ByFasting is a necessity in the life of every Christian. Some do it effectively; others haphazardly or not at all. From a research I conducted when asking Christians who hate fasting, they usually quote Matthew 9:15 to me, which says,
Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
Such people think Jesus has already fasted for them, so they don’t need to. Meanwhile, it’s a lie from the pit of hell. Jesus said that when the bridegroom (Himself) had been taken from them (signifying his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension to heaven), then they would fast (not “can fast”). That means that fasting is a mandatory spiritual exercise for every Christian, whether one knows it or not.
Simply put, you must fast. But there are prerequisites to effective fasting in Christ. And knowing them will be of great help to you spiritually. Let’s look at four of them.
Fasting is a mandatory spiritual exercise for every Christian, whether one knows it or not.
Tweet
1. A willing spirit
The spirit of man has a will. That will, for Christians, is usually expressed through an inner witness of the Holy Spirit.
For example, in Matthew 26:41 (NIV), Jesus told the disciples,
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
At that time, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee (James and John) were sleeping while Jesus laboured in prayer in Gethsemane when His crucifixion was approaching. Jesus knew that in their spirits, they wanted to pray. However, their flesh was weak. Hence, He had to allow them to sleep while He prayed alone.
In the same way, God has a way of communicating to your spirit to fast. Sometimes, He doesn’t tell you verbatim, “Hey, son/daughter, fast.” But you’ll start to sense that spiritual urge in your heart for some time. That should tell you that God wants you to do something.
Jesus, knowing this reality told us indirectly in Matthew 6:16 that when such a thing happens, we should obey God.
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Matthew 6:16 NIV
My emphasis in the above verse is on the word “when.” When means “when.” So when you sense the spiritual urge to fast, you must do it. That’s when your spirit wills to fast. However, God can also instruct you to fast for His own reasons. And usually, that divine instruction doesn’t come with explanations until you probe further using prayer.
2. A made-up mind
The mind is one of the most powerful compartments of the human soul. When it determines to do anything, be it evil or good, even God will not stop it. And it gets more intense when a group of people combine their minds to do something.
In Genesis 11, we see in the scriptures that some people came together to build a tower in a land called Shinar (Genesis 11:2-4). That idea was physically reasonable but spiritually disastrous. Why? Because it was a plot of the enemy to use humans to prevent the fulfilment of God’s prophecy of man spreading throughout the earth to have dominion (Genesis 1:26). So God stepped down, confused their language and made them abandon the project (Genesis 11:5-8).
Read: Why God stopped the building of Babel
If the determined mind of even evil people was so powerful that it caused God to come down and intervene, how much more the believer who makes up his mind to fast? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:12 that,
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
That means God won’t stop you from fasting when you mentally decide to do it. And besides the spiritual uses of fasting, some people fast merely to lose weight. They may not be Christians, but they do it because they decided in their minds to.
Maybe, you want to fast and pray about an issue bothering you. Go ahead, but make up your mind to do it well. Decide on the duration and how to break it. God will answer your plea.
3. A well-positioned body
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). That means taking care of it is of primary concern to God.
If God, the manufacturer of your body, says clearly that “fast,” please obey Him before your mind wavers on that decision. But if you’ve decided to fast, as you have health issues, still consider it and probably see your doctor to guide you. I won’t recommend you not to fast at all. But if you have stomach issues, fast at a reduced time rate. Don’t be a fan of desisting this great spiritual exercise because of health problems.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. That means taking care of it is of primary concern to God.
Tweet
4. A Word from God
The last prerequisite to effective fasting on my tall list is getting a Word from God. As I wrote earlier, God can tell you to fast. But in some cases, He can lead you to encounter certain truths in His Word that’ll birth out a heart desire to fast. That happened to the prophet Daniel.
While Daniel went through the scriptures, he discovered that the lasting period for the Israelites to be in exile in Babylon was 70 years. The time was up, but it appeared nothing was happening. That revelation led him to pray and fast (Daniel 9:1-4). Although there were contentions in the spirit realm about his prayers, what he did paid off some time to come.
Friend, your church or fellowship leaders don’t need to announce to the whole congregation to fast. Cultivate that spiritual discipline yourself, with or without someone else’s supervision.
Daughter of Zion, God can use these fasting periods to prepare you for the changing seasons of life ahead. Man of God, there may come a time you can be too busy to pray and fast like you have today.
Avoid using free periods of your life for sleep and unprofitable activities. Wake up, redeem the time (Ephesians 5:15-16), pray and fast, because we live in evil days.
