Let’s Talk About Fasting-Should We Do It?

“Fasting is not just physical discipline; it can be a spiritual feast.” Jentezen Franklin

Do you ever hear about prayer and fasting in your church? I must admit, I do occasionally fast, but I am not good at it. I’ve never developed that discipline. Should we fast? Probably. Just take a few moments and look at the world, think like the world, take in a few reels, watch some political shows and the discipline of fasting looks awfully good. 

Over-indulgence is everywhere

Personally I believe self-discipline could use some tweaking in my life. Society doesn’t encourage it at all. Let’s binge watch a show, let’s consume copious amounts of food, cocktails, podcasts and hatred. Let’s eat it for breakfast. Over-indulgence is everywhere in our culture! 

Fasting may be the answer

How can we get out of this doom scrolling spiral? The scripture gives us an answer, we may not like it, the practice is hard but a disciplined and fine tuned spirit is the outcome. We must practice fasting. I’ve shared some of the writings of my late mentor  Rev. Pat Carver before, this one was written in 1982. I was but a wee one, yet these words seem so apropos for today. Are you ready to take your walk with God a bit deeper? Try fasting. 

Living a Fasted Life by Rev Pat Carver

The life of an overcomer is a life of discipline. Our walk in the Holy Spirit consists of living in the Holy Spirit. It consists of listening to the Spirit of God. It involves doing the things of the Spirit. 

We should live a fasted life. We should be involved in fasting in every area of our lives. We should so fill our minds (on a daily basis) with God’s Word, that fear, worry and anxiety dissipate. By so doing we have fasted the world’s ways. We should fast our reactions to the world system, to shock, to panic, discouragement and loneliness. 

We should train and teach our bodies to respond to, and react to, God’s health. In so doing, we fast sickness, disease and inherited curses of cancer, high blood pressure, etc.. God has given us doctors who can help us, but what is our attitude about sickness? Do we dwell there? The scripture tells us that Jesus broke the power of the curse over our lives. 

We should so discipline our eating habits, that no food has the power to control us. We should not allow the hour of the day to determine when we eat. Just because we are so geared to 7 am, noon, and 6 pm, does not mean we must put good in our bodies at those times whether we are hungry or not. Our entire society is very food oriented. There are many examples on TV, our newspapers and magazines making food, wine and whiskey look very enticing. The Holy Spirit led person must be very disciplined in their eating, or they will become unhealthy in their bodies which causes sickness. Remember the words of Ezekiel 16:49-50, “Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread and abundance. Idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 

Isaiah 58 speaks of fasting. We need to read it and do it. We need to fast on a regular basis. Be prepared spiritually to carry out whatever the Spirit of God calls on you to do. Fasting is spiritual in nature. We use God’s Word-which is Spirit and Life (John 6:63) and establish things in the Spirit. We carry out certain things in the physical in conjunction with those spiritual things. 

The important thing to remember about fasting is that as we read His Word, pray and shut down the physical processes of food for a few hours, day, or weeks (as the Holy Spirit leads YOU), we have run up our spiritual antennas in order to hear from God better. 

You are a spirit. You have a soul. You live in a body. (I Thess 5:23) Decide to be disciplined. Decide to live a fasted lifestyle. Decide to walk and live in the Spirit. What can we do?

• Let’s discipline our words
• Let’s fast words of doubt
• Let’s fast words that do not reflect Jesus Christ
• Let’s fast words of criticism

Let’s speak what God’s Word says. Let’s allow our lives to glorify God. Let’s not think like the world thinks and fall into the trap of division. Jesus made us free-let us walk in that freedom. Fast conformity to the world. Fast unlovely thoughts. Fast worrisome thoughts. Fast jesting. Fast the world’s terminology. Fast the expediency of the world. Hebrews 13L14 tells us we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come. So let’s choose to walk toward the City which has foundations- whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)

May Pat’s words be a blessing to us today, and may we live a fasted life!