The Hidden Power Of Fasting:
While other religious groups are beginning to enter their time of fasting I want to emphasize the importance of fasting for Christians.
Fasting is a practice that is engaged in by every group of religious people on the earth who are serious about spirituality. Jews fast, Muslims fast, and Christians Fast. I’ve even heard stories of shamans and sorcerers doing prolonged fasting in order to summon certain evil spirits. And it’s unfortunate that nowadays the groups that serve false gods seem to take fasting a lot more seriously than many Christians who serve the only true GOD.
When we look into the Bible we can see that Moses fasted for 40 days(Exodus 34:28), Elijah fasted for 40 Days(1 Kings 19:8), and Jesus fasted for 40 days(Matthew 4:2). Daniel fasted for 21 Days eating only fruits and vegetables(Daniel 10:2-3) Esther and Israel fasted for 3 days and 3 nights without food or water(Esther 4:16), Samuel fasted, Ezra fasted, David Fasted, Nineveh Fasted and even the livestock in Nineveh was forced to fast, and many more figures throughout the Bible practiced fasting.
Do you know there is a story in the Bible in which the Disciples of Jesus had an encounter with an evil spirit that was traumatizing a little boy, and when the disciples tried to remove the evil spirit from the boy they were unable to remove it. However when Jesus came he removed the evil spirit from the boy and when the disciples asked Jesus why they were not able to remove the evil spirit from the boy, Jesus responded by saying:
Matthew 17:21 “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Unfortunately, many modern translations of the Bible have removed the word “Fasting” from this passage and have only left the word “Prayer” remaining but the most original translations include the word “Fasting” in the passage.
Nevertheless, what this means is, that it’s possible there are people who are suffering from things that they may have prayed about over and over but still haven’t seen results because they still have not fasted. I will say for the majority of evil spirits and other problems fasting is not required (although it could expedite the process). However, fasting combined with prayer could be needed to overcome special and intense situations.
In the Bible GOD pronounced Judgment on Ahab because of the murder, theft he committed against an innocent man as well as other wicked deeds. The Bible says Ahab did more evil in the eyes of THE LORD than any of the men before him. However, when GOD pronounced a judgment on Ahab that Ahab and his kingdom would be destroyed do you know what Ahab did next? Let’s read it…
1 Kings 21:27 “So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.”
The Bible says when Ahab heard his judgement he tore his clothes and began fasting! FASTING. And do you know what happened after GOD saw that Ahab fasted?! Look what GOD says in verse 29:
1 Kings 21:29 “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”
GOD said that because Ahab fasted and humbled himself GOD would not bring the disaster in the day of Ahab, but the disaster would come at a later time in his lineage. Therefore if fasting could cause GOD to spare a man who did more evil in the sight of GOD than anyone before him what could fasting do for me and you who are the children of GOD?
Fasting is a form of humbling ourselves and acknowledging our dependency on GOD’s mercy for survival. Fasting is us saying “We will not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of GOD.(Mattew 4;4)”. Fasting is us saying “We can take a break from drinking water because GOD has given us LIVING WATER(John 7:38)”
Many of us exercise our physical bodies but we do not exercise our spiritual bodies. A man can be in tiptop physical shape, but be spiritually obese— unable to pray, unable to fast, and falling asleep anytime he tries to read the Bible.
Fasting is a form of exercise for your spirit. It’s a way to weaken the flesh so that the spiritual body will increase in strength. The Bible says:
Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
The flesh desires you to eat, while the spirit desires for you to fast. I’m sure you feed your physical body, but do you feed your spirit through abstinence? If we are to be strong along this journey both the flesh and the spirit must be taken care of. The Apostle Paul says he disciplines his body so that the desires of his flesh are kept at bay, lest he be disqualified from the gifts of eternal life(1 Corinthians 9:27).
In Closing:
There are many people who may feel lost like they don’t know what to do about their situation, or like they don’t have hope for the future. People may feel like they’ve tried everything and nothing has worked… But have you tried to stop eating? And drinking? You may feel stuck and feel you have no motivation to do much, but what about the motivation to stop eating? Even if you did nothing the entire day, but committed to fasting I believe you would begin to see a change in your situation.
Maybe you don’t have a good education, maybe you’re not a good businessman, maybe you’re not very athletic, maybe you don’t have ambition, maybe you live in a small village far from big opportunities… But can you fast? Can you fast and pray for GOD to change your situation? If you can do this, I believe you can experience change, whatever your circumstances.
For those who feel they don’t know what to do…Try Fasting.
That’s all for today guys.
God Bless You all who are in Christ Jesus.
Eddie Fews