A call to fast! – 10 Biblical purposes of fasting
10 Biblical Purposes of Fasting
1) To humble yourself.
Ps 35:13 “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; and my prayer would return to my own heart.’
2) To repent before God:
“The very foundation of fasting and prayer is repentance. Unconfessed sin will hinder your prayers.” Bill Bright
Neh 1:4-6 “So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.”
3) To Loose the bonds of wickedness:
Is. 58:6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?”
4) To undo the heavy burdens:
Is. 58:6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?”
5) To let the oppressed go free:
Mark 9:29 “So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
6) To share your bread with the hungry:
Isa 58:7 “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;”
7) To purify your motives:
Matt 6:16-17 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,”
8) To receive direction from God:
Isa 58:11 “The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones;”
Ezra 8:21 “Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.”
9) To strengthen and satisfy your inner man:
Isa 58:11 ”And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
10) To change the destiny of a nation:
2 Chr 7:14-15 “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.”
Types of Fasts
Absolute Fast:
q No water; no food; complete abstinence (Only with medical advice)
Exod 34:28 “So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”
Ezra 10:6 “Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity.’
Partial Fast: (Daniel Fast)
q Abstain from certain foods
Judg 20:26 “Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.”
Dan 10:3 “I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.”
Prolonged Fast:
q Fasting for a period of days (1 day a week; 3 days, 7 days etc.) (Only with medical advice)
1 Sam 31:13 “Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.”
Exod 34:28 “So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”
Esth 4:16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
Dan 10:3 “I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
Soul Fast:
q Abstaining from things that affect your mind, will and emotions
q Television, movies, video games etc.
Col 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Call to Prayer and Fasting
A Call to a Three Day Fast
Tomana and I and the elders are calling Southgate church to three days of prayer and fasting. This is our battle call to do warfare in the spiritual realm for those who are sick. Southgate is in a season where we need to link our faith to believe for miracles of healing that God may be glorified. Now, more than ever, we need to hold up the shield of faith. “Eph 6:16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
Matt 17:20-21 …for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
For those who would like to gather together the church will be on Wednesday, Aril 25 at 6:30 – 7:30 AM / 12:30 – 1:30 PM / 6:30 – 7:30 PM.
Jessica Funk:
Jessica’s situation is very critical. This is a significant juncture for Jessica Funk. She has been on life- support for ten days and has been in an induced coma since Easter Sunday. Pray that her lungs will be free from infection. Today she has 1-1.5 liters of fluid around her lungs, due partly to them trying to reposition her chest tubes. This is putting a lot of pressure on her lungs and even moving her heart. They are going to operate between 3-6pm today. The operation itself takes 1.5 hours.
Jan Turner:
Interstitial Cystitis ; The more active she is the more pain she experiences. She has concern about how other health issues will be affected. This has been a chronic immobilizing sickness for Jan.
Mike Angell:
Recovering from a shattered right ankle (tibia and fibula broke at the ankle); Left leg is fractured.
Pray for quick recovery (doctors project many months of recovery)
Tracy Franson:
Recovering from reconstructive surgery; fighting off infection
- Fasting reaffirms our utter dependence upon God, fining Him to be our source of sustenance beyond food.
- Fasting deepens humility
- Fasting intensifies our spiritual senses
- Fasting feeds our faith.
Simply stated fasting is abstaining from food or some aspect in our lives for a spiritual purpose.
There are many ways to fast.
- Complete abstinence of all food
- Giving up a portion of food or some aspect of our diet
- Daniel fast – primarily eating only healthy food (vegetable diet)
- Complete fast – Water only
- Partial fast
- Giving up personal things to make room for more prayer
The primary reason for fasting is that we deny ourselves of the daily pleasures of life to be more intensely concentrated on God.
Preparing the Church for Jesus
Today is the beginning of the Advent Season- the four weeks leading up to Christmas day. The word Advent comes from the Latin term for “coming” and refers to the first and second coming of Jesus Christ. Advent has been recognized by the Christian church since AD 524.
The commercial conglomerates have masterfully prepared the world for the Christmas season. Costco rolling out the first pre-lit Christmas trees with over 1000 lights, to savoring the first eggnog latte at Starbucks, to Walmart, Target and others announcing Black Friday, the largest shopping day of the year on American Thanksgiving weekend.
It is time for the church to redeem the meaning and purpose of Christmas. How is the church preparing the world for the coming of Jesus? Yes, I know that Jesus came to earth as a baby over two thousand years ago. As Matthew says He came as our Savior. We should celebrate that and keep celebrating that. What an amazing story that needs to be told and retold…the gospel of Jesus Christ. But we also celebrate and anticipate the fact that Jesus Christ is coming again. That will be an amazing event in the history of the world.
At Southgate Church we are celebrating Advent with four traditional themes – hope, peace, joy and love.
As we approach Christmas lets prepare ourselves or as the carol says “let every heart prepare Him room”
Jesus is hope! Jesus is peace! Jesus is joy! Jesus is love! Jesus is coming again!
PD
How does one, meaning me, start a blog. For years I wrote little blurbs in our church bulletin that were called ‘from the pastors desk’. Let me begin by saying these blog entries are not only from my desk, my laptop and my iPad ,they are most importantly from my heart.
Psalm 112:1 says, “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.” Let me tell you I am a blessed man. Tomana, my wife, my friend and my confident has served with me for 34 years – and still says she loves me. I love her more than I can express. Together we are a team. Psalm 112:2 (NLT) “their children will be successful everywhere.” Let me tell you about my kids – you’ll probably be hearing a lot about them. They are all successful. They have a love and passion for God and His church, They have married extremely well and now they are Genesis 1:28 kids – fruitful and multiplying – (4 grandchildren and counting – the fifth coming this week) I am so proud of them. They love God’s people and serve them well. Tomana and I often marvel at God’s grace in our lives raising three kids and queried “who would have thought?” God is so amazing. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:4 “He is so rich in mercy and His love for us is so great”
Needless to stay as I begin this journey of sharing my heart I want it to be abundantly clear that I AM A BLESSED MAN!
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