Fasting

[Rollo Tamasi]

Does anyone ever fast?

Acts 13:2-3;
"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off".

While fasting is not a Commandment, it seems the early Church did this quite often.
Is fasting on the way out?
Do people (and church groups) fast much anymore?

I was told that going without food is fasting and going without drink is thirsting?
Does anyone know if this is true?

In my juicing book, it talks about going on an apple juice fast to cleanse the body.
Sounds like fasting but not thirsting.
My wife fasts but I don't.
With my health condition, if I don't eat, I feel extremely weak and in pain as though I will die.
Is it right for me to fast anyway?

Who has experience with fasting that can add some insight into all this?

 

[Eugene]

Good morning Brother Rollo, First read what the Lord calls a fast - Read Isa 58:5-7

There are many that practice fasting that use Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:28, but even my King James Bible states that "Some reliable mss omit v21." Notice the different translations below.

Authorized Version -
Mt 17:21 - Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9:29 - And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

1901 American Standard version.
Mt 17:21 - This verse not in this bible.

Mark 9:29 - And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.

New International Version
(Mt. 17:21) - Not shown in this version
(Mark 9:29) - He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

In 2 Corinthians 11:27 Paul says that he was "in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." Notice here that he separates hunger, and fastings as not being the same.

Then we read what a real fast is in Isaiah 58:5-7 below. Many fast doing without food to sort of add their works to what they're asking for. If I fast, God is obligated to answer me. God evidently cannot do it alone.

Isaiah 58:5 "Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?
Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
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?
___________________________________________________________________

Old Testament Fasting by On Line Topic

The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), #Le 23:26-32 It is called "the fast" #Ac 27:9 The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old Testament is in #Zec 7:1-7 8:19 from which it appears that during their captivity the Jews observed four annual fasts.

1. The fast of the fourth month, kept on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, the anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; to commemorate also the incident recorded #Ex 32:19 (Comp.) #Jer 52:6,7

2. The fast of the fifth month, kept on the ninth of Ab (comp.) #Nu 14:27 to commemorate the burning of the city and temple #Jer 52:12,13
3. The fast of the seventh month, kept on the third of Tisri (comp.) #2Ki 25:1ff. the anniversary of the murder of Gedaliah #Jer 41:1,2
4. The fast of the tenth month (comp.) #Jer 52:4 Eze 33:21 2Ki 25:1 to commemorate the beginning of the siege of the holy city by Nebuchadnezzar.

There was in addition to these the fast appointed by Esther #Es 4:16 Public national fasts on account of sin or to supplicate divine favour were sometimes held.

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.

Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

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.

1. #1Sa 7:6
2. #2Ch 20:3
3. #Jer 36:6-10
4. #Ne 9:1

There were also local fasts.
1. #Jud 20:26
2. #2Sa 1:12
3. #1Sa 31:13
4. #1Ki 21:9-12
5. #Ezr 8:21-23
6. #Jon 3:5-9

There are many instances of private occasional fasting #1Sa 1:7#1Sa 20:34 2Sa 3:35 12:16 1Ki 21:27 Ezr 10:6 Ne 1:4 Da 10:2,3 Moses fasted forty days #Ex 24:18 34:28 and so also did Elijah #1Ki 19:8 Our Lord fasted forty days in the wilderness #Mt 4:2 In the lapse of time the practice of fasting was lamentably abused #Isa 58:4#Jer 14:12 Zec 7:5 Our Lord rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocritical pretences in fasting #Mt 6:16 He himself appointed no fast.

The early Christians, however, observed the ordinary fasts according to the law of their fathers #Ac 13:3,14:23, 2 Co 6:5

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Good morning Brother Rollo, First read what the Lord calls a fast - Read Isa 58:5-7

There are many that practice fasting that use Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:28, but even my King James Bible states that "Some reliable mss omit v21." Notice the different translations below.

Authorized Version -
Mt 17:21 - Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9:29 - And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

1901 American Standard version.
Mt 17:21 - This verse not in this bible.

Mark 9:29 - And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.

New International Version
(Mt. 17:21) - Not shown in this version
(Mark 9:29) - He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

In 2 Corinthians 11:27 Paul says that he was "in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." Notice here that he separates hunger, and fastings as not being the same.

Then we read what a real fast is in Isaiah 58:5-7 below. Many fast doing without food to sort of add their works to what they're asking for. If I fast, God is obligated to answer me. God evidently cannot do it alone.

Isaiah 58:5 "Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?
Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
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?
___________________________________________________________________

Old Testament Fasting by On Line Topic

The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), #Le 23:26-32 It is called "the fast" #Ac 27:9 The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old Testament is in #Zec 7:1-7 8:19 from which it appears that during their captivity the Jews observed four annual fasts.

1. The fast of the fourth month, kept on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, the anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; to commemorate also the incident recorded #Ex 32:19 (Comp.) #Jer 52:6,7

2. The fast of the fifth month, kept on the ninth of Ab (comp.) #Nu 14:27 to commemorate the burning of the city and temple #Jer 52:12,13
3. The fast of the seventh month, kept on the third of Tisri (comp.) #2Ki 25:1ff. the anniversary of the murder of Gedaliah #Jer 41:1,2
4. The fast of the tenth month (comp.) #Jer 52:4 Eze 33:21 2Ki 25:1 to commemorate the beginning of the siege of the holy city by Nebuchadnezzar.

There was in addition to these the fast appointed by Esther #Es 4:16 Public national fasts on account of sin or to supplicate divine favour were sometimes held.

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.

Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

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.

1. #1Sa 7:6
2. #2Ch 20:3
3. #Jer 36:6-10
4. #Ne 9:1

There were also local fasts.
1. #Jud 20:26
2. #2Sa 1:12
3. #1Sa 31:13
4. #1Ki 21:9-12
5. #Ezr 8:21-23
6. #Jon 3:5-9

There are many instances of private occasional fasting #1Sa 1:7#1Sa 20:34 2Sa 3:35 12:16 1Ki 21:27 Ezr 10:6 Ne 1:4 Da 10:2,3 Moses fasted forty days #Ex 24:18 34:28 and so also did Elijah #1Ki 19:8 Our Lord fasted forty days in the wilderness #Mt 4:2 In the lapse of time the practice of fasting was lamentably abused #Isa 58:4#Jer 14:12 Zec 7:5 Our Lord rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocritical pretences in fasting #Mt 6:16 He himself appointed no fast.

The early Christians, however, observed the ordinary fasts according to the law of their fathers #Ac 13:3,14:23, 2 Co 6:5

Thank you Eugene, this is very informative.
I will sort this all out for myself.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

I do not fast except between breakfast and lunch, and between lunch and supper....oh, and during the night while I sleep.

I detest the idea of fasting. I would feel guilty about that, and I do occasionally, but honestly for me personally I just don't have any faith that it would have any usefulness in my life. It seems to me you should fast when the impulse of the Spirit is leading you that way. That way it will achieve that which God intended it to do.

Don't tell your wife all this. I don't want to risk her not fasting anymore if she's comfortable doing it now and it's fruitful for her.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Thank you Eugene, this is very informative.
I will sort this all out for myself.

The point being, I think, that God says fasting from sin is the fasting we should all be doing. I personally don't use that as the reason why I don't fast from food. As I said, I just think if God was going to meet me in fasting he'd let me know.

I have this problem with an evil spirit that has been dogging me through another person for many, many years now. It makes me want to die and go to be with Jesus. I've pleaded with God to release me from this tormentor, but He does not. I think of the time Jesus told his disciples 'this kind can only come out by prayer AND FASTING'.

15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill ; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him."17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once . 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" 20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 ["But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."] (Matthew 17:15-21 NASB)

I guess I keep thinking I don't need to go here until I absolutely have to.

I've always viewed fasting as a self imposed suffering that heightens our spiritual sensitivity and awareness, and therefore, our power. But I've had so many other sufferings and challenges in all my 28 years as a Christian that have done that for me. And which I thank God for....but which I will give up in a moment to be with him.

 

[Edward]

It's been quite awhile since I fasted. The last time was for 7 days without food, but I did drink water. I thought that I would be dragging the floor with no energy but it wasn't so. I had plenty of energy. When you fast, the body will burn off toxic cells and fat cells for energy. I felt good actually. When I would feel hungry I would drink two or three tall glasses of water to fill my belly and that worked good. When you come off of a fast, they say to ease back into food with small portions of non greasy foods, but I didn't, I went and got me a big juicy cheeseburger and chowed down, lol.

There seems to be some misconceptions about what a fast really is, or at least differing views. It would be nice if we could somehow clear that up in this thread, because I question it myself. Is it going without food and water? Or without food only? Water only? Are juices food? Coffee? I've even heard it said that simply denying yourself a bigger portion of food, or skipping one meal alone is indeed a fast.

I think we do need to fast, but, we need to do it the right way. I wouldn't want to fast the wrong way and have it not recognized by God as a fast.

 

[Blake]

Matthew 6:16 - and WHEN you fast... emphasis mine.

Said as a hypocrite, my casting days could probably be numbered on my hands.