The Importance Of Fasting
When I began to study the subject of fasting , I discovered it over and over again throughout Scripture. In God’s Word, fasting isn’t explained as some aside to the Christian life, but as the very essence of what to do when a crisis erupts in your life. Fasting is a time you set aside when you need God to perform a breakthrough in your life on some spiritual level, whether you are dealing with personal problems, financial turmoil, health issues, or any other obstacle. We are often taught to deal with our struggles through prayer, which is fitting because prayer is a powerful thing. But we don’t hear much about fasting and the role it plays in the believer’s life. In fact, fasting could be the very thing that changes your spiritual life with Christ,.
After His death and resurrection, Jesus left earth and ascended to heaven. Before He left He made it clear to the disciples that in His absence, while He is not physically here, fasting is to be a priority. “Jesus said to them, ‘The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast’” (Matthew 9:15). Fasting is the spiritual link to the person of Christ while He is not here on earth with us.
our physical need for food. Think about the value of our bodies. We are made of dust, and to dust we shall return. Our eternal value comes from the breath of life that God breathed into man, making us living souls. Your value is not in your body. Your value is in your soul. We feed the body by eating, but we can feed the soul by not eating. Fasting makes the soul a higher priority than the body. The question of fasting is simply this: Are you willing to give up steak and potatoes to gain spiritual riches? Are you willing to give up that which gratifies the flesh in order to make an investment that builds up the spirit? Fasting is a test of how serious you are in your walk with God by what you are willing to deny yourself. The principle of fasting means giving up a craving of the body because you have a deeper need of the spirit.
