WHEN YOU FAST

Here we are - at the last part of our series on three Kingdom principles which every believer should engage in to ensure a victorious Christian life.

But before we get into the injunction of Jesus Christ on fasting in Matthew 6, let's take a peep into some generalities.

Fasting (in my opinion) is one of the grossly misunderstood and misapplied principle in the Scriptures.
Many believers don't do it, and those that do it have a wrong concept about it, and therefore don't do it right.

So let's shoot…

DO I NEED TO FAST?

In this era of new creation realities, do we need to fast?
I mean, hasn't God made available everything for us in Christ Jesus? If He has, so why fast?

First off, saying that fasting should not be encouraged in this era of new creation realities (seeing that we have all things IN Christ) is in essence saying that the believer should do nothing... he should not pray, he should not study, he should not fast, he should do nada.
He should just relax and what's available in Christ will become his portion.
I think the person making this assertion will do well in the circus!

Listen.
These things are available in Christ, but you don’t make them your reality by doing nothing!
Look, we don’t fast to make things available. We will get back to this thought line in a moment.
Let's stop to see what the Scripture has to say about this matter– if we should fast or not.

First witness:

“… The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:15) was the response of Jesus to the disciples of John when they asked Him why His disciples weren’t fasting then.
Now is the time Jesus was talking about, and we therefore have to fast.

Second witness:

Jesus said in Matthew 6:16, “…WHEN you fast…”
The word ‘when’ implies that He expects us to fast.

As I pointed out earlier, we are not fasting to make things available.
I think there’s a general misconception about what fasting is; so let's just look at what fasting is and what it’s not.

SOME POINTS ON FASTING

1. “Fasting is abstinence FROM anything which is legitimate in and of itself FOR the sake of some special spiritual purpose.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Implications of the above definition:

a.) If you achieve the 'from' and fail in the 'for', then you have not fasted correctly. Therefore fasting is not just about abstaining from food or some other pleasure.

b.) Abstaining from food (or other things) for a period of time is not an end in itself, but a means to cause us to learn about and increase our love for Christ (Francis Chan and David Platt)

c.) Fasting is not a forfeit of evil, but of good.
(You cannot therefore say you're fasting from watching inordinate movies! Or you’re fasting from stealing or lying. You shouldn’t be watching inordinate movies, stealing or lying in the first place.)

1. Fasting is not a way of pumping adrenaline into God or twisting God's arm to make Him do what He doesn't want to do.
   Fasting does not move the hand of God; it moves you to know where the hand of God is moving.
   I don’t think God looks down and says, “Kai, this my son has not eaten since yesterday; bless him.”
   I believe that it’s actually your activities (the prayers… and waiting on God, the communion with the Spirit of God, the Word study, etc.) during your fasting that make the fasting productive.

2. Fasting is not just for when you have a problem! Or when you have a major decision to take e.g. whether to marry bro Akin or bro Segun. Your quest for the utmost should drive you to fast. Your desire for a deeper walk with God should move you into fasting.

3. Fasting is a spiritual exercise which has the capacity to build us up if appropriately used. So you can just fast because you desire to know God more.

4. Fasting heightens your sensitivity so you get what God is saying as regards an issue, and align thereby.
   The burden of the stomach can oppress that of the belly/spirit. Therefore cast away the burden of the stomach (fast) so that the burden of the belly/heart/spirit can be fully expressed… hehehehe

5. You can have specific targets for your days of fasting. E.g. I will study John chapter 1 and 2 today, and pray with the revelations I get from there.

6. Fasting is not about the time but it’s also about the time.
   You purposed to fast till 8pm, and by 5pm you had become ‘useless’… you have become so tired that you could not pray, study, etc. any more. But you just have to not eat till 8pm… so you just lay there waiting for 8pm, all the while thinking about the fastest thing to cook once it’s time.
   C’mon, you are not under the law!
   Why not take something very light and continue fellowshipping with God?
   Remember, it’s not the time that matters but what you do in the time.
   This is however not a pat-on-the-back for indiscipline!
   There’s the place for discipline… there’s the place of not allowing your body dictate the extent you go. Learn discipline.

MATTHEW 6:16-18

So Jesus was on the matter of hypocrites again!

They purposely disfigured their faces when they were fasting SO THAT men could see that they were fasting.
Are you among them that fast and purposely carry 6 o’clock (straight) faces and walk sanctimoniously so that people will know you are on the mountain?
Your intent matters.
One word for you: Repent.
Do all you can to focus on God, not man, when you fast.

We draw the curtain on ‘When Thou Series’ here.
One good summary of this whole series is this:
Any spiritual principle – giving, praying or fasting – you carry out with the purpose of ‘showing off’ is utterly useless.

Hope this series blessed your life? I'll love to hear from you - leave your contributions and/or questions in the comment box.

Keep rising like an edifice.

Shalom.