Mark 9:28-29 (NKJV) 28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
Fasting is a topic that is often misunderstood.
Many people struggle to understand it in a meaningful way that produces fruit in their walk with God.
Today we would like to shed some light on this topic and bring clarity where there may be confusion or a lack of understanding.
First, we need to establish the fact that fasting is not meant to be a ritual or done to draw attention to oneself. It is not to be done with selfish motives.
Fasting is meant to be deeply spiritual; a personal sacrifice that expresses a sincere desire to draw closer to God and show a willingness to deprive yourself of sustenance or pleasure.
We endure physical hunger as an expression of our spiritual hunger for God.
Fasting done ritualistically or out of rote is meaningless and will accomplish nothing but making us feel good about ourselves, and a sense of pride in what we have done.
Fasting should never be done simply because we think we should.
Fasting should take place because we are led of the Holy Spirit to do so for a purpose.
True Biblical fasting done with the right heart will cause us to draw increasingly closer to God and will break the stronghold that food and other habits/pleasures have over us.
And as we move deeper into our fasting time, we will become steadily more aware of God’s presence, hearing Him with more acuity and accuracy.
The fact that Jesus fasted immediately before beginning His ministry is significant and should teach us much about the weight that fasting carries.
Some may question whether we need to fast for forty days, since that is the time Jesus, Moses and Elijah fasted for.
Nowhere in God’s word are we ever instructed that forty days are required for a fast to be considered legitimate or Biblical.
When the disciples asked Jesus why they were not able to cast a demon out of a man, Jesus told them (Mark 9:27-29) that “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting”. Jesus did not mention a requirement of forty days, or any specific number of days.
There is much we can gain as we learn about and partake in Biblical fasting. But this gain is not material.
The gains that we experience will be purely spiritual in nature, allowing us to draw ever closer to our Father in heaven as we shed the bonds of earthly desires and trade them for the desires of our heavenly Father.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443
401-439-3780
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