If you feel like something in your life is broken beyond your control and you need help, A biblical fast might be YOUR answer.  You are in the right place. Keep reading!

Biblical Picture of Fasting

According to the Old and New Testaments, fasting is a time to lay everything aside and seek the Lord through prayer.  Most of the fasts we read about consisted of choosing not to eat and devoting that time to seeking God.  Scripture after scripture depicts people who were desperate, endangered, and at their wit’s end. 

Today’s Fasting Styles

Today, we view fasting in a myriad of ways.  Fasting from food for weight loss is touted as having health benefits. I personally intermittent fast for that reason. Though it has helped to keep my body fat in check, it has never done anything for me when I am desperate for God’s help.  Today, men and women fast from technology: social media, cell phones, and the like.  I understand how fasting from these distractions is beneficial and necessary.  I wonder, though, if doing these things alone without coupling them with God’s original blueprint of devoted prayer time, forgoing food, and worshiping Him will give us the help we need.  Fasting is more than picking and choosing what we feel comfortable giving up.  It’s choosing God’s way at the expense of self.

SOS Cry

Imagine you need to put out a bonfire. You could fill a bucket with water or use a fire extinguisher with your strength to put out a small fire. At this point, you have options. You might get tired and feel inconvenienced, but the situation is totally in your control. Fasting according to your preferences looks a lot like this.

True Fasting is an SOS cry to The God of Heaven. 

The forest is on fire, and your house is in the middle of a burning forest.  You realize without God, there is no way of escape. Your comfort is not a factor.  You need help- Immediately! Your phone has dozens of numbers programmed, but you know none will save you except one.  So, you make the prescribed call to 911 because your life depends on it.  That life-saving call is true fasting.  We are desperate, so we do it the way God says!

How Should We Fast?

According to the Bible, we fast with our total focus on God. Believing He alone can help us.  During our time of fasting from food and all distractions, we should pray, read scripture, sing praise, help others, repent, listen for God’s voice- (most times, an inaudible communication,) and even weep. This is also a great time to journal your thoughts and feelings.

Below are a few scriptural references on FASTING:

Joel 2:12

That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

Ezra 8:21

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him for a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.

Daniel 9:3

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Matthew 4:2  

*(Author’s note: Do NOT Fast 40 days as Jesus did without your doctor’s permission, but learn from his posture of prayer and devotion!)

And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

Acts 13:3

Then, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

What Can You Fast For?

God doesn’t limit what we can ask Him for in prayer and fasting.  That’s good news.  When trying to figure out if I need to fast these are the questions I tend to ask are:

• Am I feeling desperate about something or someone?
• Am I at the end of my rope and need answers?
• Is it a life-or-death situation?
• Am I struggling with an addiction and need God to rescue me?
• Am I, a loved one, or someone I know in danger or sick?
• Do I need to make a major decision?
• Do I need God’s help?

This list is just a starting point.  The main goal of this article is for every believer in Christ to remember that fasting is God’s blueprint and gift for his children.  We have heavenly help at our disposal through prayer and fasting.  The enemy of our souls will always try to water down and distort the things of God.  Don’t be deceived. Pray and fast God’s way.  Seek the Father’s face.  Do get the Heavenly help you are desperate for. 

Fasting before God can change the entire course of your life, and it’s never too late to start!

 

Blessings in The Name of Jesus,

Kim Jagwe, Author of God’s Perfect Size™

  Isaiah 58 NLT ( True Fasting and Worship)

 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
    Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel^[a] of their sins!
²     Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
    and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
    that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
    pretending they want to be near me.
³ ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
    ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
    and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.
    “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
    you keep oppressing your workers.
⁴ What good is fasting
    when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
    will never get you anywhere with me.
⁵ You humble yourselves
    by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
    like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
    and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
    Do you really think this will please the Lord?

⁶ “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
    lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
    and remove the chains that bind people.
⁷ Share your food with the hungry,
    and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
    and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸ “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
    and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
    and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
⁹ Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
    ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
    Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
¹⁰ Feed the hungry,
    and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
    and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you continually,
    giving you water when you are dry
    and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like an ever-flowing spring.
¹² Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
    Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
    and a restorer of homes.

¹³ “Keep the Sabbath day holy.
    Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
but enjoy the Sabbath
    and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,
    and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.
¹⁴ Then the Lord will be your delight.
    I will give you great honor.
and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!”