Fasting - True Purpose of Fasting

"Father God, please guide me as I write this article based on Your Word. Help me to write this to glorify You, and let Your words bring clarity to those who seek You. May Your truth help people discern and embrace correct beliefs. I pray and seek everything in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."

Hi there my Brothers and Sisters in Christ! I have had an understanding regarding Fasting lately and I would like to share with with you all.

Diving in

The spiritual discipline of fasting is often misunderstood by Christians today. Many of us have fallen into the trap of viewing fasting as a way to twist God's arm and force Him into answering our prayers the way we want. We mistakenly believe that if we can just endure enough physical deprivation, God will have no choice but to relent to our desires.

I too held this perspective years ago when I engaged in an intensive 21-day fast, hoping it would compel God to intervene in a particular situation involving a close friend. When my desired outcome did not materialize despite my sacrifice, I became disillusioned with the practice of fasting altogether. However, God has since revealed to me the true biblical purpose of this discipline - and it has nothing to do with arm-twisting the Almighty through human works and self-denial.

The Real Purpose of Fasting: It's Not About Arm-Twisting God

Ten years ago, I engaged in a prolonged fast, desperately hoping it would compel God to answer a particular prayer request I had for a close friend going through difficult times. For 21 grueling days, I abstained from all food, subsisting only on water and juices. My intent was noble - I wanted to demonstrate my supreme spiritual discipline and commitment in order to move God's hand and secure this deeply desired outcome for my friend.

Yet despite my sacrificial fasting effort and pleading prayers, the situation did not improve as I had hoped. Feeling defeated and confused, I began to question if spiritual disciplines like fasting held any spiritual potency at all. I wondered if I had somehow failed in the process, causing God to withhold His blessing. Disillusionment with fasting set in as the weeks turned into months with my petition unanswered.

The Harmful Notion of Fasting as Spiritual Arm-Twisting

Looking back now, I can see that my perspective on fasting was misguided from the start. I had subconsciously bought into the mentality that stringent fasting was a sort of spiritual arm-twisting - a way to forcefully convince or even obligate God to yield to my wants and desires through sheer human effort and self-denial. How arrogant and foolish!

This flawed view sees fasting almost as a gambit or negotiation tactic with the Almighty - with God's answer hinging on our willingness to endure severe deprivation. It reduces fasting to a quid pro quo, a type of spiritual vending machine where you punch in your works Token and receive your desired item in return. This unbiblical misconception simply weaponizes fasting against its true purpose.

Fasting without Prayer is Just...Dieting

Moreover, in my zeal, I had separated fasting from its inseparable partner - prayer. Fasting detached from concentrated, continual prayer and communion with God is ultimately just a dietary regimen devoid of spiritual substance. It's dieting, not fasting in the biblical sense.

As Jesus said when rebuking the disciples' inability to cast out a demon in Mark 9:29: "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting." Prayer and fasting are meant to be conjoined, symbiotic spiritual disciplines, not independent acts we deploy to twist God's arm. Fasting without immersive prayer devolves into little more than going hungry.

The True Purpose - Humbling the Flesh, Firing the Spirit

So what then is the true, God-ordained purpose of biblical fasting? It is not an instrument of heavenly arm-twisting or spiritual leverage over the Almighty. Rather, through self-denial and sacrifice, fasting serves to humble and weaken the physical flesh while simultaneously firing and empowering the spiritual dimension of our beings.

Fasting isn't about changing God's mind, but about realigning and reorienting our hearts and priorities through heightened spiritual sensitivity and awareness. It clears away the physical distractions and noise that can dull our spiritual senses. By weakening the lusts and passions of the flesh through fasting's physical deprivations, we allow our spirits to become more sharply attuned to the voice and prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Praying in the Spirit Yields Answered Prayer

Which is why fasting is always to be accompanied by intensive, spirit-fueled prayer and intercession, as the two disciplines work in holysynergy. As our spirits become freed from the weight and gravity of the physical, we are better enabled to "pray in the Spirit" as Paul exhorts in Ephesians 6:18. And it is those spirit-charged, effectual and fervent prayers (James 5:16) that avail much and open the way for Heaven's answers.

So while fasting doesn't obligate or persuade God through our works and deprivations, it does afford us a blessed opportunity to draw nearer to Him in the spiritual realm through prayer. And in that purified and attuned state, our spirits discern and receive His wisdom, guidance, and gracious responses to our petitions more clearly - always according to His will and better judgement.

A Humble Realignment, Not a Shortcut

Properly understood then, biblical fasting isn't a spiritual hack or heavenly shortcut to force certain outcomes. It's not about changing God, but about being changed ourselves through a voluntary stripping away of physical encumbrances so the spirit can soar in unfettered communion with the Father.

Has God ever "withheld" an answer from your fasted prayers? Perhaps, but more likely His perfect answer was simply different than what our limited perspectives expected or desired. Fasting realigns our spiritual vision and reorients us to His higher wisdom, ways and will - not ours.

So by all means, fast regularly as Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6. Use it as a means of humbling yourself before the Lord, recalibrating your spiritual compass, and entering a more rarified state of spirit-infused prayer and intimacy with your Heavenly Father. Just don't wield it as a crowbar to pry open the gates of Heaven through human effort and deprivations alone. That's not fasting's design or purpose - it's about leaving the results to God's perfect care as you draw close to His heart.

Warpping up

Fasting holds incredible spiritual benefits when practiced with the proper biblical mindset. It is meant to be a means of humbling our physical bodies and realigning our spiritual priorities in order to enter a heightened state of prayer, intimacy and surrender before our Heavenly Father. Fasting without concentrated prayer is merely dieting - it's the combination of the two disciplines that produces profound spiritual impact.

However, we must be careful not to view fasting as a shortcut or spiritual hack to obligate God to our demands and preferred outcomes. It is about us changing and reorienting ourselves, not attempting to change God or force His hand through our works. When our spirits are properly attuned through fasting, we become better able to discern and receive God's perfect answers according to His will for our lives.

So by all means, fast regularly just as Jesus instructs. But fast with a humble heart solely intent on seeking the Lord's face and aligning with His purposes - not trying to coerce Him through deprivation. Approach the practice with fresh perspective, laying your desires at His feet, and watch how He honors your biblically motivated fasting with deeper intimacy, spiritual insight, and the answers that are best by His divine wisdom.