A curious thing happens AMY, when Jesus gets caught up in conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4, He doesn’t get hungry, even though the other disciples are off searching for lunch. Jesus tells his disciples “I have food to eat that you do not know about…My food is to do the will of Him who sent me” (John 4:32, 34). Jesus, in His full humanity, PRACTICED FASTING as a way to live in the power of the Spirit and do the Father’s will. We know that fasting is not a way to manipulate God. Fasting does not bend God’s will to match our own. Rather it bends OUR WILL to match God’s. And when our will is aligned with God’s, we may discover that power greater than we imagine is AT WORK WITHIN US, “God is able to do FAR MORE than we could ever ask for or imagine. He does everything by His power that is working IN US.” (Eph. 3:20)
Let’s look at what Jesus says about this AMY, “…WHEN (not if) you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Matt. 6:17-18)
What kind of fasting should we do AMY? When Daniel fasted he only ate vegetables and drank water to set himself apart for God. There is a partial fast where one may exclude meat. Or a total fast where no food or water is taken in. We must seek the Lord as to how He would have us fast. The important point is WHEN YOU FAST…
Your personal Pastor -Bill Stockham