you and you learn to love spiritual things more than physical things.
• Fasting speeds up the process of your intimacy with God. Because God is your focus, and you choose to leave hindrances behind which would otherwise be in the way, you can get closer to God a lot quicker.
• Fasting causes you heart to be expanded in love. It expands your capacity to experience God in greater ways.
• The Holy Spirit illumines your mind as you read the Word of God. Because you have a clear goal and motive for fasting, you are more perceptive to the voice of God as you read His Word.
• Fasting frees you from the spirit of the age. The world is obsessed with materialism and with power. This is so ingrained in our lifestyles. When you start to fast, you do the exact opposite of what the spirit of the age is telling you to do and God then gives you freedom from this mindset.
• Fasting deepens your longing for Christ to return. The world is not OK until Jesus comes back. You understand that earth is not your home. It keeps you in the place of not making yourself too comfortable here. You don’t accept that what the world is saying is correct, but you pursue God.
• Fasting keeps your heart awake. It keeps you from becoming a dull Christian. We are prone to getting to the place in our Christian walk where we know a lot, but when you fast you realize you have so much more to learn, and you live in a way that is actively pursuing God.
• The motivation for seeking God will be strengthened and concreted in your heart through fasting.
• Fasting speeds up the work of the Holy Spirit in your life,.When you have the right motivation, it becomes your focus and therefore you reach that and it is deepened in your heart.
• When you fast, You cannot physically do what you normally do. When we fast we want to do more for God’s kingdom in a physical sense, but we can’t because our bodies won’t allow us. This is an important place for us to be in to allow God to work in us. It increases humility in us. We are weak when we fast. But God is strong. His kingdom is upside down when compared to the world.
• When you fast, You cannot physically do what you normally would do. When you fast, you naturally want to do more for God’s kingdom in a physical sense, but you can’t because your body won’t allow you to. This is an important place for you to be in to allow God to work in you. It increases humility in you. You are weak when you fast. But God is strong. His Kingdom is upside down when compared to the world.
• You enter into deeper friendship with God because you will have touched the realm of God’s presence. and just want more of it.
• The purpose of fasting is to move your own heart towards God. It tenderizes you to experience God.
• Fasting frees you from the cares of this life and because you focus on God and seek after Him, the things of this world lose their value.
• Fasting makes you aware of false passions. You are confronted by the inner noise of these false passions, but as you seek God these noises become less and less. You will realize that there are things in your life you never even thought were a problem for you, but when you start to fast these things will start creating an inner noise for you, and then you can be set free from them as you identify them and pursue God.
• Fasting enlarges your capacity for a righteous and focused life. Fasting has a way of taking you to a holier life and a more focused life, Your false passions are confronted and you have a single goal less and less hindered by these passions.
• Fasting strengthens your spiritual identity. This is your real identity. This world puts so much emphasis on physical identity, but that is just what people see on the outside. Your true identity is the identity God sees when He looks at you. As you fast, you see more and more of what God sees and less and less of what the world sees.
• Fasting frees you from your pursuit of inferior pleasures. We prop up our soul through these pleasures, but God wants you to build yourself up in His pleasures.
• You trade inferior pleasures for the superior pleasures of God. You start to live primarily by the Word of God and the pleasure that He brings. It is an exchange, not just abstinence.
• Fasting gets you into a lifestyle of seeking God. You live your life centered around God.
• You have access to the movement of God’s heart in greater ways than before.
A Few Extra Points on Fasting
• It is when you look back upon the benefits of fasting that you’re ready to fast again. It is hard while you are in a fast, but don’t listen to the noise on the inside telling you to stop fasting or telling you that you have reached the place you should have reached. You miss out on the full blessing of God if you break your fast by listening to the wrong voice.
• You don’t always experience God in fasting. Many times it just feels like you are fasting for the sake of fasting. The rewards of fasting normally only come after a fast. And many of these rewards only become a reality once you start living a lifestyle of fasting.
• Fasting is yearning for the Bridegroom. It is not just sweet love for God. It is not easy for the bride to be away from the Bridegroom for a long time.
• There is a time delay between entering the superior pleasures of God and exiting the inferior pleasures of this world. You lose your craving for the worldly pleasures, but you are still just getting into the place of experiencing God. Don’t give up, keep pushing on and seeking God with the right heart.
• You have to have a vision. That’s when you can let go of the inferior pleasures. If you don’t have vision, soon fasting will come to an end and will have no purpose.
• You fast because you crave God.
• You have a window of time to offer something precious to God. When Christ returns, you won’t fast anymore. How beautiful it is when the Bridegroom has been away from the bride and He comes back and finds the bride waiting expectantly for Him and preparing herself for Him.
• Create a deliberate lifestyle of seeking God, no matter how busy your lifestyle. Make a point of focusing your lifestyle on God. It will look different for everybody.
The Different Types of Fasts
• Complete Fast (No food, only water)
• Liquid Fast (No food, only water/juices)
• Daniel Fast (No meats/sweets/dairy, only fruits/vegetables/water)
• Partial Fast (From sunrise to sundown, one meal a day)
• Nonfood Fast (Fasting from TV, social media, caffeine, etc)
recommended for pregnant, nursing, teens, and people on medication)
