Recently I have received several emails from bloggy friends who wondered if I could explain fasting. Since there has been such an interest, here goes: Right up front, this is going to be kind of long, so you might want a cup of coffee and a bag of Hershey kisses with almonds to munch on (oh did I say that?)…I mean a piece of fruit and a glass of water….=)
Fasting is mentioned in scripture and one of my favorite stories (which mentions fasting) is the story of Esther. For a good historical read, I would strongly recommend reading the entire book of Esther. Briefly, the Jewish people were about to be destroyed by an evil plot and yet GOD had put Esther in a strategic position where she was able to appeal on behalf of the Jewish people. Infact one of my very most favorite scriptures is Esther 4:14 “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” spoken by Esther’s uncle (who had raised her – she was adopted *how cool is that?*) .
Yes, there is no doubt that just like Esther you and I were born for such a time as this exact moment in history. Why? To make a difference in the country you live in and the lives of the folks you meet at this very moment. More on that in a few days!
Anyway, Esther declares a fast. It is an appeal to God. See, God is God. He has a plan. But we are His people and we can appeal to Him. Picture your own children. You have a plan. Would you be mad if they appealed to that plan? (I am not talking about them pitching a fit and screaming like a ninny- I am talking truly appealing.) What loving parent minds when a child comes and appeals to a decision made? You as the parent still have a right to maintain the original plan. God does too.
I have fasted hundreds of times in my life. Some of the times have been like when we need to sell our home, or when we need to have God move in a big way, or when one of our children is being rebellious and we fast to ask God to move on their heart and break the rebellion, or when someone has a sick child (like when Leslie was in Ch*na and sweet baby Savannah was deathly ill and we were begging God to move and allow her not only to be released, but immigration to be moved supernaturally so they could fly to the states to get the medical care she so desperately needed), or when a friend has a marriage falling apart, or when we have a mountain that needs to be moved, or a relationship is broken because of offense or a heart needs to be changed, or I want to hear Him speak, or when I need wisdom about a situation or when I just want Him to make me more like Him.
If you want a brief start into scriptural references, I did a keyword search on BibleGateway (great reference place, by the way) here is a page of scriptures that mention both prayer and fasting.
I am convinced I would not be who I am today without the prayer and fasting I have done over the years. I believe God gives us secrets and insights into life that we would never have if we did not pray and fast. Although it doesn’t directly mention fasting and praying, one of my favorite scriptures is: Psalm 25:14 “The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. “
Yes, He confides in those who fear him. (Oh my gracious – I LOVE the word “confide”….who doesn’t want the God of the Universe to confide in them??) By the way “fearing God” is not an “afraid”…it is a profound reverence and awe of Almighty God and yes, to me, this can be shown through prayer and fasting.
People have asked me: Do I have to give up food to fast? Hmmmm, well scripture always has to be our measuring stick….So let’s look there….and yes, scriptural fasting is giving up food – all food and drink. Now from a gal who loves her food and loves to eat, this is the hardest part. I have heard people say things like they are “giving up chocolate” as a fast. At the risk of sounding insensitive, I have a real hard time with thinking that giving up some treat is a fast or that Almighty God takes it too seriously. And yes, I like to eat with the best of them. BUT if I really, really, really want to hear from God or have Him to move in a mighty way or have Him confide in me, can I not give up some food to show my sincerity?
When I fast I give up all food and usually only drink water. I do know of people who have blood sugar level issues and they drink juice. But I also know people who like to pretend (bless their heart) they have blood sugar issues cause they can’t bear to have their tummy growl. But God sees the heart. He sees the motives. If you truly have been diagnosed with blood sugar level issues, then by all means, drink a little juice. But I still don’t think that means drinking smoothies all day long as a “fast”.
Sometimes I fast for just a meal, sometimes for two meals, sometimes for 24 hours. The most I have ever fasted is 3 days. Miraculously, I have not starved to death. =) Our little log home was at 7400 feet and so I do drink water, lots of water. Altitude sickness is very real and altitude sickness headaches are no fun. We drink lots of water all the time.
There are times when we have fasted and have seen immediate results. For some situations we have fasted and prayed multiple times and still not seen things change. That is definitely not the time to give up!!
I have had people say to me, “Don’t you think you are trying to twist God’s arm?” To that I reply: “God is God. Throughout scripture there is mention of prayer and fasting. When I fast I am giving up something I love (food) to show God that I am sincerely appealing on behalf of a situation. I understand that God doesn’t have to move. If He doesn’t, I believe that fasting prepares my heart to accept whatever the response from God will be. Until the response is absolute, I will fast and pray sincerely imploring God to move.”
When Ch*na said “no” after pre-approval for Isaiah, two sweet friends Jen and Chelsea (my prayer partner) asked our church to fast with them on behalf of us, begging God to move on the Ch*nese Government’s heart to change their “no” to a “yes”. The story is here, incase you missed it. We were told that Ch*na NEVER changes their mind. Well as you know 10 weeks of waiting and finally we received word that the Ch*nese Government who never changes their mind had indeed done just that, and that sweet little treasure boy came home to us. We have no doubt that the prayers and fasting of our friends made a gargantuan difference.
Obviously none of us understand all that happens in the supernatural, but scripture does say, “You have not because you ask not.” (James 4:2) What if we just walked through life and took what came our way? Scripture seems to indicate quite the opposite. That seems to me to mean we are to ask, we are to continue knocking….we are to interact with God. We are to pray. We are to fast. We are to pray continually. We are to ask the God of the heavens to move. I cannot help but think that one of the major reasons He wants us to pray and fast is so that we spend time with Him and He is all about relationship.
When we fast we must make sure that our heart is clean. First confess any known sin. Ask God to show you anything at all you need to confess. Fasting with anger, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, jealousy (to name a few) in a heart will not accomplish anything but to make you very hungry.
It can be tricky to fast while caring for little ones who seem to eat all the time. But that is the time to go into “serious mode”, praying as you prepare their food. Then I try to sneak away to spend time while they are eating to pray like crazy. If you only have little children you might spend your earnest time in prayer while they are napping. I have (almost!) 10 children, so I know that it is tricky – but it can be done – if you want to make it work!! =)
When I fast I say, “Lord, I am here fasting for such and such. I am asking that you move and do this or that. But Lord, ultimately I want to be able to accept your plan. Give me the grace to do that.” Then I proceed to pray and ask Him how/what I should pray.
It is wonderful to have friends to fast with. There seems to be even more supernatural power before God when a group collectively gather for a common cause.
I have some “homework” for you regarding fasting….but I will share that in a day or so. It’s going to be so awesome!!! Yippee Jesus!! =)
I have some “homework” for you regarding fasting….but I will share that in a day or so. It’s going to be so awesome!!! Yippee Jesus!! =)
Thank you so much for sharing this information. I have always had some questions (doubts??) about fasting. I will carefully consider and pray about all that you shared so that I can seek God through prayer and fasting in the future.
Love you guys!
Linn, thank you from the very bottom of my heart. I feel God is moving and preparing me in a way like never before. I have been so changed over the last couple of months. Fasting is something that I have heard about, and knew about, but didn’t really understand. Thank you so very much for taking the time to explain it to me. My husband is a pastor, and I didnt really want to talk to him about it, because I didn’t want him to ask too many questions. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me (and I know when I say “me”, you didn’t really mean “me”, lol). I am really looking forward to more of your insights.
I just finished Esther, myself, and I love that verse too. I love that Jesus is preparing me “for a time such as this”!
I am so glad you posted this!! My husband just fasted last week for the first time and I was so proud of him- but I could never explain this as well as you did. I don’t fast nearly as often as I should, and I love the sample prayer- we need to always realize that we aren’t trying to twist God’s arm (like we ever could!) but that ultimately we need to pray to accept His plan, no matter what it is!
Linny,
Good timing to remind us to do this. China still has not sent back word yet as to whether they will accept us and Kevin’s history of cancer or not. We continue to pray for the privilege and blessing of being little Eli’s parents and family.
Love in Christ,
Janet and Kevin
Thanks you so much. This is something that I haven’t fully understood but has been on my heart for years. You’ve given me the motivation to seek some answers for myself and take this to God through action. ~Bekah
Linny
without going into alot of boring detail, just let me state that I was brought up a church brat,then super involved in the church until my mid thirties. For a number of reasons. Now, not so much. Just wanted to state that, to qualify that I have heard to many to mention reasons for fasting..and that yours was one of the most simple yet eloquent ones that I have ever had the pleasure and honor to hear..
Thanks for sharing…
Thank you Linny! I was really wondering about fasting, but was too embarrassed to ask. I am glad others asked and you answered!
Blessings from MN,
Jean
This was so encouraging and you expressed yourself so clearly. Thank You.
Linny~
Wow! I have relied heavily on Psa 25:14 over the past week! I love it that the God of the Universe, the God who created all things, gave us breath … also wants to confide in us and reveal Himself to us! Love, love, love that passage. He has truly moved mountains on our behalf the past 2 weeks. And the season of waiting has brought sweet, fervent prayer.
Blessings~
Connie
Linny, I’m so glad you shared about fasting. It’s moved mountains in our home and I’ve seen it work in other’s lives as well. You explained it wonderfully. Hugs..
Thank you, our church talks about fasting, we have a church-wide fast 2x a year to prepare for communion, but I have yet to hear it explained quite like this
Thanks
Linny,
Thank you for this post! I look forward to the homework and future insights. I have read a bit about fasting since you suggested it to me. I, honestly, have been making excuses- visitors, vacation… it was never a convenient time. I was just reflecting about this subject and, then, your post. It’s a reminder I needed.
Blessings,
Kelly
Linn, I’ve lurked since the fire. But this gave me chills. Not 30 seconds ago I was re-telling this story to my teens, because we had seen where another adoptive mom is naming her daughter Hadassah, calling her Haddie. I’m sure you know that is the Hebrew for Esther. We have done Thankful Thursday around our kitchen table, but started our own blog last week, and I was so excited to post my own Thankful Thursday this week! Your family is in our prayers. Janet in AL
Amen! Thank you for shining His light on such a powerful tool in our arsenal.
Blessings from this missionary mommy,
Sarah Dawn
happy mother’s day~
Amen sister!!
LOVE YOU!
Thanks Linny,
What perfect timing….I have been struggling with this lately. Throughout my walk with the Lord there are times that I have been able to fast then others not so good. However as you said when things need to be broken or mountains need to move through fasting I have seen miracles.
Last summer when we were almost ready to come out of PG*N we got a request for $1500 or it would be weeks before we would exit. OH MY I just wanted to bring our daughter home but my husband said if it is of the Lord she will come home but he would not pay the money. WHAT?!?! I was so confused but I cried out to the Lord and fasted. Within Two weeks we were out and we received the BC in 5 days at a time it was taking weeks to receive a BC. 3 weeks later we were home with her. WE did not send any extra money.
My almighty God moved!
IN JESUS,
Lori
Thank you for this post. I have tried fasting a few times and ended up with such a splitting headache that I couldn’t even function, much less pray. It really discouraged me from ever doing it again. I have tired fruit juice to see if that helped, but still ended up with the headache (I am talking migraine-like). Any ideas on how to overcome that??
Thank! I appreciate your post very much. I even wrote a couple of notes down for future reference. I mentioned that I was going to fast and pray about our adoption of WA Waiting children… that the Lord would place just the right children in our home that we would be able to lead to Him, but the few I mentioned it too looked at me funny like they did not understand. I couldn’t express myself well…and you are so clear! I am looking for a huge blessing. If ye have not, because ye ask not, the opposite must be true, right?! Angela
I am a longtime believer who has just never "gotten" fasting. But this post really broke it down for me. Thanks!