[This is summary of Derek Prince’s teaching on fasting, broadly based on his book: “Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting”.] (한글 버전은 여기 있습니다)
The Bible speaks of a key to God’s people experiencing answered prayers and receiving power from God. It is also the secret for the church today to start practicing more effective and powerful prayers. This key is fasting: both individual and corporate.
In Matthew 6, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives teachings about “giving”, about “prayer”, and about “fasting”. Jesus’ main point in teaching these three practices is ”do not do them to be seen by men like the Pharisees do, but to do them in secret before your Father in heaven, who sees what is done in secret, so that you will receive your reward in heaven.”
There is an important point to note here. Jesus treats ”giving”, “prayer”, and “fasting” equally (with no variation in His wording). Therefore, Jesus expected His disciples to fast regularly just as they would pray and give regularly after His resurrection and ascension. However, the reality of today’s church in many parts of the world is that while the necessity of prayer and giving is widely taught and practiced, the importance of fasting is hardly taught or practiced.
Moreover, there are many misconceptions about fasting in the church today. Many believers think of fasting as a way to demonstrate their earnestness to God, almost like a toddler throwing a tantrum before their mother. In this line of thinking, the duration of the fast becomes an indicator of their earnestness, and some believers even think, “I’ve done this much and demonstrated my desire; it is now up to God to grant my wish.” This is entirely unbiblical.
Fasting is not a way of pushing one’s will before God to receive answers to our prayers. On the contrary, it is a means of humbling ourselves before God, laying down our own will, and demonstrating our desire to submit to God’s will.
The importance of humility is emphasised throughout the Bible:
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’”
Isaiah 57:15
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,”
Philippians 2:5
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
James 4:10
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
1 Peter 5:6
The repeated teaching throughout the Bible is that to pray effectively, we must first humble ourselves. So, how can we humble ourselves? God has given us the means to humble ourselves: fasting.
Now, let’s look through the Bible.
Leviticus 16:29-31 discusses the Day of Atonement, the most important feast, calling it the Sabbath of Sabbaths. A phrase is repeated twice: “afflict your souls”. The Jews understood this phrase to mean fasting, or humbling oneself. In Acts 27:9, this Day of Atonement is referred to as “the Fast”.
Every Israelite understood that the people needed to ”afflict their souls” to enjoy God’s atonement, that is, they needed to abstain from all food and water and humble themselves. The same principle applies to us today. While we can add nothing to Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we must humble ourselves to enjoy its benefits.
In Psalm 35:13, David says, “I afflicted my soul with fasting.” Humans are composed of spirit, soul, and body, and our soul is inherently proud and self-centered. Fasting humbles our proud soul. By afflicting our soul through fasting, we bring our flesh under control and can enjoy God’s blessings. Conversely, when our flesh controls us, we act impulsively and the end result is failure and misery.
King Ahab, one of Israel’s most wicked kings, married the evil Jezebel and together, they persecuted God’s prophets, leading Israel astray. When judgment was pronounced on him, Ahab fasted and humbled himself. Amazingly, in 1 Kings 21:29, God tells Elijah, “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days; in the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”
What about Nineveh? Known for its wickedness, when it received a message of judgment through Jonah, the king proclaimed a fast, and all the people humbled themselves. As a result, God relented from the disaster He had planned, and the city was spared for 100 years.
If even wicked people experienced God’s mercy when they fasted and humbled themselves, what might happen when God’s people fast? Satan fears this the most and will do anything to keep us from using the key of fasting and humility.
The Bible mentions both individual and collective fasting.
In Acts 13, the church in Antioch sends out Saul and Barnabas as missionaries for the first time in church history. In verse 2 we see that the Antioch church was “ministering to the Lord and fasting.” When the church humbled itself and worshipped God corporately, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.” In response, we read in verse 3 that the Antioch church “fasted and prayed,” only then sending out Barnabas and Paul. And what was the result? In verse 4, “being sent out by the Holy Spirit” (which implies both sending and accompanying in the original text), the two embark on the first missionary journey as apostles.
If today’s church sets aside all human programs and ideas to focus solely on fasting and prayer, God will provide us once again with His strategems. Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, will be responsible for what He has started.
Let’s look at 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
Here, God promises to do three things if we meet the conditions by doing the following four things:
- Humble ourselves (which implies fasting)
- Pray
- Seek His face (praying until we enter His holy presence)
- Turn from our wicked ways
Do you think you are not standing in wicked ways? If so, you might be far from God’s presence. Enter God’s presence through fasting and prayer. The Holy Spirit will gently reveal every wicked way in us.
If we meet the above conditions, this is God’s promise:
- God will hear from heaven
- God will forgive our sin
- God will heal the land
Finally, let’s look at Joel 2. The well-known promise, quoted by Peter in Acts, is found in verse 28:
“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions”
Joel 2:28
What many don’t realise is that verse 28 is preceded by verse 15:
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room.”
Joel 2:15
Only when verse 15 is done, (“afterward” in verse 28), God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. The context of Joel is clear that this promise is for the people of Israel, and it will be fulfilled at the end of the 7-year tribulation just before the Second Coming of Jesus. However, I believe the same principle holds for the church today.
Today, over 1.5 billion Muslims live in darkness. Imagine what could happen when the church consecrates a fast, calls a sacred assembly, and humbles itself before God, focusing solely on prayer. Imagine what amazing things God would do through this!
John Wesley, recognizing the spiritual efficacy of fasting, wrote, “I am convinced that a believer who understands the benefits of fasting and yet does not practice it will regress spiritually, just as one who understands the benefits of prayer and yet does not pray.”
Do you want to grow spiritually? Do you desire greater intimacy with God? Do you want to hear His voice and pray more powerfully? Start regular fasting today (e.g., one day a week). Utilise the means God has given us to humble ourselves.
Derek Prince, after accepting Jesus in his 20s, fasted every Wednesday until his death at 88. He fasted for longer periods as needed, fasting a total of about 3,000 days in his life. Near his death, he said that if he could change anything, he wished he could have done more fasting.
