Fasting

How would you like to overcome darkness and sin that binds you, to undo heavy burdens that you carry, to become free of oppression, to break every yoke that is upon you, to receive improved health of body and soul, to have your every prayer answered, to receive continual guidance in things both temporal and spiritual? How would you like God's Spirit and power to go before you, be with you, and also protect you from behind?  Would you like your life to become as a beautiful, watered, fruitful garden? How would you like to have God's grace flow to you continually like a spring of water whose waters fail not (see Isaiah 58:6-11)?

The history of fasting includes receiving the gift to heal or to be healed; it includes examples of overcoming darkness such as alcoholism, addictions, poor character traits, and so forth. Many have overcome bondage and captivity through fasting, and countless people have received answers to prayer and have received direct guidance from heaven while fasting. By praying and fasting often a person can enjoy heaven's guidance and perfect influence always. Fasting is one of the greatest tools God has given man. God promises that even physical health will be greatly improved through fasting.

Isaiah taught his people that God is no respecter of persons and that His promises are for every soul who learns to fast in an acceptable manner before Him. There are many examples in scripture of those who fast acceptably before God; some great blessings have occurred after as little as one or two days of fasting; others have fasted forty days or more. Moses fasted forty days before receiving the ten commandments from God and then commenced another forty day fast immediately after learning of the iniquity of Israel while he was upon the Mount with God. Christ fasted forty days before He commenced His mission. Gandhi fasted for twenty plus days on several occasions as he sought to establish greater freedom for his people from Great Britain. In every culture and every religion there are accounts of individuals who have gained great spiritual insights and power through fasting.

There are both acceptable and unacceptable ways to fast. Fasting for selfish and self-righteous reasons has always been and will always be unacceptable to God. God neither responds, nor do His promises apply to those who fast in an unacceptable manner. How must a fast be conducted in order to receive the promises spoken of by Isaiah? Consider the following principles that are a part of an acceptable fast. When correctly applied these principles merit and result in God's promises toward the fast:

1. Proper Attitude: It begins with the right attitude of work and obedience. We are never tempted above that which we are able to bear and with each temptation a way is made for our escape, that we may be able to bear it, but we must always do our part. A proper fast can enable you with greater power to overcome your temptations and sins and to lay hold of needed blessings. 
2. Determine Purpose of Fast: It is important to determine and recognize the purpose(s) of your fast. This could range from being released from prison, to overcoming specific sins that beset you, to being enabled to meet your temporal needs, to overcoming oppressive relationships, and so forth. Only you know what you or others need and what desires underlie the purpose of your fasting. As you prepare to fast, determine your specific purpose or purposes for fasting. 
3. Begin Fast with Prayer: The Lord is pleased when we reason with Him and present our needs and desires to Him in prayer. This is not to be confused with a demanding spirit; rather, we are to make a righteous offering that is described in scripture as a broken heart and a contrite spirit. With such a heart and spirit we are to articulate and share the purpose, reason, supportive logic, and need for our prayerful requests. God accepts our perfect offering as we express our desires and purposes to Him in faith and meekness. 
4. Bless Others: Isaiah said: “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:10) God's power and blessings are released more fully to us as we seek to lift the burdens of others. 
5. Seek the Companionship of the Holy Ghost: “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearguard” (Isaiah 58:8). "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am..." "And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought..., and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not" (Isaiah 58:9). How would you like to become filled with His Spirit, power, and grace--insomuch that your life becomes fruitful with goodness that fails not? 
6. Subdue the Natural Man: There are changes that occur in the body during a fast. After certain energy reserves are depleted, body fat then releases fatty acids that form ketones, which are then used to produce energy in place of the more immediate energy reserves that are exhausted. Ketones have an effect upon our psyche that cause us to overcome hunger and to literally subdue the natural man. As your body enters into this state of fasting, it submits more fully to the spirit and as the spiritual man is victorious, we experience greater sensitivity to the influence of the Holy Ghost. Any person who becomes sensitive and fully responsive to God's Spirit is also prepared to receive His power and grace to become as a watered and fruitful garden or as a spring of water whose waters fail not. Goodness will continually flow from the lives of such individuals. 
7. Use of Time: While fasting, during time you would normally spend preparing food and cleaning up, devote that time to studying scriptures, learning, teaching others, and writing in your journal. Pray and ponder deeply the purpose of your fast and become responsive to God's Spirit.
8. Mighty Prayer: If we want the results spoken of by Isaiah, then we must combine prayer with fasting. Mighty prayer occurs as you ask God to help you remember His many kindnesses towards you. As you pause to ask and to remember His gifts to you, the Holy Ghost will fill your mind and heart with grateful remembrance. As you so remember you will feel pure gratitude, which is a natural expression of pure love toward God. This opens the conduit of the Spirit fully in your prayer and you will experience God's reciprocating pure love through the power of His Spirit. 
9. Bear Pure Testimony: As the Holy Ghost becomes your constant companion, such as occurs when we become humble and meek through fasting, our testimonies of God's goodness are more easily, simply, and purely expressed and should be shared with others. 
10. End Fasting in Prayer: There comes an appropriate time to end a fast. When that time arrives, end your fast in prayer. Reflect upon the purpose of the fast and how that purpose was served. 
11. Covenant to Improvement: As you receive valuable insights from fasting, note each insight in your journal and make appropriate plans and commitments with God regarding those insights. Secure the Holy Ghost as your constant companion by covenanting with "real intent" to follow the guidance you receive during the fast. As you maintain your commitment by following through with your plans, God's Spirit will continue to bless and influence your efforts as you go forward. 
12. Become Like Christ: The spirit of a fast helps lead us to increasingly think and act like Christ, and through regular fasting, repentance, and the continual remission of sins the attributes of the natural man slip away to be replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. This is what it means, in part, to come to know Christ and God. Christ instructed us to become perfect as His Father in Heaven is perfect. We can talk about Christ, teach about Him, and so forth, but until we become like Him through repentance and through a continual remission of sins, we can never come to truly know Him. Coming to know Him is a gentle process of grace that occurs through the gift of His Spirit that attends our fasting, repentance, and a continual remission or our sins; through this process He helps us to become like Him, attribute for divine attribute. Fasting catalyzes this process as we take the insights received while fasting and immerse ourselves in them more fully. 

To realize the promises of the fast described by Isaiah fast in an acceptable manner before God, as described above. As a principle of power fasting changes lives. When the flesh submits to the spirit we gain the insights, strength, and grace needed to subdue the natural man and to become as Christ. He purges and refines us as silver and gold until His perfect image can be seen within us. That image is best reflected through our kindness and actions toward each other and toward the hungry, the poor, the homeless, the naked, the widow and the fatherless, the stranger that comes into our gates, and to our own families and children in their needs. Therefore, to become as Christ and to obtain the promises of the fast, let our souls be drawn out in fasting and in mighty prayer continually and throughout our lifetimes.