Through fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit can transform your life personally and God can speak to you in new and dynamic ways.įasting and prayer can also work on a much grander scale.
It all comes down to the intent of your heart.įasting has the potential for significant impact in our lives. The motive must be the realization that the world has crowded in around you and you need to withdraw yourself from some of these things to focus more of your time, attention, and desire towards seeking a deeper relationship with God and commitment to His will. There are many reasons to fast but the motive in a fast cannot be that God will find favor with you because you gave up your favorite candy bar. (Before you go on, take a minute and ask yourself: Which of the above definitions is the most meaningful and motivating to you?). Fasting is disconnecting with the world so I can make a deeper connection with God.Fasting is reserving the time, energy, and resources normally given to an activity to pursue God and His will.Fasting is the discipline of putting God’s eternal purposes before my temporal desires.Fasting is setting aside less important things to seek the most important.Fasting is denying myself what I desire as a way of putting my desire for God first.Fasting is sacrificing something I value to pursue something God values for and/or through me.Fasting is turning my attention from the pleasures of this world so that I might more fully focus my attention on Christ and find my greatest pleasure in Him.Some good definitions of fasting are as follows: Although the majority of references to and examples of fasting have to do with abstaining from food, liquids, or both, abstaining from any type of creature comforts can constitute a legitimate fast. In the original languages the word fasting simply means to shut, refrain and/or abstain. Although we are not specifically told why he went without food and water, it is significant that during this time God revealed Himself and His will to Moses for His people. Those words are the Ten Commandments.” Why did Moses go without food and water? Was it to humble himself before God? Was it to prepare his heart to hear from God? Was it that He was so caught up in God’s presence that he forgot to eat? Probably all of the above. The Lord wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant. He didn't eat any food or drink any water. Mentioned in the Bible more than 70 times, the first example of fasting in Scripture is in Exodus 34 – “Moses was on Mount Sinai with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights. Fasting is a discipline that God’s people have practiced in both the Old and New Testaments and throughout church history.
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