God is not moved an more to answer our prayers when we choose to go without. https://www.pexels.com/el-gr/photo/2950325/
[Fasting—going without food or withholding something – is found quite often in Scripture. “Fast” or “Fasting” by my count in the NKJV is found in 14 verses in the New Testament (N.T.) and 25 verses in the Old Testament (O.T.) making it a significant teaching that was often combined with prayer. In the O.T. the term is often used as a way to humble oneself before God and/or show repentance, sorrow, and grief. Fasts would even be called corporately for the entire nation to participate in at times. On occasion it would be combined with wearing sack cloth (a course, uncomfortable burlap type fabric) and the smearing of ashes over one’s face and body to express sorrow and grief. However, in the N.T. Jesus commands us not let others know when we are fasting by the use of ashes or a sad disposition. Fasting is to be between you and God. Note also that individuals with medical conditions such as diabetes should be wise about fasting, and consult their doctor, especially when fasting for any prolonged period of time. From my personal experience in fasting over several days, it is not wise to end a fast with a bagel and cream cheese, which resulted in significant stomach ache.]
[Mat 6:16-18 NKJV] 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. 17 "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 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.
[Similar to when they would pray in public, the religious leaders in Jesus’ time would fast to look pious before others. Jesus condemns this external hypocrisy. He re-asserts the purpose of fasting as a way of changing and humbling ones’ heart, especially in ridding ourselves of unbelief. Many people think that humbling ourselves by fasting will somehow provide us leverage with God to get Him to answer our prayers because of what we do. What Jesus was teaching His disciples was that fasting is more about changing our personal hearts than changing God’s mind.]
[Psa 35:13 NKJV] 13 But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing [was] sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart.
[Mat 17:21 NKJV] 21 "However, this kind [of unbelief—see tip 14) God Chooses to Limit Himself by His Word and Our Unbelief] does not go out except by prayer and fasting."
[Mar 9:29 NKJV] 29 So He said to them, "This kind [of unbelief] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."
[Fasting is a great way to bring our body—the flesh or 5 senses—under the will of the Word, which is Jesus in us, the Holy Spirit. When fasting, we are consciously choosing to ignore one of our most basic bodily urges, hunger, and instead follow the Word’s command to fast. During a fast, our body says to our soul—mind, emotions, and will—we need to eat or we will die, but when we choose to ignore and deny our hunger, we are placing the commands of the Word about fasting over the urges and desires of the flesh. Fasting is training and humbling the flesh that we live by the Holy Spirit and truth of God’s Word, not by bread alone.]
[Luk 4:2-4 NKJV] 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' " [quoting Deuteronomy 8:3]
[Deu 8:2-3 NKJV] 2 "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness,to humble you [and] test you, to know what [was] in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every [word] that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
[Fasting makes us know that the Word is more important than the body’s physical, fleshly needs. This is especially effective when we are struggling with doubt that God will answer a promise from His Word. For example, when we have prayed and are believing for healing and our fleshly senses tell us that the pain and sickness is still there, fasting can help rid us of any unbelief by telling us that the Word or promise we are standing on is more real than what we our flesh and senses tell us. Jesus taught that fasting casts out unbelief when combined with prayer. In addition to unbelief, here are some other prayer requests that were combined with fasting found in Scripture.
1) Fasting to see God’s Word/Promise fulfilled.]
[Dan 9:2-3 NKJV] 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years [specified] by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
[2) Fasting to break wicked oppression.]
[Isa 58:6 NKJV] 6 "[Is] this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?
[3) Corporate fasting for repentance and mercy.]
[Jon 3:6-9 NKJV] 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered [himself] with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused [it] to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell [if] God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
[Jer 36:6-8 NKJV] 6 "You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the words of the LORD, in the hearing of the people in the LORD's house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities. 7 "It may be that they will present their supplication before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great [is] the anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people." 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.
[Joe 1:14 NKJV] 14 Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders [And] all the inhabitants of the land [Into] the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.
[Joe 2:15 NKJV] 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;
[4) Fasting when appointing elders.]
[Act 14:23 NKJV] 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
[5) Fasting during a storm on a boat]
[Act 27:9 NKJV] 9 Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,
[6) Fasting for someone to bring you the gift of the Holy Spirit.]
[Act 10:30 NKJV] 30 So Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
[1Co 7:5 NKJV] 5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
[7) Fasting for mourning. It is interesting to note that we as believers still have the bridegroom with us via the Holy Spirit. This may be why Jesus, eliminated the sackcloth and ashes part of fasting.]
[Mat 9:15 NKJV] 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
[Luk 5:35 NKJV] 35 "But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."
[One-day fasts in the O.T. and during Jesus’ ministry years likely happened 4 times a year.]
[Zec 8:19 NKJV] 19 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'The fast of the fourth [month], The fast of the fifth, The fast of the seventh, And the fast of the tenth, Shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts For the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.'
[When and how long to fast should be between you and God? You should always “let the Peace of God rule in your heart” (Col 3:15) about a decision to fast. And also remember that if you prematurely break a fast, “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro. 8:1).]
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