“Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions….. So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.” Ezra 8:21 & 23
A main question on the topic of fasting is “Why should I fast?” This is a valid question, but perhaps we should answer another question before answering this one. That question is, “What does fasting accomplish?”
- It transforms passivity into passion – with a bit of a small supernatural jumpstart.
- It sensitizes us to spiritual things.
- Fasting is the intentional discipline of “pressing into and drawing near” to the Lord.
- Fasting sensitizes our ability to hear the voice of the Spirit.
- Fasting increases our faith level and spiritual power and authority in our lives and the Kingdom of Heaven.
- Fasting carries a great reward from the Father in Heaven.
- Fasting is our voluntarily humbling ourselves to the Lord which in God’s eyes is a very good discipline and brings rewards as well.
- Fasting averts God’s judgment and invokes God’s intervention and restoration.
- Fasting rescues and awakens our next generation for God’s glory!
- Fasting taps God’s power
- It is act of warfare that dethrones principalities
- Fasting is an act of dependence on His strength
- Fasting releases the blessings and abundance of Heavens storehouses
- Fasting opens the doors to answered prayers
I believe the question “why should I fast? has now been answered.
List partially adapted from Kathy Hamon, “An Introduction to fasting” blog on http://www.praycog.org
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