Matthew 4:2-3 “After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. 3 The tempter came to Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Fasting is a physical discipline to have a spiritual feast. Fasting is abstaining from food for a particular period of time, however, fasting without praying is only dieting. Traditionally, fasting is believed to be a religious activity to receive blessings and breakthroughs. Jesus is a leader who leads by example; He fasted for 40 days before He began His ministry journey. Fasting should be a regular routine of our prayer life.
Harvard Medical School published an article that fasting promotes blood sugar control by reducing insulin resistance. Several studies have found that intermittent fasting may improve blood sugar control and significantly decrease blood sugar levels. Excess glucose in the blood reduces the ability of the cells to absorb and use blood sugar for energy resulting in obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A shocking statistics reveals that obesity is the 5th leading global risk of deaths and at least 2.8 million die as a result of being overweight.
As diabetes is to the physical body, ‘misunderstanding’ God, ‘misinterpreting’ the scriptures and ‘misdiagnosing’ the tests/trials leads to malfunction of the spirit-man. Fasting is not about manipulating God to receive what we want but aligning and enlightening our soul to understand the unsearchable wisdom of God. Fasting clears the clutters of the heart and mind to improve spiritual clarity and insight. “Prayer is a window into the soul.” Fasting cleans the window and polishes the windowpane of the soul. Fasting sharpens our spiritual vision.
Fasting brings clarity to the confused soul:
- Misunderstanding: Fasting enhances spiritual understanding. “Misunderstanding someone reveals how little you know about the person” – Samuel Zulu. Misunderstanding God reveals how little we know about God. A closed door, a broken relationship or an abrupt culmination does not define the nature of God. God’s “no”, is God’s “yes” to a better and brighter future. Fasting demystifies divine mystery.
- Misinterpreting: Fasting brings spiritual enlightenment to brighten Biblical interpretations. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ (Isaiah 58:3). Fasting is a time when unanswered questions will be unpeeled. “There is no stress, only misinterpretation of a situation. Just change your perception and stress will melt away”. Misinterpreting the scriptures will make the past dejection bitter, poison the present and intoxicate the future. The most common mistake that many do is misinterpreting a disappointment, as God’s punishment. Fasting brings clarity to disappointments and inflates the distressed soul.
- Misdiagnosing: Fasting diagnoses the spiritual root cause for the physical condition. Every physical occurrence has a spiritual root cause. As diabetes can cause cardiovascular disease causing damage to the blood vessels, undiagnosed spiritual conditions will lead to misled reactions and repercussions. God does not cause evil, sickness or illness. He is a God of love and compassion. Fasting unravels the spiritual sickness that has derailed our physical progress. Fasting is the spiritual blood test that discloses sugar levels in the soul.
Fasting helps us to understand the scriptures and diagnose the physical circumstances under the divine light of spiritual diagnosis. Fasting helps us to understand the nature of God.
Daniel 1:8 Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to understand the dietary divine rules of fasting. May my fasting not just be dieting but be enlightening to my soul. Amen.
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