While some people will fast in order to lose weight that is not what Biblical fasting is about at all. Biblical fasting is a Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food in order to concentrate on praying and seeking God for a particular purpose. The times of prayer while fasting help us to connect more with God and grow in our faith.

We are tri-part beings – spirit, soul and body.  Too often, even as believers, our soul (mind, will and emotions) or our flesh is in control of us.  God desires for us to be dominated by our recreated spirit where the Holy Spirit dwells.  Fasting can be called “body prayer” because by denying our fleshly desires, it brings the body into subjection to the Spirit.

There are several reasons for fasting.  A holy fast will destroy strongholds and break yokes of bondage in a person’s life.  Stronghold means “a fortress” area where the enemy is entrenched, where the devil has discerned a weakness in your spiritual defenses. A stronghold may be an obsession, or some deep-set attitude or thought pattern keeping you from experiencing spiritual victory.

Another reason to fast is to dedicate yourself to God 100 percent so that God can do a work in and through your life.  Fasting is a time of consecration, of putting God first in your life. A third reason for fasting is to seek direction to make right choices so our lives line up with God’s perfect will. 

Isaiah 58:6, 8 says, “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?  Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.” 

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