In our previous blog article we discussed what fasting is.  In this part of the series we are going to take a look at what fasting does for us, and how it works on a spiritual level—as well as identify what it doesn’t do.  Then, I will explain multiple reasons why I believe fasting is an important spiritual discipline and thus why I make it a regular personal practice.

How Does Fasting Work?

Fasting is actually pretty profound in how it works, but there are things fasting does and things it does not do. First, it has been commonly taught that fasting is a way to move God’s heart.  Look, starving yourself doesn’t make God more interested in you, take more pity on you, or listen to your prayers more.  Fasting doesn’t show God you are desperate more than the other guy to ensure God answers your prayers, and it most certainly does not hold God hostage to deal with whatever you are fasting about.  That’s what it doesn’t do.  Nevertheless, fasting is powerful and effective, so let’s look at not just what fasting accomplishes, but how it does it.

Fasting, abstaining from something, gets results by means of spiritual laws, and one in particular which I refer to as the Law of Sacrifice. All throughout scripture we see that people sacrificed animals to accomplish certain spiritual goals.  Usually it was to get their sins forgiven or remitted (i.e. to cancel out the punishment for sins), but any kind of sacrifice releases spiritual power.  Why?  When it comes to animal or human sacrifice, the Bible says that blood carries life with it, so when you kill a living being for a sacrifice, when set up in certain ways with specific rituals, the power can be harvested and put to other use.  Not only do Christians not do blood sacrifices, largely because Jesus is the perfect blood sacrifice that works far better than any others, but human sacrifice is also just plain evil, so we clearly aren’t going to do that.  Nevertheless, those in the occult who do sacrifices do it for power.

Fasting is another form of sacrifice. It involves making a trade in the spirit realm of our desires for worldly things and using the energy we would put toward those things for spiritual use.  In short, when we fast we invoke the Law of Sacrifice, which is why fasting works in the first place.  If we don’t pay attention to what we are doing, I believe we can simply be starving ourselves with no spiritual benefits, so I generally start each fast out with a short prayer where I outline why I am fasting on that particular occasion.  This is known in some circles as “setting your intention”, but it is an important part of fasting, as it basically helps choose a focus for the spiritual energy we are releasing during the fast.  Often I write it down on a notecard or on my cell phone somewhere so I can review, in my times of prayer, what I am praying and believing for.

Many people in Christian circles have been taught that fasting moves God’s heart, but it doesn’t move it any more than any other kind of prayer does with one caveat—fasting adds extra power to our prayers, so while it doesn’t move God’s heart more, it does make our prayer more powerful and thus more effective. Fasting also doesn’t make God pity us or get us to strong-arm Him somehow.  If that’s how fasting worked, then starving people in famine-swept countries would have their problems solved simply because they all fast for such long periods of time.  No, starvation without any kind of spiritual goal or prayer behind it is just starvation.  If one knows he or she is going to starve anyway (due to poverty or whatever) and decides to turn it into a time of purposeful fasting, I consider that both wise and beneficial, but otherwise starvation doesn’t move God.

Fasting is about changing and transforming us. In the process of abstaining from food, our physical bodies don’t like it and start to complain.  I often get low back pain (more than normal) when I fast.  In some ways, this process of purposeful and metered deprivation of our physical bodies could be viewed as “putting the flesh to death” so that our spirits can be more preeminent over our flesh.  Fasting is one of the best ways to accomplish this, and it works even better, again, when combined with prayer.  In my mind, fasting is somewhat pointless if prayer isn’t going to be involved in some way anyway.

A Personal Practice

I began this series by explaining that I have begun to start a regular practice of fasting again like I used to years ago. When we understand what fasting is and how it works, this might make a little more sense to people, but not everyone will understand why I want to do it as a regular practice, so I will attempt to give some insight on this choice of mine.

First, fasting is very clearly present throughout scripture. Even when Jesus acknowledged the apostles didn’t fast, he identified that they would at a future point in time.  While some note that in Matthew 9:15 Jesus says “and on that day they will fast” points to a single day, not a period of time, the actual Hebrew words can mean “then” or “at that time” or “on that day”.  It doesn’t have to specify a specific day, although it can be read that way.  The version written in Luke 5:35 is more broad and while it could be translated as on a specific day, it also can be correctly translated as a broad generality of a period or age of time.  Thus, while the argument can be made that the disciples were supposed to fast for only one single day total, the sum of all the ways one can translate those words simply doesn’t have a strong enough support behind it to rule that option in and all others out, and in fact would likely go the other way.  Thus, as a scriptural precedent, it seems prudent to me to engage in the same spiritual disciplines the early church found to be important.

Second, fasting releases spiritual power. I believe that in order for us to partner with God, we need to become spiritually powerful people, and fasting helps grow us from one level of power and glory to another level.  Thus, I fast.

Third, Jesus said in Matthew 17:21 (and Mark 9:29) that some demonic spirits only come out through prayer and fasting. Both as someone who does inner healing and deliverance, and as a believer who simply recognizes spiritual combat and dealing with demons is part of the normal Christian life, if certain spiritual entities require fasting to deal with, it seems prudent to me to fast on an ongoing regular basis to be prepared.

Fourth, I prefer to be prepared and responsive instead of unprepared and reactive. Fasting as a discipline means I remain “fasted up” over time instead of waiting until a problem comes along and then having to fast reactively.  Don’t get me wrong—if a big problem comes along, one of the first things I will do is fast anyway, but I believe that having a lifestyle that includes regular fasting is a much wiser and more proactive approach, going on the offensive with the enemy instead of waiting for attacks and having to play defense.

Fifth, witches, warlocks, Luciferians, Satanists, and the like who are serious about their practice also fast. If they fast, in spite of not serving God, then it’s because it does something other than moving God’s heart, which I assure you their fasting does not do.  Fasting releases power, and if the enemy’s people do it, then I strongly believe that followers of Jesus would be foolish not to.  As such, I believe it is prudent to develop a lifestyle of fasting.

Sixth, history has shown us that fasting has played a role in many revivals and moves of God in various regions around the world. If fasting helps usher God’s power and glory into a region by even 1%, then it seems like something we should be excited about doing.

With all of these factors in mind, I have stepped back into a lifestyle that includes fasting on an ongoing basis, and I encourage you to do the same as well.  In the future we will also be looking at some basic and practical details about fasting, and how to go about actually doing a fast, so stay tuned in the future for more updates!