Fasting Guidelines And Information
But the days will come when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Matthew 9:15
Fasting begets prophets and strengthens strong men. Fasting makes lawgivers wise it is the souls safeguard, the bodys trusted comrade, the armor of the champion, the training of the athlete.
Basil, Bishop of Caesarea
Fasting opens the way for the outpouring of the Spirit and the restoration of Gods house. Fasting in this age of the absent Bridegroom is in expectation of His return. Soon there will be the midnight cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him. It will be too late then to fast and to pray. The time is now.
Gods Chosen Fast, Arthur Wallis
There has been a resurgence of fasting in recent decades, as God calls His people to regular fasting as part of a normal Christian lifestyle. We must prepare ourselves adequately so that the fast can honor God and fulfill its purpose. The following is a general overview of biblical precedent and guidelines for wise fasting to help and encourage you.
Answer A Spiritual Call To Fast
A fast should be centered on God. The Holy Spirit may sometimes call you to a short, personal fast. Other times, a group of believers or a spiritual leader may call you to fast especially during special church seasons such as Lent or in times of national or world crisis.
The inner calling to fast is often in response to a feeling that you need to get serious about your spiritual needs. Below is a list of reasons you might decide to fast:
To Know Gods will
For personal cleansing, both physical and spiritual
An expression of grief
Help in time of trouble
To express sorrow for sin
As a reminder of our dependence on God
When we need Gods wisdom, guidance, direction or courage
When we need healing, whether physical healing or for the healing of our country
When we need the power of the Holy Spirit
As a way to humble ourselves
When we need a breakthrough in the Spiritual realm
When there is a personal crisis or national emergency
As an act of service and worship
To express love and devotion to God
To learn self discipline and to break the power of temptation and sin in our lives
A Fasting Prayer For Resisting Temptation:
All of us face temptation in life. Even Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and is our example of how to face it.
Matthew 4:1,2 describes, Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
Like Satan tempted Eve in the garden with food , he first tempted Jesus with food, too. The tempter came to Him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, It is written Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God .
Although Eve could eat from every tree in the garden except one in order to obey God, , she gave into temptation and ate from it .
Unlike Eve who had plenty to eat, Jesus was without food in the wilderness. Yet, through fasting and obeying Gods word, He resisted temptation and defeated the scheme of the evil one.
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Determine The Length Of Time
The length of your fast is determined by your spiritual need and the type of fasting you are doing. An absolute fast where no food or water is consumed is necessarily limited to a few days at a time in order to avoid dehydration. Daniel fasts, on the other hand, where only certain foods are eaten may last anywhere from a few days to a month. Other fasts are based on skipping a certain meal. For instance, some might fast during the day and eat breakfast and dinner.
DALLAS Willard in his book, The Spirit of the Disciples says: the length or severity of a fast is much less important than an attitude of confirming our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of our sustenance beyond food.
Preparing For The Fast
The normal fast involves abstaining from all forms of food, but not from water, and commonly lasts 24 hours, from sunrise to sunrise. If you are fasting for the first time, you might begin by missing a meal or two. Over time, you can build up to a full day or more.
Begin by refraining from solid food, but drink liquids. Water is the best, since soft drinks are not good for the digestive system, and coffee and tea stimulate the nervous system. Before beginning a fast, it is best to eat lightly and cut back on caffeinated drinks. During the first few days of a multi-day fast, it is common to experience headaches as the body withdraws from caffeine.
If you are planning for an extended fast , you should prepare mentally and physically by cutting down on food intake one week before the actual fast, taking on a vegetarian diet to control cravings for food. Reduce your intake of beverages like coffee, tea and soft drinks as well.
Drink plenty of water.
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Fasting And Prayer How To
Fasting and prayer go together. Fasting is a means of prayer in which we give up food or some other daily activity of life for a set period of time in order to focus more clearly on God. The Hebrew word tsum means a voluntary abstinence from food, which has also been translated as deny self or afflict the soul.
Try Different Kinds Of Fasting
The typical form of fasting is personal, private, and partial, but we find a variety of forms in the Bible: personal and communal, private and public, congregational and national, regular and occasional, absolute and partial.
In particular, consider fasting together with your family, small group, or church. Do you share together in some special need for Gods wisdom and guidance? Is there an unusual difficulty in the church, or society, for which you need Gods intervention? Do you want to keep the second coming of Christ in view? Plead with special earnestness for Gods help by linking arms with other believers to fast together.
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Fasting Prayer For Breakthrough
Thank you for sustaining my spirit and my body during this fastThank you for my life and all you have given me to this dayI come to you today as bare and plain as the day I was bornI pray for a miracle in this situation Im in
Heal my wounds, dear LordHeal my sickness
Speak new life into everything I doDestroy all plans of the evil one and cause a breakthrough in my life todayI pray that you create new ways in my professional life, dear LordMake highways where there is no way in my life
Heal whatever ailments are in my life that men cant healWhat is difficult for man is easy for youI welcome good news into my home onwardsThank you Lord for answering my prayer,Amen
For Strength Against Spiritual Warfare
Heavenly Father, each day is a struggle against sin and temptation. Give us the strength to overcome cruelty with grace, and hatred with love. God, remind us that our actions matter. We do not fight a physical battle but a spiritual one, and with each act of compassion we build your kingdom. Help us to be kingdom-builders today. Amen.
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Do Christians Need To Fast
Fasting might sound sensational today. But in Jesus culture, it was weird for a religious person not to fast.
The disciples of John the Baptist, an important prophet who prepared the way for Jesus ministry, often fasted. So did the Pharisees, a group of religious leaders who opposed Jesus teachings and conspired to kill Him!
During Jesus earthly ministry, His followers didnt fast. But Jesus assumed they would fast after he returned to the Father . In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives His followers instructions on how to fast, specifically telling them not to make a show of fasting like others in their culture .
Jesus may not have commanded his followers to fast, but He expected them to.
Politely Decline Dining Offers
What makes fasting extremely difficult in our culture is that everything revolves around food. We are a food-worshipping, food-obsessed culture, even in the church, and somehow were proud of it. As much as you live food, God is not your stomach. When youre inevitably invited to lunch or dinner with someone, or have unwanted food placed in front of you, simply use these words with a polite smile: No thanks, Im not hungry. By using that simple phrase, you excuse yourself from the social obligation to eat and also keep your fast a secret.
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Pray During Your Fast
When you are supposed to be eating a meal, meditate on scripture and prayer. Food and drink will be a temptation, but persevere through this hard time and distract yourself with the Holy Word and your communication with the Lord. Your connection to Christ will feed you at a deeper level than youve ever imagined. Youll find yourself more dependent upon and more connected to Him.
Beginners Guide To Fasting
Everyone of importance in the Bible practiced fasting: Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Daniel, Anna, Paul, Jesus, just to name a few. When Jesus taught on fasting, He would say When you fast not If you fast. He assumed that we would fast. We were created with fasting, think about it, if you sleep 8 hours a day, then you are sleeping 1/3 of your life. If you live, say, 75 years, thats 25 years asleep, or 9,125 days. When you sleep, you are fasting, thats why morning meal is called breakfast its when you break your fast.
BENEFITS OF FASTING:1. Helps us overcome the calamities of life.Fasting is the Biblical way to humble ourselves . Esther fasted when faced with danger . Ezra fasted for protection . Jehoshaphat fasted in the time of the invasion of the confederated armies of Canaanites and Syrians .2. Renews our connection with God.Jesus said that His disciples will fast when He is gone . When we fast, we get our hunger back for the presence of God.3. Empowers us to fulfill Gods calling in our life.Most of the people in the OT fasted in a crisis Jesus fasted for His calling. We should not fast only during problems, but also for our purpose. Anna was fasting for the coming of the redemption of Israel. .4. Defeats the devil.Once, the disciples of Jesus could not cast out a demon. Jesus said, This kind does not leave, but by prayer and fasting . Fasting helps to break the bonds of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, and empower us to break every yoke .
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Where Should I Pray
The first thing that this section of Scripture addresses is where to pray. Verse six says, when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. So the first thing we learn is that prayer should usually be private. Jesus isn’t saying that public prayer is bad. Hes saying that our motivation for praying publicly can be distorted. Jesus warns us that praying publicly for human attention is wrong and that if we pray for that reason, the attention of man is the only reward that well receive!
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Prayers During Your Fasting Prayer While Youre Fasting
Heavenly Father, thank You for hearing this prayer during fasting.
As You know the listener has made the decision to fast before You.
Their heart and mind are fixed on You Lord.
Thank You for wisdom, revelation, and understanding regarding the question they have on my heart.
Your Spirit is showing them what to do. They are led by Your peace.
Father You know all and it is to You that they look for answers.
Praise Your Name! Thank You that every question is answered!
They can rest in Your promise that You hear them when they pray according to Your will and they know that they shall have the petitions that they desire of You.
Father they delight myself in You and You cause their desires to be agreeable with Your will.
Not their will be done but Yours be done! In every area they bow their knees before You!
Thank You that You are revealing to them what they need to do and what they need to change.
This fast has been dedicated to You and their plans will succeed.
They thank You that it is You who gives the wise answer of the tongue.
Forever oh Lord, they will praise You! You are wonderful! There is none like You!
You are faithful and they can rest in Your faithfulness.
They continue this fast with the joy that is set before them. Thank You that You are right here with them, every step of the fast.
Please help them to get all that You desire for them to receive from this fast!
Thank You for hearing this prayer while they are fasting.
Scriptures To Read:
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Easy Steps For Fasted Prayer For Beginners
Fasting is one of the greatest weapons we have for spiritual battle when teamed up with prayer. Here are 7 easy steps for beginners to fasted prayer.
Throughout the entirety of the Bible, we see the power of fasted prayer. Fasting is still one of the greatest weapons we have for spiritual battle when properly paired with prayer.
Maybe you have thought about fasted prayer in the past but never got around to it. I just recently started taking my fasted prayer seriously and have already seen its effectiveness.
First of all, fasting may not be for everyone and if you have a medical condition of any kind or are at all concerned about the physical effects of fasting, please check with your doctor before doing so. Nowhere in the bible does it say that fasting is a required to live a fruitful life in Christ.
Although media fasts and fasting from material things we pay too much attention to can be extremely beneficial in its own right, the type of fasting I am discussing in this article is a fast from food.
For married couples who cannot do a fast from food, Paul does discuss a different kind of fast that can be done for a short time to devote yourselves to prayer. This is discussed in 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
For many, fasted prayer has probably been something that you have thought of doing at one point but never got around to because you were not sure where to begin. My prayer is that this article can get you started on a journey of powerful spiritual battle.
Dont Fast For The Wrong Reasons
Remember that a fast is not just a Christian diet to lose weight. Without prayer and the prompting of the Holy Spirit, a fast is no different than a fad diet.
Jesus also warns us not to fast to appear super religious to other people so they will notice us and commend us for it. The Pharisees in the day of Jesus fasted regularly as a religious show and even bragged about it, as recorded in Luke 18:12.
In Matthew 6:16-18 Jesus says, When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting but only to your Father, who is unseen and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. NIV
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How To Do A Biblical Fast
There are two types of fasts commonly practiced by Christians today:
1. A partial fast. This is described in the book of Daniel. For three weeks, Daniel, who was a prophet during a time when Israel lived in exile, abstained only from delicacies like meat and wine .
2. A complete fast. A complete fast means drinking only water or sometimes juice when fasting for an extended period. Juice fasts will provide you with more energy than water-only fasts and still lead you into the humbling experience of denying your desire for solid, chewable food.
If you are new to fasting, start slow. Progressive steps help your body become accustomed to the drop in food intake. You can start by fasting for one meal a day, one day a week or one week a month.
What The Bible Says About Fasting & Praying
The notions of fasting Christians are given make it appear as if they are powerless against external forces, except they fast and pray.
But lets see what the scriptures says about praying and fasting in the bible.
The bible will give us the biblical benefits of fasting and praying.
The Most High knows about our misdirected fasting and he address it in the scriptures:
Isaiah 58:4-8
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.
In verse 4 here we see that a fast aimed at defeating our enemies is condemned, as not being a genuine reason to fast. That rules out fasting to defeat our enemies.
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