God designed fasting for His people. It’s a spiritual discipline that helps us focus intently on Him and seek His guidance, wisdom, and intervention. Fasting is NOT about getting God to approve of us or to gain His favor. Jesus does that for us! Instead, fasting is entering into a highly focused time of prayer, study, worship, and devotion.
Biblical fasting is restricting food for a spiritual purpose. So you want a purpose for your fast. A targeted focus which will inform your choices about your studies, your prayers, and your declarations.
The problem is that if you don’t have at least one specific purpose for your fast, you’ll just be changing the way you eat for 21 days. Granted, the Daniel Fast is a very healthy way to eat. But fasting is about spiritual growth and not about food! So be sure to define the purpose of your fast.
Decide on Your Purpose for the Fast
What do you need? Do you need help with a relationship? Wisdom about your personal finances? Do you want to learn how to strengthen your faith for answered prayer? Do you want to submit more of who you are to the Lord? What are the desires of your heart? How do you want to grow?
Take a few minutes and think about your life and your needs. Your Father wants to meet you there. He wants to help you. And then decide on a purpose for your fast. Write it down. Find some scriptures that teach you God’s promises. And then start to seek the Lord and His wisdom. Open your heart to Him. Lean into Him.
God hears us and He answers our prayers. Mark 11:24 teaches us this truth from our Lord Jesus: “I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
That’s a clear promise. Our part of that equation is to believe. God’s part is to fulfill His Word and His promises.
Fasting can serve as a powerful time to develop our faith so we believe God and His Word with our whole heart. Not just head knowledge. But heart knowledge. We want to get to the point that we know that we know that we know. Fully convinced that we’ve received from God even before the fulfillment is tangible. This is a work of our faith. And sometimes our faith muscles need to be strengthened so we can believe with no doubt in our hearts.
What Will You Believe and Expect from God
As you prepare for your fast, decide what your purpose will be for your study, your declarations, and your faith. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. And when you pray, believe you receive, and you will have what God has already promised to give you!
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