First, we must understand the power of understanding purpose. When the purpose of a thing or practice is unknown, we are bound to abuse the use of such a practice. Meanwhile, when the purpose of a thing is understood, we are bound to maximize its use. This concept applies to fasting. When we understand the purpose of fasting, we will be able to do it correctly and with the right motives and ultimately get the best result out of it.
First, what does it mean to fast? According to Daniel 10:3, it primarily means to abstain from eating food for a certain period. By extension, fasting means to starve your body of cravings for food and sometimes sleep, or other fun stuff like movies and social media, just to wait on the Lord in supplication and worship, like Daniel mentioned in Daniel 10:2.
Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, but the appointed time was long; and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision.
Daniel 10:2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.
Daniel 10:3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
I find this scripture very powerful because there is so much to draw from it. First, it is the fact that Daniel’s fast was inspired by a vision of a prophecy that was to come to pass but was being delayed. He didn’t just fast because it’s a spiritual activity to do. His fast was inspired by a desire to get a result, especially the manifestation of the promise given to him by revelation.
But before we start talking about the right reasons for fasting, let us explore the wrong reasons for fasting. The first wrong reason for fasting is to gain people’s appraisal.
Matthew 6:16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
Matthew 6:17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
Matthew 6:18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
God will reward your fasting openly when you do not do it for show-offs. The open reward of your fasting will be the open manifestation of your purpose of waiting upon the Lord. We can see this truth in the life of Jesus when he went to the wilderness to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. Now, this doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t know that you’re fasting at all, lest it hinder the reward for your fast. Sometimes people will have to know (for instance, your lover) that you are fasting, but Jesus is speaking more about having the right motives when you are fasting.
Now, under the dispensation of grace, we don’t fast to get authority over the devil or to get the power to work miracles and heal the sick! but rather we fast to put into activation or manifestation the spiritual realities that we now have in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?
Galatians 3:2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
Galatians 3:4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
Galatians 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—
To win God’s approval, the Galatians were engaging in law-inspired Jewish practices. They began to think they could gain God’s approval through their works, and Paul taught us that even the person who manifests the gifts of the Spirit and works miracles among them does it by hearing of faith. This is so important because people bring this mindset into fasting. They fast to try to get God to do something to get God to move, and Paul is saying to us here that such a mindset is not correct. It is by faith that we can please God, and it is by faith that we can walk in the supernatural. However, we need to have certain consecrations, like prayer and fasting, to subject our body and mind to the rulership of the spirit. Hence, fasting is more of a tool through which we can be transformed into the very image of our identity in Christ.
Now let us consider a very popular story in the Bible. As recorded in Matthew 17, There was a man whose son was demonically oppressed, and when He brought the son to Jesus Disciples, they couldn’t heal him. So the matter got to Jesus, and He was able to finally heal the child, but His disciples came to him to ask why they couldn’t heal the boy, and this was what Jesus had to say.
Matthew 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Now what Jesus was referring to in verse 21 was their unbelief. This is the kind of unbelief where you know God’s word and believe it, but at the same time have doubt in your mind. In such a condition, your mind is not in agreement with your spirit because your mind is being influenced by the delay and negative situation that you are seeing physically. Jesus had taught the disciples faith and the potency of God’s power. They had seen results previously, but this particular situation just didn’t work, which caused their minds to start warring against the conviction of their spirit. This is the kind of unbelief mentioned in the book of James.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
James 1:7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
James 1:8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Now you must understand that, as a human, you’re your spirit, soul, and body.
Your spirit is the breath of life. Your body is the physical container that interacts with this earthly realm. Your soul is your personality, which is a product of the merging of your spirit and body. Your soul is who you are as far as your manner of reasoning and emotions are concerned.
Now, when we were born again, it was our spirit man that primarily experienced regeneration!
For in your spirit is where God’s Spirit dwells.
But the complete salvation of your body and soul will manifest on the resurrection morning when Jesus returns to take us home—what some call the rapture.
Until the rapture, there remains a continuous battle between the desire of your spirit man, which is Godly, full of faith, full of the power of God, etc., and your body, which is earthly, limited to the five senses, which triggers fear and doubt. All these battles happen in your soul or mind, where you process information and make decisions.
I will take time to explain this concept in detail some other time, but what has this got to do with fasting? Fasting is training your body to submit to your spirit and training your spirit to rule over your body. When your body is tired and weak due to a lack of food, it is not able to fight against your spirit, and the fruits and nature of your spirit can dominate your soul!
Now, if, for instance, you mix color with water, the result you get is dye. Imagine that your body is the color and your spirit is the water. The more water you have and the less color you have, the less concentrated the dye will be, until all we see is water. That water that we end up seeing is your soul, reflecting your spiritual nature.
So James talked about the plague of being double-minded, meaning that having both the spirit and body influence your soul will result in instability and will eventually weaken your faith. So fasting helps you put your body under subjection.
Did you notice that, if you read further down, Daniel saw a vision but others didn’t see the same vision? It was a vision of the communication of his spirit with an angel. Others around him did not see it but were covered in trembling, for they knew something was happening.
Fasting changes us! Not God! Fasting strengthens the spirit and weakens the body, thereby strengthening our faith and love. However, it is not fasting alone that gets the job done. It is fasting and prayer!
We must focus on spiritual activities more when we fast so that our bodies will begin to accommodate God’s leading and direction.
You can’t be fasting and watching movies or watching comedy skits on social media. That is a hunger strike. To get the most out of your fast, you must pray. That henceforth you will pray and fast with understanding so that you can reap the abundance reward of your spiritual labors.
Jude 1:20
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
I would like to draw the curtain here, but I’d like you to pray in tongues. I want you to pray for the next minute, and if you can’t still pray, focus on receiving strength from your spirit over your flesh. That henceforth you will pray and fast with understanding so that you can reap the abundance reward of your spiritual labors. In Jesus name, we have prayed. Amen.
If you have questions, please reach out to me or send in your questions via this link.
