Why Fast?
For the past several years we have been encouraging the people of the Missionary Church to set aside the first Friday of the month as a time of prayer and fasting. This stemmed, in part, from a pattern of prayer established among New England churches prior to the Great Awakening. It also comes from examples in Scripture.
Nehemiah fasted and prayed as a part of repenting on behalf of the children of Israel. The people had been taken captive and the city of Jerusalem destroyed because of the sinfulness of God’s people. In a season of prayer and fasting, Nehemiah confessed the sins of the people (Nehemiah 1:4).
Nehemiah’s fast appears to be a private thing between him and God, but Ezra (Ezra 8:21) called for a corporate fast, “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.” Ezra saw the value of setting aside one’s appetites just to seek the face of God for His direction.
It was the Lord who called the people to “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning” (Joel 2:12). Once again, fasting was a part of repentance — of turning away from sin and turning hearts toward God.
Jesus told his followers in Matthew 6 that when they fast, they should not go around with long faces. Personal fasting was just that, personal. Fasting was and is intended to turn our focus on the Lord. Fasting is not about getting something from God; it is about giving ourselves more fully to Him so that we can hear Him and so that our hearts can be cleansed.
It was while Cornelius (Acts 10:30) was fasting that he saw a vision of a man in bright clothes telling him that his prayers had been answered and telling him to send men to Joppa to fetch Peter. Cornelius was simply seeking the Lord — seeking to hear from Him — worshiping Him.
In Acts 13, it was while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting that the Holy Spirit said to separate Paul and Barnabas to a work to which He had called them. It is when we set aside personal pursuits to simply pursue the Lord that He is able to expose sin (Nehemiah and Joel) and reveal His plans as in the case of Cornelius and Paul and Barnabas.
What might the Lord say to us if we set aside a day, or multiple days, simply to seek Him? We live at a time when the harvest is ripe. Could we, by fasting and prayer, discern from the Lord the doors that are open? Could it be He would identify people in our fellowships that He would call to a new ministry? Why fast? There is a Kingdom to advance!