FASTING

[Brother Bob...<><]

FASTING

FROM THE HOLMANN BIBLE DICTIONARY

 

FASTING Refraining from eating food. The Bible describes three main forms of fasting:

 

1) The Normal Fast, involving the total abstinence of food. Luke 4:2 reveals that Jesus "did eat nothing." Afterwards "He was hungered." Jesus abstained from food but not from water.

 

(Luke 4:1-2 KJV) 

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan,

and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

{2} Being forty days tempted of the devil.

And in those days he did eat nothing:

and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

 

2)The Absolute Fast- In Acts 9:9 we read of an Absolute Fast where for three days Saul "neither did eat nor drink."

 

(Acts 9:3-9 KJV) 

 And as he(Saul of Tarsus) journeyed, he came near Damascus:

and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

{4} And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him,

 Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

{5} And he said, Who art thou, Lord?

And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

{6} And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

{7} And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

 {8} And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man:

but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

 {9} And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

 

The abstinence from both food and water seems to have lasted no more than three days (Ezra 10:6; Esther 4:16).

 

(Ezra 10:6 KJV) 

 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God,

and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib:

and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water:

for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

{7} And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity,

 that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;

{8} And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders,

all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.

 {9} Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days.

 It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God,

trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

 

(Est 4:15-16 KJV) 

 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,

{16} Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan,

and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day:

I also and my maidens will fast likewise;

 and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law:

and if I perish, I perish.

 

 3) The Partial Fast—in Daniel 10:3 the emphasis is upon the restriction of diet rather than complete abstinence. The context implies that there were physical benefits resulting from this partial fast. However, this verse indicates that there was a revelation given to Daniel as a result of this time of fasting.

 

(Dan 10:1-9 KJV) 

 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia

a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar;

 and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long:

and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.

 

{2} In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.

{3} I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth,

neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

 

 {4} And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;

 {5} Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen,

 whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:

{6} His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning,

and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass,

 and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

 

{7} And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision;

but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.

{8} Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision,

and there remained no strength in me:

for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

{9} Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words,

then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.

 

 

Fasting is a private matter between the believer and God.

Fasting is the laying aside of food for a period of time when the believer is seeking to know God in a deeper experience. It is to be done as an act before God in the privacy of one’s own pursuit of God (Ex. 34:28; 1 Sam. 7:6; 1 Kings 19:8; Matt. 6:17).

 

(Exo 34:27-29 KJV) 

 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words:

for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

 

{28} And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights;

 he did neither eat bread, nor drink water.

 

And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

 {29} And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai

with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand,

when he came down from the mount,

that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

 

(1 Sam 7:4-6 KJV) 

Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth,

and served the LORD only.

{5} And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.

 {6} And they gathered together to Mizpeh,

and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD,

 and fasted on that day, and said there,

 We have sinned against the LORD.

And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

 

(1 Ki 19:4-18 KJV) 

 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree:

and he requested for himself that he might die;

and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

{5} And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him,

 and said unto him, Arise and eat.

 {6} And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head.

And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

 {7} And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said,

Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.

 {8} And he arose, and did eat and drink,

 and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

 

(Mat 6:14-18 KJV)

  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

{15} But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

{16} Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance:

for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.

 Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

{17} But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

{18} That thou appear not unto men to fast,

 but unto thy Father which is in secret:

and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

 

 

Fasting is to be done with the object of seeking to know God in a deeper experience (Isa. 58; Zech. 7:5).

 

(Isa 58:1-11 KJV) 

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,

and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

 {2} Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways,

as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God:

they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

 

{3} Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?

wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?

Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

{4} Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness:

ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

{5} Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul?

is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?

wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

 

{6} Is not this the fast that I have chosen?

to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens,

and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

{7} Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?

when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

{8} Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily:

and thy righteousness shall go before thee;

the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

{9} Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer;

thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.

If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

{10} And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul;

then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:

{11} And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones:

 and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

 

(Zec 7:5-14 KJV) 

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying,

When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years,

did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

{6} And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

{7} Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets,

when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity,

and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

 {8} And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

 

{9} Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying,

 Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

{10} And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor;

and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

 

{11} But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder,

 and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

 {12} Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law,

and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets:

 therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

 

 {13} Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear;

 so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

{14} But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not.

Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned:

for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

 

Fasting relates to a time of confession (Ps. 69:10).

 

(Psa 69:10-16 KJV) 

 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

{11} I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.

{12} They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.

 

 {13} But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time:

O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

 {14} Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink:

let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

{15} Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up,

 and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

{16} Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good:

 turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

 

Fasting can be a time of seeking a deeper prayer experience and drawing near to God in prevailing prayer (Ezra 8:23; Joel 2:12).

 

(Ezra 8:22-23 KJV) 

 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way:

because we had spoken unto the king, saying,

The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him;

but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

 {23} So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.

 

(Joel 2:11-14 KJV)

  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army:

 for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word:

for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

 

{12} Therefore also now, saith the LORD,

turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

{13} And rend your heart, and not your garments,

and turn unto the LORD your God:

for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness,

 and repenteth him of the evil.

 {14} Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him;

even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

 

The early church often fasted in seeking God’s will for leadership in the local church (Acts 13:2).

When the early church wanted to know the mind of God, there was a time of prayer and fasting.

 

(Acts 13:2-4 KJV) 

As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,

Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

{3} And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

{4} So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia;

and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

 

(Acts 14:22-23 KJV) 

 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith,

and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

{23} And when they had ordained them elders in every church,

and had prayed with fasting,

they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

 

(Acts 27:32-36 KJV) 

Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.

{33} And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying,

This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.

{34} Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health:

 for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.

 {35} And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all:

 and when he had broken it, he began to eat.

{36} Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.

---

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God Bless You.....brother bob.......<><