Surrender

Why Do We Fast?

Fasting has several different meanings to people. Some people think about dieting when you say fasting. Other people think about starving themselves. Other people are afraid of it or feel discouraged just thinking about undertaking such a task.

Maybe you've fasted before. You may have fasted with your church, fasted from social media, or fasted just to lose weight.

Whenever I have fasted in the past, I always fasted from social media. I would do the 21 day fast that the church was doing and I would delete Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat for 21 days. I'm also a binger so I would watch a lot of shows, so I also stopped doing that for those 21 days. 

However, last October, I fasted from food. My plan was a 3 day fast. I felt called to fast because I needed to cleanse myself of the sin and bad habits of my recently ended relationship. It was the absolute first time I had gone days without food and it was truly incredible. It gave me perspective on who God was and how no matter what we did in our past, He would always forgive us and free us from it. 

On the third day of my fast, I had a break down and I decided to extend my fast. I added another day and throughout those 4 days, I did not feel any pain. The first day I was truly hungry, but once I got over that hump, I felt more numb than hungry. And when I did feel that tugging of my stomach, I turned that over to God. 

But one of the greatest things I remembered was that, I did not get one headache. If I miss a meal, there is no doubt that I will start feeling tightness in my forehead. I used to get headaches every day. 

But throughout those 4 days, I didn't get even one.

All this to say, I believe that a true fast is a fast from food. Many people like to fast from things that bring them pleasure, but if you truly want to connect with God, you should fast from food. 

There are many misconceptions about fasting. People think that if you fast, you will earn something from God. You will earn grace, favor, or that thing you are praying for. And yes, there are instances in the Bible, where leaders and kings and followers of Christ have fasted and God blessed them. However, that does not mean a fast is our way of bending God's arm or manipulating Him into answering your prayer.

Fasting is your way of telling God that you want to move out of His way. Fasting does not break God down to your will, it breaks you down to His will. 

When we fast, we humble ourselves before God and tell Him that we want to hear His voice and that we are waiting expectantly to hear what He has for us, no matter what He says. When we listen for His voice, we must listen with an open mind and in a posture of obedience. 

So remember these following things:

1. Fasting does not make you more holy or acceptable to God, it does not earn you favor or forgiveness, because Jesus already paid that price. 

2. Fasting is not mandatory. God gives us freedom to choose to follow Him and fasting is a part of that. It is not a requirement to get into Heaven. It is something that Jesus recommended His followers to do before He left the Earth. 

3. Fasting makes your prayers more likely to be answered. It is our way of surrendering to Him, not pushing Him to do what you ask.

And the most important thing,

4. If you are not praying while you fast, then you are just dieting. You can pray without fasting, but you cannot fast without praying. Period. 

If you have ANY questions about fasting, please drop them below. I am recording a video soon on the topic. There is so much more to fasting and praying that I did not add here. 

Also, I just posted a new video with some tips for those of you who are fasting and praying for the new year or who would like to, and also some tips on how to keep your New Year's Resolutions. 

https://youtu.be/BbdPtaeJ5eg

If you haven't subscribed to my channel yet, please do! It's something that God put on my heart to do. Getting started is hard, but I look forward to years from now when my channel has grown! :)