FASTING - REND YOUR HEART

Pr. James Victor Lubwama

Joel 2:12-13 (AMP)

“Even now,” says the Lord, “Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance], with fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored]; 13 Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.” Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness [faithful to His covenant with His people]; and He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].”     

Fasting is very beneficial to Christians but many are not aware of this. During spiritual fasting, the believer's focus is removed from the physical things of this world and intensely concentrated on God. Great men of faith such as Moses, Elijah, Daniel, Paul and Jesus Himself fasted (Daniel 9:3, Mathew 4:2, Exodus 34:28, 1 Kings 19) so that they might draw closer to God. 

Fasting is an exceptional measure designed to express your desire for God and discontent in a fallen world - its a hunger and yearning for God. It is for those not satisfied with the status quo; for those who want more of God's presence; for those who feel truly desperate for God. Fasting, like all other pillars of Christianity isn’t for the self-sufficient and those who feel they have it all together, no, it’s for the poor in spirit, for the meek and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and God's presence.   

Christian fasting means privately and occasionally choosing to go without food for some special period of time, whether a day or three or thirty in view of some specific spiritual purpose. However, there is a problem of how we view fasting today. If the perspective is on abstinence of food, then fasting is some mere duty to perform and only the iron-willed among us can put this discipline into practice, but if we are awakened to see fasting for the joy it can bring, as a means of God’s grace to strengthen and sharpen Godly affections and draw us close to Him, then we will find ourselves holding a powerful pillar for enriching our enjoyment of Jesus. 

The Scriptures include many forms of fasting; personal and communal, public and private, regular and occasional, partial and absolute. Typically, fasting is a Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes and these may include;

- Expressing repentance and returning to God (1 Samuel 7:6; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:5–8)

- Seeking God’s guidance (Judges 20:26; Acts 14:23, Acts 13:1-3)

- Expressing grief (1 Samuel 31:13, 2 Samuel 1:11-12)

- Seeking deliverance or protection (2 Chronicles 20:3-4; Ezra 8:21–23)

- Humbling oneself before God (1 Kings 21:27–29, Psalm 35:13)

- Expressing concern for the work of God (Nehemiah 1:3-4; Daniel 9:1-3)

- Expressing love and worship to God (Luke 2:36-37)

Initiated By The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is in charge of fasting and will usher you into the same just as He led Jesus into the wilderness to fast. Mathew 4:1-2 (NASB) says; 
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.” 

The Holy Spirit is therefore the one to guide you if you are going to fast – when and how many days to do so; thus take note that not every problem is accompanied by fasting. What makes fasting such a core pillar of Christianity is its ability, with the help of the Holy Spirit to focus our feelings and their expression toward God. That is why fasting walks arm in arm with prayer because fasting without prayer is likened to hunger strike. 

If you are going into fasting, the Holy Spirit will guide you and will write the duration of the fast on your heart, because our heart is like a writing board. In the Old Testament, God wrote the Ten Commandments on stone tablets and gave them to Moses; however, Moses had anger management issues - had no self-control, such that when he came down from the mountain and saw what the people had done, he was enraged and threw down the stone tablets smashing them at the foot of the mountain (Exodus 32:19). 

In another instance, the prophet Jeremiah prophesied of a new covenant where God will write His laws on our hearts. Jeremiah 31:33 (GNT) says; 

“The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 

Your heart is a board where the Holy Spirit writes His instructions and you can sense it once He does so – by way of conviction.

Heart vs. Mind

If God is to work through you, He does not communicate to your mind but your heart; that is why when God puts a message on your heart and you start to consult people or your mind, you end up making excuses which results in disobedience. Giving excuses is the first step to disobedience and disobedience gives birth to rebellion which is likened to a sin of witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23). 

The mind is always doubtful of God’s word, however, we should remember that God’s ways are not our ways and His plans are not our plans; which is why you should not let your mind lead you astray: So because of the corruptness of the mind, God chose to dwell in the heart and not the mind (Ephesians 3:17). When God ministers to you it is through the heart and you should make no mistake to consult the mind. The mind only supplements after you already know what you need to do; it is not the planner but it helps you during execution. 

Whenever God speaks and you simply obey, you will eat the good of the land – obedience unlocks blessings. The bible says in Isaiah 1:18-19 (NIV) that; 

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord.“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.”  

If you want to eat the good of the land, you have got to be obedient by heeding the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your heart because whenever God plans to speak to you, he will use your heart not mind. The devil however, is in the world and whenever he wants to confuse you, he uses the eyes and the ears; he causes you to focus on facts - either your history or current situation; you tend to only see tough situations, discouraging delays, impossibilities, gigantic challenges and, past failures and you end up afraid and terrified. For the devil also uses fear to distract and enslave people, but with faith in God and His word we know we can have a victorious and purposeful future, but where the devil uses fear and facts, God counters with faith and truth respectively

Fasting Changes You, It Doesn't Change God!

When we announce a period of fasting, the focus should be on realigning our lives to God, and to practice the other pillars of Christianity which include; prayer, reading the bible, fellowship, praise, worship and giving. Fasting does not change God; it changes you, because God changes not; for He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8, Malachi 3:6). Fasting is not the price for what you want. What you want was already paid for at Calvary. Jesus paid it all, but it prepares you for a blessing - it puts you in the right position to see God. 

That burn in your throat; that rolling fire in your belly demanding that you feed it more food, signals fasting as a means of grace. Not until we voluntarily embrace the pain of an empty stomach do we see how much our bellies have become idols; but in that gnawing ache of growing hunger is the engine of fasting, generating the reminder to bend our craving for food towards God and enhance a thirst for Jesus - its saying, this much, I need you God. 

Rend Your Heart

As the Message version puts it in Joel 2:13 (MSG) that; 
“Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God……..”

Tearing of clothes was a sign of fasting done by the Israelites in those days. They would tear their linen robes and put on sackcloth made of goatskin as a constant reminder of their fasting. The prophet urged them to rend or tear their hearts not clothes, because the custom of tearing clothes had been turned into a religious affair; they would tear their clothes, but their hearts were not repentant. In the period of fasting God expects you to examine your heart – ways, thoughts, character and motive and repent of anything that He hates.

Some religions tend to observe righteous acts during their fasting period; they endeavor to lead a life of good acts during that period as if it’s the way to heaven but immediately after that period, they turn back to their wicked ways. Jesus said in John 14:6 (NKJV) that; 
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  

We are not saved by good acts, we are saved for good acts – to do the will of God; we are saved by accepting Jesus as our Lord and personal Saviour and He only is our one way ticket to heaven. For heaven is not the default afterlife destination of every human being except those that become born-again! 
Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:20 (AMP) that; “For I say to you that unless your righteousness (uprightness, moral essence) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  

Your righteousness – right standing with God, should not be periodical but thorough all your life. You should not be standing right with God only during the fasting period but this period should help you to grower spiritually, stand firm and strong in your salvation and draw closer to God.

Examine Yourself

During fasting, you must change, but how do you change? No one knows you better than yourself and no one can look into your heart apart from God. You will change not if you don’t examine self; that is why during this period one must desire to change – tear your heart and repent of your sins and transgressions. In knowing yourself, God desires for you to fully surrender all that which is not upright so that He can give you the strength and grace to stand in Salvation; fasting helps you to streamline your spiritual life.

As we fast, we do not only repent of our sins but put in place everything else that is distorted spiritually because when the devil comes to steal, he doesn’t steal all at once, but one thing at a time; he may steal your faith and prayer life and leave you with other pillars like fellowship, fasting and giving; therefore your life must be all balanced, you must check your and ensure that devil has no foothold in your life.

The pillar of fasting requires us to repent of our sins, and re-examine that which has put you away from the first love (Isaiah 58:3-8). What had deteriorated within you? Was it reading the bible? Was it praying? Or was it giving? Jesus told the Jews in Matthew 15:8-9 (NIV) that; 
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules” 

God honours heart service not lip service, thus rend your heart and remove all that is unrighteous; repent of whatever had chased away the Holy Spirit so that you can have the presence of God back in your life, and as you do so with a repentant heart, you will draw close to God. James 4:8 (AMP) says; 
“Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people].”  

When you have given your life to Christ and, He demands of any pillars such as; fasting for a particular number of days and when he does, you should be able to do so without grumbling. The Salvation life is a life of obedience not convenience; we do as instructed by the Holy Spirit even when it’s not convenient for us. It’s about dedicating and fully surrendering your life to Jesus – for when you give your life, that’s when you find it and, when you stop obsessing over what you want, that’s when you can find what you purposefully need.   

In this period of fasting, tear your heart, fully surrender your life to God (not parts of your life) and seek him wholeheartedly because when we draw close to Him, He will also draw close to you (James 4:8-10).