Joel 2:12 – Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
I would like to begin by saying that I know that the subject of fasting is something that we do not hear much of, or really want to hear about. I would like to first start with a question; why is this? I have realized that there are a few subjects that most people do not like to speak about. This is either because we are committing that sin or act or because we are not applying something in our life even when we know we must(we feel guilt). Another reason is because it is too difficult, and we have to put more effort into completing it or maintaining it in our life. Now, out of the three I would say that usually two reasons are present in most cases and possibly even all three, depending on the situation.
To help us understand this issue better, I would like to give a short, detailed explanation of fasting:
Fasting is disconnecting ourselves from this world around us (food, drinks, TV, sex, shopping, or anything that pulls our attraction away from God), and to connect ourselves with God through fasting, praying, worshipping, and meditation on God and His words, to speak with Him. This physical restraining of pleasure reduces our self-will and will lift our spiritual life to a greater point; with the Holy Spirit working better in us and through us.
I want to cover the following three points so we can go into the benefits of fasting later and what it can bring into your life.
Committing sin is something that becomes a barrier or wall between God and us. That sin that we are committing in our life is influencing us to not seek God, more and more. The reason it can influences us is because behind sin is some type of demonic influence in our life, the Word of God tells us that our fight is not with blood and flesh but with principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). For example, if you are committing a specific act of sin, this act has now become sin from some type of spiritual influence. Now this wall you have created has hindered your connection with God and the more and more you commit this act the wall becomes bigger and your connection with God is weaker. When your relationship becomes weak with God, you look less to connect with Him, this then will make you not want to fast and to connect with God.
This is why also guilt is involved. I know that our generation has gotten used to hearing that God through His Holy Spirit will not make us feel guilty, but the Word of God does not say that. Before I go further, look at it like this: when you repent, why do you repent to God for what you have done? When we repent, we repent because we feel guilty and ashamed for what we did because we know it was wrong. If you know something is wrong but do not feel guilty of it or ashamed, you will not repent of it because you didn’t feel anything wrong, or you convince yourself that it wasn’t wrong, even though it was wrong. But when we feel guilt, we will do two things: either go and repent of it and get closer to God or ignore it and get further from God. This guilt, this shame, comes from the Holy Spirit convicting you of what you have done wrong. Depending on what you do, it will bring you closer to or further from God and if you chose further this will prevent you from fasting as well.
Lastly, effort is a big part. Fasting is not just difficult, but it also requires sacrifice and effort on your part. Many today have grown up and believe that they are fine because they go to church and it seems that they are fine. This has become such a habit that it is done without effort. It is easy and with no sacrifice. In fact, it is a benefit now because yet get go drink coffee, talk with friends, and the songs make you feel like you’re in a concert. Put simply, the church today has become more like the world, even in their music (with lights, smoke, loudness, dancing) and this has become a substitution of God’s TRUE presence. Seeking His face has been replaced with a false sense of God’s presence through emotion; this is why so many can jump up and down and scream during the songs, but when it comes to prayer almost no one prays and most don’t even know how to. This is why you hear so many say, “Church was amazing,” but they walk out and are the same as before, still committing the same sinful acts towards God without a transformation in them. Fasting is something we must sacrifice our time and effort, we must put away desire of food, coffee, sodas, TV and any other act that takes our mind off God and instead direct our minds towards God. This is very difficult and requires sacrifice and effort from you, and it must be done according to God’s ways.
I would like to go over a few passages to see that all of the great men of God, including Jesus Christ, fasted and it helped them significantly in their relationship with God and in the blessing of God’s work through them, and created a transformation in them. Fasting is something that the Bible shows us can bring God’s intercession, cause repentance, give guidance, be a way of worshiping, strengthens prayers, be used for mourning, to bring humility/humbleness, cast out demons, and more.
For humility/humbleness
Psalms 35:13-14 – But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
1 Kings 21:25-27 – But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
Fasting is key for one humbling himself in humility to God. In Psalms 35, it says that he humbled his soul with fasting and prayer. A soul is our desires and wants, indicating that when our desires and wants have over-powered the will of God, or we see that our will might start interfering with God’s plan, we must humble ourselves in front of God. When we fast, we submit those desires and wants, and we disconnect ourselves from them and we connect with God, to allow His plans and His desires and wants to be taken on.
Furthermore, it says in 1 Kings, that after Ahab sold himself to the work of wickedness whom his wife Jezebel stirred up by following idols and more, he heard his mistakes and transgressions and he repented of his ways, tore his clothes off and put sackcloth on and went softly (humility and humbling himself). When we have realized that we have become prideful in our ways through sin, a way of repenting is fasting. As Ahab above, when we have allowed wickedness in our life and it becomes revealed to us we must repent and humble ourselves. Fasting is a type of act that expresses your regret in that you have transgressed against God and that you departed from Him in sin; the act of fasting will bring you closer to Him and to repenting through fasting without boasting or showing off.
God’s Intercession
2 Samuel 12:16 – David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
Throughout our life when we would like our God to intercede on our behalf in a specific situation we can fast. For example, if you would like to have God speak directly to you in a situation, you can come before God in fasting and seeking God more. In the above passage, 2 Samuel 12, David was fasting for God to intercede and not allow the child of Bathsheba to die. In this passage, we see that God decided still not to intervene.
On the other hand, in the book of Jonah, Jonah went and preached what God told him to say to the people. Once the people in the city decided to listen, they fasted and repented of their ways to God. After this, God listened and interceded not to destroy Nineveh. He turned His wrath from them and gave them grace and mercy because of their fasting and repenting.
Mourning
2 Samuel 1:12 – And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.
Nehemiah 1:4 – And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
Psalms 69:10 – When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
When we think about it, it sounds different and weird to fast while you mourn. But the time of mourning is actually a time of great spiritual attack and you can have the door open wider than normal. It is normal for people to mourn and grieve for people we have lost. But just like any emotion, if we allow it to take over, that is when a spirit can enter. For example, any one can be angry, sad, frustrated, and mourn but if we allow this emotion to extend longer than it should, we allow a spirit of anger or depression to enter into our life. When we mourn, if we mourn and allow it to take over, it can over take our life and fill it with a spirit of depression for years or our whole life time.
During this time of mourning, as we see in the above passages, the reason behind fasting was to stay close to God and further from the world so as to not allow worldly actions to take over. For example, during this time many become depressed into even suicidal thoughts, if you allow it to take over, addicted to drinking, drugs, they become angry with life and many other problems arise. While we mourn, we fast to stay close to God and for us to not fall down. We connect with God and disconnect from the world; it is a time of mourning but growing as well.
Worshiping
Luke 2:37 – And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day.
We many times are lost as to how to worship God – we hear so many different ways of how to do it but in the passage above we get one way of worship. In Luke 2 we get a story of a widow who worshiped and served God with fasting and praying. What is worship? Worship is when we feel, but this feeling has an action of awe and reverence for God. A respect for God will have an action, the action of worship is taking away food, and things that take our mind away from God, and we worship Him by only thinking about Him and serving God in prayer and meditation in His word.
If there is a time in your relationship with God when you seem weary or lost, a time of worshipping in fasting will bring you closer to God if done right. It will allow you to re-connect with God and allow God to start communicating with you to build a stronger relationship.
Strengthen
Matthew 17:20-21 – And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Ezra 8:23 – So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
Strength is unique part of fasting. I would say that this sounds so backwards for us because we are so used to hearing, “eat so you can gain strength,” but the strength we get here is no just physical but a greater strength in the spirit. For example, I can tell you through my own experience that by fasting your body also becomes stronger by purging out harmful things out of your body; in a way it’s a kind of cleansing of the body of junk food, drinks, and other stuff filled with chemicals. This will eventually make you feel that you are stronger physically as well, through a purging by fasting.
On the other hand, since fasting is disconnecting from this world and connecting to God through His Spirit, we will gain a greater strength and faith in God to do His work. For example, in Matthew, Jesus was saying to His apostles that some casting out of demons will only work through prayer and fasting. This is because fasting will bring you to a new level with God and your spiritual relationship with God will increase and make you have more faith and understanding of God’s work.
Fasting is in a way a tool that God has left for us to gain strength in the spiritual realm and be a stronger warrior for God, it is a tool that many do not use, and many that do use it, use it wrong so that it does not do its job. We must fast in God’s standards and this will allow a spiritual growth, to do God’s will to a greater extent.
Repentance
Jonah 3:5-9 – So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
Joel 2:12-13 – Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
1 Samuel 7:6 – And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.
Daniel 9:3-5 – And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments…
Another reason behind fasting that’s spoken about in the Word of God is repentance. I would have to say one instance that we hear a lot about is in the story of Jonah about Nineveh. Jonah was sent by God to proclaim a fast for the people of Nineveh. This fast was meant for God to turn away His wrath from them and not to destroy them. Eventually, Jonah went and proclaimed what God said. Once the word came to the king of Nineveh, he proclaimed for the whole town to do so: beasts, men, women, and children and for the people to dress themselves in sack cloth and repent from their evil ways. Once the people did so, God heard their cries and He turned away His anger from them and they did not perish.
We see also in Joel how the Lord Himself told them to come with fasting and weeping, to turn to God from their ways. Another example is in 1 Samuel, where they drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted for they sinned against God. Another is in Daniel 9: he set his face towards God with fasting, supplication, and sackcloth and ashes, and he prayed towards God and he made his confession (sin). We need to realize fasting is also an opportunity for us to repent of our ways in front of God which is important.
As we saw above, fasting for repentance can have a great impact, just like for the people of Nineveh. Because of their fast, God turned His anger away, for them to be spared. Fasting does the same for us – if we repent God will turn His anger, His wrath, and He will come with grace and mercy towards us.
Guidance
Acts 14:23 – And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
Acts 13:2 – As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
Fasting can also be a process. We look for God’s guidance in our lives and it becomes a time that we humble ourselves and allow God to show us what we must do, how to go on the path that has been set before us. We see in Acts 14, they ordained elders after praying and fasting deciding who should be left in charge. Fasting can be a time of searching for God to reveal His plan to us, to show us who He has chosen to do a specific task. God will reveal it if we come in fasting and praying and waiting on Him. We also see this happening in Acts 13 while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting – the Holy Ghost came and separated Barnabas and Saul for the work they were called to do. In this passage, we see that the Holy Spirit interceded during this time of fasting and revealed what work needed to be done, what God had planned to do. We can fast for guidance in God’s sovereign plan so we know what we must do.
Guidance of how to Fast
Matthew 6:16-18 -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.
The passage above is a simple command of how we should fast. On my part, there are many I have seen and many that, when they fast, do exactly what you should not do. Jesus tells us not to be hypocrites, ones that make sure you can tell they are fasting, for they have their reward which is just that – people can tell they are fasting. One thing about this is when we fast like this, since that is our reward, we need to realize that the fasting that we did even if it was for one day or two or three days straight or more, the fasting which you have just done was in vain and useless – you did not gain anything in the sight of God or in the Spirit, for you’re fasting not for God but for yourself. We must analyze and make sure we are fasting to God’s standards.
In addition to that, Jesus says anoint your head, wash your face, so that we do not appear to people that we are fasting; this means when we are fasting we must look as though we are not fasting and we should not search to tell others that we are fasting, we must do it in secret. This is how God is looking for you and me to fast.
When we look at the passage above it tells us to anoint our head, wash our face, so we look as we are not fasting and to do it in secret. Why? Because God sees in secret. The great thing about this is not only are you blessed by following the fasting how God tells you to do it, not only do you gain strength, repentance, and growth in the Holy Spirit with God, but God says He will also “reward you openly.” Halleluiah! That is amazing – if we follow God’s command He will bless us openly. So isn’t it better not to look for your reward by showing others or letting others see you fasting because this lands in the negative no matter what, but doing it God’s way is in every way positive of God’s blessing.
Conclusion
I know that this subject was a bit longer, but as children of God we must look at the Word of God and search for what God wants from us. The truth is that fasting is a very important aspect of a Christian life that many do not apply. We must look at our lives and decide what we must change to connect back with God and build on this relationship, if we do this God will bless us in His way. By fasting you and I can receive blessing in not just true repentance, strength, and guidance but much more in many other ways that God has been wanting to bless us but hasn’t because of the way our life is.
It is time that we step forward in true faith in fasting and when we do we will see that God’s kingdom will start growing, that men and women and children will be at a new level of growth, they will have true guidance from God, that many will be delivered and set free from the bondages of the devil on us, we will be delivered of spiritual attachment of the devils of anger, lust, hatred, fornication, masturbation, drugs, alcohol, witchcraft, idolatry, homosexuality, and many others out there.
Not tomorrow, but today is the day of repentance, today is the day we must turn from our ways and start changing for God to start manifesting Himself more in our lives. Today is the day we need to search for His face.
God Bless You