Fasting
The goal of fasting is to draw nearer to God. Biblical fasting always has to do with eliminating distractions for a spiritual purpose; it hits the reset button of our soul and renews us from the inside out. It also enables us to celebrate the goodness and mercy of God and prepares our hearts for all the good things God desires to bring into our lives. Remember, your personal fast should present a level of challenge, but it is very important to know your body, your options, and, most importantly, to seek God in prayer and follow what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.
FASTING BLOG
BY PASTOR ROB BELLOMY
Fasting…there’s a word that conjures many different thoughts from most that hear it. Some may think it’s just going without food, that’s a starvation diet…definitely don’t recommend that. Still others may see it as some mystical way to manipulate God and get Him to do something, a way to “twist” His arm or possibly earn extra God credit…nope. Still others may see it as something that has no value for them; it’s just something religious fanatics or paid clergy professionals do. None of these thoughts are accurate so we are left with 3 questions that need answers.
The first question is simply “Who is fasting for?” and that’s a great question that Jesus himself answered in Matthew 6:16 which opens with “When you fast”. Matthew 6 is part of the Sermon on the Mount which begins in chapter 5 with “Now when Jesus saw the crowds” so we see that “you” in verse 16 means exactly that…it’s for you, me and all that follow Jesus. As a matter of fact were going to see that Jesus himself fasted and credits some amazing things to fasting which leads us to our second question.
What is fasting? and again that’s a great question which we’ll answer with a quote from Jentezen Franklin, Senior Pastor of Free Chapel in Georgia, “Simply stated, biblical fasting is refraining from food for a spiritual purpose”. Some people fast other things such as internet, media, television, caffeine, sugars, meat, etc. but the key component is the spiritual aspect and the spiritual aspect is intentionally replacing the fasted item with God. For example, if you’re fasting a meal or meals take and spend that time with God, depend on Him instead of the meal or if it’s television in the evening take and spend that time in prayer. If we don’t intentionally take time and press into God during our times of fasting then we are simply wasting our time.
The 3rd and final question, “What does fasting do?” now this could be answered several ways including, increased sensitivity to God’s voice(Acts 13:2),strength and breakthrough in spiritual battles (Daniel 10:2,3,12,13, Matthew 4:2,10,11) Increased faith and spiritual authority (Matthew NKJV 17:15-16,19-21) and those things would be right as they are benefits of fasting but it’s really more than that. Ultimately it boils down to increased spiritual intimacy or connection with God. You see when we set aside the cravings of the flesh and increase dependency on God we come to know Him better, we increase our intimacy level with Him, and that brings about all those other things. Jesus after fasting for 40 days summed it up beautifully in Matthew 4:4 “But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”
Well that’s my crash course on the spiritual discipline of fasting, for more in-depth teaching I recommend the book “Fasting: Opening the Door to a Deeper, More Intimate, More Powerful Relationship with God” by Jentezen Franklin.
Thank you so much for joining us on this 21 day journey of prayer and fasting as we place the “Kingdom First”. We love you, we are praying with you and for you!
TYPES OF FASTS
COMPLETE FAST
This fast calls for drinking only liquids, typically water with light juices as an option.
SELECTIVE FAST
This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, or bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food.
PARTIAL FAST
This fast is sometimes called the Jewish Fast and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunup to sundown.
SOUL FAST
This fast is common for those who do not have much experience fasting food, who have health issues that prevent them from fasting food, or who wish to refocus certain areas of their life that are out of balance. For instance, someone might select to abstain from using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast, and then choose to carefully bring that element back into their life in an orderly fashion at the conclusion of the fast.
**If you choose to fast entire meals, we encourage you to seek guidance from a medical professional beforehand. We always want to exercise wisdom as we grow in our spiritual walk with God.**
TIMING OF A FAST
At Tree, we encourage fasting for 21 days each year in the month of January. This is part of a season of focused prayer as a church family. You may also choose to fast at other times during the year for your own spiritual development. It’s very typical to fast a single meal, a whole day, or three days or more. The timing of your fast is not as important as the strength of your focus on Him as you fast.
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