A Word on Fasting
by: Janie Denney
"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” Galatians 5:16-17 (NIV)
Fasting can be traced back to the Old Testament, where it was practiced as a form of repentance, mourning, and seeking God's guidance. It's mentioned numerous times in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, with examples like the Israelites fasting during times of crisis or seeking divine intervention, and Jesus himself fasting for 40 days in the wilderness.
Through denying your flesh and focusing that hunger toward God, you grow in greater intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
In “Fasting: The Key to Releasing God’s Power in Your Life,” author and teacher Derek Prince puts together three main points of fasting in the Christian life:
The power of the Christian life is the Holy Spirit
The flesh, our carnal nature, opposes the Holy Spirit
Fasting is God’s appointed way to bring the carnal nature into subjection
Through self-denial, we recognize what controls us. We are able to see more clearly how little taste we have for sacrifice. Author Adele Ahlberg Calhoun of “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook” says it this way: “Our small denials of the self show us just how little taste we actually have for sacrifice or time with God. This truth is not meant to discourage us. It’s simply the first step in realizing that we have to lay down our life in order to find it again in God.”
In this state of denying our flesh, the spirit within us is strengthened.
Prince says, “No other power can enable us to live the kind of life that God requires of us as Christians. It cannot be done in our own will or in our own strength. It can only be done in dependence on the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the key to knowing how to release the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we can do the things we could not do in our own strength.”
By denying the flesh and hungering for God, we open ourselves to the supernatural move of the Spirit, allowing us to live out the Christian life in a manner that transcends human ability.
True spiritual transformation can only be realized through surrender to His leading. Through fasting, prayer, and reliance on the Spirit, we are empowered to live lives that reflect the character and power of Christ, impacting our world in ways we could never accomplish in our own strength.
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