In 2015 Kali and I were attending a church called Evangel. Everyone at Evangel was encouraged to try out fasting. Fasting is the spiritual practice of abstaining from something enjoyable for the purpose of having a prayer or need answered by God (if you do choose to fast from food or water do your research and talk to your doctor). So we did our first ever twenty four hour fast at that time, no food whatsoever for an entire day. In hind sight we probably should've eased our way into fasting with a twelve hour or eighteen hour fast because it. Was. Brutal! I heard stories of people having visions of God while fasting and I certainly had visions. Visions of burgers, fries, pizza, all that stuff. I don't remember feeling enlightened after that first twenty four fast but I did feel like it was worth doing somehow. Slowly it became more and more of a lifestyle to where now I don't really make a big deal about it, I just choose to eat one meal a day about eight days out of the month.
Fasting is traditionally done by refraining from food or water but it is not limited to that. You can take a fast from alcohol, television, screen time, social media. Pretty much anything in your life that would be an uncomfortable sacrifice to you if you stopped doing it for a day or more.
In today's article I have three examples of people who fasted for the purpose of receiving an answer from God for their life.
Daniel Fasts From Choice Foods
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three whole weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine came to my lips...
Daniel 10:2-3
Daniel set out on an endeavor to gain some insight into God's plan for his life. He decided he would refrain from eating meat and drinking wine until he received a vision or an answer from his God. It ended up taking twenty one days for God's messenger to travel through space and time to give Daniel his answer in a powerful encounter. It says in Daniel 10 that he went into a trance and saw an otherworldly being. The messenger comforted Daniel and encouraged him saying, "From the very first day you applied your mind to understand and to humble yourself before God, your words were heard. I have come in response to your words." The messenger went on to explain the reason it took three weeks for him to arrive is because of negative forces he had to fight through.
What if Daniel had given up fasting on the twentieth day instead of holding on to his commitment until he got an answer? Was Daniel's humble fast empowering the message to reach him? It doesn't clarify in the book of Daniel whether the messenger would've never reached him if he had stopped his fast but it is something to ponder.
Jesus Fasts For Forty Days
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the Slanderer. After he fasted forty days and nights he was famished.
Matthew 4:1-2
Whoa. Forty days and nights in the desert suffering through extreme heat by day and freezing cold by night sounds like roughing it already. Then add on not eating any food for that whole time? Then having to face off with the Devil at the end of it all? Ya, I'd say that counts as a trial! Why did the Spirit of God lead him out to do that? One of the purposes of fasting is to prove our resolve and dedication to the Spirit. At this point in Jesus's life people were beginning to call him the Messiah. He had just finished being baptized by his cousin John in the Jordan River. Next it was time for the trial that would prove Jesus worthy of the calling of Messiah if he was victorious over the temptations of the Slanderer.
The Devil tempted Jesus through the ego, which every human being has. Jesus was extremely hungry after pushing the human body to it's limit of no sustenance. His body was weakened by the fast but his spirit was made strong. When the Devil would speak to his mind, he would speak back at it, not coming into agreement with the Slanderer's half truths. He passed his trial and began his incredible ministry to mankind once he had recovered.
Esther Fasts To Save Her People
...Don't eat and don't drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. If I perish, I perish!
Esther 4:16
Esther was queen of the Persian Empire at a time when the Jewish people (her people) were under direct threat of being wiped out. A Persian official named Haman was the mastermind behind the scheme. Haman was offended that Esther's uncle Mordecai did not bow to him. Haman had found out that Mordecai was a Jew so he decided to conspire to have all of the Jews killed to teach Mordecai a lesson. With his fragile ego injured he approached the king and asked him to release an edict to kill the Jewish people. He lied to the king saying they were rebels and then even offered a bribe to any official who carried out the destruction of the Jews within the empire.
Upon hearing this Esther was overcome with grief. The world of politics in ancient Persia was very complex and she wasn't on the best terms with the king at the time. Esther knew of the power of fasting to her God so she informed her uncle Mordecai to fast from food and water for three whole days and she would do the same. After the three days she would approach the king uninvited. To approach the king in this fashion was the death penalty if he chose not to raise his golden scepter towards her.
Through the power of her fast Esther approached the king and received his favor. Once the king learned of the truth behind Haman's scheme, he had Haman hung on the gallows. A new edict was released in the kingdom and Esther's people were saved from annihilation.
Fasting is a powerful spiritual practice that has been with humanity for thousands of years and counting. I have some personal experience with fasting for a distinct purpose. Once I had three different family members all in the hospital at the same time with different serious conditions. I felt led in my heart to fast from food for seventy two hours so that they would come out of those situations healthy and strong. Maybe my fast had nothing to do with it but all three of them came out of the hospital recovered and are living their lives to no detriment. That is just one reason I choose to believe in the spiritual power of fasting. Cheers friends.