WHAT ARE THE GUIDELINES FOR FASTING?

Secret by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

    As a Christian I learnt about fasting. I knew nothing about this before except that Muslims had Ramadan and Catholics had lent. Once I gave my life to Christ, I understood its importance in my relationship with God. In the first of this series on fasting I answered the question, Why do people fast?  and looked at A typical day when fasting. Here I will attempt to give you some guidelines:  

1.    It is not effective if the fasting is simply not eating food or taking a drink. Fasting is usually preceded by prayer. This is why it is usually called Prayer and Fasting. The emphasis is on the prayer time not on starving oneself. You can drink water or have liquids and you can change your diet or abstain from specific things. Fasting would not be fasting if there was no prayer. 

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:6-7

2.    It is not for public knowledge. This is especially for personal fasting. In the example of a marriage (borrowing from the previous blog) the time a husband and wife spends in intimacy remains private. Since fasting is spending intimate time with God and reverencing God, it is treated the same way, private and holy. In Matthew 6, Jesus spoke about privacy with God in prayer then He spoke about fasting. 

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:16-18

3.    Our hearts and mind must be clean and 'circumcised'. Why? Because our God is holy and perfect. We have to be the same.

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:15-16. 

Once a friend called me while I was fasting and in chatting an expletive came out my mouth. But the funny thing is I don't curse or use obscene language. Not only did I allow filth in my ears, I allowed it out my lips. I was not guarded.

Now when fasting, I ask The Holy Spirit to be the guard on my heart (Proverbs 4:23, 16:9). I have to be wise in locking myself up keeping away from people who will not respect my standards or my time of prayer and fast. Although we are not supposed to broadcast that we are fasting, generally our lifestyle should reflect our Christian values. 

4.    For the fast to be effective, spend time with God. The television cannot take more time than prayer time. Even if you are on the job during the fast, find quiet moments in between and be careful to not allow temptations to cause you to break the fast. I use praise and worship music to help change the atmosphere. I spend lots of time reading my Bible and meditating on the meaning of His word.

A fast can be broken by anger, cursing, false imaginations, lust, acts of the flesh (sex), gossip, thinking mean things, committing injustices, unforgiveness etc. 

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Isaiah 58: 6-7 

Avoid, anything that makes you forget to spend time in reverence to God. We have the assurance of God's love for us. Once we keep our part Isaiah 58:8-9 says He will answer our prayer.  We cannot doubt His love or His protection. Doubting God is doubting ourself as well. Doubting self is doubting who you are in Christ.

I can do all things through Christ which (who) strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13

5.    A fast must be focused on something no matter how simple it is. But it must be in the context of God and His will. The issue or the person you are fasting about must be brought to God in prayer.  God is a jealous God, if I am bringing something to him, I have to seek His will in the situation. The situation or the individual cannot be more important than God, or be treated as more powerful than God.

Recently I was fasting and on the first day, a relative called me, and even though I was taken by surprise by the accusations I felt disappointed in the relative's behaviour. That led to anger and impatience. I had to literally cut the relative short and repent in prayer to The Lord, start over and re-focus myself. But there was a lesson in this. I had to kill what was 'earthly to me' Colossians 3:5.

Even though the situation threatened to spiral out of control, I had to make a stand to continue the prayer and fast. In order to do that I had to address myself before I could address the situation. Here are the steps I took:

• I looked at my negative emotions. I had to face them and figure out why I felt that way. I was so ashamed as I saw my flaws.
• Immediately I went before God and repented for loosing focus on Him.
• I trusted God to work it out and it did. I did not address it until the prayer and fast was over. I prayed that I would have opportunity to address the situation after. God first. 
• Humbled myself and asked God if I could make up for the lost time. Negotiations were in order.

Do you see it now? Romans 12:2 says it is in the testing that we can know the will of God, what is good, what He will accept and what is perfect. When fasting the first act is to go before God with a broken and contrite spirit. Anything that is buried inside the heart will show itself. Even for the best of us. 

Since 1994 I have been fasting and I still marvel at the new things I discover about myself. This month I started fasting as is the custom, and started naming my flaws. I asked God to show me the obstacles in my heart. I was in shock for the entire day! I thought I was a good Christian.  

I pray you learn more and more about God and I curse every obstacle in your way in the name of Jesus the Christ.

If you have not asked Jesus to be Lord over your life you can pray the following prayer and attend a full gospel church near you:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be. Guide me in these times so I can be used by you to help others in Jesus name I pray. Thank you Father.

WHY DO PEOPLE FAST?

     Whew! The month is half way done. Time waits on no one. What are you giving to God? Giving the first of everything to God is special. This is the reason why many churches call a collective fast during the month of January. Some fast for 21 days and some for 40 days. There are no specific rules but there is a principle. Some people fast from the customary dusk to dawn which is for most of us 6 a.m. to 6 p.m and some break the fast at 3 p.m. Some do it for half day which is six hours. I encourage everyone to fast regularly especially in the first month. In this series on fasting I will answer write on the following:

• 

  Image by pxhere

  Why do people fast?
• What are the guidelines for fasting?
• A Typical Day when fasting
• How often do we fast?

It is important to learn about God. To receive favour from God, or to understand God, we have to know who He is and what He wants of us. How can we know what pleases God if we do not know Him? But in knowing Him we will want to keep His commandments or do as He wants us to. 

Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying John 8:5. 

This is how it works. Like in a relationship. Once we get to know our friend and learn to love them we want to do things to make them happy. Then the relationship grows and we enter into covenant with them through marriage.

Today we fast for different reasons taking example from the Bible. Praying and fasting bring us closer to God. When we fast we have to pray. This will be discussed further in the blog, What are the guidelines for fasting?

Many people fast in January for God to bless them for the rest of the year. This is the reason why it is associated with first fruits at this time. It is a principle set by God Himself. As the Israelites had to give of the first fruits to bring a harvest from God, Christians give the first fruit of everything including tithes. The principle is to give to God the first of everything.

The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. Exodus 34:26

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the first day of the first month you are to take a young bull without blemish and purify the sanctuary. Ezekiel 45:18

Here are some reasons why Christians fast:

1. To entreat God and gain favour. 

To bring a situation before him. This was why Daniel fasted. He was concerned about what the prophet Jeremiah had written. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled Daniel 10:3. 

In this instance Daniel had an urgent matter to go to God with. He needed an answer and God sent the answer with a personal messenger. I dare say fasting was a regular practise for Daniel because he had a special kind of favour with God. Even the angel Gabriel said he was beloved. 

There seems to be exceptional favour or anointing when there is a lifestyle change in staying away from things. John the Baptist was another example. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey Matthew 3:4. John got to be the one announcing the coming of Jesus. That is a special kind of favour.

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2. To receive direction and seek the presence of God in our life.

Moses went up into the mountains and fasted. The direction God gave him is used by us in our daily living to this day. Millions of people follow the Ten Commandments. It forms part of legal systems globally. The presence of God remained with him and people saw this. Even your enemies will see the presence of God with you.

And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. Exodus 34:28-30

3. To cleanse or purify oneself. 

God wants a people who have a circumcised heart. Fasting helps us to achieve this. To purify our body, mind and spirit. If we are God's children then we fast and are entitled to covenant with Him. Covenant is for those whom He knows. Those who are intimate with Him. The ones who have special moments with Him. Fasting builds our relationship with God. Similar to the marriage example I gave earlier. 

We learn more of Him and He enjoys our companionship. But He sees that it is important to us when we fast. In opposition to this take the example of Adam and Eve. They did not keep their bodies holy because they ate the forbidden fruit. Also, they disobeyed. They did not give God priority because the focus was not on Him.

As a Christian we have to keep our bodies in holiness to God. For the Israelites the meeting place with God is the Temple. For us God dwells in us. 

Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel. In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant. And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’ This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites. Ezekiel 44:6-9

4. No one is above fasting. 

We all fast, even non-believers understand the need to fast. God answers and blesses believers and non-believers when they fast and pray. Even Kings fasted. King David fasted. He fasted for others to be healed. When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. Psalm 69:10. This example tells me I can fast for my family and friends. I can fast for healing.

5. When we need a massive move of God or have a nation related problem. 

Queen Esther needed God's favour to save her life and the lives of the Jews. Prophet Ezra fasted to humble himself and ask for protection from the enemies. He was responsible for transporting the people and the treasures or precious things of Israel. And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. Ezra 8:21

6. Jesus set the example for us. 

Jesus fasted. This is the most important reason I think. He re-established the spiritual dynamic that God instituted. He confirmed to us as Christians that we should fast. Similarly he was baptised but that is another blog. He conquered temptations of the carnal mind and flesh through fasting, prayer and the word of God. 

We see the spiritual dynamic in which the devil will tempt us and throw obstacles in our way. But Jesus shows us by example how to overcome him. From the example of Jesus and Moses I want to prove that God keeps us during the fast. Only after the period Jesus got hungry and Moses was not sick after 40 days and night of not eating. 

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. Luke 4:1-2

I pray you have opportunity and courage to fast and pray in this time. I pray that God keeps you and strengthens you in Jesus name. 

If you have not asked Jesus to be Lord over your life you can pray the following prayer and attend a full gospel church near you:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be. Guide me in these times so I can be used by you to help others in Jesus name I pray. Thank you Father.