Congratulations to you all that have accepted this invitation from God and are fasting, God will reward you, doors will open up and you will give a testimony of miracles and the greatest miracle will be the transformation within your soul and your spiritual life.
What is fasting about? It’s a longing for Jesus’ presence !
More of Him and less of us. Fasting is hungering for God. When you fast food, you help create a deeper hunger for God.
Last week we learned from the book of Mark 9:29 where Jesus says that there are some circumstances which cannot be changed except by fasting and praying.
Jesus said that there are some situations in our lives which will not change unless you have a life of Fasting and Prayer.
There are situations which we all face that seem to have no solution. There are situations in our lives, with our families, our health, finances, our marriage and our spiritual life that, according to the bible, are being held by evil spirits which will only loosen and release their grip from you and the people you love through fasting and praying!
When nothing else works, Jesus said Fasting and Prayer is the only solution.
We need to build up the habit of fasting and praying in our Christian life.
We are in our annual Fast, which is a calling for the whole church.
But we also have a day of Prayer and Fasting once a month, which is at 12 hours of prayer every first Saturday of the month.
Day of Fasting and Prayer – 12 hours of Prayer every first Saturday of the month.
I want to challenge all of you to have at least 1 day of fasting weekly.
If you develop a life of fasting you will have a healthier life, you will lose weight, you will be cured of physical illnesses and your spiritual life will grow and you will be a problem for the devil.
For many of us, fasting is like a bad word, it brings chills inside your bones , it might feel like self inflicted tortured, when actually fasting should be a natural practice, like praying, giving up tithes or reading Bible.
Why should you fast food ?
Food was created by God, food is good and a blessing. Food is for strength, food is for satisfaction, it is a positive thing.
Food is a gift from God.
However, I do believe that as Christians we must understand that there are people in the Bible who lost their blessings because of food.
I will give you some examples from the Bible that shows that hunger or food can destroy your life.
Food Temptation was the First ever Temptation. The first sin on earth was caused by food!
Eve was tempted and ate the fruit was forbidden by God, which she then gave to Adam. Adam and Eve lost all that they had because of food, they both ate the fruit of the forbidden tree.
God said: give up this one food, (fast it ) but they ate it anyway! They didn’t resist the temptation. You will be tempted to break your period of fasting!
There is another example in Genesis 25 about Esau and Jacob.
Esau came home from a hunting trip. The bible says he was so hungry that his brother Jacob came out and said: I offer you a bowl of lentils if you give me your birthright.
“But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?””
Genesis 25:31-32 NKJV
In a moment of weakness, he did not think of God. Esau exchanged spiritual blessings for food!
That’s why fasting is so important, fasting transform carnal people into spiritual people.
God is saying to you: There are places you will never reach until you hunger for God and Fast.
The Bible says that Esau lost his birthright because he fed his hunger with physical food, instead of spiritual food from God.
When studying obesity and our struggles with food, it’s amazing to realise that it all goes back to the first sin ever committed.
The act of sin committed by Adam and Eve was food related, thus Jesus had to overcome this struggle. And, as we know, He did overcome!
Matthew 4:1-2 tells us that after a long period of fasting, He was tempted by the devil. At the end of these 40 days, Jesus was very hungry.
Verse 3 says how the devil’s first temptation was telling Jesus to turn stone to bread.
Jesus knows about food temptation and He overcame this temptation.
God wants us to have self-control over food consumption and if you really fast, you develop good self control over this kind of sin.
Jesus was tempted and didn’t fall in this temptation because he had fasted.
When should we fast ?
Some Christians only fast when faced with problems, but we need to live a lifestyle of fasting.
We as Christians have a lifestyle of tithing and praying and reading the Bible.
I believe that fasting should be a routine practice too, just like tithing. You don’t tithe once a year , you don’t read Bible once a year.
I give my tithes every week and the same thing has to happen in the area of fasting.
When you develop a routine of fasting you grow spiritually.
Because fasting is hungering for God. When you fast you’re saying to God : God I need you , I’m thirsty for you , I’m hungry for you!
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”
Psalms 63:1
How is your thirst and hunger for God? Many people have been in church for years but now there is no more hunger for God!
The only thing that will move you out of your comfort zone is your hunger for God. And hunger will drive you and push you to have a new life in God’s presence!
Fasting is hungering for God!
It’s the hunger that you have for God that will move you towards the direction, purpose and miracles that God has for you.
There are things that God will do for His people only when they hunger for Him.
When you begin to hunger for God suddenly you move out of your comfort zone, out of depression, out of self pity and out of your carnality.
Hunger for God changes our attitude and opens our eyes to bigger things.
This hunger drives you to a point of spiritual desperation where you say: I’m not going to have another year like this, I can’t sit in this church and doing nothing for another year, I won’t stay in this addiction for another year, I refuse to live like this again.
Hunger can bless you or destroy you!
For better or worse, hunger will always drive you to take desperate measures!
God presents fasting as a pain on the soul (Leviticus 23:27)
David said : I humbled my soul with fasting (Psalms 35:13)
If you ever have fasted you understand that it’s an affliction to your soul because during fasting you get moody , you get cranky, during fasting you can even feel depressed.
Why? Because your soul is being afflicted.
When you’re fasting it’s not your body that feels afflicted but you feel it most on your soul.
The worldly people , people who do not know Christ, they live a fleshy life , it means their bodies rule their decisions, their flesh control their decisions.
But unfortunately a lot of Christians in churches are soulish people.
What does it mean to be a soulish person?
A soulish person lives by his / her emotions, also is the one who is stubborn. Stubborn meaning their will is not broken, their emotions are easily offended, because their emotions are not submitted to God and their ideas are always confused.
A soulish person is someone who doesn’t like being guided or receiving orders. They are emotional and don’t like to live in fellowship with other people.
Do you know why you have difficulty in your relationship with people ?
Why don’t you talk to certain people? Why do you keep fighting with others and cannot fix broken relationships?
Because your flesh is too strong and alive. Fasting is a God’s tool that can kill and destroy your flesh and your old self.
What can fasting do to a soulish person? (When they fast)
Fasting will do the following: the soul goes through a breaking and sanctification period as the mind loses itself, your emotions rage, and you gradually move from a soulish person to a spiritual person because your spirit gets awakened.
God wants you to be a spiritual person and a spiritual person is someone that has their soul under control and lets their Spirit lead their soul.
Why do you need to fast ?
Because you might be tired of being in an emotional rollercoaster, tired of being a stubborn person, because you know that stubbornness can destroy your spiritual life , your marriage, your job and even your friends, it can destroy God’s calling in your life.
If your ideas are always confused you miss good opportunities. Your soul needs to be sanctified and one of the ways for that to happen is through fasting.
Fasting humbles our soul and teaches us self control.
Through fasting your soul is afflicted, but for a short period of time. Your body goes silent, and your spirit is strengthened, your emotions get stabilised , you get submitted to the will of God and your mind has a sense of clarity and even your body benefits when you fast.
There are people who get healed thanks to fasting, they get changed by this discipline.
What can fasting do to our bodies? Are there benefits to our bodies when we fast ?
There are several scientific studies that show that fasting can protect from obesity and associated chronic disease, reduce inflammation, improve overall fitness, decrease the risk of metabolic diseases and improve both brain function and brain structure.
God gave us an order to Fast because Fasting brings healing to our Body, our Soul and our Spirit.
But our fasting is not a diet, even if there are many physical benefits, we do it for spiritual reasons.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is truly the way to worship Him.”
”Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.“ Romans 12:1-2
Paul the apostle, he pleaded and urged us by the mercies of God to present our body as living sacrifices. This is truly the way to worship Him.”
Fasting is offering your body as a living sacrifice. One of the best ways you can offer your body as a living sacrifice this year is through an extended period of fasting.
What is a living sacrifice? A sacrifice that doesn’t die but keeps on living. You will fast but you will not die! Science has proved that man can fast for 40 days without food. When you are fasting drink a plenty of water.
In the Old Testament, they would kill animals to offer as sacrifices to God.
In the New Testament the sacrifice still continues, not the sacrifice of animals, but offering our body, not killing it, but disciplining it and putting our flesh and will to death.
The Bible says this is a Holy sacrifice, acceptable to God as reasonable service or a proper worship.
I believe that if you have taken the time to fast and to give your body to God , as a response, there will be a cleansing , you will be more holy , you will be less conformed to this world , you will have a renewing of mind, you will receive healing in your body and you will fulfil the calling of God for your life.
If you have a routine of fasting food, praying and spending time with God, your mind will be renewed, you will be transformed and you will find out God’s will for you.