To Fast or not to Fast....Part I

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This is a topic within scripture, that churches seem to mention the least, other than perhaps through Lent, if you're part of a Catholic Church perhaps you're asked to not eat meat on Fridays, but other than this, it is a topic that is rarely discussed.

My question to this is why is this the case? Why is fasting not mentioned much throughout sermons and churches across the globe?

I honestly, do not have an answer...

So – do we fast, or do we not fast? We live in a world that lacks God. A world that has so many problems, yet people are “good”. I say unto you, that these are deceptions, and there are demons in all of our closets. Now – what did Jesus say about certain demons?

Matthew 17:19-21 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast [the demon] out? [20] And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. [21] Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

In past blog posts, we've briefly discussed how churches lack prayer, and here Jesus is explaining how this demon could not be cast out except by prayer and fasting.

We live in a world where people have demons in their closets. People dress up a certain way so they can hide who they are. People do things to make themselves seem better than others, while in reality hiding who they truly are. We all have our demons. Now some of these demons can only be cast out through prayer and fasting.

We say the world is so bad and that there's evil everywhere, yet how often do you go and fast? How often do you go and pray? No – I'm not talking about that normal before bed prayer. No, I'm not talking about how you had to skip lunch because you had to rush to that meeting at work. I'm talking about taking time for God – taking time to go and pray. Making a decision and asking God to be your spiritual food while you restrain yourself from physical food. When's the last time you did that?

Let's not just stop at the last time, but how long did you fast for? Or, what type of fast did you do? Go start planning a fast, pray to God about it with intention of advancing his Kingdom, and sanctifying his Name, and start a fast.

If you restrain yourself of physical food and ask God to be your spiritual food – truly your eyes will start to open to the truth. The deceptions of this world will start to become known to you. You will gain much wisdom.

Yes, there will be temptation throughout the fast, go a few days and see how it goes. You will see after a day or so, perhaps a headache(just drink more fluids, if needed maybe take a pain killer), maybe after another day or so, you're stomach will really start to feel empty. Go another day and perhaps someone will get word of you fasting and start telling you a bunch of lies(it's not healthy to not eat, etc). Continue on until your goal – and when you reach that goal, you'll finally get your feast!

Sound familiar? Does this not sound like the life we live? We go through pain, we go through times of loneliness, we go through days of people giving us bad advice because they don't know what's right, and it doesn't help when our mind wanders like a thousand miles a minute. Now – if we remain faithful until the end we will get to the Feast of feasts!

Nowhere does it say in the Bible that life will be easy and simple. Yet when we disconnect our bodies from our Spirit and allow God to be our Spiritual food – we get a better glimpse of who God is. We allow God to come in and be with us. God casts out our demons and through God being our Spiritual food – our faith can grow.

Have you ever grown a garden? Plant some seeds, and/or the plants. What happens if you leaven them in the earth on their own? Well they grow, perhaps not super beautiful, perhaps just ok. What happens when you add fertilizer or Miracle Grow or something? It's pretty much like a miracle. They grow and they're super beautiful and perhaps the best plants and/or garden you've ever had.

This is how God works. When we allow God to be our food throughout a fast – he transforms us much faster and we become much more beautiful and are shaped the way he allows us and wants us to be.

To fast – or not to fast.....