Why You Should Fast | Understanding The True Power Of Fasting

many people ask how do i fast how long do i fast how often should i fast how should i break my fast this video will cover some practical teaching on various aspects of fasting the purpose of this video is to answer these questions and to clarify some misunderstandings about fasting fasting means abstaining from food for spiritual purposes normally fasting is not refraining from liquids but only from solid food however there were instances in the bible where people did fast without food or without water for as long as 40 days for this study we will consider fasting as abstaining from food for spiritual purposes we also need to take the right attitude toward our own bodies many christians have an incorrect attitude towards the body they have the feeling that the body is an unavoidable evil with which they have to live and that it will be a good thing when they are out of it in the meantime they do not want to give too much thought to the body because they mistakenly believe that they are unspiritual if they do that i'd like you to read just two verses do you not know that your bodies are temples of the holy spirit who is in you whom you have received from god you are not your own you are bought at a price therefore honor god with your bodies first corinthians 6 19 and 20 the scriptures teach that the natural body is the temple of the holy spirit and that when jesus died on the cross and shed his blood he purchased not only our spirits and souls but also our bodies jesus bought all of us with the price of his shed blood we belong to him entirely spirit soul and body god has a genuine concern and a definite purpose for our bodies the body is to be the temple of the holy spirit it is to be the place where the holy spirit lives the bible tells us that god does not live in temples made by hands acts 7 48 how be it the most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands as saith the prophet i am convinced that fasting is a very practical way to make our bodies healthy and to keep them healthy when we look at the way christians in the modern time treat their bodies especially the kinds of things they feed them it would be of great benefit to remember the values of our bodies numerous of those who have asked how do i fast have been christians and churchgoers for a long time despite the fact that the bible contains a lot of information on the subject it appears no one has ever trained them how to fast since most of these people are familiar with prayer it might be a good idea to start by drawing a parallel between fasting and praying in the sermon on the mount located in matthew 6 when jesus first talks about praying and then fasting he uses similar language in talking about both topics the main difference is that when he speaks of prayer he contains a pattern prayer which we call the lord's prayer but there is a fundamental parallel between fasting and praying i will point out two aspects of this we all know that as individuals we can pray and most of us are also familiar with praying in groups group praying usually refers to prayer meeting individual prayer is what we do when we are all alone ourselves i believe that fasting has the same distinction there is group fasting in which a group of people fast together and there is individual fasting in which a person fasts on their own we are also familiar with two types of prayer regular prayer at a certain time every day and special times of prayer when the holy spirit leads us to take extra time beyond our usual standard of prayer for a special necessity the same applies to fasting although fasting should be a regular practice in every disciplined christian's life beyond those standard fasting times there are times when the holy spirit leads us to put an extra emphasis on fasting we see therefore that there is a parallel between prayer and fasting just as there are individual prayers and collective prayers so there is also individual fasting and collective fasting just as there are regular patterns of prayer and there are times of extraordinary prayer so there should be regular patterns of fasting in the life of every christian and there should be special times of fasting as the holy spirit leads should all christians fast if we go to the scriptures and to the history of israel and the early church we find that fasting was a normal part of the life of the people of god a god required israel to fast collectively at least once a year on the day of atonement and on other occasions under the old covenant there are also records of persons fasting such as moses and elijah as well as many of israel's kings according to the book of acts the early church fasted together in households for special needs the early church would fast and pray collectively for god's guidance not only when sending out apostles but also when appointing elders in local churches according to reliable church tradition and recorded history fasting was practiced regularly by the early church on wednesday and friday of each week fasting was a regular practice among the early methodists particularly among john and charles wesley john wesley saw as an unavoidable part of any christian minister's life and discipline how should we prepare for a fast the first point i'd like to make about preparation is about our mental attitude as we approach a fast this has much to do with whether the fast is productive or not we should undertake fasting with an approach of positive faith we should say to ourselves it is god's will for me to fast and god will bless me when i do fast in accordance with his will it is god's will because the bible shows that it is we do not need some distinctive feeling or revelation that fasting is the will of god because the scriptures explicitly state that it is people who wait for a special sign for something definitely stated in the bible rarely get that special revelation and therefore miss god's purpose for their lives god will reward us in fasting if we seek him with the right motives in a spiritual way the bible guarantees this clearly jesus said but thou when thou fastest anoint thine 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 seeth in secret shall reward thee openly matthew 6 17-18 this is an obvious promise when you fast in the right way with the right motives god will openly reward you if you do not fast you have to know that you are stripping yourself of the reward because god cannot give you the reward if you do not meet his conditions the writer of hebrews lays down a fundamental principle for approaching god and seeking something from him hebrews 11 6 tells us but without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to god must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him when we approach god the bible says that we must approach him on the basis of faith there is no other foundation on which to approach him furthermore if we come to god on this basis we must believe two specific things first that he is that he exists and second that god is a reward for those who seek him diligently if you seek god diligently he will reward you which is assured he may not always reward you exactly the way you might have wanted to be rewarded but there will never fail to be given a reward to those who diligently seek god in isaiah 58 we also have a string of promises to those who fast according to the will of god i think it is helpful to just look at some of these statements the lord promises that all these effects will follow if fasting is done in a way pleasing to him then shall thy light bring forth as the morning and thine health shall spring forth speedily and thy righteousness shall go before thee the glory of the lord shall be thy reward then shalt thou call and the lord shall answer thou shall cry and he shall say here i am if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke the putting forth of the finger and speaking vanity and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noon day and the lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones and thou shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not and they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places thou shalt rise up the foundations of many generations and thou shall be called the repairer of the breach the restorer of path to dwell in isaiah 58 8-12 niv there are numerous promises for those who fast according to the will of god some of those include righteousness glory answered prayer continual guidance and restoration these promises are exclusively promised to those who fast in accordance with the will of god what is the purpose of fasting let's talk about choosing objectives in fasting if you aim at nothing you can be pretty sure you'll hit it you will need to have an aim or a goal when we go into a thing like fasting we can find many good biblical reasons for fasting i'll provide you some first biblical purpose for fasting is to humble myself david said i humbled my soul with fasting psalm 35 13 we must bear in mind that humility is not an emotion not something vague but rather a statement god has told us to humble ourselves this principle spreads throughout the bible for those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted matthew 23 12 we must make the decision do i want to be exalted then i need to humble myself i believe that the fundamental way for a believer to humble himself is fasting another motive for fasting is to move closer to god the bible tells us that if you come near to god and he will come near to you wash your hands use sinners and purify your hearts you double minded james 4 8 a third reason to fast is to understand god's word more clearly another very important reason for fasting is to find god's will and to receive direction in your life ursura said there by the ahava canal i proclaim the fast so that we might humble ourselves before our god and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children with all our possessions urzra 8 21 another very common reason for fasting is restoration isaiah 58 8 says thine health shall spring forth speedily before jesus himself entered his ministry of healing and salvation he spent 40 days fasting we can also fast when we need god's intervention in a particular emergency or when a huge problem has arisen we cannot deal with by ordinary means in the scriptures there are many examples of this in 2nd chronicles 20 jehoshaphat and the people of judah found that they were facing an invading army which they could not meet with normal military methods they humbled themselves in front of god gathered together fasted and prayed god dealt with the invasion of the army they did not have to use a single weapon god totally defeated their enemies for them god is willing to intervene on our behalf when we seek him in the same way a final reason for fasting is to intercede and pray for the benefit of others many testimonies abound from believers of how god has answered prayers which is accompanied by fasting in behalf of relatives if you will be going to have a special period of fasting more than a day or so it is beneficial to make a recorded list of what you are fasting about this is not to say that everybody needs to do it however if you do one day you'll look back at it and praise god for the way he answered your prayers how long should i fast we come to the question of choosing a certain amount of time to fast this is an advice that will serve you well don't begin with a very long fast don't begin with a week two weeks or 40 days some people do and they accomplish this but you will find it better to start climbing the ladder from the base rung by rung if you set a goal for yourself that is too ambitious and you don't meet it you will feel frustrated it is possible that you will give up on it and never try again in most cases i believe that it is preferable to start at the bottom of the ladder and work your way up if you normally eat your last meal about 6 o'clock or 6 30 p.m and don't have any snacks afterward until breakfast the next morning you've actually fasted from lunchtime to breakfast time which is about 18 hours this is quite a long time to be without food because you only miss one meal you achieve a real fast without too extreme change in your life pattern or too great an objective if you succeed in that the next time you may want to skip the last two meals the noon meal and the evening meal if you don't eat until breakfast then you have actually been 24 hours without food when you start to feel like a real soldier you can omit all three meals one day and you will have fasted after dinner the previous night until breakfast the next day about 36 hours once you have achieved this and know that you can do it then i think it is time to pray and ask the lord if he wants you to do a longer fast again i would advise you not to take too much action the first time take two or three days or a week if you spend a week fasting that will probably have a substantial effect on the course of your life now it's perfectly possible to fast for long periods in the scriptures many people fasted for 40 days but i do not think it wise to make the time your main goal it isn't as significant how long you fast as that you fast in the will of god and that your motives are pure and that you get the rewards that should be yours from fasting to sum up i suggest you begin on a small scale and gradually increase your fast length what happens during a fast during a fast i very strongly advise that you take extra time for bible reading and for prayer it is wise to make it a practice not to pray without first studying the scriptures when you read your bible it anoints your spirit and it makes your mind in accordance with the thoughts of god your prayer will usually be much more effective and focused after reading the bible if you are only fasting a couple of meals you may feel that you do not have much time but you have the time you would normally have spent preparing and consuming two meals offer this time to the lord at least spend this time particularly in bible reading and prayer secondly defend yourself from spiritual attacks the real sacrifice in fasting is not proceeding without food rather it is the fact that if you really start to seek god pray and fast for things that matter satan will loosen extra spiritual forces against you you may find that strange obsessions begin to arise over you doubt fear or loneliness you may somehow feel in a dark place or you may lose some of the usual feelings of joy peace and happiness that you normally have as a christian don't be worried if this happens indeed it is a kind of backhanded compliment of the devil it means that you are worrying him and he's out to prevent you from achieving your objectives don't yield to these emotions do not let feelings dictate you remember the great fundamental truths of the word of god god is on your side god loves you and is a reward for those who seek him diligently this is true regardless of whether you feel it or not don't let feelings turn you away how can i fast with maximum physical benefits if you want to maximize the physical benefits of your fast there are certain things that will help you i will provide you some constructive recommendations to help you improve the most from your fast first get plenty of rest as a matter of fact take extra time to rest you can pray as well in bed as you can on your knees secondly do some activity and try to get some fresh air it significantly increases both the spiritual and physical benefits of fasting usually in most people's fasting experiences the unpleasant reactions come to a climax on the second third or fourth day if you get beyond that then you come into a period where fasting really becomes exciting thrilling and enjoyable you may even find that your mental clarity increases in remarkably thirdly while fasting it is usually wise to consume a lot of fluid what kind of fluids purified water would be as a great option when you fast you will invariably notice that your taste becomes much more intense and you will perceive all sorts of horrible tastes in the drinking water which you hardly noticed when you were eating especially the taste of chlorine how should i break a fast one other concern is with breaking a fast this is an essential aspect of fasting you may lose most of the benefits that you are due from fasting if you break your fast unwisely some of us do not realize that the word breakfast which we still use in the english language means the meal that breaks a fast some people however eat so much so late at night that they never have a fast to break after fasting always start with a simple meal even if you have fasted in just a short time do not start with anything cooked oily or fat or heavy preferably start with a raw salad or fruit most people find starting with a salad especially lettuce very purifying the thing to remember is that the longer the fast the more gradually you have to break it when you are in a fast after about the first two or three days you don't feel famished but when you start to eat again your hunger comes back that is when you really must hold on to yourself you can get mental pictures of all kinds of things you love eating but you just can't give way because you can ruin many of the physical benefits of fasting by breaking your fast quickly or unwisely a further point needs to be considered you will find that when you start eating after a fast you will begin to feel full earlier than you would have before you fasted habit will make you go on eating the rest of the meal but wisdom says why not stop there you've had enough therefore fasting is a way also to change our eating habits which many of us need to do enclosing a bible quiz which one is not a fruit of the spirit peace hope joy faith

Channel: Grace Digital Network

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Keywords: grace digital, power of fasting, power of fasting and prayer, power of fasting and praying

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Length: 23min 21sec (1401 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 25 2021