What is the Purpose of Fasting?
These last few weeks, we have started to reconnect with the original purpose of fasting. Throughout scripture, biblical figures, including Moses, Daniel, Jonah, and Jesus, participated in fasting; over time, that practice also transferred to historical church figures. In today’s day and age, only 2% of Christians in America fast with any sort of intentional rhythm. Although our body and mind cling to the ideals of prioritizing food, fasting brings forth several benefits, such as the following:
Revealing God’s path for us
Strengthening our prayers
Providing a way to express our grief and pain
Most of all, fasting gives us a greater spiritual power.
Jesus Fasting for 40 Days and 40 Nights
In the bible, the books Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels. Many of them share the same stories, but they focus on different details to further explain the path Jesus led. Luke tends to focus more on the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, which is why in Chapter 4, verses 1-14, he writes about the moments Jesus experienced after he was baptized by John the Baptist:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
As followers of Jesus, this passage shows not only that Jesus our Lord, savior, and redeemer, but we see him as a person who fought the three great temptations that plague humanity by quoting the words of God. As a result, Jesus returned from the wilderness with the power of the spirit.
How to Prevail in a Time of Hunger
As a follower of Christ, do you believe it is possible that fasting can be a means for God’s people to walk in a unique power of the spirit, fighting demonic activity, and obeying God’s will? Fasting weakens the flesh, but something also happens when it is weak: it fuels the power of the spirit among God’s people. God’s power is made perfect in weakness, as the weakened flesh is the fuel that powers us to do God’s will and to operate in his power.
Isaiah 40:28 - 31 reads, “Have you heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall into exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
As we engage in this practice, keep an eye on the power available to you in your weakness and the access you will have to walk in the power of the spirit.
