Part 5 – Fasting
You need to do 3 things for a breakthrough
Matthew 6 focuses on the three things that will lead to a breakthrough.
- Giving
- Praying and
- Fasting.
Prayer
Mat 6:9 Só moet julle dan bid. Mat 6:9 This, then, is how you should pray
Fasting
Mat 6:17 But when you go without food, put oil on your head and make your face clean; Mat 6:18 So that no one may see that you are going without food, but your Father in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.
Giving
Mat 6:19 Moenie vir julle skatte bymekaarmaak op die aarde, waar mot en roes verniel en waar diewe inbreek en steel nie; Mat 6:20 maar maak vir julle skatte bymekaar in die hemel, waar geen mot of roes verniel nie en waar diewe nie inbreek en steel nie; Mat 6:21 want waar julle skat is, daar sal julle hart ook wees.
When you pray, you release the thirty-fold return. Praying and giving releases sixty-fold blessing. But when you pray, give and fast, you will see a hundred-fold return!
The Purpose of Fasting
Leviticus 16:29, the people were instructed, “… ye shall afflict your souls,” meaning they were too fast.
To “afflict” means to bring suffering to the ego, to subdue it, restrict it, to aggrieve it, suppress it, and to crucify it, and bring it under spiritual control.
Fasting is a God-appointed way for us to humble ourselves and to bring the soul under submission to the spirit.
- Bondages and strongholds will be broken in your life
- You will receive financial blessings along with a desire to bless others
- Your health will spring forth
- You will be able to receive a new anointing
- You will hear God and understand His will
Why Fast?
Fasting gives you more time for prayer. You can use the time you’d normally spend eating as time in prayer for what God wants to do among us during this Campaign. During this time we also remain from watching TV and spend this time with the Lord.
Acts 13:2-3 (NIV) “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, „Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.‟ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”
Fasting demonstrates the depth of your desire when praying for something. It shows you that you are serious enough about your prayer request to pay a personal price. God honors deep desire and praying in faith.
Joel 2:12 (NASB) “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Fasting releases God’s supernatural power. It is a tool we can use when there is opposition to God’s will. Satan would like nothing better than to cause division, discouragement, defeat, depression, and doubt among us. United prayer and fasting has always been used by God to deal a decisive blow to the enemy!
Ezra 8:23 (Msg) “So we fasted and prayed about these concerns. And he listened.”
Types of Fast
Full Fast
Drink only liquids – especially water. On this type of fast you may also take 100 percent fruit or vegetable juices in order to maintain your strength.
Daniel’s fast
The Daniel Fast is a fast from meats, sweets, breads and any drink, except water, for a specific time period (Daniel 10:2-3).
The easiest way to think of this fast is you should eat vegetables,
fruits and drink only water.
What are we fasting for?
- Saving of Souls 2020
- CLC
- Your Family
- Your Financial Needs
- Guidance
- Health and Healing
- For our Nation
When we fast we have to make sure that we make time for God.
We must make God our first priority.
Isa 58:3 The people ask, “Why should we fast if the LORD never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?” The LORD says to them, “The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers.
Isa 58:4 Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?
The kind of fast the God requires from us
Isa 58:5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
Isa 58:6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
The effect of Fasting and Prayer
- To Brake Bondages
Isa 58:6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
To loose the bonds of wickedness. To undo the heavy burdens. To let the oppressed go free. And that you break every yoke?
2. Then shall your light break forth
Jes 58:8 Dan sal jou lig deurbreek soos die dageraad
Isa 58:8 Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed. I will always be with you to save you; my presence will protect you on every side.
3. Then at the sound of your voice the Lord will answer. Dan sal jy roep, en die HERE sal antwoord
Jes 58:9 Dan sal jy roep, en die HERE sal antwoord; jy sal skreeu om hulp, en Hy sal sê: Hier is Ek! As jy van jou verwyder die verdrukking, die uitsteek van die vinger en die leuenagtige woord,
Isa 58:9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Jes 58:10 en jou siel laat uitgaan na die hongerige, en die neergeboë siel versadig; dan sal jou lig opgaan in die duisternis en jou donkerheid wees soos die middag.
Isa 58:10 And if you give your bread to those in need of it, so that the troubled one may have his desire; then you will have light in the dark, and your night will be as the full light of the sun:
4. The Lord will guide and refresh you
Isa 58:11 The LORD will continually guide you and satisfy you even in sun-baked places. He will strengthen your bones. You will become like a watered garden and like a spring whose water does not stop flowing.
Jes 58:11 En die HERE sal jou gedurigdeur lei en jou siel versadig in dor plekke en jou gebeente sterk maak; en jy sal wees soos ‘n tuin wat goed besproei is en soos ‘n fontein van waters waarvan die water nooit teleurstel nie.
5. The Lord will restore what is broken
Isa 58:12 And your sons will be building again the old waste places: you will make strong the bases of old generations: and you will be named, He who puts up the broken walls, and, He who makes ready the ways for use.
Isa 58:12 En die wat uit jou voortkom, sal die ou puinhope bou; die fondamente van vorige geslagte sal jy oprig, en jy sal genoem word: Herbouer van gebreekte mure, hersteller van paaie, om bewoonbaar te maak.
6. The Joy of the Lord will full your hart
Isa 58:14 then you will find joy in the LORD. I will make you ride on the heights of the earth. I will feed you with the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob. The LORD has spoken.
Jes 58:14 dan sal jy jou verlustig in die HERE, en Ek sal jou laat ry oor die hoogtes van die aarde en jou laat geniet die erfdeel van jou vader Jakob; want die mond van die HERE het dit gespreek.
Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God. – Andrew Murray
Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God. – Andrew Murray
FOODS TO EAT ON THE DANIEL FAST
- All fruit – fresh, frozen, dried, juiced, or canned.
- All vegetables – fresh, frozen, dried, juiced, or canned.
- All whole grains – amaranth, barley, brown rice, oats, quinoa, millet, and whole wheat.
- All nuts & seeds – almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds; unsweetened almond milk. Nut butters are also included.
- All legumes – canned or dried; black beans, black-eyed peas, cannellini beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), great northern beans, kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, and split peas.
- All quality oils – avocado, coconut, grapeseed, olive, peanut, sesame, and walnut.
- Beverages– distilled water, filtered water, spring water, fresh fruit or vegetable juices.
- Other – unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, or soy milk; herbs, spices, salt, pepper, unsweetened coconut flakes, seasonings, soy products, and tofu.
FOODS TO AVOID ON THE DANIEL FAST
- All meat & animal products – bacon, beef, buffalo, eggs, fish, lamb, poultry, and pork.
- All dairy products – butter, cheese, cream, milk, and yogurt.
- All sweeteners – agave nectar, artificial sweeteners, brown rice syrup, cane juice, honey, molasses, raw sugar, syrups, and sugar.
- All leavened bread & yeast – baked goods and Ezekiel bread (if it contains yeast and honey).
- All refined & processed food products – artificial flavorings, chemicals, food additives, preservatives, white flour, and white rice.
- All deep-fried foods – corn chips, French fries, and potato chips.
- All solid fats – lard, margarine, and shortening.
- Beverages – alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee, energy drinks, and tea.