Fasting

What is Fasting?...is the controlled voluntary abstinence of food for different reasons; spiritual, health, political protest, any reason, is not the same as starvation.

Throughout history people have always fasted, this is not a new term, it’s quite ancient actually. Hippocrates said; “let they food be thy medicine and let they medicine be thy food…but to eat when you are sick is to feed your sickness.

We have a fasting instinct in us, like when you are sick, you literally think about not eating food, there are situations where you automatically refuse to eat food, even animals have this ability, this is something natural. Benjamin Franklin said: “The best of all medicine is rest and fasting”

Moses fasted, he fasted 40 days and then 40 days again after he went down the mountain and found out the people were sinning by worshipping a golden calf. Jesus fasted 40 days in the desert, he even said that demons and Satan are cast out through fasting. Paul and Barnabas prayed and fasted for the elders of the churches, Nehemiah mourned, fasted and prayed for the broken walls of Jerusalem, Ezra prayed and fasted for a safe journey, the king of Nineveh prayed and fasted for repentance. The children of Israel prayed and fasted to gain victory in battle, Anna the prophetess prayed and fasted in the temple and the Lord revealed baby Jesus being the Messiah. Its obvious by these few verses that prayer and fasting can be done to prepare for ministry, to seek God’s wisdom, to show grief, to seek deliverance and protection, to repent, to gain victory and to worship God…and believe me and extra blessing comes with it.

Moving away from the Bible into other cultures and religion we see that the Muslims fast yearly for 30 days in Ramadan. The Krishna Monks fast daily from noon until sunset the next day daily, other times they do extended days of just water fasts. Fasting does not lead them to harm, instead it has lead them to mental clarity. The Jews fast and pray.

These people and religion and cultures are fasting every year, so why can’t you do it. You know why, because we have inherited lies, Jeremiah 16:19 says: "Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity and things of no profit." Companies that hold a great profit and share holders have been lying to us for years, telling you that if you fast you are starving and restricting calories, you are eating away at your muscle, that you are ruining your metabolism, that in order to live you need to eat x amount of calories. These are all lies they want you to believe so that you can continue to eat your McDonald, drink your Starbucks, have you Popeyes and Kentucky fried Chicken, your Pizzas, pastries and excesses in simple carbohydrates. At the end of the day who are you going to trust Jesus Christ or Ronald Mcdonald.

Consider the term “break fast”. This refers to the meal that breaks your fast – which is done daily. Rather than being some sort of cruel and unusual punishment, the English language implicitly acknowledges that fasting should be performed daily, even if only for a short duration.

Fasting is not something queer and curious, but a part of everyday, normal life. It is perhaps the oldest and most powerful dietary intervention imaginable. Yet somehow we have forgotten its awesome power and ignored its therapeutic potential.