by Tad Lindley
What is the longest you have ever gone without food? I personally know a couple of modern men who have gone 40 days (search “Josh Herring fasting” on YouTube for his testimony). Moses fasted 40 days in Exodus (34:28) and Jesus fasted 40 days in Matthew (4:1-2). Have you ever fasted?
What is fasting?
When we choose to go without all foods for a period of time, that is fasting. Most people for instance literally go all night without eating. When they eat in the morning they are breaking the fast, thus the English name of the morning meal, “breakfast.” A modern health trend is called “intermittent fasting,” which entails eating only during an 8-hour window during the day and then consuming no calories the remaining 16 hours. When you read about fasting in the Bible, you can assume that the people that were fasting went for more than 24 hours without eating.
Fasting is not dieting
It has become popular in some circles to undertake a “Daniel’s Fast.” This is based on Daniel 10:3 when he didn’t eat cakes, pastries, meat, birds, or fish, and did not use soap, lotion, or deodorant for 21 days. Daniel’s “Diet” would be a more appropriate name for what he did. He denied himself the things he had in the physical, while he went after the things he did not have in the spiritual. Some of you, your pastor or priest may command you to not eat meat, eggs, or other animal products for a 40-day period (not something the Bible teaches, but certainly a healthy human tradition). This is not fasting, it is dieting. The scientific research indicates that this is a very healthy diet and you will benefit from it, but it is not a fast. Fasting is abstaining from all food.
Fasting is not for show
When I was a child I remember that often times political prisoners would go on “hunger strikes” in order to draw attention to themselves. That is, they would begin to fast, and have their publicity agents let everyone know that they were fasting. And in the time that Jesus dwelt among us, he observed that some of the people were making a big deal out of their fasting, posting about it on social media, moping around, trying to draw attention to themselves and so he taught about fasting. …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 to you that they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy 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 sees in secret, shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:16-18)
Fasting is for a purpose
Across the Bible people fasted to fight spiritual battles, here are a few examples:
·David fasted when his son was dying (II Samuel 12:16)
·Darius fasted while Daniel was in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:18)
·Nehemiah fasted for Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:4)
·Ezra and the Israelites fasted for protection from evil (Ezra 8:21-23)
·Esther called a three day fast to save the Jews from Haman (Esther 4:16)
·Even the wicked King of Ninevah and his subjects called a fast to save themselves from the wrath of God (Jonah 3:5-9)
·Jesus told his disciples when they were unable to cast out a demon, This cometh out not, but by prayer and fasting.
Fasting is not optional
Notice in the scripture above (Matthew 6:16) Jesus said, “When ye fast,” not, “If ye fast.” If we are a believer in Jesus, and obedient to his plan, we will fast. If you are pregnant, take a nine month break, if you are Type I or Type II diabetic, consult your physician, but for the vast majority of us we are able to fast. We might not want to do it, but we have no excuse not to fast. We love food and it takes much self-discipline to deny ourselves.
Victory is not when, it’s if…
If you are one of the many readers who is trapped in recurring sin. You believe in Jesus, you go to church regularly, and yet you continue to fail God and the people around you. Perhaps it is a tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana addiction, or you can’t stay away from bingo or cards, or maybe you keep stumbling in sexual sin, or perhaps unforgiveness is your daily battle, perhaps you are trapped in the traditions of men and afraid to follow the Bible, whatever your battle is, fasting is a weapon of spiritual warfare that is for all who love God and want the full victory that he offers! When you fast, expect results!
Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.
