How Can We Give God-pleasing Fasting?

1. The fasting duration should be proper for the purpose.

The duration of fasting is different according to the purpose. For some prayer titles, one-day, three-day, five-day, seven-day fasting are enough. For some other prayer titles, it's enough to pray fervently, without giving fasting (Esther 4:16; 1 Kings Chapter 18). The 21-day or 40-day fasting is usually given for a great purpose like understanding God's will and providence clearly, and fulfilling His providence.

The long-period fasting must not be given arbitrarily or for our own benefit, so we should receive the duration and the right time through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We should pile up prayer for the fasting and give it by the guidance of the Spirit in His fullness.

For example, if you want to fast in order to receive the power and save many souls, you must sanctify your heart and prepare your vessel worthy to receive answers. Power belongs to God as said in Psalm 62:11 and God can give His power only to those who have cast off all the sins and evil and become sanctified.

Therefore, when pastors want to give a long-period-fasting, they should make a decision after talking to the church department in charge of it. This is because they can't do their duties during the fasting because they devoted themselves only to the Word and prayer. And we also should check if the purpose, duration, and the time are proper in the sight of God. By doing so, we must not give fasting with no preparation.

When we give proper fasting both in spirit and body, God accepts the fasting with joy and gives answers quickly.


2. We should give fasting for the right purpose.

As recorded in James 4:2-3 which reads, "You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures," we cannot receive answers when we ask with untruthful hearts.

If you want financial blessings, you must cast away greed, and you have to give aid for the kingdom of God and pray for the church ministry. Then, God's answers and blessings will come upon you. If you fast with greed for your own benefit, the fasting has nothing to do with God. When you fast for God-given gifts or strength, if you have an unclean heart-vessel, you might be harmed instead. Therefore, you have to fast for the right purpose in the truth.


3. We must not have walls of sin against God.

If you have wall of sins before God, you cannot receive answers no matter how much you fast and pray. Answers come from God, so we should check if we have any walls of sin before God. When you fast for healing of your disease, you need to repent thoroughly by finding out the reasons you weren't protected by God and then fast and pray.


4. We should pray fervently.

God-pleasing fasting itself is the fragrance of prayer, so we should pray fervently. When you give a long-period-fasting, we should pile up prayers enough beforehand. And during the fasting, you must pray for more than five hours a day. Above all, when we pray for the God's kingdom and His righteousness, and the church and the shepherd, we can achieve a victory by receiving good health and strength from above.


5. We must behave ourselves while fasting.

While fasting, we must not take the worldly pleasure like watching TV and pass judgment and condemnation. We also must not make a joke or unbeneficial words. Besides, our fasting cannot be accepted by God when we fight with others and do harm to them (Isaiah 58:3-5).

Generally, people fast working in a company or taking care of household, but when we fast for a long period we must not fast like that. This is not only because we must not do something that is hard on our bodies but also we should dedicate ourselves to prayer and the Word during the period.

The fasting is an extremely humble deed to seek the grace of God even by putting our lives at risk and relying on Him completely. So we should follow God's will with all our hearts, will, strength, and devotion.


6. We must eat recovery meal in a proper way.

When we give a long-period fasting, we lose strength and all organs become weak and resistance drops. We may lose hair temporarily or our sight gets dim. Therefore, we should have recovery meal after fasting in a proper way so that our body can be recovered quickly.

Although you finish fasting well, if you take the recovery meal in an improper way, you will feel troubled physically. After 40-day fasting, especially, you might fall in danger of your life, so you must avoid works that are hard on your body as well as take proper recovery meals.

When we give God-pleasing fasting, God will give the strength of self-control so that we can take recovery meals well and He helps us recover our strength. Also, we can enjoy better health because toxic substances in our body come out from the body during fasting, and we are provided with good food through recovery meals.

When we give God-pleasing fasting, the fruit of prayer will be seen clearly. Even if the fruit is not seen right away, we will receive the assurance of answers from the bottom of our hearts and the fruit will be seen as proofs when the appointed time comes.

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