Biblical meaning of fasting
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?”_Isaiah 58:6
The fast God is talking about here has very little to do with simply going without food. This fast is a lifestyle. It is a commitment that says, “I’m breaking the hold of wickedness on my life. I will not partake of the things of the world that have kept me bound.
I’ll turn off the television, and I’ll turn on teaching tapes instead. I’ll put down the newspaper and pick up my Bible. Instead of sitting down at the table, I’ll get down on my knees and pray until the sin is burned out of me and I’m 100 percent committed to Jesus. Then, once I’m free, I will give myself in intercession for others so they can get free too!”
Do you know what that kind of fast will do for you? It will heal you. It will cause the light of God to shine from your life. It will cause the glory of God to be your total covering! In the words of Isaiah, it will cause you to “be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isaiah 58:11).
If you want to see an example of the kind of glory that accompanies this kind of life, all you have to do is look at Jesus. He went out, led by the Spirit, into the wilderness for 40 days. While He was out there, He fasted, prayed and interceded just as Isaiah described.
We know He did because Isaiah 59 tells us that when God could find no one to intercede in that way, He sent “His arm.” In other words, He sent Jesus.
When Jesus left that place of fasting, His ministry exploded into power. What did that power look like? From the earthly perspective, it looked like people being healed of sickness and disease. It looked like the dead being raised. It looked like people’s needs being met in supernatural ways.
But in the world of the spirit, it looked like a dam had broken and a flood of spiritual power had been released.
Right now, God is calling His Church to the same place of fasting that He called Jesus. He’s calling us to a fast of separation to Him that will give us such a hunger to know Him and walk in His Spirit, that we’ll not be satisfied until we’re raptured.
Don’t wait another moment. Answer that call right now. Get down on your knees and say, “Lord, I’ll do anything You want me to do. I’ll be everything You’ve made me to be. No matter what it takes, I want the rivers of Your Spirit to flow through me.”
In the ears of heaven, such prayer sounds like a symphony of triumph. In the ears of hell, it sounds like the rushing mighty waters—a thunderous announcement that, despite the best efforts of the devil, the dam has broken and the flood is on the way.
Speak the Word
“I live a separated life unto God and I am like a watered garden, and a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” —Isaiah 58:11
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Biblically, fasting is mentioned in both the Old and New Testament. In the Old Testament it was often a way of expressing grief or a means of humbling one's self before the Lord. In Psalm 35:13, David humbled himself with fasting. In the New Testament it was a means to grow closer to God through mediating and focusing on Him. In Matthew 4:1-2, Jesus went to the wilderness to fast for 40 days. In Matthew 6:16-18 we learn that we aren’t to look somber while fasting so that it’s not obvious to others when we are fasting. Throughout the New Testament fasting and prayer are often mentioned together. In Acts 13:3, ‘they had fasted and prayed.’ In Luke 2:37 a widow worshiped day and night fasting and praying.