Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough: A Guide to Nine Biblical Fasts (30 page)

Practical aspects
. While Elijah fasted for 40 days he had supernatural assistance, and such a lengthy fast is not recommended in this dispensation. The lengthy time Elijah fasted suggests: (1) You may need to fast several times to break a habit. (2) The more intense a habit, the more intense your prayer. (3) The longer you’ve had the habit, the more fasting time you may need to break it.

Esther Fast

Problem
. Use the Esther Fast when facing a threat from the evil one, or fast for ongoing security so you will be protected from satanic forces.

Key Verse
. “Go, gather all the Jews...and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise” (Esther 4:16).

Prescription
. (1) Recognize the source of danger and destruction (2) Realize you are under demonic siege. (3) Recognize whose authority protects you. (4) Fast and pray for protection. (5) Know the limitations of prayer and fasting. (6) Get power in corporate fasting and prayer. (7) Fast to overcome spiritual blindness. (8) Fasting must be done with common sense, not reckless abandonment of principles. (9) You need spiritual protection against evil spirits.

Practical aspects
. (1) The greater the spiritual attack, the more often or the longer you must fast. (2) The greater your spiritual attack, the more people you must recruit to fast and pray for you. (3) The greater the spiritual attack on you, the more protection preparation you must make for the fast. (4) While you pray daily for protection from the evil one, you do not fast daily. (5) Fast and pray for spiritual protection of your spiritual leaders/pastor.

Ethics in Fasting

Only you and God can know whether you are sticking to your vow to
fast, or whether you “sneak” a bit of candy or take a sip of water. Your integrity determines how you fast. Fasting is not just getting answers to prayer; it is also about how you do it. The same values you hold in your life will guide you in your fast decisions. Fasting is not only the right thing to do to get results, but also an exercise in your character growth and development.

Ask yourself some hard questions after you fast:

1. Did I do what I said I was going to do?

2. Did I do it the way I said I was going to do it?

3. Did I accomplish the purpose I wanted to accomplish?

Ezra Fast

Problem
. Facing a problem in your physical life or a barrier to your Christian testimony. Ezra called all the Jews traveling through a dangerous wilderness to fast for protection from the journey.

Key Verse
. “So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer” (Ezra 8:23).

Prescription
. (1) Recruit those involved to fast with you (see Ezra 8:21). (2) Share the problem (v. 21). (3) Fast seriously to God (v. 21). (4) Fast before attempting a solution (v. 15). (5) Fast on site with insight (v. 21). (6) Fast for step-by-step guidance (v. 21). (7) Take practical steps along with your fast to solve the problem (v. 24).

Fast (Required) (See Day of Atonement)

The only required fast was on the Day of Atonement when a lamb was offered for the sins of the nation of Israel. Note the procedure followed by the High Priest. “You must offer the bull as a sacrifice to ask forgiveness for your own sins and for the sins of your family” (Lev. 16:11,
CEV
). “You must next sacrifice the goat for the sins of the people” (v. 15,
CEV
). The “scapegoat” was next brought in. “You [the High Priest] will lay your hands on its head, while confessing every sin the people have committed” (v. 21,
CEV
).

The people became involved by fasting. “On the tenth day of the seventh month of each year, you must go without eating to show your sorrow for your sins” (v. 29,
CEV
). They fasted for self-examination and to demonstrate remorse. “On the tenth day of the seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord” (23:27).
Paul and his companions may have observed the Day of Atonement fast on his journey to Rome (see Acts 27:9).

Jesus supported fasting when He taught people how to fast: “When you fast” (Matt. 6:17). He did not command fasting. Fasting is described as a discipline to help believers in their prayer ministries: “Fast...to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matt. 6:17,18).

When John the Baptist’s disciples asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” (Matt. 9:14), Jesus said they have Me (deity) and don’t need to fast. He added that “the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast” (v. 15).

Fasting is not required, nor is it a “church ordinance” that should or must be followed. It is a discipline that strengthens believers and a tool that provides answers to prayer, when correctly implemented.

Fast (Root Meaning)

The noun “fast, a fasting” is
tsom
in Hebrew, and
nesteia
in Greek. It means voluntary abstinence from food. The Hebrew word is a compound of the negative
ne
attached to the verb
esthio
, “to eat,” hence “not to eat.” The Greek adjective
asitos
is also a compound of the alpha-negative
a
attached to the noun
sitos
“corn” or “food.”

First Mention of Fasting in Scripture

The first mention of the discipline of fasting in Scripture is the 40-day fast of Moses when he met with God on Mount Sinai and received directions about the building of the Tabernacle and the tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments (see Exod. 34:28; Deut. 9:9). This was followed by a second 40-day fast, during which time the tablets of stone were replaced (see Deut. 9:18).

History of Fasting

Old Testament historical development
. The verb “fasting” comes from the Hebrew term
tsum
, which refers to the practice of self-denial. Most scholars believe the practice of fasting began with the loss of appetite during times of great distress and duress. At such times, abstinence from food was necessary. Hannah was greatly distressed about her barrenness and “wept and did not eat” (1 Sam. 1:7). Also, when King Ahab failed in his
attempt to purchase Naboth’s vineyard, he “would eat no food” (1 Kings 21:4). Therefore, fasting began as a natural expression of grief.

After a time it became customary to reflect or prove one’s grief to others by abstaining from food and/or showing sorrow. David used fasting to demonstrate his grief at Abner’s death (see 2 Sam. 3:25). Many references in Scripture describe fasting as “afflicting” one’s soul or body. Fasting came to be practiced externally as a means of demonstrating and later encouraging an internal feeling of remorse for sin.

Because fasting was a perfectly natural expression of human grief, it became a religious custom to placate the anger of God. People began fasting to turn away God’s anger from destroying them. Eventually, fasting became a basis for making one’s petition effective to God. David defended his fast before his child died, but promptly ended his fast when the child died. He indicated that while the child was alive, he hoped his prayer might be answered. But after the child’s death, he knew his prayer and fasting would not produce the desired result (see 1 Kings 21:27).

When fasting became a national mode of seeking divine favor and protection, it was to circumvent God’s wrath against a nation or His removal of blessing from a nation. It was only natural, therefore, that a group of people should associate themselves in confession, fasting, sorrow for sin and intercession to God.

Fasting in the New Testament
. In the New Testament, fasting (Greek
nesteia
) was a widely practiced discipline, especially among the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist. Jesus began His public ministry with an extended fast of 40 days. When the apostles were criticized by both the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist for not fasting, Jesus defended their actions by implying they would fast later, but not during His ministry among them.

Jesus gave His disciples no specific guidelines concerning the frequency of fasting. He taught that their fasting should differ from that of the Pharisees. They should fast to God rather than to impress others with their supposed spirituality. Later, fasting was practiced in the Early Church, especially when ordaining elders and/or designating people for special ministry projects (see Acts 13:2). Fasting was apparently practiced by Paul and other Christian leaders fairly regularly.

Fasting in Early Church history
. Epiphanius, the Bishop of Salamis born in
A.D
. 315, asked, “Who does not know that the fast of the fourth and sixth days of the week are observed by the Christians throughout the
world?” Early in the history of the Church, Christians began fasting twice weekly, choosing Wednesdays and Fridays to prevent confusion with the Pharisees, who fasted Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The practice of fasting for several days before Easter to prepare oneself spiritually for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection was also commonly practiced. Later, this fast took the form of a series of 1-day fasts each week for several weeks prior to Easter. Remnants of these Early Church fasts are seen in the Catholic traditions of substituting fish in meals on Fridays and the observation of Lent during the 40-day period prior to Easter. It was also customary for Christians in the postapostolic period of church history to fast in preparation for their baptisms.

Fasting in revival movements
. The discipline of fasting has long been associated with reform and revivalistic movements in Christianity. The founders of the monastic movement practiced fasting as a regular discipline in their spiritual lives. Although later monasticism grew to practice fasting and other forms of asceticism in a vain attempt to achieve salvation, it is probable that the earliest monks fasted in their desire for revival and reform in the Church.

Each of the reformers also practiced fasting, as did the leaders of the Evangelical Revival. Jonathan Edwards fasted for 22 hours prior to preaching his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” During the Laymen’s Prayer Revival of 1859, Christians fasted during their lunch hours to attend prayer meetings in churches near their places of employment.

In the worldwide awakening in 1905, prayer was often accompanied by fasting as people sought the Lord for spiritual blessing. Billy Graham reports fasting and praying during his voyage to England to conduct his first British crusades. The response in his meetings at that time has been described by some observers as “revival in our time.” Many revival movements have advocated a return to the early Christian practice of fasting two days each week.

Fasting for divine intervention
. Periodically, political leaders have declared a national day of prayer and fasting for divine intervention in crisis situations. In 1588, Drake’s victory over the Spanish Armada was widely recognized as an act of divine intervention by English contemporaries. The Pilgrims fasted the day before disembarking from the Mayflower in 1620 as they prepared to establish a mission colony to reach the native people of North America.

It was common for political leaders in many New England villages to call for a fast when they faced a crisis. Friday, February 6, 1756, was designated a day of solemn fasting and prayer in England as it faced the threat of being conquered by Napoleon. Abraham Lincoln also called for a national day of prayer and fasting during the Civil War. On both occasions, military victories by England and the Northern States respectively were viewed as divine interventions by contemporaries.

Such days of prayer and fasting have been proclaimed by political leaders as recently as World War II. In the midst of the Battle of Britain, George VI designated Sunday, September 8, 1940, as a day of prayer and fasting. In a radio broadcast made days after this day of prayer, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill compared Britain’s state with the earlier threats of the Spanish Armada and Napoleon to the island nation. In his memoirs, Churchill identified September 15 (the Sunday following the day of prayer) as “the crux of the Battle of Britain.” After the war, it was learned that Hitler decided to postpone his planned invasion of Britain two days later (September 17). Similar calls for a day of prayer also accompanied the D-day invasion of Europe by the allies (June 6, 1944).

Individual Fast

A fast engaged in by a solitary person without the knowledge of others. Because of Jesus’ teaching about fasting in the Sermon on the Mount, many Christian fasters feel most comfortable with this approach to fasting. For examples of individual fasts in Scripture, see
appendix 5
.

Isolation Fast

Fasting done in isolation, allowing the person fasting to concentrate more clearly and totally on God and spiritual matters. This is usually a fast toward a specific goal.

John the Baptist Fast

Problem
. The John the Baptist Fast is for those faced with distress or trouble concerning their testimonies or influence. “And your righteousness shall go before you” (Isa. 58:8).

Key Verse
. “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink” (Luke 1:15). “He...ate grasshoppers and wild honey” (Matt. 3:4,
CEV
).

Prescription
. (1) Attach your special diet/fast to your desire for influence.
(2) Write out the area in which you want a better testimony. (3) The John the Baptist Fast makes you a “person of the vow.” (4) Recognize that you become influential by doing more than fasting. (5) The John the Baptist Fast is an event and a process. (6) Long-term vows (because of long-term problems) are reflected in long-term fasts/diets. (7) Short-term fasts are for immediate results. (8) Know the steps to a Christ-centered testimony before you fast.