Fasting is not a “command” in Scripture but an expectation: Jesus said “When you fast,” (Matthew 6:16), not if. It seems He assumes that His followers will practice this discipline. Also, in Matthew 9:14-15, Jesus tells the disciples that when He goes back to heaven, they will resume the practice of fasting even though they did not fast while He was with them.
I have fasted several times– everything from one meal to three days to fasting for 40 days from TV and sweets. I must be truthful and tell you– I really don’t like to fast. It’s hard. It’s a choice to make myself uncomfortable, and I don’t like to be uncomfortable. It’s a choice to not instantly gratify myself, and I want to have what I want when I want it. I realized that the “world” constantly bombards me with the message that I should have everything I want and need at all times…and after a while I start to believe it! I need God’s power to deal with that.
As I meditated on what Jesus tells us about fasting, I wondered why He does not command us to have a set time, place, and “way” to fast. Maybe Christ gives us so little direction on the “how and when” of fasting because He doesn’t want us to view it as an “I have-to.” Maybe He wants us to see it as an “I get-to”- a precious opportunity given by the Father to His child. Many Christians choose not to fast since there is no specific “command.” I also know some followers of Christ who fast once a week or once a month. As a result, they experience the benefit of feeling closer to their Heavenly Father, as well as being more peaceful and certain of His direction and will.
Contrary to what many Christians realize, we can fast from things other than food. Married couples are even admonished to abstain from sexual relations, by agreement, for a short period of time for fasting and prayer. Then they are encouraged to resume their relations so as “not to be tempted by Satan.”
Sylvia Gunter gives an example of a different type of fast in her article from the Father’s Business, a weekly devotional:
“Time and again God brings me to my knees over my heart attitude expressed out of my mouth. More than once, God has led me to fast of negative, critical, judgmental, and complaining words. Why a fast of words? Is that a legitimate application of fasting? The Hebrew word fast means “to cover the mouth.” For me, it is harder to fast from words than from food. Abstaining from negative words may be as powerful as fasting from food because it is a particular battlefield for most of us.
I have some friends who also have fasted from things other than food. One friend periodically fasts from her “rights” to convenience -the right to have a computer, the right to have coffee every day, the right to her cellphone, the right to watch TV. Another friend has fasted from things that had to do with her mouth- like the right to have an opinion and say what she thinks.
Fasting, whether it be from food, sex, an attitude, or perceived
“right,” is one of the ways we present ourselves to God as a “living sacrifice” in order for Him to do what only He can do (Romans 12:1-2). It’s a way of humbling ourselves before Him and saying, “I am powerless, but You are the Almighty, All Powerful God, and I trust You! I beg You to move on my behalf and to do what I am praying for, and I surrender to Your will!” This is what Daniel did after receiving a vision about a great war that was coming. He mourned, prayed, and fasted from anything that would have been considered signs of rejoicing: did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed ( Daniel 10:3 NASB). On the 24th day of the fast, an angel came to Daniel as an answer to his prayers: Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.” “Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength”
(Daniel 10:12, 18 NASB).
Daniel “set his heart” on understanding and intentionally put himself in a position of humility. God responded and strengthened him. He wants to do the same for you. Fasting is one of the pathways to receiving His blessings, and more importantly, more of Him!
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of fasting! Please change my heart so I can see it as You do – as a gift that gives me the opportunity to be closer to You! And in the meantime, give me the strength to obey and understand, like You gave Daniel. Give me an undivided, uncluttered heart, that I may fear Your name!
Memory Scripture:
So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship (Romans 12: 1 NCV).
