Prayer & Fasting

Multiple links to websites and books at the bottom of the page.

Fasting for a Change

Introduction:  Fasting is intentionally abstaining from eating food for a specified period of time in order to obtain spiritual insight and power from God to make lasting changes.  In scripture there are many examples of fasts.  Typically, in the Old Testament, fasts were public and corporate, although individual private fasts were also normal.  Fasts were often a part of the mourning process.  Jesus confirmed that practice when he answered the criticism of his disciple’s failure to fast by saying, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?” Matthew 9:15  Jesus also indicated that fasting and prayer served to overcome demonic opposition. Mark 9:14-29.  The early church is shown in Acts as engaging in fasts for the purpose of seeking direction and launching new ministries.  Cornelius fasted to gain direction, Acts 10:30.  The church at Antioch fasted to find God’s will and to launch the missionary endeavors of Paul and Barnabus, Acts 13:2-3.  And Paul and Barnabus fasted before ordaining leaders in the local churches they had established, Acts 14:23.  Here are some other biblical examples of fasting and their purposes:

I.         Duration and Purpose of Biblical Fasts

40 Days:  New Beginnings
          Moses Deuteronomy 9:9, 18 - the giving of the law
          Elijah 1 Kings 19:8 – ending a national and spiritual drought; strength against attack
Jesus Christ Matthew 4:2 – for strength during intense temptation and as preparation to inaugurate new ministry

21 Days: National Renewal and for Victory over Demonic Strongholds
Partial Fast:  Daniel 10:2-3 – mourning for the national spiritual condition

10 Days:  Health and Healing
Partial Fast:  Daniel 1:8-20 – health and understanding

7 Days:  Mourning 
          Israel at the death of Saul 1 Samuel 31:13
          David at the death of his first child by Bathsheba 2 Samuel 12:16-18

3 Days:  Direction and Protection
          Esther Esther 4:16 Food and water; protection from attack
Paul  Acts 9:9 Food and water; occasion of his conversion accompanied by his blindness; for the purpose of gaining direction and processing new insights or changing old mindsets

1 Day Fasts:  Mourning, Repentance, and Conflict
          The Day of Atonement Leviticus 23:32 - national day of confession and repentence
          Judges 20:26 -Israel’s battle against Benjamin; when in conflict with brethren
1 Samuel 14:24 - A battle against the Philistines; when in conflict with enemies
2 Samuel 1:12 - mourning over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan
2 Samuel 3:35 - mourning over the death of Abner, David’s general

II.       The Fast that God Chooses, Isaiah 58:6-12

Fasting is not eating for a prescribed amount of time for specific spiritual reasons.  While there are health benefits to fasting, it is spiritually useless unless accompanied by times of prayer and seeking God.  There is no overt biblical command to fast.  It is entirely voluntary in type and duration.  The bible does assume that believers will fast from time to time Matthew 6:16-17, but the how, when, and how often is between you and God as he leads. 

Fasting is not a way of getting God to do your will.  True prayer fasting is always seeking God’s will.  God cannot be manipulated.  There are many godly purposes for fasting.  But ultimately, the overriding purpose is to bring your flesh into alignment with God’s will John 4:34 whether in making fresh starts, beginning new ministries, mourning a death, finding direction, enduring temptation, meeting conflict, breaking strongholds and addictions, or just making healthier choices.

III.           Fasting for Specific Purpose

In the book Fasting for a Spiritual Breakthrough, Elmer Towns described nine biblical fasts or partial fasts, each having a spiritual purpose.  They are briefly described below.  He is the dean of the School of Religion at Liberty University, which he co-founded with Jerry Falwell.  He is primarily responsible for popularizing the term ‘Daniel Fast’.  I am quoting his titles below. 

Daniel Fast - for health and healing
Samuel Fast - to bring liberty to the oppressed
Elijah Fast - to break every yoke
Ezra Fast - to undo heavy burdens
Disciple’s Fast - to loose the bands of wickedness
Esther Fast - to bring protection from demonic attack
Widow’s Fast - to share our bread with the hungry and to care for the poor
John the Baptist Fast - to enhance your testimony and influence for Jesus
Paul Fast - to gain insight in the process of making important decisions

Ezra 8:21-23; There is always a particular purpose attached to every fast you find in scripture.  When you fast, it should be with a specific spiritual purpose in mind.  Jesus directed His followers to engage in secret, private fasts.  But He did not prohibit corporate fasting.  However, He did insist that we not make a big deal about it or become legalistic and prideful.  Fasting was predominately public until Jesus came.  Even though Jesus changed the way fasts were primarily conducted, there were still corporate fasts after His coming, (ex. Acts 13:2-3).  Our church is engaging in a corporate fast from after lunch today until we break fast at lunch January 21.  As a church, we will always begin our new years with some kind of fasting emphasis.  In teaching and preaching about fasting, it is necessary to come together as a church and practice our teaching.  But generally speaking, fasting is a private devotional activity.  We have some reasons we want to pray and fast as a church at the beginning of this year.

Conclusion:  Daniel 10:2-13; In the links below are some suggestions for participating in the Daniel “Fast”.  If you’ve never fasted before, don’t set yourself up for failure.  Modify the fast in a way that you are reasonably certain of success.  It is more important that you follow through on what you decide to do than to fail at what you felt pressure to do.  Don’t respond to pressure from anyone but God.  That said, we all need to stretch ourselves.  It is hard.  But it’s not that hard.  You can do this!  Several of us have a lot of experience with Daniel’s partial fast.  We can help you succeed.  


Video
Fasting to Reclaim Your Edge, Kingdom Connection with Jentezen Franklin (28:30)
Jentezen Franklin Media Ministries Fasting Video Journal 2011

Helpful Websites

There are many great websites that describe the details of a proper fast.  The first two here are detailed yet easy to find information on.  There is very clear direction on how to fast properly on these sites.  The third site is a good brief overview.  


Books
Fasting for a Spiritual Breakthrough, by Elmer Towns
The Fasting Edge, by Jentezen Franklin
7 Basic Steps to Successful Fasting and Prayer, by Bill Bright
Fasting Forward, by Billy Wilson
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