EPISODE4: TYPES OF FAST(Fasting a La Carte)
Nine Biblical Fasts
Complete fast, Partial Fast
We will describe the protracted fast, or a “Complete Fast.” We are dealing with the type of fast taken by the Lord Jesus Christ. A fast like that of Paul, or Daniel: “Bible Fast.” A complete fast is a fast from the time hunger leaves, until the time hunger returns. Such a fast may continue from twenty-one to forty days, depending on the individual, and also on the amount of time it takes you to get your prayers through to Heaven.
If you can skip dinner so as to pray the prayers in this book effectively in the night, that’s better. Skipping dinner is a fast that Apostle J.N.J of Apostolic Research Institute taught me. He skipped dinner for 6 months and spent all nights seeking the LORD in prayers over some serious issues of direction in ministry
Skipping dinner fast is especially useful as it helps you to go about your business in the day and then seek the LORD for one hour or more in the nights. We are in a spiritual warfare.
- The Daniel Fast
- Purpose: So “thine health shall spring forth” (Isaiah 58:8 KJV) – to gain a healthier life or for healing.
- Key Verse: Daniel 1:8 – “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.”
- Background: Daniel and his three fellow Hebrew captives demonstrated in Babylonian captivity that keeping themselves from pagan foods God had guided them not to eat made them more healthy than others in the king’s court.
- The John the Baptist Fast
- Purpose: That “your righteousness shall go before you” (Isaiah 58:8) – that our testimonies and influence for Jesus will be enhanced before others.
- Key Verse: Luke 1:15 (KJV) – “He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.”
- Background: Because John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus, he took the “Nazarite” vow that required him to “fast” from or avoid wine and strong drink. This was part of John’s purposefully adopted lifestyle that designated him as one set apart for a special mission.
- The Esther Fast
- Purpose: That the glory of the Lord will protect us from the evil one (see Isaiah 58:8).
- Key Verses: Esther 4:16, 5:2 – “…fast for me…[and] My maids and I will fast…And so I will go to the king… (and) she found favor in his sight.”
- Background: Queen Esther, a Jewess in a pagan court, risked her life to save her people from threatened destruction by Ahasuerus (Xerxes), king of Persia. Prior to appearing before the king to petition him to save the Jews, Esther, her attendants, and her cousin Mordecai all fasted to appeal to God for His protection.
