Prayer and Fasting

Biblical Fasting

WHAT IS BIBLICAL FASTING?

The root word used for “fasting” is the Greek word nesteia -- a compound of
ne (a negative prefix) and esthio which means "to eat." So the root meaning
is "not to eat." But what is the purpose of people deciding to “not eat”?
In Hebraic culture fasting was more than dieting or seeking self-discipline.
In Leviticus 16:29 (King James) it says fasting is synonymous with
“afflicting one’s soul.” It’s not just afflicting your body, but afflicting your
soul. In other words, fasting is denying your body, but it’s also denying
your wants. It is a way of saying that food and my desires are secondary
to seeking God.

Here’s the key. It’s not just a Holy diet. The purpose is to abstain from food
and replace that with prayer, scripture reading, seeking God. Biblical fasting
is always accompanied by prayer. It is deliberately abstaining from food for
a spiritual reason: communication and relationship with the Father.

WHY FAST

To Seek God with your whole heart
God said, "When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you"
(Jeremiah 29:13,14). When you are willing to set aside the appetites of the
body to concentrate on the work of praying, you are demonstrating a whole
heartedness in seeking God. Fasting is an expression of wholeheartedness.
This is clear from Joel's call to the nation of Israel: "Yet even now," says the
Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting. . ." (Joel 2:12).

As an act of worship to God
Andrew Murray said, "Fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm
the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything - to sacrifice ourselves -
to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God."

To submit your circumstances to Him
In God's word we always find fasting connected with a troubled spirit or an
anxious heart before the Lord. So a reason for fasting is not something you
choose on the spur of the moment. Rather the reason is a consuming one. In
a sense, it's not something you choose, so much as something that chooses
you, because it's that important.

To express the Lordship of God in your life
Fasting puts things in proper focus. It is a physical way of saying, "Food and
the things of this life are not as important to me as (fill in the blank)."

OCCASIONS TO FAST

When is it appropriate to fast?
What is a good Biblical reason for going without food?'
The Bible has answers to those questions. We find seven occasions when the
people of God fasted…

Repentance and confession: Examples of this are found in Deuteronomy
9:18; 1 Samuel 7:6; 1 Kings 21:27; Ezra 10:6; Jonah 3:5; and Acts 9:3-9.
When people wished to demonstrate that they were serious about repenting
from their sin, they fasted. Our willingness to sacrifice shows the depth of
our commitment and in this case fasting is a pictorial way of saying to the
Lord, "I care more about getting right with You, God, than I do about these
other necessities." So a good occasion for fasting is when we are truly
grieving over our sins.

Preparation: In Acts 13, we saw the calling of Paul and Barnabas. Verse 3
tells us that after they received this direction from the Lord, then they
ordained them for service by prayer, fasting and laying their hands upon
them. We find the same thing later on in the book of Acts -- Paul and
Barnabas fasted at the selection of the first elders for the new churches they
planted (Acts 14:23). It would appear that fasting in these cases is a way of
seriously seeking God's blessing, anointing, and power in preparation for
what’s to come.

For protection: There are occasions when death or danger threaten us. We
see from the Scripture that it is certainly appropriate to employ fasting as a
means of receiving God's protection during these times. When Ezra was
carrying a large consignment of gold and silver to the temple in Jerusalem
along a route infested with bandits, he records: "I proclaimed a fast...that we
might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for
ourselves, our children, and all our goods" (Ezra 8:21,23,31). Other
examples of fasting for protection are found in Jeremiah 36:9 and Esther
4:3.

Direction: Fasting helps us find God's will. If we expect God to reveal his
direction for our lives, we must put Him first. Often this means putting aside
the fulfillment of our physical appetites, so that we can focus our attention
on Him. We find an example of fasting for direction in 2 Chronicles 20:1-
30. Three nations were coming against Judah to destroy them. King
Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, proclaimed a fast for the whole nation and
they asked the Lord what they should do. God heard their prayer and their
fast and gave the people prophetic direction through one of the choir
members! God told them what to do. Acts 13:2 is another example of
direction being given by God during a fast. Here we find the leaders of the
church of Antioch worshipping and fasting. The Holy Spirit used this
occasion to tell the church leaders to choose Paul and Barnabas from among
their group and send them out to spread the gospel among the Gentiles. So
fasting is one of the ways we seek God's guidance and direction in our lives.
Sickness: There are two examples in Scripture of fasting on behalf of those
who are sick: 2 Samuel 12:15-23; Psalm 35:13. Both of these examples
come from the life of David. In Psalm 35:13 David says, "Yet when they
were sick, I put on clothes of sadness and showed my sorrow by going
without food." David saw fasting as a way to ask God for physical healing in
the lives of other people.

Special revelation: The final occasion for fasting is for special revelation.
Exceptional insights from God were sometimes given to the prophets and
others during periods of fasting. Daniel sought God with fasting to ask God
to fulfill His promise to restore Jerusalem (see Daniel 9:9,18 and compare
with Jeremiah 29:10-13). He received through the angel Gabriel a wonderful
unfolding of God's plan for Israel. If we have sought God in vain for the
fulfillment of some promise, it could be that He is waiting for us to humble
ourselves by fasting and seek Him as Daniel did. Other examples of
prophetic revelation during times of fasting are found in Exodus 34:28;
Deuteronomy 9:9,18; and Daniel 10:1-3. God decided to speak to these men
while they were in the midst of a fast. For those seeking prophetic guidance
or revelation today, God may also use the occasion of fasting to speak to
them in a very unique way.

Mourning: We see fasting and mourning connected in 1 Samuel 31:13; 1
Chronicles 10:12; 2 Samuel 1:12; and 2 Samuel 3:35. In these situations
fasting showed the sorrow that the people felt over the loss of someone God
used in their lives. In fact, the custom of fasting in mourning was considered
normal behavior among the Israelites. That's why the servants of David were
so astonished when David got up and ate following the death of his son:
"David's servants said to him, 'Why are you doing this? When the baby was
still alive, you refused to eat and you cried. Now that the baby is dead, you
get up and eat food?!'" (2 Samuel 12:21). When someone experiences the
loss of a close friend or relative, they usually don't feel like eating. This is a
normal, natural reaction in the initial stages of grief. It is a perfectly good
reason to fast.

HUNGRY

hungry I come to You
for I know You satisfy
I am empty
but I know Your love does not run dry
and I wait
and I wait
so I wait for You
so I wait for You

chorus
I'm falling on my knees
offering all of me
Jesus, You're all this heart is living for

broken I run to You
for Your arms are open wide
I am weary but I know Your touch restores my life
so I'll wait for You
so I'll wait for You

I'm falling on my knees
offering all of me
Jesus, You're all this heart is living for
Oh, I'm falling on my knees
offering all of me
Jesus, You're all this heart is living for

and I wait for you
and I wait for you
and I wait for you
and I wait

I'm falling on my knees
offering all of me
Jesus, You're all this heart is living for
Oh, I'm falling on my knees
offering all of me
Jesus, You're all this heart is living for

hungry I come to you,
for I know You satisfy