Daily Devotional for Wednesday May 17, 2000

Fasting

(Matthew 6:17,18)

Fasting has been one of the most misunderstood and misused practices in the Bible. The basic premise of fasting is giving up a normal daily activity as a sacrifice, to spend that time in prayer and seek the Lord. It is not supposed to be a physical endurance contest to see how long you can go without eating, but again, an act of sacrifice. It can be as little as one meal, one day, three days, there is no magic formula. Let me warn you, fasting can be very dangerous to your health! Anytime you fast over 24 hours, you need to be very careful, and I would suggest contacting your doctor to make sure you do it correctly. The reason you fast is to sacrifice the nourishment to your body and spend that time nourishing your soul. It is a way to focus solely on the Lord and to seek Him. Often fasting is done at times when there are major needs, and you need to really zero in spiritually on the Lord, seeking Him for answers. I routinely fast one day a month, but during major events or times of great need, will fast for 72 hours and try to spend much of that time just in prayer, living my normal life, but using the time I would normally be eating to just seek the face of God.

Fasting does not make you more spiritual than someone who does not fast. It is not a way to prove how spiritual you are. Again, it is a simple act of sacrifice to spend that time in prayer with the Lord. It allows you to hear God more clearly. It is a time to really get serious about praying over a certain situation or circumstance. It is a sacrifice on your part to get closer to God. That is a good thing. I would suggest that if you never fasted before, take one meal a week,, skip it, and in the 20-40 minutes you would normally be eating, go to a quiet place and just pray. Talk to God about those things in your life He needs to clean up. Talk to God about problems that only He can fix. One powerful way to use fasting is to fast and spend that time in prayer for someone else. Sacrifice that meal and spend the time praying for the needs of someone else. Powerful!