FASTING INFORMATION

WHY WE FAST & PRAY?

“You go, therefore, and read …the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people
in the Lord’s house on the day of fasting…” Jeremiah 36:6

  • Fasting means to renounce the natural and invoke the supernatural.
  • Fasting is willfully abstaining from natural pleasures for a spiritual purpose.
  • Fasting changes us, increases our spiritual capacity, breaks habits and spiritual
    bondages, quiets the heart to hear God’s voice and to bring godly intimacy.
  • Prayer is communing with God to release His purpose and plans in the earth.
  • Prayer is declaring God’s Word to God.
  • Prayer is giving God the right through our faith to intervene in the affairs of the earth.
  • Prayer is confessing God’s will to be done on earth.

“Now in the church…As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said …”
Acts 13:1, 2

BENEFITS OF FASTING

1. Spiritual discipline (1 Cor. 7:5; Matt. 6:17, 18)
2. Increased spiritual capacity (Ps.69:10-18)
3. A clear, sober mind (Acts 14:23)
4. Pure heart and mind (Acts 14:23)
5. Hunger for God and His Word (Exodus 34:28)
6. Physical health (2 Sam. 12:15-25)
7. Loss of excess weight
8. Purified body (Ps. 69:10)
9. Freedom (1 Sam. 7:1-17)
10.Spirit of giving (Judges 20:26)
11. Your light shines (Matt. 6:18)
12. Protection by God (2 Chr.20:1-30)
13. Answered prayers (1 John 5:14-15)
14. Intimacy with God (Luke 4:1-14)

FASTING GUIDELINES

Remember, that the purpose of fasting is to set aside a time to consecrate ourselves to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, to allow for the increase of our spiritual capacity to the administration of the Holy Spirit.

Fasting is the abstinence from regular meals (solid food) for a period stipulated. This allows for the discipline of physical appetites and brings the body under subjection to
spiritual desires. A day’s fast is a 24 hour period, but you can also commit to a half day fast or a daylight fast.

  1. Commit yourself to God in consecration to the fast in prayer.
  2. Drink up to 8 glasses of water at room temperature per day.
  3. When gastric juices cause acidic reaction in the stomach, drink water, herbal tea, apple or cranberry juice at room temperature.
  4. Drink warm or hot herbal teas before retiring to sleep and upon arising in the morning.

BREAKING THE FAST

Begin eating a soup dish for the first and second meal with crackers (no bread or potato dishes).

The third meal after breaking a fast should be salads, fresh vegetables,
or greens.

Solid foods such as meats, rice, potatoes, pastas (macaroni), etc. should only be eaten in small amounts on the second day after breaking the fast.

NOTE: The longer the period of the fast, the more soft/soup dishes should be used when breaking it.

ALL PERSONS SHOULD USE WISDOM! IF ON MEDICATION, CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE BEGINNING THE FAST!