Why do we fast?

 BY Argie Simonis

The main reason we fast is that we prioritize our spiritual needs over our physical ones.

Our fasting is also our worship to the Lord. In Luke we see Anna the prophetess:

"And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day." Luke 2:37

Fasting can be done for various reasons. For example for some request that we pray.

There are many examples in the Scriptures, where kings or priests called the whole people to fast. Man fasts and God honors this act.

- Moses fasted,

- David fasted:

"David therefore sought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the earth." 2Sam. 12:16

- the prophet Elijah fasted (1 Kings 19),

- Daniel fasted (Daniel ch. 10),

- Esther fasted and all the people with her,

- the apostle Paul fasted,

- Jesus fasted.

Jesus was the perfect Son of God, the sinless One, yet He fasted often.

This means that fasting is NOT only done to get you out of a difficult situation, but is something that is done PROACTIVELY to protect you from unpleasant situations.

It is the weapon to deal with the situation that Paul describes here:

"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would." Gal. 5:17

~~ Fasting helps you become more sensitive to the things of God and subdues the desire of the flesh. ~~

You know, our hearts don't harden against God just because of sin. When our mind is set on the things of the world, it is enough to turn us away from God. This is also the reason, I believe, that Jesus spent a large part of the day in fasting and prayer, because He walked in a completely corrupted world that tried to impose carnal thinking on Him.