Fasting:  A Prayer Intensifier

We have been discussing prayer for the last several weeks, and today I want to focus in on an ancient Biblical practice that is not practiced very often here in the USA – fasting.  I am sure, that of all the spiritual disciplines, fasting has got to be the most dreaded and ignored. I don’t think that is true in other countries of the world, but it is here.  I think that is because we live in culture that is self-indulgent and gluttonous.  I don’t think there is any other spiritual discipline that goes so radically against the flesh as this one. And because we do not like to deny our flesh, we do not like to fast.  We live in the richest country of the world.  Even those who are among the lowest 5% income in America, are richer than 70% of the rest of the world. We are used to having what we want. For people who are used to having what they want, denying themselves anything is difficult.

Fasting is mentioned 77 times in the Bible. Baptism is mentioned 75 times. The reason we do not practice fasting is not because it is not in the Bible. It is because it is difficult, and uncomfortable for us.  How many Christians do you know who regularly practice fasting?  How many times have you fasted in the past year?

I remember years ago talking to a worker at Gospel For Asia.  He told me that the Native Missionaries in India have the same solution to every emergency.  If they are being persecuted by the Hindus or Muslims, they fast and pray. If they want to see souls saved, they fast and pray. If they need more workers, they fast and pray. And God typically responds by answering their prayers in remarkable ways. However, here in America things are quite different. If we have a need, we seek to figure out a way that we can meet that need apart from fasting and prayer. In our affluent, technically advanced society we haven’t learned the secret that these brothers in their impoverished counties have learned.

Arthur Wallis, author of God’s Chosen Fast, writes, “In giving us the privilege of fasting as well as praying, God has added a powerful weapon to our spiritual armory. In her folly and ignorance the Church has largely looked upon it as obsolete. She has thrown it down in some dark corner to rust, and there it has lain forgotten for centuries. An hour of impending crisis for the Church and the world demands its recovery.” 

Think of fasting as one of the most powerful weapons God has given us in order to do battle against the enemy, and advance His kingdom in the world, not as a form of self-inflicted masochistic torture.

John Piper has written, “Do you have a hunger for God? If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul’s appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called fasting… That’s what I think fasting is at heart. It’s an intensification of prayer. It’s a physical explanation point at the end of the sentence, “We hunger for you to come in power.” It’s a cry with your body, “I really mean it, Lord! This much, I hunger for you.”… The absence of fasting is the measure of our contentment with the absence of Christ.” 

1. What Does It Mean To Fast?

Let me give you a simple definition.  “Fasting is a Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.”

2. Should We Fast?

Compare Matthew 6:2,5,16.  Do you question whether you should give? Pray? Why would we question whether we should fast?

Read Matthew 9:14-15.  What do you conclude from the teaching of Jesus regarding whether we should fast?

3. What Are The Various Kinds Of Fasts In Scripture?

A Normal Fast:  fasting from all food, but not water. Luke 4:2

An Absolute Fast:  fasting from all food and drink.  Ezra 10:6; Esther 4:16

A Partial Fast:  Dan. 10:3.  For 3 weeks Daniel abstained from any tasty food, meat, and wine as he mourned over the sins of Israel.

A Supernatural Fast:  Moses fasted from all food and water for 40 days.  Dt. 9:9.

A Private Fast:  You fast without broadcasting to others that you are fasting. Mt. 6:16-18.

A Congregational Fast:  Joel 2:15-16; Acts 13:2

A National Fast:  2 Chron. 20:1-4.  United States Presidents, John Adams, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln called the entire nation to fast and pray at various times.

A Regular Fast:  This fast is observed regularly, either weekly, monthly, or annually. In the OT, fasting was observed annually on the Day of Atonement. In Luke 18:12, a Pharisee boasted that he fasted twice a week. John Wesley wouldn’t appoint anyone as Methodist preacher who didn’t fast Wednesday and Friday.

An Occasional Fast:  This fast is observed occasionally whenever you believe God is leading you.

4. How Long Should We Fast?

Part Of A Day:  Judges 20:26; 2 Sam. 1:12.

A Day:  1 Sam. 7:6

3 Days:  Esther 4:16

7 Days:  1 Sam. 31:13 (valiant men of Israel at Saul’s death); 2 Sam. 12:15-20 (David at his son’s death)

21 Days:  Dan. 10:3 (Daniel observed a partial fast for 3 weeks)

40 Days:  Dt. 9:9 (Moses); Mt. 4:2 (Jesus)

5. Why Should We Fast?

Not To Gain Acceptance With God:  If you are in Christ, you are already 100% accepted by God. Nothing you can do to make God love you more.

Not To Manipulate God:  Fasting is not some kind of spiritual hunger strike that gets God to do our bidding

For The Advance of the Kingdom of God:  Acts 13:1-3.  David Brainerd, “I set apart this day for secret fasting and prayer, to entreat God to direct and bless me with regard to the great work I have in view, of preaching the gospel… God enabled me to wrestle ardently in intercession for absent friends… The Lord visited me marvelously in prayer; I think my soul never was in such an agony before. I felt no restraint, for the treasures of divine grace were opened to me. I wrestled for absent friends, for the ingathering of souls, for multitudes of poor souls, and for many that I thought were the children of God, personally, in many distant places.”

To Seek God’s Guidance:  Acts 14:23

To Express Grief and Repentance For Sin:  Jonah 3:5-9

To Seek God’s Deliverance or Protection:  2 Chron. 20:3-4; Esther 4:16

To Minister To The Needs Of Others:  Is. 58:6-7

To Prepare Yourself For The Work of God:  Jesus – Mt. 4:1-2

To Experience A Deeper Fellowship With God:  Lk. 2:36-38

Conclusion

If fasting is a prayer intensifier, what is that great need in your life that you want to fast and pray about?  Seek to identify it.

Will you begin to add fasting to your prayer life?  Perhaps you might decide to fast once a week for 24 hours (breakfast and lunch), and make that a regular rhythm of your spiritual life. Perhaps you will set aside one day each month.

Remember, fasting is a tool, a weapon.  Don’t let that tool or weapon like rusting on the ground. Pick it up, and use it to advance God’s interests in the world!

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