In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs His disciples, “when you fast, do not do as the hypocrites do…” (Matt. 6:16) So I guess it’s possible that many people take this so seriously that they do not know why they are fasting. Chances are we may be among a massive majority of Christians who rarely or never fast. It’s not because we haven’t read our Bibles or sat under faithful preaching or heard about the power of fasting, or even that we don’t genuinely want to do it. We just NEVER ACTUALLY GET AROUND TO DOING IT.
It can be surprising how on-edge the devil tempts us to feel when we miss a meal. Many new “fasters” after deciding to miss a meal found their hunger drove them to make up for it long before the next mealtime came. WHY DOES THE DEVIL HATE FASTING so much that he goes to extremes to tempt us not to fast? Because, the devil knows about THIS PROMISE FROM THE LORD AS THE RESULTS OF OUR FASTING: “Then YOUR LIGHT will BREAK FORTH like the dawn, and YOUR HEALING WILL QUICKLY APPEAR; then YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS will go before you, and THE GLORY OF THE LORD will be YOUR REAR GUARD. Then you will call, and THE LORD WILL ANSWER; you will cry for help, and He will say: HERE AM I.“ (Isaiah 58:8-9)
REMEMBER: JESUS SAID, “WHEN YOU FAST”…
-Bill Stockham