Fasting

Jesus Is Questioned about Fasting

"John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples don’t?”

Jesus replied, “Can wedding guests fast while the groom is still with them? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.

“No one patches an old coat with a new piece of cloth that will shrink. Otherwise, the new patch will shrink and rip away some of the old cloth, and the tear will become worse. People don’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will make the skins burst, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine is to be poured into fresh skins.” Mark 2:18-22


Even at the time of Jesus, people have been asking questions about fasting.

But unlike Jesus, I will not be giving my take on fasting by handing out Jesus type signature stories or parables.

What I would do though, is that I will try to clarify a few things about fasting through my own personal experience with it, and I will support these with Scriptures.

I understand that you will still have questions regarding fasting, even with my best efforts. My aim though is that after reading this, at least you would know why you are fasting and how to go about it.

Rewards

But first, the good news, and there is good news. There is a reward when you fast.

But it should not be to make you look good or for people to look up to you on how religious you are for being so righteous.

When you do fast, Jesus warned to be sure not to practice your religious righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. He added, do not make it so obvious, otherwise that will be the only reward they will ever get (Matthew 6). Figuratively, don't even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Meaning, fasting should be something between you and God.

Second, God did not meant for us to suffer or get sick when we fast. No, for I do not believe we have a Father in heaven who is masochistic.

Third, yes we all should fast. And you case you missed it, it is in the verse above -- when the groom (Jesus, talking about Himself) is taken away from them (His disciples), then they will fast. "They" are those who follow Jesus (also in Matthew 9 and Luke 5).

Why fast?

In Jewish tradition and customs, they fast on their holy days and they follow strict rules and regulations. Since old testament times, their fore fathers have fasted and they have recorded them in their Jewish Scriptures. God had His people fast as a sign of mourning, to cry out to Him and to seek Him.

In the New Testament, we have seen that although Jesus fasted, His disciples did not. And Jesus answered one of their questions as recorded in Mark 9:29, this way: "This kind (of evil spirit) cannot come out by anything but prayer and fasting.", which they asked when Jesus was able to cast out this evil spirit after they could not.

Jesus Did Fast

Jesus fasted while He walked among us. In the verse above, He said, we do not pour new wine into old wineskins. And the reason this applies to fasting is that the Jews used to fast, out of religious obligations or tradition or worse to look holy and righteous or to atone for their sins. All this because they follow the letter of the law as prescribed in the old testament. Jesus came to fulfill the law and usher in the new covenant between God and His children. Thus we do not pour "new" wine into "old" wineskin. We are no longer His people, but His friends and His children.

New Way

The disciples of Jesus fasted, not out of tradition or obligation. They fasted because they wanted more of Jesus, they wanted more power, they wanted to hear from Him, they wanted to seek Him and yes they wanted their prayers answered.

Note: Remember after Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, He was tempted by the devil to turn stones to bread, so He could eat and break His fast. Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

Yes, when we fast, we do not eat physical or actual food. Now what we should eat instead, is spiritual food, or the Word of God.

Fasting should not just be about abstaining from something or not eating something, it should be about taking time off to seek God's face while meditating on His Word.

Meaning as we starve our flesh, we should make our spirit full by partaking of the bread that comes from heaven, His Word.

Lastly, it is recorded in Scriptures that the Acts 2 church prayed and fasted for, and laid hands on appointed members as they anointed them to be their leaders.

Which kind of fast?

Any kind, just as long as it leads you to your Father in heaven, to doing His will and to hearing His voice.

In seeking His face, you would know what kind of fast would work for you. Although Scriptures gives us different kinds, there is no cookie cut way to do it. And I will not even try to tell you which one. But as we have already learned, whatever will work for the purpose of your fast should be the kind of fast you should be doing. And one thing we could now be sure of, we just need to do it.

Tried and Tested

Tested  by the Devil

"Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when the time was up he was hungry. The Devil, playing on his hunger, gave the first test: “Since you’re God’s Son, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to really live.” For the second test he led him up and spread out all the kingdoms of the earth on display at once. Then the Devil said, “They’re yours in all their splendor to serve your pleasure. I’m in charge of them all and can turn them over to whomever I wish. Worship me and they’re yours, the whole works.” Jesus refused, again backing his refusal with Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God and only the Lord your God. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.” For the third test the Devil took him to Jerusalem and put him on top of the Temple. He said, “If you are God’s Son, jump. It’s written, isn’t it, that ‘he has placed you in the care of angels to protect you; they will catch you; you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone’?” “Yes,” said Jesus, “and it’s also written, ‘Don’t you dare tempt the Lord your God.’” That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity."
Luke 4:1-13

It is important to be reminded that Scriptures tell us that the enemy tests us. He even tested Jesus Himself. And our Savior having went through with the same testings we do, overcame it all. His secret? Intimacy with our Abba Father, through prayer, fasting, reading the Word, being filled with and led by the Holy Spirit and facing the enemy with the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God).

It is also important to note that right after this 40 day fast, the Lord went back filled with the Spirit and read that passage in Isaiah, after which He told the people that He was the prophesied Messiah. It is good to reread the whole chapter of Luke 4 to see the big picture.

Fasting strengthens our spirit but it weakens our flesh, and the enemy will try to use that to test us, that is why when we fast we need to read the Word to have a weapon to fight back with. Remember our fight is not against flesh and blood, it's spiritual.

And after we fast and after having fought the enemy, we, like Jesus will have greater intimacy with our Father in heaven, stronger faith and be filled by the Spirit to do even greater things and that is why the enemy fights us so hard while we are fasting. He knows we will win the battles we will face afterwards.

Praying and Fasting

"Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem."
Luke 2:36-38

Chapter 2 of Luke is the treasure trove for anyone wanting to delve into the life of Jesus when he was young. It records details of His birth, His circumcision, His dedication (or confirmation) and Him being lost for three days and found at the temple when He was 12 years old.

Easy to put off two characters in the chapter who were recorded to have been always hanging out in the temple, worshipping the Lord -- Simeon, and Anna, a prophetess. Both were advanced in years and have been hoping to see the prophesied messiah. And the Lord came to the temple and was seen by Anna who was fasting and praying for that very moment.

This is one thing the bible clearly shows us, that many of the things people pray for was fulfilled when they fasted and they prayed and they waited, as we can see one example from the life of both Simeon and Anna. Hopefully we do not have to wait that long. (Easy way. Hard way.)

To Fast or Not to Fast

A Discussion about Fasting 'One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?” Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.' Matthew 9:14-15 "To fast or not to fast?" Indeed that is the question. But as we can see it was answered by Jesus Himself in the two verses above. Reread it again, in case you missed it. Yes Jesus said someday He will be taken away from His disciples and then they (referring to His disciples) will fast. And indeed, we His disciples of today, fast. How, what, when, why, is up to us. But we fast. The disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus why not when they, the followers of John do so to discipline their mind, their spirit and their flesh. We, the followers of Jesus, do so now because of Jesus. And yes because like them we also need to quiet our mind and heart, strengthen our spirit and tame our flesh, particularly now more than any other time. Important to note that the Pharisees also fast, but they do so for their own selfish reasons. When we fast (from something) and "eat" manna from heaven instead (read the Word and stay in God's presence), then for a time we separate from this world and all it's influences and we choose the things of God and His heavenly kingdom. Jesus said we are in this world but not of this world. And fasting is one sure way to help us be reminded of this fact.

Fasting

"All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed." Daniel 10:3

Fasting Tidbits - the original Daniel fast was three weeks long and very extreme. Very few people can manage that, but then again we don't see very many people who can prophesy like Daniel did (especially in the world we live in today).

You see Daniel was fasting when the Lord allowed an angel to be seen by him. And this being, showed Daniel a view of the future (and the end times), which he recorded and we read from time to time in his book.

I am sure that the kinds of food and the things Daniel depraved himself of for three weeks, were things that were difficult for him to be without. But if you think about it, are things he can surely do without, for a short period of time.

We too can do something similar, not that we can do a Daniel Fast, we could maybe do so for a shorter time, one day, 2 days, 3 days a week perhaps.

But realistically, our own personal fast is something we need to talk to the Lord with in prayer, and is really between us and the Lord. It should be able to consider sound or logical thinking and our personal medical or other conditions.

But whatever it is, we do not fast to tell the whole world we do so. And we fast for one thing -- to clearly see what the Lord wants us to see and more importantly to grow our faith, and to find the time to seek after the Lord and the things of God -- to bring us closer to Him, to love Him more, to have greater intimacy in our personal relationship with Him. There is no problem on God's side, He loves us even before we were lovable. The issue has always been on our side of the fence.

You see, fasting strips us of our dependency on trivial things, lavish things, unnecessary things, disruptive things -- things that take our quiet time with the Lord. If we can pinpoint what those things are that take time away from us reading the Word of God, praying, or just meditating on the goodness of God, then we are halfway there to an effective fast. And really we should fast regularly.

So whatever it may be we are fasting from, let us fast for our sake, for the sake of our loved ones, and for the sake of the things we lift up to the throne of our heavenly Father in prayer.

God loves us so much, and He misses our quiet times together. Just you and Him. He is waiting...