“Be careful NOT TO PERFORM YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS before men TO BE SEEN by them. If you do, you will HAVE NO REWARD from your Father in heaven….” Matthew 6: 1 BSB (Emphasis mine)
Yesterday, we established that; Fasting is essentially giving up food (or something else) for a period of time in order to focus your thoughts on God. While fasting, it is required for people to read the Bible, pray, or worship. When fasting, we take a break from food or an activity to devote our entire time to focus on God. We become more sensitive to the voice of God, more attuned to hearing what He has to reveal to us.
In this edition, we are going to look at the various kinds of fasting which falls under all the categories mentioned in yesterdays edition. There are basically five kinds of fasting we can embark on, whether they are under the decreed fasting category, leadership or personal category. These kinds of fasting are Supernatural fasting, Regular fasting, Partial fasting, Absolute fasting and Activity Fasting.
- The Supernatural fasting is when one abstains from both food and water for a short period between 7 to 14days or longer period between 14 to 21 days, maximum of 40days. For instance, Moses embarked on this kind of fasting in Deuteronomy 9:9 and Jesus also embarked on same fast for 40days (Matthew 4:2-3). This kind of fasting is supernatural because the human body can only abstain from food for three days, besides this, it takes the help of God to go beyond the three days.
- The Regular fast is when one abstains from all kinds of food and drink except for water.
- The Partial fasting is when one abstains from a particular kind of food. For instance, Daniel fasted for three weeks living only on fruits (Daniel 10:3).
- The Absolute fast is when one abstains from all forms of food or liquid of any kind. Normally it should only be for a very short period of time between three to five days (Ezra 10:6; Esther 4:16; Acts 9:9).
- The Activity fast is when one lives on all kinds of food and liquid but skips all activities that siphons all the time to be spent with God in prayer, bible study and meditation. For instance, the quantum of time we spend watching television/movies, social media, sports analysis and arguments, regular hang outs with colleagues and friends. When ever we embark on this kind of fast, all the allotted time for such activities are dedicated to God.
After getting to know the various kinds of fasting, one may ask how long must we fast? Apart from the Decreed fast and Leadership fast, our Personal fasting period can be based on our convictions or the leading of the Holy Spirit. There various biblical periods we can hinge our fasting on. It can be a ONE DAY OR PART OF A DAY / 6-12HOURS (Judges 20:26; 1 Samuel 7:6; 2 Samuel 1:12; 3:35; Nehemiah 9:1; Jeremiah 36:6), a ONE-NIGHT FAST OR 24HRS (Daniel 6:18–24), a THREE-DAY FASTS (Esther 4:16; Acts 9:9), a SEVEN-DAY FASTS (1 Samuel 31:13; 2 Samuel 12:16–23), a FOURTEEN-DAY FAST (Acts 27:33–34), a TWENTY-ONE DAY FAST (Daniel 10:3–13) and a FORTY-DAY FASTS (Deuteronomy 9:9; 1 Kings 19:8; Matthew 4:2).
Beloved, besides all the benefits of fasting such as helping us to hear from God directly, revealing our hidden sins, strengthening intimacy with God, enabling us to pray with right motives, and building our faith it can ignite a major breakthrough that prayer alone cannot handle. In closing let us meditate on the words of Jesus in Matthew 17:21 as we continue tomorrow. “But THIS KIND DOES NOT come out EXCEPT BY PRAYER AND FASTING.” NIV (Emphasis mine).
PRAY WITH ME
Lord Jesus, I thank you this day for my life. From this day forward, I have resolved in my heart not to see fasting as a torture but rather a blessing. I will periodically embark on a fast to enhance my relationship with God. Holy Spirit, please guide and help me achieve this. This I pray in the precious name of Jesus! Amen!
Author: REV. SOLOMON LUTTERODT