Skip to main content

The Life Changing Benefits of Fasting

One of the greatest disciplines available to the New Testament Church is the discipline of fasting. Fasting is a powerful tool in our arsenal. We are called to fast and pray. Pastor Mahesh Chavda writes, “Nearly every Christian I have talked with has had some questions and misconceptions about fasting.” Fasting is a discipline that we have neglected in the twenty first century church.

This fast is to prepare God's people for Spiritual leadership for the new season we are entering into. This new season will bring unprecedented change into our personal lives and our society. How are we going to embrace the new things we are entering into? Are we going to make a decision that we are going to awake from our slumber and let the world know that we are here! Most churches in America have fallen asleep. We are caught up in materialism and the pursuit of pleasure instead of doing the perfect will of God. Our society is in trouble. 

This troubled society demands a response from the church. We are called to influence our culture. Where do we start? We start by humbling ourselves through prayer and fasting. Why do we need to fast? Because fasting is God’s chosen method of awakening the church and giving us a conquering spirit! To fast is to abstain from food, pleasure, or fun with the goal of drawing closer to God. 

Fred Hartley says, "The first time I heard someone talk about fasting, I thought, 'They must be a little odd-almost weird.' Let's be honest. Eating is only one of our bodily appetites, but it is the granddaddy of them all. The sheer thought of denying that appetite triggers unsolicited, rebellious cries of protest." 

We are a people who love to eat. Our highways are lined with all kinds of wonderful places to eat. We live in a day of Taco Houses, pizza parlors, burger joints, diners, and cafeterias. To fast cuts across our culture. We do lunch together. We discuss business over a meal. A great deal of money exchanges hands in America today at lunch or supper. When we want to spend time with our families we do it at mealtime.
God is calling us to fast to prepare us for the days that lie ahead. To position us for the changes that He is bringing to the Body of Christ and to our society at large. Mahesh Chavda writes in his book, “The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting,” “There are 12 specific benefits of the ‘fast that God has chosen listed in the Book of Isaiah.’”
1. Revelation – “Then your light shall break forth like the morning…”
2. Healing and Wholeness – “Your healing shall spring forth speedily….”
3. Righteousness – “Your righteousness shall go before you…”
4. The glory of the Lord (Presence) - “The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”
5. Answered prayers – “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer…..”
6. Continual guidance – “The Lord will guide you continually…”
7. Contentment – “then your light shall dawn in the darkness”
8. Refreshing – and satisfy your soul in drought
9. Strength – “and strengthen your bones;
10. A work that endures (like an ever-flowing spring) – “and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”
11. Raising up future generations – “you shall raise up the foundations of many generations….”
12. Restoration – “and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, and the Restorer of streets to dwell in.” 

We need to get serious about deliverance. We have a decision to make. Are we going to get desperate about salvation and deliverance? When we put the same effort into our prayer meetings and our times of fasting and prayer that we do in our fellowship events then we will see our sons and daughters born again and serving the Lord. My prayer is that we will see what God sees – broken people all around us who are in bondage. They are broken, hurting, and desperate under demonizing influences. These are the ones that are delivered through prayer and fasting. Jesus said, “These kind come out except by prayer and fasting.”

It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to rise up in God’s glory. We have been called to set the captives free, and the Lord has provided mighty weapons to pull down the strongholds that have entangled and hold people in bondage. Everyone seeking deliverance from an entangling sin or chronic weakness needs to get serious about prayer and fasting. If parents want to see their children healed or set free from demonic oppression, then they need to get serious about prayer and fasting for their children. We must humble ourselves and become desperate before the Lord! 

What will be the result of humbling yourself through fasting and prayer? Six things will take place when you fast:
1. You are humbling yourself
2. You will see life’s priorities more clearly.
3. You will see balance return to areas of your life where there is imbalance.
4. Your selfish ambition and pride will begin to be washed away.
5. You will be more sensitive to God’s Spirit, and the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit will work more effectively in your life.
6. Your hidden areas of weakness or susceptibility will rise to the surface so that God can deal with them.
7. God will make you more unselfish.

Comments

Barry said…
This word is truly remarkable, and so fitting for the time we live in. Just last week my Deputy Director at work informed us that our Director was going to be fired. The Deputy Director was to report to the Deputy Secretary for our agency for a meeting a short time thereafter. The Deputy and managers in our office gathered together and I led them in intercessory prayer for the Director. When the Deputy returned from the meeting, she found her suspicions were correct. The Deputy Secretary wanted to know if she would step in until a replacement was found. Later that same day, our Director was called out of a meeting by the Deputy Secretary. He said that he had calmed down and was going to bring some disciplinary action against her. That to me was not acceptable. She (the Director) was only doing her job. The next day, I got all of the managers together again and we prayed again. Certain events followed that let us know our prayers had been answered. Our Director is still working and has not been disciplined either. All she wanted to know is if we had prayed for her. She told us, through tears, of the peace that had come over her and let her know everything was all right. I didn't stop there. I went on a 3-day fast for her and the needs of others. It was a struggle each day, but if I can give someone else a hand in this world to help them overcome the wiles of the devil, it is worth the sacrifice to me! It does me no good to have the weapons of our warfare and not use them. We are our brother's keeper. God help us if we don't! Possessions are only a burden. The more you have, the more you have to take care of. There will be no U-Haul behind the Hearse. How many storage facilities are needed when we have people without means around us everywhere. Everything that can be seen is temporary, and everything temporary is subject to change - rust, rot, decay and mildew. There are people who have spent their entire lifetime accumulating "things". It is only our relationships that matter. Help God save a life today! You and your money have a mission.
March 3, 2008 at 7:38 PM
anderson ramlogan said…
i agree with all what you have said here brother and support it God Bless ya
March 5, 2008 at 9:56 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rebuilding the Broken Altar of Prayer

In Matthew 21: 12-13 , “ Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” Jesus made this declaration, “My house shall be called a house of prayer!”  I believe that God is calling us back to the altar of prayer.  For several weeks the Lord has dealt with me about rebuilding the broken altar of prayer in our personal and corporate lives.  If we are going to see spiritual breakthrough in our churches and communities then we must rebuild and return to the altar of prayer. Wayman Rogers writes, “The ministry of prayer is the most important of all ministries in the church.  Prayer creates the atmosphere and binds the powers of darkness so the gospel of Jesus can go forward and the church can prosper.  This is the area that
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shout of a King is Among Them

Numbers 23:21 - “He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God  is  with him, And the shout of a King  is  among them.” In this passage of Scripture, the king of Moab had hired the prophet Balaam to speak a curse over the children of Israel.   He saw Israel as a threat to his kingdom.   Numbers 22:2-3 – “Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.” When the enemy sees the people of God rising up in faith, he becomes very concerned and moves to keep us from fulfilling our assignment.   We learn in Numbers, Balaam could only speak what the Lord gave him to speak.   Instead of a curse he speaks a blessing. The enemy seeks our destruction, but God!   Listen to the conversation between God and Satan in Job 1:8-10, “Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you conside
Post a Comment
Read more

I Hear the Sound of Abundance of Rain

I Hear the Sound of Abundance of Rain 1 Kings 18:41-46 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.”  42  So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees,  43  and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” 44  Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’” 45  Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.  46  Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.        One of the most fasci
2 comments
Read more