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 Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:37 pm
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:43 am
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There's no official way to fast; any example you find in the bible is legitimate. Since you're already aware of how most people think of it, I'll offer up a couple of passages that don't get as much attention.
Daniel 9:3 (NIV)
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
Daniel 10:3 (NIV)
3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
In Daniel's case, he didn't give up food completely; he only gave up the luxuriously tasty stuff (even his perfumes). But he's still eating solids and drinking water. In chapter 9, he was fasting as he confessed his sins and the sins of the nation; in chapter 10, he was fasting, mourning, in response to the vision he received (yet still eating and drinking). I recommend reading the chapters in their entirety though.
Another example of fasting people don't quote as much:
Isaiah 58 (NIV)
1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One
Fasting is suppose to be a self-less activity. Whether it's time, clothing, food, privacy (for showing hospitality to a traveler)—whatever you give up (money, food, time, etc...), it is suppose to be invested in someone else. But it's not necessarily giving up food or drink.
That said, a couple of examples where people do stop eating as part of their fasting:
• Esther 4:1-3 (NIV)
4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Esther 4:16 (NIV)
16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
So, not only did they stop eating (a necessity), but they gave up comforts too: instead of comfortable clothing, they wore itchy sack cloth, they dirtied themselves with ash, lying on the hard ground. And they had a genuinely broken heart in response to the situation. (Like Daniel had in Daniel 9-10 which is why I recommended you read those chapters in full; the two verses I quoted earlier by themselves do not illustrate his anguish and genuine concern over the situation).
• 2 Samuel 12:15-23 (NIV)
15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth[a] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.
18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”
19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Footnotes:
a 2 Samuel 12:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have in sackcloth.
David gave up not only food, but sleeping on a comfortable bed (he insisted on staying on the ground), he gave up clean clothes (didn't change them until he found out his son was dead), and gave up anointing himself (with perfumes/oil?)—he gave up all comforts/luxuries that pleased his senses because he was totally focused on the well-being of another person. But unlike Daniel, he gave up necessities too.
A couple of examples of fasting which don't reveal whether it means "lack of food" or "lack of luxury / comfort":
Luke 2:36-37 (NIV)
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[a] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 2:37 Or then had been a widow for eighty-four years.
Acts 14:23 (NIV)
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
Footnotes:
a. Acts 14:23 Or Barnabas ordained elders; or Barnabas had elders elected
Mark 9:25-29 (NIV)
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.[a]”
Footnotes:
a. Mark 9:29 Some manuscripts prayer and fasting
In this case, the focus is either, "let's fast in order to better carry out a work of God" or "let's fast to receive God's direction on a matter".
The common denominator you'll find, in any example of fasting in the bible, is that you're denying yourself a comfort/luxury, or need, so you can go dedicate your resources to something/someone else. It's usually mentioned as a part of praying for someone else, driving out a demon from inside someone else, or physically providing food/clothing/money/justice/shelter for someone else instead of yourself (or at the very least including more than just yourself—but ideally it should be selfless concern and compassion for others driving your actions). That's why the Sabbath was mentioned in Isaiah 58 (a 24-hour period where we are concerned about what God wants instead of what we want). Out of all the passages I quoted, Isaiah 58 is probably the most important; meditate well on that.
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:15 pm
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real eyes realize There's no official way to fast; any example you find in the bible is legitimate. Since you're already aware of how most people think of it, I'll offer up a couple of passages that don't get as much attention. Daniel 9:3 (NIV)
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
Daniel 10:3 (NIV)
3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
In Daniel's case, he didn't give up food completely; he only gave up the luxuriously tasty stuff (even his perfumes). But he's still eating solids and drinking water. In chapter 9, he was fasting as he confessed his sins and the sins of the nation; in chapter 10, he was fasting, mourning, in response to the vision he received (yet still eating and drinking). I recommend reading the chapters in their entirety though. Another example of fasting people don't quote as much: Isaiah 58 (NIV)
1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One
Fasting is suppose to be a self-less activity. Whether it's time, clothing, food, privacy (for showing hospitality to a traveler)—whatever you give up (money, food, time, etc...), it is suppose to be invested in someone else. But it's not necessarily giving up food or drink. That said, a couple of examples where people do stop eating as part of their fasting: • Esther 4:1-3 (NIV)
4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Esther 4:16 (NIV)
16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
So, not only did they stop eating (a necessity), but they gave up comforts too: instead of comfortable clothing, they wore itchy sack cloth, they dirtied themselves with ash, lying on the hard ground. And they had a genuinely broken heart in response to the situation. (Like Daniel had in Daniel 9-10 which is why I recommended you read those chapters in full; the two verses I quoted earlier by themselves do not illustrate his anguish and genuine concern over the situation). • 2 Samuel 12:15-23 (NIV)
15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth[a] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.
18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”
19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Footnotes:
a 2 Samuel 12:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have in sackcloth.
David gave up not only food, but sleeping on a comfortable bed (he insisted on staying on the ground), he gave up clean clothes (didn't change them until he found out his son was dead), and gave up anointing himself (with perfumes/oil?)—he gave up all comforts/luxuries that pleased his senses because he was totally focused on the well-being of another person. But unlike Daniel, he gave up necessities too. A couple of examples of fasting which don't reveal whether it means "lack of food" or "lack of luxury / comfort": Luke 2:36-37 (NIV)
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[a] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 2:37 Or then had been a widow for eighty-four years.
Acts 14:23 (NIV)
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
Footnotes:
a. Acts 14:23 Or Barnabas ordained elders; or Barnabas had elders elected
Mark 9:25-29 (NIV)
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.[a]”
Footnotes:
a. Mark 9:29 Some manuscripts prayer and fasting
In this case, the focus is either, "let's fast in order to better carry out a work of God" or "let's fast to receive God's direction on a matter". The common denominator you'll find, in any example of fasting in the bible, is that you're denying yourself a comfort/luxury, or need, so you can go dedicate your resources to something/someone else. It's usually mentioned as a part of praying for someone else, driving out a demon from inside someone else, or physically providing food/clothing/money/justice/shelter for someone else instead of yourself (or at the very least including more than just yourself—but ideally it should be selfless concern and compassion for others driving your actions). That's why the Sabbath was mentioned in Isaiah 58 (a 24-hour period where we are concerned about what God wants instead of what we want). Out of all the passages I quoted, Isaiah 58 is probably the most important; meditate well on that. |
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:49 pm
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http://carm.org/dictionary-fast-fasting
fasting just means you give up something for a purpose. That link above explains it well, but yeah I mean even the people of Israel fasted for forgiveness or like in Esther they fasted for Esther or how our Messiah said in Matthew that demons such as the one that one boy had don't come out except by prayer and fasting however the fasting part may have been added, it's not in every translation however Mark does say by prayer at least but yeah you can fast for a spiritual need or something else you may need, such as help in a situation, or for another person to be saved, it's a way of grabbing our Creator's attention as I understand it. Many times it's used for when you're afflicted, during times of mourning. Daniel fasted by giving up certain foods and things he liked I'm assuming.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Esther+4&version=NASB
Esther 4:16
"Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish."
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+17&version=NASB
Matthew 17:19-21
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 [But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+9:14-29&version=NASB
Jonah 3:5
Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.
Joel 2:12
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Psalm 35:13
But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.
Daniel 10:3
I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.
Ezra 8:21-23
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
Ezra 10:6
Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles
2 Samuel 12:16
David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground.
Matthew 6:16-18
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
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