21 Days of Fasting - HOW & WHY?

Fasting Update: Starts tomorrow January 7th!

Fasting: a spiritual discipline

• Fasting is shutting down the desires of your flesh because you want a breakthrough more than you want food.
• Fasting is LESS about saying “no” to the body, and MORE about saying “yes” to the Holy Spirit.

Decide WHY you are fasting (and sorry, it can’t be “To lose some of this Christmas pudding I’ve put on over the last month.” That may wind up being one of the benefits, but fasting isn’t a diet.)

Make a Fasting Commitment: 2013 Fasting Contract

Here are some reasons people fast – see which areas stand out to you:

1. Health & Healing (Isaiah 58:8) ~ Expect healing and miracles (for yourself and/or loved ones).

2. Overcoming/Breaking Poverty (see: Joel 1:13; Joel 2:15-32)

3. Bondages/Addictions Broken (including sexual addictions – Judges 19 and 20); can also be substance, alcohol and food addictions. God IS ABLE!!!

4. Generational Curses Broken (Isaiah 58:12) – family curses of poverty, divorce, sickness, alcoholism, suicide, idolatry and other demonic attachments broken off you and your children.

5. Demonic Powers Broken – Jesus said, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).

6. Revelation and Wisdom – God will reveal things to come – Acts 13:14 when Paul and Barnabas “ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said…”

7. Breakthrough – Do you need breakthrough in your life — you want 2012 to be better than 2011? Is the Lord calling you to a work – or a new walk in Him? Are you being called to a new level of leadership or ministry? YOU NEED BREAKTHROUGH and He IS “The God of the Breakthrough!” (2 Sam. 5:20, 1 Chronicles 14:11)

Decide today WHY you are fasting.

Get a journal. Write it down. You can fast for more than one reason — we have a BIG GOD!!!

What TYPE of Fast?

Sorry, true Bible fasting is fasting from food — not an activity (hear my interview with Jentezen Franklin wherein he explains this). Fasting actually means in part “to cover the  mouth.”

1. Skip a meal and pray/read Bible/seek the Lord instead; eat light

2. Skip 2 meals and pray/read Bible/seek the Lord instead; eat light

3. Fast from a type of food your flesh really likes.

3. Follow a Daniel Fast (see below); eat light

–The challenge (and eventual delight) is to get your PLEASURE from the LORD instead of food (disciplining the flesh).

Delight yourself in the Lord ( ) instead of food. Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

Here's some more Wisdom on Fasting from Pastor Jentezen Franklin:

Hear my interview with Jentezen Franklin on Fasting HERE

Step 1: Be Specific
Daniel was not vague in his objection to the Babylonian diet. He defined the problem immediately.

1. The king’s food was against dietary laws.
2. Daniel and his friends had vowed against wine.
3. The king’s food had been offered up to idols/demons.

Step 2: Fast as a Spiritual Commitment
The Daniel Fast involves a spiritual commitment to God. “Daniel proposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8).

Step 3: Reflect Inner Desire by Outer Discipline
Many people have an inner desire for better health, but they can’t discipline themselves to avoid junk food, and other foods that are not good for their health. The physical health you seek from God may be more than an answer to prayer. Your physical health can be linked to any of the following factors:

1. Your food choices.
2. The level of your spiritual commitment as reflected in constant prayer during the fast.
3. Your time commitment. If you determine to fast for a certain time, keep it. For example, if you determine to fast 10 days, don’t stop on Day 9.
4. Your testimony commitment. Your fast is a statement of faith to God that you want Him to heal your body, and faith is foundational to the Daniel Fast.

Step 4: Pray to Perceive Sin’s Role in Poor Health
Notice James 5:13-16:

• Sin is something related to the cause of sickness.
• Lack of health/healing may be the result of spiritual rebellion.
• Lack of health/healing may be due to sin of wrong intake, i.e. drugs, pornography.
• Repentance is linked to health according to James.
• Elders have a role in healing both spiritual and physical health.
• Sick people must desire to be well
• The anointing oil could mean
  1. Medicine for healing,
  2. Symbolic of the Holy Spirit, or
  3. It could be baptism
• Prayer alone may not gain healing, faith is the major factor.
• In Greek there are several words for “sick”. James uses “Kanino”, which not only includes disease, but also means weak or weary.
• Attitude is important. James said, “are there any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.”

Step 5: Fast as a Statement of Faith to Others
Daniel was making a statement of faith when he asked for only vegetables to eat and water to drink, then dared the overseer to compare the appearance of the four sons of Israel with the young men who ate the king’s food.

Step 6: Learn the Effects of the Food You Eat
Why are some foods good for us, and other foods not? What does certain food do to your body? If we really knew, there would likely be some things we would never eat again.

Step 7: Yield All Results to God
Daniel said, “as you see fit, deal with your servants” (Dan. 1:13).

Daniel 1:12 –“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.”

Daniel 10:3 — “I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.”

When going on a Daniel fast, or any type of fast, if you have questions outside of what Scripture says, prayerfully seek the Lord and be led by the Spirit for the specifics for your personal fast.

For more information, please see: Jentezen Franklin – Daniel Fast

Hear my interview with Jentezen Franklin on Fasting HERE

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