One of my favorite sayings is, "Fasting is fun and fills you with faith."
I started fasting 10 years ago and have no regrets. I have seen supernatural results in fasting.
Fasting is setting aside time and food to consecrate ourselves to the Lord. Consecrating ourselves to the Lord is setting ourselves apart from common secular uses. When I first discovered that definition, it was profound. The Lord wants us to set ourselves apart from common secular things.
Years ago, I began fasting for the first time and didn't know where to start, how to transition or how to keep my body healthy and strong in the process. I started with a 21-day first fruits fast where you give the Lord the first of your year in prayer and fasting.
It had its ups and downs, but I saw blessing after blessing manifest throughout the year. In fact, I started journaling the blessings—changes in my family and growth in my spiritual walk—and I could log something every day through Dec. 26 of that year.
Fasting increases our faith and intimacy with the Lord. We all need a faith increase.
When we fast, our senses are tuned to hear the Holy Spirit more clearly. As we hear Him more clearly, we know the direction He wants us to go in life and take in prayer. We can partner with the Holy Spirit better when we submit our flesh to fasting.
How do you begin fasting? Ask the Holy Spirit. One of the keys to fasting is not to compare yourself with another person and how they fast.
Your fast is your fast, not someone else's. What and how they fast is not necessarily what you are called to do. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit for the kind of fast in which He wants you to partake. Additionally, know who called you to this fast. Did you call yourself, or did the Lord lead you?
It is good to know who called the fast when you are tempted to give up or quit the fast early. You will know that if the Lord called it, you should be obedient and continue, but if you chose the fast, you can quit. It keeps you goal oriented and focused when you seek the Holy Spirit in advance for the type and length of the fast.
Prayer is the most important aspect of fasting. If you are fasting without prayer, you are simply on a diet. You need to spend time in prayer to increase your faith, get in that place of intimacy with the Father and consecrate yourself unto the Lord. Combine silent meditative prayer and audible prayer during your fasting time.
Using a combination of being quiet before the Lord to receive instruction and rest coupled with audible prayer declarations to speak out and release over your family will assist you in being most effective as you press through to your breakthrough.
We are in a season of fasting and faith building that produces greater intimacy with the Lord and lasting results in both our physical and spiritual journey. I encourage you to check out my podcast, Prophetic Spiritual Warfare, for several episodes on fasting, but specifically this episode on Fasting Side Effects and my new e-course on Fasting for Supernatural Results at charismacourses.com.
Kathy DeGraw
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