What Is Fasting And The Benefits Of Fasting?
Fasting is the abstinence from all food and drink for a period of time. This can be done for spiritual purposes, such as seeking God’s direction or understanding, or for physical purposes, such as healing.
Fasting has been practiced for centuries and is still popular today. There are many benefits to fasting, including spiritual, physical, and psychological benefits.
Spiritual Benefits:
Fasting can help us focus on God and grow closer to Him. It can also help us understand our place in the world and how we fit into God’s plan. Fasting can also help us develop self-control and discipline.
Physical Benefits:
Fasting can help us lose weight, improve our health, and boost our energy levels. It can also help us detoxify our bodies and rid them of harmful toxins.
Psychological Benefits:
Fasting can help us overcome bad habits, control our emotions, and improve our mental health. It can also help us learn to trust God more and rely on Him for strength.
What Are The Biblical Advantages Of Fasting?
In the Old Testament, it was often done as a sign of repentance or mourning. In the New Testament, Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before beginning His public ministry, and He encouraged His followers to fast (see Matthew 6:16-18).
So, what are the advantages of fasting?
1. Fasting can help us draw closer to God.
When we take our focus off of food and other earthly pleasures, we can put our focus on God and His Word. This can help us to hear from Him more clearly and develop a deeper relationship with Him.
2. Fasting can help us overcome temptation and break bad habits.
When we fast, we are saying to God that we want to be obedient to Him and break free from the things that are holding us back. This can be a powerful tool in our spiritual growth.
3. Fasting can help us develop self-control.
As we deny ourselves food or other things that we enjoy, we learn to control our appetites and desires. This can spill over into other areas of our lives, helping us to be more disciplined in all areas.
4. Fasting can help us focus on prayer.
When we fast, we often find that our prayer life improves. We have more time to pray, and we tend to be more focused when we do pray. This can lead to greater breakthroughs in our lives and relationships.
5. Fasting can help us with physical and emotional healing.
Fasting has been shown to have many health benefits, both physically and emotionally. It can help to boost the immune system, improve mental clarity, and even reduce stress levels. If you are dealing with a particular issue, fasting and prayer can be a powerful combination for finding healing and wholeness.
6. Fasting can help us become more compassionate.
As we see our own need for God’s grace and mercy, we can become more compassionate towards others who are struggling. This can lead us to reach out and help those who are going through difficult times.
7. Fasting can bring about a spiritual breakthrough.
When we fast and pray, we are setting ourselves apart for a time of seeking God. This can often lead to breakthroughs in our lives as He reveals His will and purpose for us.
8. Fasting can help us to fight spiritual warfare.
Fasting is a powerful weapon against the enemy. When we deny him access to our bodies through fasting, we are also denying him access to our minds and hearts. This can be a key part of victory in spiritual warfare.
As we identify with Christ in His suffering, we can also share in His power and resurrection life (see Philippians 3:10). This can help us to persevere through our own trials and suffering.
10. Fasting can help us to become more like Christ.
As we deny ourselves and take up our cross daily, we are following in Jesus’ footsteps. As we do this, we can expect to see His character formed in us. We will become more patient, kind, humble, and self-controlled.
These are just a few of the advantages of fasting. If you have never tried it, why not give it a try? You may be surprised at how God will use it in your life!
Why Christian Should Fast?
Fasting is an important part of the Christian life. It is a time when we can focus on God and His Word. It is also a time when we can draw closer to Him. Jesus fasted for forty days and nights before He began His ministry. Fasting is a way to humble ourselves before God. When we fast, we are admitting that we need Him and that we cannot do it on our own.
Fasting can be difficult, but it is worth it. When we fast, we are able to focus on God’s Word and put His will first in our lives. We are also able to better resist temptation and sin. In addition, fasting can help us break strongholds in our lives. Finally, fasting can lead us to spiritual breakthroughs.
If you have never fasted before, I encourage you to start small. Fast for one day or for a certain amount of time each day. As you grow in your faith, you can begin to fast for longer periods of time. I pray that you will experience the blessings that come from fasting and that you will grow closer to God as a result.
Tips On How To Fast Safely.
1. Make sure you’re healthy enough to fast.
2. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water.
3. Avoid strenuous activity.
4. Eat healthy foods when you break your fast.
5. Plan ahead and make a schedule for your fasting days.
6. Start slowly if you’ve never fasted before.
7. Expect feelings of hunger and temptation during your fast.
8 Take care of yourself emotionally and spiritually while fasting.
9 Don’t push yourself too hard physically or mentally while fasting.
10 Make sure you’re getting the nutrients your body needs
11. Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
12. Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
13. Make sure to get enough protein and nutrients.
14. Avoid processed foods.
15. Get adequate rest.
16. Exercise moderately if at all possible.
17. Stay positive and find support from others fasting with you or online groups/forums/blogs etc.
18.” Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Bible Verses About Fasting
1. Jeremiah 36:9
And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
2. 2 Samuel 12:16
David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
3. Isaiah 58:5
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
4. Nehemiah 9:1
Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
5. Matthew 15:32
Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
6. Luke 5:35
But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
7. Mark 9:29
And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
8. Joel 1:14
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
9. Psalm 109:24
My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
10. Esther 4:16
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
11. Acts 13:2
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
12. 1 Corinthians 16:13
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
13. Judges 20:26
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
14. Joel 2:15
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
15. Luke 5:33
And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?
16. Isaiah 58:3
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
17. Matthew 6:17
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18. Zechariah 7:5
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
19. Acts 10:30
And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
20. Luke 2:37
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
21. Zechariah 7:6
And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
22. 2 Corinthians 11:27
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
23. Joel 2:12
Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
24. Matthew 6:18
That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
25. Matthew 9:14
Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?
26. Matthew 6:16
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
27. Zechariah 8:19
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.
28. Isaiah 58:7
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
29. Daniel 9:3
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
30. Ezra 8:21
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
31. Isaiah 58:6
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
32. Isaiah 58:4
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
33. Proverbs 4:13
Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
34. Luke 18:12
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
35. 1 Kings 21:9
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
36. Matthew 9:15
And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
37. Acts 13:3
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
38. Jonah 3:7
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
39. Psalm 35:13
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
40. Ezra 8:23
So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
41. Nehemiah 1:4
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
42. Daniel 6:18
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
43. Jonah 3:5
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
44. Matthew 4:2
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
45. Matthew 17:21
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
46. Daniel 10:2
In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
47. 2 Samuel 12:23
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
48. Colossians 2:19
And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
49. 2 Chronicles 20:3
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
