My stomach was in turmoil as if there was a war going on within my most inner been. My mind began to be flooded with thoughts such as, “Was this really how I was suppose to be feeling”? Why would anyone put themselves through this agony anyway”? I was in Bible school and had been fasting for several days for the first time , along with a team who would be going on a mission’s trip together. If it would not have been for the powerful results and definite impact in peoples lives on this outreach. I would have probably never attempted fasting again, writing it off as a sadistic form of self-torture. Yet, God’s word reveals otherwise.

Fasting gets us in a place where we can be molded and shaped for the purposes of God. The Lord has a master plan for His people, and when we fast and pray, we are saying “yes” to God’s will. We are tuning into the realm of the Spirit.

In Joel 2:12 it says, “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” When we come before the Lord, we must come with all of our heart. We can’t come with a divided or a reserved heart. The Lord wants all of us or none of us. Jesus says in Matthew 22: 37, “You shall

When we fast, we are virtually saying we want God more than we want physical life    (tweet)

love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” When we fast and pray, it is basically a choice of willingly denying our flesh and its desires for the purpose of spiritual things.

A fast rightfully defined is virtually doing without food. We see when Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness in Matthew 4:2 it says, “And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.” Jesus had not been eating food, as we see in Luke’s account, “He ate nothing.” Hunger pangs and the craving of food are totally real and intense. Our physical body needs food to survive. Without it, it will revolt and scream out like a eagle until it dies or gets food. That’s why, when we fast, we are virtually saying we want God more than we want physical

Fasting gets us in a place where we can be molded and shaped for the purposes of God.     (tweet)

life. It is making a statement of serious intent and shows our earnest cry for God.

Fasting is not a hunger strike trying to make God do something. It is an act of love, denying ourselves, and our pleasure for God’s will. Much of God’s people have lost the understanding of the power of fasting. We have largely put it off in a dark corner of forgetfulness. It’s time for us to rediscover the power that is loosed through fasting, just as the early church experienced.

In Acts 13:1–4, the early church at Antioch ministered to the Lord and fasted. From the midst of this prayer meeting, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” The Holy Spirit brought forth direction and inspiration once they had fasted and prayed. They had no idea of the impact this assignment would make in the world. Much of the New Testament was written from the results of this journey.

Our early fathers of the faith knew the importance and power of prayer and fasting. To name a few, there was King David, Saul, Moses, Elijah, and yes, our Lord Jesus as our example, fasted and prayed. I encourage you to explore a lifestyle of fasting unto the Lord.