2. Fasting helps release the power of the Spirit in our lives. It
doesnt help us earn more grace with God, but it does help
remove the clutter in us and release the Holy Spirit!
Fasting helps release the power of the Spirit in our lives. It
doesnt help us earn more grace with God, but it does help
remove the clutter in us and release the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit can begin to communicate with us with
greater clarity and direction. Lets jump in and discuss this
important Kingdom principle!
3. WHAT IS FASTING?
Fasting, by Biblical examples, is
abstaining from food or drink for a
time for the purpose of seeking God
in earnest prayer.
4. Consider the promise the Lord spoke through Jeremiah to
the wayward people of Judah: And you will seek Me and
find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will
be found by you, says the LORD (Jer. 29:13-14 NKJV).
Fasting is a means in which we draw near to God, to seek
and search for Him with all our hearts.
5. Fasting is also a means to humble ourselves before
God. The way up is down! David said in Psalms 35
and 69 that he humbled himself with fasting.
Both James and Peter record that God resists the
proud but gives grace to the humble(
1 Pet. 5:5 NKJV).
7. JESUS IS OUR MODEL
Jesus is our ultimate model in life, in faith, and in ministry.
Before He started His earthly ministry, He prayed and fasted for
forty days. Afterward, He moved in the power of the Spirit!
Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the
Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being
tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days, He ate
nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
(Luke 4:1-2 NKJV)
8. Notice Jesus went to the wilderness being filled with the Holy
Spirit Filled means to be full or complete. Yet, Jesus was
tempted by Satan and by His own flesh.
Jesus told the disciples the evening before He was betrayed that
the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak Our flesh or carnal nature
is opposed to the things of the Spirit of God.
When we fast, we place our carnal nature under submission to our
spirit man, and we gain mastery over the flesh. Jesus resisted His
own flesh, and Satans schemes, and He emerged victorious from the
temptations in the wilderness.
9. ≒We see from the experience of Christ that one of the
purposes of fasting is to give men power over the
temptations of the flesh. Through those days of fasting
in the wilderness, Christ overcame every temptation,
whether it affected His body, spirit, or soul. And we
must remember that Christ was both divine and
human, and was in all points tempted as we are (
Heb. 4:15). Therefore, we too can master temptations
of body, soul, or spirit through prayer and fasting.
10. After the temptations, Luke records:
Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed
from Him until an opportune time. Then Jesus returned in the
power (dunamis) of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went
out through all the surrounding region. (Luke 4:13-14 NKJV)
Notice that now Jesus returns in the power of the Spirit. There
is a difference between being filled or full of the Spirit and walking
in miraculous power of the Spirit! It was prayer, fasting, and
obedience that caused Jesus to emerge in power.
11. JESUS IS OUR EXAMPLE FOR MINISTRY
Jesus models what would be available to any believer
who would follow closely after Him! John records a
significant statement of Jesus:
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me,
the works that I do he will do also; and greater works
than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (
John 14:12 NKJV)
12. CHRISTS TEACHING CONCERNING FASTING
Jesus intended His disciples to fast. In Matthew 6:17, He stated: But when
you fast
It was understood that the disciples would fast, not if, but when! It would be
a normal part! In Matthew 6, Jesus instructed His followers to give to the
poor, pray, and fastall use when. He never left the option to do these!
The Pharisees questioned Jesus about why Johns disciples fasted and His
didnt. In Luke 5:35, Jesus answers them, But the days will come when the
bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days (
NKJV). Again, He states that fasting is part of being a disciple.
13. BENEFITS OF FASTING
When we fast, we are humbling our flesh, and
we are casting our reliance upon God and His
power. We become more sensitive to the Lord,
causing more power to be released in our
lives. Fasting shows a desperation and
determination to touch the Lord!
14. Fasting is one of Gods mysteries; demons get
uncomfortable, and healings become more common! If
you want to move in healing and deliverance, it should
be a regular practice.
In Isaiah 58, proper motives for fasting are listed, along
with benefits of fasting and prayer. For example, the
benefits include greater revelation, guidance, Gods
presence, healing, and strength.
15. We have a level of His anointing,
but will we pay the price to see His
(dunamis) power released in greater
measures to win souls to Christ, free
the oppressed, and heal the sick?