Have you ever wondered what fasting is all about? Ever thought about going on one but wasn’t sure you could? Didn’t know if you should? Thought it might actually kill you? But did you know it is one of the most powerful, yet under utilized tool in the life of a Christian. For the past few years I have done a first of the year fast. This fast has been a “firstfruits” offering if you will. Romans 11:16 talks clearly about “firstfruits.” “If the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy.” And in setting aside time to have focused heart calibration and attention onto the purposes and plans of my Heavenly Father for my year, I’ve discovered that what He has spoken to my heart in that season, is something that follows with me throughout the rest of the the year.
This year the word He gave me during my fast was “courage”. And I have gone back to that word over and over throughout the year. Asking myself, “What does courage for me look like here?” “Father, how can I show courage in this situation?” And so, I want to encourage you first, if you have never done a fast to prayerfully ask The Lord to speak to your heart about what this might look like for you.
Second, I’d like you to read the rest of this musing today and see what is pricked in your heart. Third, I encourage you to go back through the last twenty one musings of this year. They are the daily, and honest journals from the fast that I did at the beginning of this year. And finally, see what God may speak to you. I pray that the ears of your spirit are ignited to take a step you might never have dared before. To discover in the words of Dave Ramsey, “If you live like no one else, then you can live like no one else.” A fast brings an awareness, a sensitivity, a deep hunger of God and for God that will bring you to places you might never have been before. Go ahead. Jump. It is worth it.
The fast this year brought about some nasty side affects. There was the perpetual stomach growling, the nasty headaches, the nastier attitude and add to the equation that I had to call Comcast in the middle of all of it, and you can be pretty certain there wasn’t much holy happening. In fact, there was even question as to why I was doing it at all.
But when I doubt as to the “why”, I am struck by the words of Matthew 17: 21 and 9:29 “this kind can only be cast out by prayer and fasting.” And I’m also struck by Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount where He says, “When you pray…When you fast.” I have come to believe that fasting combined with prayer is one of the most underutilized weapons in the arsenal of the believer.
The world has gotten darker. The enemy more vicious. The battle lines more clearly drawn than they have been in the history of our world. The enemy is on prowl. And all of these truths make it clearer to my heart that I am in desperate need of God. All of Him. And all that He has to offer. And I have discovered that times of fasting and dedicated prayer, once I get my body emptied of its automatic responses of nastiness, bring me to a place of sweet communion. An even greater place of faith. And in that place of faith I see God move.
The boy was demon possessed. This father was desperate. He brought him to Jesus’ disciples first. That proved fruitless. So he brought him to Jesus. The heart culture of that generation frustrated Jesus. He saw them as unbelieving and unresponsive. And He knew He could do so much with just a little belief. A mustard seed type of belief. Wow, He could move mountains with that. So He challenged them in their place of faith, while reminding them that nothing is impossible. And while adding still that this came about only through fasting and prayer. Two tools that they were yet to fully utilize because Jesus was still present with them.
Today isn’t much different. Lives have been crippled by Satan and his schemes. Families are desperate. And so they bring their needs, their crippled, their diseased to us. To God’s disciples and say, “I need healing.” And our heads turn around as if to search the room for someone who is qualified.
But we have what is needed. When we begin to use this beautiful gift of fasting and combine it with the privilege of prayer, direct access to the throne room of God, our faith rises to places that can look at the broken and hurting and diseased souls of our culture and offer them the hope and healing they so desperately need.
I’m not a huge fan of giving up fried chicken or McDonald’s cokes for extended periods of time. I’m not even a huge fan of giving up television or social media for extended periods of time, if that is the kind of fast I feel called to. But I am desperate to see God move and lives healed and my own family transformed and if that means that faith for that kind of healing is found when I fast and pray, then may each stomach growl bring me to my knees. And may my faith grow. And let the healing come.
