Honoring God with your Body: The Power of Fasting
“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.” Matthew 6:16
Why is fasting so powerful? Why is hiding in the Lord and pursuing him in the quiet places of our hearts, minds, and souls so powerful? I could talk about a lot of different things on this topic, as fasting can bring about miracles, breakthroughs, freedoms, fresh vision and revelation, and healing. As well as so many questions on how long should I fast and what kind of fast should I do? Most of us go into fasting with something that we are seeking the Lord’s face for, and truly if we go into fasting with pure hearts and the right intentions, we never come out empty handed. For the Lord’s words will not return to Him empty, but accomplish what He pleases, and shall succeed in the things for which He sent it. Isaiah 55:11
With all that being said, I am just going to share how fasting recently impacted my boyfriend and share his story on how God revealed himself to him through community. Without giving lots of back story, my boyfriend is pretty new to walking with Jesus, and with that comes being new to fasting. He did do a social media fast back in January, so he is aware of the basic idea of silencing the world or flesh so you can pursue and hear from the Lord.
A church we have recently started attending said they were doing a corporate day of fasting on that following Wednesday. It was just a breakfast and lunch fast and I thought this would be a great place to start, and how awesome will it be for us to be intentional at work and pray for our coworkers. Wednesday morning comes around and my boyfriend, Landon, starts the day off strong. (Yes, we do work together if you were wondering). He comes into the office and immediately tells a couple of our coworkers that we are fasting. They are believers, and one of them joined in on the fast, which ended up being a huge blessing! From there my boyfriend is complaining to us over teams and text messages about already being starved and that he is hangry. Throughout the morning he is saying if he faints someone will have to pick him up. Followed with him asking if he can chew gum. He had a poor attitude most of the morning and never really took his mind off of his stomach and what he felt he was lacking. He was failing to really understand why we were fasting food and thought we should be fasting things that are distracting us from Jesus like work, social media, etc. (Which of course can be great things to be fasting). In his mind he wasn’t making the connection to honoring God with his body through the act of fasting food.
By the time we made it to our lunch at 1 PM, I was a little over his lack of understanding as I felt like he was not grasping why we were doing this, even after trying to explain it to him with scriptures and encourage him with worship songs. When we sat down to rest from our walk and just talk, I was frustrated because I was trying to explain the verse above to him on how you should act when you are fasting. He really took it as a personal attack. Thankfully our friend was there to also provide some wisdom and be able to relate to him on a personal level. As fellow believers and friends our intention was to help him come into a greater understanding of the why and ultimately a deeper relationship with Jesus. I would also like to mention that our friend Nick was a huge blessing to me, as I was just about to tell Landon to just go ahead and eat already and honestly he was able to buffer some frustrated feelings Landon and I were both having towards each other. Once we actually started praying you can see the walls that Landon had up begin to crumble. He was finally able to detach from the world and gain a heavenly perspective. In those moments of prayer God revealed to him why we fast by renewing his mind and removing the blockers from his eyes. What a human could not explain, God was able to explain to him through prayer, and it was so powerful. He had a completely different attitude for the rest of the day and a new pursuit to finish the fast strong. Instead of focusing on his stomach, he was able to focus on Jesus and what he can provide for us.
After talking to Landon once the fast was over, he mentioned it is so easy to forget what Jesus can do for us. He said when he was able to give up the worldly understanding and mindset and actually stop questioning God, and put his faith in Jesus, that everything changed. He also told me how grateful he was to have me and Nick alongside with him. He said in that moment, that he finally understood what community means. For the first time he realized that you can’t walk this journey alone. The enemy wants to isolate you and call it good. The enemy knows that where two or more are gathered that God is there with them. (Matthew 18:20) That is exactly what Landon realized when we were able to encourage him, love him, and pray with him.
So, our call to you is to surround yourself around people who relentlessly pursue the Lord and who will also relentlessly love you and come along side you to point you to Jesus and the ways of Jesus. We weren’t meant to be isolated from the body. We need the other members of the body to lean on. So yes, fasting is powerful. Why? Because when you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. James 4:8
“But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, expect your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Matthew 6: 17
Our greatest reward is to seek the Lord no matter the cost. His ways are so beyond our ways and what a good Father we serve.