Should Christians fast? If yes, why should we
be doing it? How fasting and prayer related to each other. How important
fasting and prayer are in our lives today?
When Jesus was approached by His disciples
concerning their inability to heal the sick boy, brought to them by his father,
Jesus replied in Matthew 17:21, “this kind goeth not out but by prayer and
fasting.”
What is fasting? and, Why should we be doing
it? In answering the first of these questions, we can say that biblical fasting
is a sacrificial, voluntary abstaining from food (and sometimes from drink) for
a definite period of time for a spiritual purpose. It rarely, if ever, occurs
in the Bible as a standalone endeavor. In other words, it is not a practice
that God’s people engage in all by itself but something that they do in
conjunction with prayer.
Why We Fast?
1.
To
strengthen prayer. “Whenever men are to pray to God concerning any great
matter,” wrote John Calvin, “it would be expedient to appoint fasting along
with prayer.” There is something about fasting that sharpens the edge of our
intercessions and gives passion to our supplications. So it has frequently been
used by the people of God when there is a special urgency about the concerns
they lift before the Father. When Ezra was about to lead a group of exiles back
to Jerusalem, he proclaimed a fast in order for the people to seek the Lord
earnestly for safe passage (Ezra 8:23).
2.
To
show our earnestness. Fasting helps us express an earnestness in our
prayers (Acts 14:23). In denying ourselves
food, we are telling the Lord that we mean business, that we are putting our
money where our mouth is, so to speak. Andrew Murray put it this way: “Fasting
helps us to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that we are ready
to sacrifice anything, to sacrifice ourselves, to attain what we seek for the
kingdom of God.”
3.
To
express our wholehearted faith in seeking the Lord. Oftentimes in the
Bible, fasting is an expression of wholehearted devotion to God. It is a way of
showing that we really are repentant and that He really is more important to us
than mere physical pleasures (Joel 2:12–13).
4.
To
plead with the Lord. At other times, fasting is an expression of
mourning—either over death (2 Sam. 12:16) or over sin (Jonah 3:5)—and of pleading with the
Lord to hear our prayers for mercy and for healing. That would seem to be the
point of Jonah 3:5; Esther 9:31; and Joel 1:14.
5.
To
seek wisdom and guidance. In 2 Chronicles 20:1–30, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a
national fast in order that all the people might seek the Lord’s wisdom and
guidance in the midst of an encroaching military host that was coming on them
from Edom. This suggests that fasting and praying in the midst of daunting
tasks and overwhelming circumstances are entirely appropriate for us.
6.
To
express humble reliance on the Lord. In Ezra 8:21–23, we have evidence of a
fast being proclaimed as an expression of humility and dependence on God for
His provision. Here, fasting is not entered into lightly or flippantly but with
humble reliance on God that He will hear their prayers and provide what they
need when they need it.
7.
To
prepare ourselves against temptation. In Matthew 4:1–3, Jesus fasts so that He
might be able to withstand the devil’s temptations, not in order that the devil
might have grounds on which to be able to tempt Him, as some may think. (Satan
tempts Jesus three ways, not just in His physical appetite.) If Jesus fasted to
be better prepared for temptation, how much more should we do likewise?
Fasting is never a way of manipulating God
into answering our prayers or showing us mercy. It is not a hunger strike to
ensure that God will meet our list of demands. It is a way of expressing our
love for Him and our gratitude for all that He has done for us. It is a way of
communing with Him and of keeping our hearts fixed upon Him. The world is
continually seeking to pull our desires away from the Lord. It continually
beckons us to find our pleasure in food or drink or other worldly delights.
Fasting reminds us that the Lord is our chief pleasure, and it trains us to keep
it that way. It helps us remember that “fullness of joy” and “pleasures
forevermore” can only be found in His presence and at His right hand (Ps. 16:11). For this reason, fasting
plays an important role in the battle for our desires, which lies at the heart
of what Christianity is all about. We neglect it to our peril.
Therefore, this Wednesday (May 1st,
May Day) may the whole church come together for interceding before God as we,
as a church, are going through some crucial and challenging period. In times
like these, God alone is our strength, wisdom, and guidance. We need to seek
Him; we need to seek Him right; we need to seek Him earnestly; we need to seek
Him urgently; and we need to seek Him sacrificially. Would you come to seek Him
in prayer and fasting?
