Scriptural facts about fasting

S.SEKOU ABODUNRIN

I felt it would benefit us to receive instruction from the word of God about fasting.

Most of us have been Christians long enough to have heard a myriad of teaching about fasting, some of it has proven to be beneficial while a large portion has bordered on the edge of wishful thinking and excess. This is not only true of fasting, but of any ordinance from the Father expressed in scripture.


I want you to keep at the back of your mind that activity of itself is not proof of spirituality. Any activity that an unbeliever can do is proof that the activity can be carried out by human ability. If the world can do a thing, then it is not a true measure of spirituality for the unbeliever is spiritually dead. If I were to ask you what constitutes a Christian, some would answer “someone who doesn’t go to raves and parties” the truth is there are many unbelievers that do not like raves or parties at all, does that make them Christians? Actually the thing that makes you a Christian is not external in its origin or expression. It is the receiving of God’s supernatural life in the person of Jesus.

Most activities proceed from zeal, and not knowledge.

9And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Lk18:9-14

I want you to notice that the Pharisee actually had good works. His actions were right. On the other hand the publican was actually a sinner, one whose actions didn’t measure up to the expectations of society. Yet we read that the publican went home justified, and not the Pharisee.

Why was this the case?

The answer is in the fact that according to Jesus when a person looks to his actions as a basis of acceptance before God he is proud. God exalts the humble as this parable shows. It was not wrong for the Pharisee to act right, but it was counter-productive for him to trust in his works.

The truth is that both the Pharisee and the publican were in need of God’s mercy. The Pharisee did not know this because he was living in religious fantasy. He was deceived into using his actions as a basis of judgement. He perceived that his actions were more right than that of the publican and he became judgemental as a result. His problem is what is called legalism. I want you to see that the legalistic attitude involves comparing ourselves with others.

The publican recognised that he was destitute before God and that he was due judgement, but for the intervention of God’s mercy. In effect he looked away from his works and placed his faith in God’s provision of mercy.

According to Jesus both of them went up to pray. We notice a profound fact about the prayer of the Pharisee.

11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Lk18:11

This is a man in prayer. In reality he was deluded because he was reporting people to God instead of communing with God. He stood in the place of a judge. Then I want you to see that according to the bible when one prays from a legalistic perspective he is not communion with God, but with himself.

The first thing to recognise is that fasting is not about going without food. If all that’s what fasting is about, then the people going without food in the third-world nations are all fasting. Then you have people all over the world on strict diets. Some even go on perpetual dieting that would qualify as fasting if we assume that fasting is doing without our meals.

Going without our meals is called dieting in the twenty-first century. People try to spiritualize that, but it isn’t.

Fasting is more about what you are taking in. Fasting is about what comes into your daily life. Fasting is not so much what you don’t do, but what you do. You are so taken up by ministering to the Lord that you skip the time for other things. It is not the idea of skipping your meals that constitutes a fast, but the extended devotion to God that affects the sequence and timing of your life.

If all you do is focus your attention on the time-piece mentally counting off the hours and looking forward to a time to ’break’ the fast, you might as well relax, walk to the kitchen, have a meal then go about your normal duties as you will be more productive that way.

Fasting is not a time of staying of meals, but a time of extended communion with God. If you are staying of your meals, but not communing with God, you are at best observing a diet.
When you fast [take extended time out to fellowship with God and give yourself over to spiritual things] your father in heaven sees the things happening in secret [spirit realm] and rewards you openly.

1Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
Acts 13:1-2

You need to realise that it was in ministering to the Lord that they fasted. There is such a thing as ministering to God. Often we are used to the idea of God ministering to us, but few of us realise the need for fellowship that is in the father-heart of God.

These were leaders in the church, we are not told about why they were gathered, but we understand that they jointly ministered to the Lord and fasted. This implies that in the New Testament there is no such thing as fasting just for the sake of it. Doing that qualifies as hunger strike.

These were people that were busy about the work of ministry, they were busy for God. It is a commendable thing to be zealous about the things of God, but far greater to be in love with God himself. These ministers recognised that the strongest thing in the mind of God is not so much how he can use us, but how he can have us to himself exclusively. There is no shortage of men that want to be used of God. There is a shortage, of men that simply want to minister to the Lord himself.

Nowhere in scripture do you find fasting mentioned alone. Fasting only makes scriptural sense depending on what it is joined with. You find that fasting is mostly always associated with prayer. While it is true that fasting is never mentioned alone, thanksgiving can stand alone, praise can stand alone, rejoicing san stand alone.

This tells us that fasting is an aid. It aids us in doing the real spiritual service.

Here we can glean some facts from the public declaration by the Holy Spirit concerning Paul and Barnabas. God says “…the work whereunto I have called them”
This shows that Paul and Barnabas already knew the things that were spoken by prophecy. These ministers could sense that there was something about further work that God had in mind for Paul and Barnabas. It wasn’t Paul and Barnabas’ place to go about proclaiming this to the others, so they set themselves to fast.

A casual reading will lead one to say, “When they fasted God moved by speaking” that is like saying “when I believed the gospel, Jesus died”. Fact is that Jesus has died over 2000 years ago. In his death he has declared his love for me. I was ignorant of this, so he sent ministers to preach to me. When I heard the gospel, I believed. Believing didn’t make a new thing happen, it simply woke me up to what was available.

I want you to see that the fast did not make God speak. Fasting helped the ministers raise their sensitivity. Fasting affects the man, not God. God already had conveyed this plan to Paul earlier. We see clearly here that the open reward was that they heard God’s voice.

We can see that the aim of real fasting is to make the voice of God more distinct to man.

Often we think crosswise that. We think I need to add ‘energy’ to my prayer so I will add fasting to it. The thinking is that fasting will give prayer ‘wings’. It might surprise you that this thought-pattern is not new. In fact the people of Isaiah’s day thought that way. God replied through the prophet.

4Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

5Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
Isaiah 58:4-5

These folks had afflicted their souls, they had their heads bowed, and they showed it through the sackcloth and ashes. God says “wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?”
They we fasting to make their voice to be heard in heaven or on high! According to the bible that is not scriptural. It is like the Pharisee saying, “God will hear me because I fast twice weekly” that is delusion. When one thinks that way, he is all alone, alone by himself.
When you say something like that it is as though God has things to say, but he needs help from you to say it. The problem is not on the Father’s side at all.

It is not man’s voice that needs to be heard on high. It is God’s voice that needs to be heard on earth.

Fasting is based on the principle “your will be done on earth” the challenge is on earth, not in heaven. Fasting is ministering to God exclusively so that you become more aware of the living God.

So, we see that fasting for the purpose of ‘aiding’ your prayer is simply works. It is not acceptable to God. However fasting because you are ministering to the Lord and are caught up with spiritual things will bring you into a new awareness. The change happens on earth, not in heaven.

God’s been talking for a long time, but we get too busy in the natural, seemingly lost in the noise of daily living. He doest need to speak more, we need to change our positioning so that we become more aware of God and what he has been saying.
……………….. to be continued