23/03/2022
Hallelujah🙌 we have come to the end of
In summary of what we have been discussing since March 1 to march 21.
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Fasting is not an end unto itself, but a means of focusing our minds and bodies for a spiritual reason. Whenever you fast, do so for a reason that is mentioned or modeled in the Bible. Here are ten primary purposes for fasting mentioned in Scripture:¹
1⃣. To strengthen prayer (e.g., see Ezra 8:23)
Numerous incidents in the Old Testament connect fasting to prayer, especially intercessory prayer. Fasting does not change whether God hears our prayers, but it can change our praying. As Arthur Wallis says, “Fasting is calculated to bring a note of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven.”²
2⃣. To seek God’s guidance (e.g., see Judges 20:26)
As with prayer, fasting to seek God’s guidance isn’t done to change God but to make us more receptive to his guidance.
3⃣. To express grief (e.g., see 1 Samuel 31:13)
Expressing grief is one of the primary reasons for fasting. Ever notice that when you’re moved to tears by grief you lose the urge to eat? When we grieve, our family and friends often have to plead with us to eat because our body’s appropriate response to grief is to fast. A prime example occurs in 2 Samuel 1:12, where David and his men are described as having “mourned and wept and fasted till evening” for their friends, their enemies and their nation.
4⃣. To express repentance and a return to God (e.g., see 1 Samuel 7:6)
This type of fasting helps us to express grief over our sins and shows our seriousness about returning to the path of godly obedience.
5⃣. To humble oneself before God (e.g., see 1 Kings 21:27 – 29)
“Remember that fasting itself is not humility before God,” reminds Donald Whitney, “but should be an expression of humility.”³
6️⃣. To express concern for the work of God (e.g., see Nehemiah 1:3 – 4)
As with Nehemiah, fasting can be a tangible sign
