Types of Fasts and Purposes of Fasting

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Fasting is the voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes. It is biblically based and entirely Christian. Fasting by non-Christians has no eternal purpose.

 

Foster puts it this way, “the voluntary denial of a normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity.”

 

1. Types of Fasts

   1. A normal Fast = abstaining from all food but not water.

                        i.      Matt. 4:2 “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he [Jesus] was hungry” The scripture does not say he was thirsty

2. A partial fast = limiting diet but not all food.

                       i.      Daniel 1:12 Daniel and other Jewish boys only ate vegetables and water.

                       ii.      John the Baptist ate Locusts and wild honey

                      iii.      Daniel 10:2 at that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

3. An Absolute Fast = no food or water.

                       i.      Ester called a three day absolute fast before going in to see the king concerning the proclamation to kill all the Jews.

                       ii.      When Jonah went to Ninevah, the king called a three day absolute fast in which even the cows were not allowed to eat.

4. Supernatural Fast

                       i.      Moses ate no bread and drank no water for forty days Deut. 9:9

                       ii.      Elijah traveled forty days without eat or drink Kings 19:8

5. Private Fast

                       i.      Matthew 6:16-18 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

6. Congregational fasts

                        i.      Joel 2:15-16 “15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.

7. National Fasts

                          i.      2 Chronicles 20:3 King Jehoshaphat called a national fast to stop an enemy’s invasion

                         ii.      Nehemiah 9:1

                         iii.      Esther 4:16

                         iv.      Nineveh in Jonah 3:5-8

8. Regular Fast

                         i.      Every Jew was to fast on the Day of Atonement Leviticus 16:29-31

9. Occasional Fast = These occur as the need arises.

1. Fasting is expected.

   1. Matthew 6:16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

   2. Matt 9:14-15 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,^[a] but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

   3. The promise Matt 6:16-18

                          i.      “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

                          ii.      There is a reward!!!!????

3. Purpose of Fasting

   1. To Strengthen prayer

                          i.      An aspect of intensity in prayer - esp. when seeking guidance, worshiping.

                          ii.      Fasting many times will bring clarity and make the Lord’s answer more audible.

                          iii.      Arthur Wallis remarks, “Fasting is calculated to bring a not of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven. The man who prays with fasting is giving heaven notice that he is truly in earnest… Not only so, but he is expressing his earnestness in a divinely-appointed way. He is using a means that God has chosen to make his voice to be heard on high.

                          iv.      Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all you heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning” Joel 2:12

                           v.      After they fasted and prayed the elders laid hands on Paul and Barnabas and “sent them off” on their first missionary journey.

                                                           vi.      Fasting is the best friend of prayer.

                                                          vii.      Arthur Wallis further states, “In giving us the privilege of fasting as well as praying, God has added a powerful weapon to our spiritual armory. In her faolly and ignorance the Church has largely looked upon it as obsolete. She has thrown it down in some dark corner to rust, and there it has lain forgotten for centuries. An hour of impending crisis for the Church and the world demands its recovery.

2. To Seek God’s Guidance

                           i.      14:23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

                          ii.      Fasting does not insure the certainty of receiving clear guidance from God. Rightly practice, however, it does make us more receptive to the One who loves to guide us. (Whitney 1991)

3. To Express Grief

                          i.      Judges 20:26 The Israelites wept and fasted because 40,000 were killed in a battle.

                          ii.      Samuel 31:13 the men of Jabesh Gilead fasted 7 days after burying Saul.

                          iii.      We fast at times to express grief for our sins. We cannot save ourselves from our sins, only Jesus can do that, however at times we feel strong remorse for our sins and actually grieve for them.

                          iv.      We should grow to express grief for the sins of others, even for the sins of our nation or for sins like abortion.

4. To Seek Deliverance of Protection

                          i.      2 Chronicles 20:3-4 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

                          ii.      Ezra 8:21-23 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. 22 For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” 23 So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.

                           iii.      David fasted in Psalm 109 to find relief from enemies

1.      Verse 24 My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.

5. To express repentance and the Return to God

                            i.      I Sam 7:6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the LORD. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

6. To Humble oneself before God

                           i.      I kings 21:27-29 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”

                           ii.      Psalm 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart.

                          iii.       “For since this [fasting] is a holy exercise both for the humbling of men & for their confession of humility, why should we use it less than the ancients did in similar need?...What reasons is there why we should not do the same.” John Calvin.

7. To express concern for the work of God

                           i.      Just as a parent will pray for a child. A Leader will fast for His work and His children.

                           ii.      Daniel 9:2-3 I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

                          iii.      “Fasting is a way of bringing the powerful Christ down from the mountain of glory into our valley of helplessness to do the work we cannot accomplish. But we must keep this in mind: in proper fasting, the emphasis is never on our merits or on our personal feelings as we fast. Rather we should be solely concerned with bringing down the presence of the risen Christ. The stress should be on God’s presence & glory & not on ourselves.” Douglas Kelly, If God Already Knows, Why Pray?, 177.

8. To minister to the Need of others

                            i.      Isaiah 58:6-7 Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “ In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the LORD? “ Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

                           ii.      God will not bless your fast if you forget the weightier matters of justice and mercy. God is a relational God.

9. To Overcome Temptation and dedicate yourself to God

                            i.      Jesus fasted 40 days before going into the ministry. He was tested in three areas. The first was to use God’s power for the world to satisfy himself. Turn the stone to bread. The second was to offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth and turn his focus to kingship and world power instead of Servanthood and the cross. The third was to challenge Jesus’ identity. “If you are the son of God” in other words, I don’t believe you, prove it to me.

                            ii.      Fast has value when you are struggling with sin.

1.      Lust

2.      Drugs

3.      Alcohol

4.      Anger

                           iii.      Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

                           iv.      Fasting will crucify your flesh

10. To Express Love and Worship to God

                            i.      Luke 2:37 “She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.”

                           ii.      Do you love God more than other things? Abraham was tested with his son Isaac. Do you love food more than God?

                          iii.      Christians throughout history always fasted before taking communion. A whole day or recently in the Catholic church a whole hour.

                           iv.      This was seen as preparation.