Episode 6 – Fasting & Prayer (Fasting Myth Busters)

Fasting Myth Busters

• Fasting will solve every problem
• The more painful the fast the more the answer.
• Fasting Changes God.
• You must not have sex if you are fasting
• You must not drink water
• If I fast I will die
• If I fast I will lose weight

 

GETTING THE BEST FROM YOUR FAST;WHAT TO DO WHEN FASTING

Fasting and prayer season must have a mission. As a result of personal experiences with fasting, I can only counsel that everyone, train themselves in fasting and fervent prayer, to overcome greed, covetousness, sexual desires etc, as well as to revive deep spiritual blessings and power. You can be sure of success.

However, before beginning a fast you have to consider whether your life with God and man is in order, otherwise it is useless according to Isaiah 58:1-7. Only if these conditions are fulfilled, and your life is clearly adjusted to the Word of God, can the 20 promises in verses 8-14 become reality.

A fasting program ought to include prayer, intercession, reading of God’s word (i.e. one way of listening to God), allowing God to speak from within. It can also include worshipping him with songs of praise on multimedia or personally. Listening to or watching sermons focusing on areas you are burdened with is also edifying.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to lose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter– when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I,” Isaiah 58:6-9

Important Steps To Take During Your Fast

Here are some other practical considerations:- First:- During your fast take extra time for Bible reading and prayer. Bible reading should come first because this “anoints your spirit” and gets your mind in line with God. Your prayer will normally be much more effective after Bible reading. Second:- Guard against spiritual attack. The real sacrifice in fasting is not going without food; it is the fact that when you really begin to seek God, pray and fast for things that matter, Satan is going 3 to turn extra spiritual forces loose against you. You will find that strange oppressions begin to come over you – doubt, fear, or loneliness. You may somehow feel yourself 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 get worried if this happens. In fact, it’s a kind of back-handed compliment from the devil. It means that you are worrying him, and he’s out to prevent you from going through with your objectives. Don’t yield to these emotions. Don’t let feelings dictate to you. Bear in mind the great basic truth of the Word of God: God is on your side; God loves you; God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. This is true whether you feel it or not. Don’t let feelings turn you away. Thirdly:- Don’t put on a religious act. Don’t let everybody know that you are fasting. Some people will have to know, but don’t make a show of it. Don’t make a display of it. Do it as quietly and as unostentatiously as possible. Remember, normally speaking, with a few exceptions, fasting does not prevent you from doing the things that you would ordinarily be doing.

1. Establish THE PLACE And Time To Meet With God

In 1 Samuel 3:1-9, when Samuel first heard the word of the Lord, he did not understand it. Three times God called him and three times Samuel ran to Eli, his spiritual mentor. Finally, after the third time, Eli realized that it was God calling Samuel. It was at that time that Eli told him to go to THE PLACE where he previously heard God’s voice and say “speak Lord, your servant listens.”

THE PLACE is more than a physical location where you will go to sit and listen for the voice of God. It is THE PLACE of rest and peace of mind. It is THE PLACE where your mind can be renewed, your heart changed, your emotions prepared, and your spirit behind. It need to be THE PLACE where there is no phone to ring; THE PLACE where neither friends nor family will come and disturb you.

Be equipped with your Bible, paper and pen when you go to THE PLACE. In Habakkuk 2:4, the Lord tells Habakkuk to write the vision down and write it plainly, that he who reads can run with it. He told him to write it in plain and simple language. If you can’t write down what you believe God is saying, you really don’t know what He is saying.

2. Keep A Journal – Plan Ahead – Be Consistent

Be sure to always be prepared to take notes in a journal where you can keep a record of what the Lord has said to you. It would be a shame to enter into this intensely close fellowship with the Lord, hear His voice, then forget what He said. Your fast is a special time set aside for the Creator of the universe. Be prepared to keep your appointments with Him. Plan ahead and cancel whatever you need to in order to be there with Him.

3. Preparation Of Your Physical Body

It is important to prepare your physical body for your fast. You will begin by decreasing the size of your food intake as you prepare to abstain from food. This will help your body adjust more readily. Outlined in the appendix are additional ideas on how to prepare your body for the fast. A fast also has a cleansing effect on your physical body. Your body will gradually rid itself of toxins as you prepare for and go through the fast.

4. What To Expect

During this period of preparation, you will realize that, in most cases, your hunger pains go away as quickly as they come. Because you are eating fruit and vegetables, which are made up of mostly water, you will not feel full as though you had a big meal. This is the beginning of your new diet. You will also begin to sense a stronger presence of the Lord. You will find yourself moving slower, speaking less, and you will become more reflective. As the Bible says in James 1:19, “You will be slower to speak, quicker to listen and slower to anger.”

5. Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Your motives for conducting a fast will play a large role in the goals you establish. I have talked to several people who have expressed a hesitation to fast because they thought they would be doing it for selfish reasons. Some wanted to lose weight to become more attractive or they wanted to fast just to get a blessing.

6. Selfish Or Blessing?

Using this same logic, ask yourself this question: “Why do you pray, read your Bible or go to church?” It’s to be obedient to what God calls us to do and to be blessed! The Lord has been graciously dealing with you since your sinful beginning. The only reason “you love Him is because He first loved you” (1 John 4:10). Your fasting will not and cannot make Him love you any more than He already does. You are not gong to trick or force Him into blessing you against His will.

Ephesians 1:3 tells us there are blessings in heaven with your name on them, waiting to be claimed. You are foolish not to claim them. God will bless you into submission. If you are still worried about having your selfish motives, take time to pray and surrender your motives to Him.

You can fake spirituality sitting in the pew, singing in the choir or reading your Bible, but it is very difficult to fake it during a fast and continually praying in other tongues. The entire purpose of fasting is to perfect your attitude and heart thus purifying your motives. The Holy Spirit will allow conflicts to arise between you and family or church folks or the pastor or leaders or in your business etc…This will reveal what is yet hidden.

 

 

1. Biblical References
2. Prayer

Ezra 8:23 – So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.

Nehemiah 1:4 – So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven.

Psalm 35:13 – But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; and my prayer would return to my own heart.

Daniel 9:3 – Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Luke 5:33 – Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”

2. Worship

Nehemiah 9:1-3 – Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God.

3. Confession of Sin

I Samuel 7:6 – So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

Nehemiah 9:1-3 – Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God.

4. Humiliation

Deuteronomy 9:18 – And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.

Psalm 35:13 – But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; and my prayer would return to my own heart.

Psalm 69:10 – When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach.

I Kings 21:27 – So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.

Nehemiah 9:1 – Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.

5. Reading the Scriptures

Nehemiah 9:1-3 – Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God.

Jeremiah 36:6 – You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities.

Jeremiah 36:10 – Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, in the hearing of all the people.

6. Mourning

II Samuel 1:12 – And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

I Kings 21:27 – So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.

Esther 4:3 – And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Nehemiah 1:4 – So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven.

Joel 2:12 – “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

Ezra 10:6 – Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity.

7. Weeping

II Samuel 1:12 – And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

Nehemiah 1:4 – So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven.

Esther 4:3 – And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Psalm 69:10 – When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach.

Joel 2:12 – “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

8. Abstinence from Sexual Relationships

I Corinthians 7:5 – Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

 

The Bridegroom Fast

1. In the Last Days
2. Joel 2:28,29 – It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
3. Desolation – Consecration – Restoration
   The book of Joel paints us a picture of the last days period in which seeking God’s face with fasting (see Joel 2:12) precedes the great latter rain outpouring (see Joel 2:25) and a worldwide display of His glory (see Joel 2:30-32).
4. The Return of Christ
5. Acts 1:1 – The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach…
6. Second Coming
   Neither, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, nor even the great restoration nor reformation of the Church is our primary goal. It is nothing less than the reappearance of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
7. A Love-Sick Heart
8. Matthew 9:15 – And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

As Mike Bickle says – Jesus was saying that fasting is directly related to experiencing the presence of the Bridegroom. And that is, in essence, His highest purpose for this discipline: to develop in us a greater spiritual capacity for intimacy with our Bridegroom God.

Jesus assured those questioning Him that when He was taken away (through His death on the Cross) they would fast because of their grief. He knew that His disciples had grown so accustomed to enjoying His presence that after He was gone they would mourn the loss of it and begin to yearn for a sense of closeness to Him.

Yearning for the one you love is commonly called love sickness. Can you imagine whole-hearted lovers of Jesus today becoming so filled with holy lovesickness that they freely choose to live fasted lifestyles? This is what Jesus was prophetically speaking of.

You may be wondering what practical results you can expect from the Bridegroom Fast. Here are three of them:

1. You will receive more revelation of God while poring over His Word. Imagine receiving more revelation of the beauty of God that fascinates our hearts!
2. You will receive a greater measure of revelation in an accelerated way. When people tell me, “I just can’t wait to receive more from God,” I tell them to add fasting to their loving meditation on the Word. This type of fasting speeds up the process of receiving from God. It also speeds up the process of getting rid of old mind sets, old strongholds and hard-heartedness.
3. The revelation we receive will touch us at a deeper level. A heart tenderized in love is the greatest gift the Holy Spirit can work in a worshipper. To live feeling loved by God and feeling a reciprocal, passionate love for Him is the most exhilarating form of existence.

If you want to experience more of Jesus in a deeper way, start fasting with a focus on Jesus as the Bridegroom. The Holy Spirit gives grace and revelation to His people who aren’t afraid to cry out for it. And when you respond to His wooing and embrace a Bridegroom fast – God’s feast for His Bride – you will mature and enter into intimacy with the Bridegroom. Then you will be able to assume your true identity as the Bride of Christ and be fully prepared for His return.

2. A New Order and Motivation
3. A New Day

A new day has dawned. The old rites and legal bondage of performing to earn entrance and acceptance before God no longer remain. We enter freely through the Blood of Jesus Christ. Though Jesus’ disciples would fast again, they would never return as it was before. They would fast out of a new heart and a new motivation.

1. From Arthur Wallis – God’s Chosen Fast:

“Before the Bridegroom left them, He promised that He would come again to receive them to Himself. The Church still awaits the midnight cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him’ (Matthew 25:6). It is this age of the Church that is the period of the absent Bridegroom. It is this age of the Church to which our Master referred when He said ‘then they will fast.’ The time is now!

“These words of Jesus were prophetic. The first Christians fulfilled them, and so have many saintly men and women of succeeding generations. Where are those who fulfill them today? Alas, they are few and far between, the exception rather than the rule, to the great loss of the Church.

“A new generation, however, is arising. There is concern in the hearts of many for the recovery of apostolic power. But how can we recover apostolic power while neglecting apostolic practice? How can we expect the power to flow if we do not prepare the channels? Fasting is a God-appointed means for the flowing of His grace and power that we can’t afford to neglect any longer.

“The fast of this age is not merely an act of mourning for Christ’s absence, but an act of preparation for His return. May those prophetic words, ‘Then will they fast,’ be fulfilled finally in this generation. It will be a fasting and praying Church that will hear the thrilling cry, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom!’ Tears shall then be wiped away, and the fast be followed by the feast at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’…’Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:17, 20”

1. The Contemplative

The contemplative fasts out of a lovesick heart! Passion for His presence; longing for His return; brokenness as over a lover who has left waiting for His return, is now the new motivation of the Bridegroom fast!

Blessings!