It is commonly said that when the purpose of a thing is not established, its abuse is inevitable.
This saying goes with the act/art of fasting for Christians. As advantageous as fasting is to believers, it can be unproductive if wrongly carried out.
A man may have just succeeded in having a hunger strike if he fasts with the wrong motive or in an unbiblical manner.
What Fasting means…
Without much ado, we can explain fasting to mean abstinence from food for a period of time. The length of time is relative; a couple of hours, a day, a couple of days... Whatever the duration, the one who fasts denies himself of gustatory pleasures.
While some are permitted to drink water in the course of the fasting (especially one that spans beyond a day), many don’t buy the idea of drinking while fasting as food can also come in liquid form. Although, connotatively speaking, we can fast for other things, (social media fast, TV fast, sex fast…), food fast is the only one given a biblical attention.
Of a truth, there are two angles to fasting: the medicinal/health and the religious/spiritual angles. When a man abstains from food for the good of his health/body, he is fasting therapeutically. Indeed, science has proven that fasting intermittently has health advantages.
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Such advantages include loss of excess weight, lower blood pressure, reduced cholesterol and so forth. While it’s fine to delve into the aspect of medicinal fasting, we are more interested in its spiritual angle. Hence, the proceeding discussion will concentrate on fasting for a spiritual need…
Men didn’t just start Fasting
The act of fasting did not just begin in recent times. Actually, it predates the Christian religion or post-redemption era. The Old Testament men were known to fast now and then. Actually, the first mention of the act of fasting is recorded in the book of Judges - Judges 20:26.
In this scenario, the whole nation of Israel fasted, from dawn to dusk. Matter of fact, they did so quite often. See also Neh 9:1, Ezra 4:3… We also have accounts of men who fasted individually. For instance, David fasted – 2Sam 12:16, so did Daniel – Dan 9:3 and Darius – Dan 6:18.
One thing is however peculiar to the Old Testament (OT) accounts of fasting: Each time men fasted in the OT, they did so to seek God’s favour and to ask forgiveness of their sins. In every instance where the children of Israel fasted, they did so because they had incurred God’s wrath and needed to pacify him.
In the instance of David, he resulted to fasting in order to appease God to spare the life of the baby who was a product of his adultery. As for Daniel, he fasted by way of supplicating for the sins of his people the Israelites – Dan 9:3-6.
By the time we get into the New Testament (NT), we see our perfect master Jesus set forth the example of fasting. The 4 gospels recorded that Jesus, having been baptised by John, was led into the wilderness where he fasted for forty days.
Upon His ascension to heaven, the apostles and other believers continued the act – see Acts 13:2-3, 14:23... This is instructive as many think that fasting is an Old Testament exercise and is not needed for the present-day believer. Interestingly, the idea behind the fasting(s) of New Testament folks was quite different from that of the Old Testament people.
What Christ said about Fasting
Folks will go to any length at legitimizing their erroneous opinions. In fact, they’ll use biblical passages as pretexts. Those who like to think that Christ didn’t make fasting needful should pay a visit to Matt 17: 14-21. Here, when his disciples asked him why they couldn’t heal the boy with epilepsy, Jesus tells them that it was due to their unbelief. He then added that this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting, thus endorsing the culture of fasting.
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By the way, many have misinterpreted the expression this kind to mean the boy’s epilepsy thus arriving at the hasty conclusion that some infirmities cannot be healed without the combination of prayer and fasting. However, remember that earlier (verse 20) Jesus had told them why they couldn’t heal the boy – lack of faith/unbelief. Therefore, the this kind being referred to in (21) is unbelief, hence: this kind (of unbelief) does not go except by prayer and fasting.
Why Believers Fast
We have examined why the men of the OT fasted earlier. However, it’s a different ball game for believers today. In the New Testament, believers fasted to minister to the Lord and wait on Him in the place of prayer. Kenneth E. Hagin once said fasting does not change God but will change you by helping you to keep the flesh under and become more sensitive to the Spirit (paraphrased).
Hence, it’s funny to think that fasting gives God a sense of urgency to meet one’s need in the place of prayer. In the words of Pastor Harrison Ayintete, fasting is a very important exercise: it focuses us on that which is within and drives us away from the physical things. Furthermore, when believers fast, they strengthen their inner man and further yield to the training of the Spirit.
Fast and Pray!
Here is a piece of good news: A man who embarks on a fast without spending time praying has succeeded in having a hunger strike. It would be better if he hadn’t fasted in the first place. While you can pray without fasting, you cannot fast without praying.
Actually, prayer is the reason for fasting hence fasting is a means to an end, not the end in itself. Throughout the bible, whenever fasting is mentioned, it’s always accompanied by prayer/supplication. In fact, we fast so we can be more effective in the place of prayer. So when next you plan to fast, be sure to create/spend quality time praying.
Written by Ayansola Ibukun Ademola.
Ayansola Ibukun Ademola is a graduate of English and a freelance writer/editor.