Are There Any Reasons To Fast?

When should I fast?

Whenever the Holly Spirit leads you to fast and whenever you see a situation in your life that you can’t handle, a spiritual concern or struggle. Surely, there are times when the Church might ask you to fast for a specific reason; however, fasting is a personal decision, between God and us.

Has it ever happened to you to pass through a circumstance and to know the result of it from the very beginning? (However you managed to talk yourself into it even if your first feeling was a negative one.) After a while you said:" I knew it! I knew it was going to be like this!"

I think we all have. I have learned my lesson -I hope- and realized how that first feeling or impression about a certain situation can be the way God is warning you about it. Several times, I ignored that impression and I listened to my friends and other advisors.

God doesn’t always use words to speak-a feeling or impression might be enough- however it will always have to be in perfect accord with the Bible!

I have seen it in my life that when you put in it on the weighing scale, God’s way always brings the most peace, don’t hurry into making a decision if you don’t have peace about it!

It is great (time and pain saving) to make some time to fast especially when you need to make a rather important decision, asking God for guidance. He will surely guide you!

Now of course, I refer to situations that are not already clearly stated in the Bible as being godly or not. For instance, don’t fast for light in the decision of divorcing your spouse when God clearly states that He hates divorce! Even if we fast more then anyone ever did, God will not change the Bible principle for our sake!

The choice of the fast length is also a personal decision and keep in mind that a radical fast for an extended period of time can be harmful for your health. You should make sure that God specifically leads you to fast for more then three days.

Three occasions for fasting are numerous in the Bible: mourning someone's death, mourning sin, for protection, sickness, special revelation, for direction, when choosing missionaries, etc.

Types of fasting

There are several ways of fasting described in the Bible:

1. The normal fast: not to eat or drink anything from sunset of one day to sunset of the next. This means that after the sunset, the day of fast is ended so you can eat that evening (Leviticus 16:29;23:32).

2. The partial fast: this type of fast emphasizes a diet restriction as the one Daniel practiced - a limited diet for three weeks." 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)

3. The radical fast: not to eat or drink anything at all or restraining from food but only drinking water for a longer period. Esther, Apostle Paul and others can be used as examples here as they went without food or water for 3 days period. (Esther 4:15-16) David restrained from food for seven days (probably with water) as he asked to God to save the life of his child (2 Samuel 12:15-20).

Bible mentions fasts that exceed a three or seven days period but those were based upon clear direction from God. Examples are: Moses (Deuteronomy 9:9-18 and Exodus 34:28), Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) and Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11) who fasted for 40 days.

Rewards

If we expect God to reveal his direction for our lives, we must put Him first. He will honor your sincere faith and your obedience! He promises great rewards for those who truly seek Him with sincerity, fasting and praying:

"Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. (Isaiah 58:8-14)

Jesus Himself said: "When you fast, your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:18).

Oh, what an abundant life we were created to have! May each human being taste and see how good Jesus is and benefit from these precious promises!