PRINCIPLES OF FASTING

In all my years of serving God, and the discovery of many shortcuts to the anointing, there are a few which stand out the most. 

Before you get offended by the term “shortcuts to the anointing”, I want to encourage you to continue reading this article – because throughout scripture are principles which we can choose to apply or not, and those will directly determine our successes and our failures.

These principles are the kind which I have committed to equipping my church with, so that they may become effective, prosperous and wholesome believers. And, as true as you are reading this article now, those who apply those keys experience the same degree of miraculous breakthrough as I have.

One of these principles is fasting. I have proven this to be one of the most effective means to accelerate breakthrough time and time again, and can be used as a shortcut or a conduit to access the anointing and the power of the Holy Ghost.

Fasting, in itself, has many elements that you need to understand, especially when making the decision to go into a fast. In this article, I will share a few of these with you.

1. You are not a human trying to have a supernatural encounter.

Regardless of what you have been raised to believe, let me tell you that in your original God-created form, you are not who you are as a result of your physical body, or your soul / personality. 

God created you after His own Flesh and Likeness, and God is a Spirit. In the same way, so are you a spirit. However, when you were born, your spirit was given a body and a soul – a personality, the seat of your emotions. Therefore, we are a spirit that lives in a body, and we have a soul which functions with our five senses.

We are spirits that live in a body trying to have a human experience. We are not humans trying to have a spiritual experience.

This is why it is very important that your body and your soul does not steer the course of your life. Instead, your spirit should direct your body and your soul. But unfortunately, the enemy has succeeded in getting all of mankind to be driven by their natural senses, where even their every decision is dictated by how they feel.

Fasting forces your body and your soul to be brought down to a low place, so that your spirit may be brought to a higher place – ultimately being brought to the point of sensitivity, where you can now be driven by the Spirit of God 

2. What you feed the most will grow the most.

Just as your body needs food to stay alive, so your spirit needs spiritual food to stay alive.

When you deprive your body of food, or certain nutrients, over an extended period of time, you can develop deficiencies.  The same applies in the spirit. Deprive your spirit of the Word, prayer, and His presence, and your spirit man will become weak and develop deficiencies. 

That’s why you need to feed your spirit daily, and sometimes, this is most effective when fasting. The strength of your spirit-man begins to overtake that of your flesh.

 

In this passage, we read about Jesus who was at the end of a forty-day fast, and was tempted by satan, whereby the devil tempted him to turn the stones to bread. 

Jesus responded by quoting scripture. This is a perfect example as to why it is so important that during any fast, you study scripture and pray. If you fast without praying and reading the Word, you aren’t really fasting – you’re just on a hunger strike.

Jesus answered saying that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

There is power in the Word of God. The Word is food for our spirits. It causes us to be spiritually healthy. You need the Word to sustain you, especially during a fast. 

So, when Jesus answered the enemy with these words, what He meant was that He will not die without natural bread, but was stressing the importance of our spirits not being able to live without the Word of God.

You need to realise that there is an on-going war between your spirit and the flesh. The Holy Spirit is trying to guide you into one direction, but your flesh wants to pull you in the other direction. The best way to crucify the flesh is by going into a fast;  denying the flesh its will and desires. A fast will bring the flesh into subjection under your spirit man. 

 

This scripture even says when you fast, not if you fast. Therefore, as Christians, it is mandatory that we fast.

3. Below are a few reasons to embark upon a fast.

 

1. Esther fasted for divine intervention and favour in a time of life-threatening danger.

 

 3. Seek the Lord in prayer and fasting in a time of fear and panic.

 

A few verses after the fast was declared for the whole of Judah, we see how God worked on their behalf – despite the circumstances. 

 

3. Your fasting will give God full access to intervene on your behalf.

 

This can be seen in the life of Daniel, where his fasting even caused the angels to be released to intervene on his behalf. 

 

 

 

I have personally exercised this principle in my own life, and seen the evidence of it working in the lives of many as well. Often times, the spirit of delay, which causes your prophecies to be held back, are broken by a fast!

 5. You can fast and pray for the freedom/deliverance of a loved one.

 The testimonies we have received over this very thing cannot be counted. If you’re trusting God for someone you care for to be delivered and set free, embark upon a fast.

6. Fasting will sharpen/heighten your spiritual senses.

Fasting will cause you to be perfectly aligned with God, where you now clearly hear His voice, and receive your breakthrough.

7. Fasting gives you direct access into the supernatural dimension. 

When you fast, and throughout your time of fasting, you are no longer in the natural, but dwell the courts of Heaven, where you target everything from the spiritual realm.

8. Fasting will bring forth a type of faith needed to deal with the enemy effectively.

The enemy is afraid of a person who fasts, prays and spends time in the Word. He knows that fasting, praying and reading the Word brings forth a level of power and anointing that no devil in hell can stand against. 

9. Fasting to bring about drastic change within your life.

 Remember that fasting does not move God, it moves you. You may be wondering, “but how does fasting move me?”

Fasting is not fasting when you are not hungry and when you are not weak. Fasting is the sacrifice where your body says that you need to eat, and you say no! This is the moment that you begin to provoke heaven and tune into the spiritual dimension. So, you destroy the nature and the will of the flesh, where you declare with your actions that you are no longer a natural man, but a spiritual man, and that you shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Again, I stress the importance that while you fast, you need to feast on the Word of God. It is important that you understand what fasting is. It is when you deny yourself and consecrate yourself unto God in a dedicated time of prayer and a study of the Word.

I want to encourage you today that if you have a desire to live the higher life – one where you can be used of God, where you become powerful and effective in the supernatural – you need to live a lifestyle of fasting.