Keto diet. It’s the new craze. There is a new diet created about every 6-12 months that seems to take center stage and get everyone’s attention. Before that it was the Paleo diet. I even remember a long time ago there was the grapefruit juice diet. Another trend I notice is that people are fasting more than ever before. Fasting, along with many of these other diets, are providing health benefit to many. But many people don’t know that fasting is also a critical component to unlocking another level of Spiritual blessing in our lives?

Scripture: 
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?” – Zechariah 7:5

Observation/Application:  
While there are many different fasting protocols, there are basically two types of fasting. There is the fasting for our bodies, and there is fasting our spirit. The first type of fasting is fasting for ourselves, the second is fasting for the Lord. The first provides physical health benefits. The second provides spiritual benefits. The first draws us closer to good health. The second draws us closer to the Lord.

While spiritual fasting can include a specific diet, one can fast other things besides food. One can fast anything that they believe will draw them closer to the Lord. And that is the point of spiritual fasting, it is to give up something that in the flesh that we really like, and that has potentially become an idol in the flesh. It is something that we find ourselves consumed by. For some it might be sports. For others it might be social media. For others it might be watching television or playing video games.

But the other key to spiritual fasting is that it is done from the heart. We don’t do it because someone wants us to, or because everyone else that we know is doing it. We don’t do it because the church that we go says that we should. We fast for the Lord because our heart compels us to. We fast voluntarily because we want to. We fast because we want to draw closer to the Lord. It is not ceremonial. It is not about compliance to someone else’s expectation. It is not about making ourselves look good. It is not fasting because that is what i was taught to do. It is not fasting when our heart is not in it.

We fast as a result of our love for our Lord Jesus Christ. We fast because we want to take our relationship to another level. Fasting is key to drawing closer to the Lord. And when we draw closer to the Lord, we get another level of revelation, another level of understanding and wisdom. We have access to a whole other level of power that is the Holy Spirit. We know this is true because of what Jesus teaches his disciples in Matthew 17 when they try to cast a demon out of a boy but are unsuccessful. But Jesus is able to. And when the disciples ask Jesus why they could not do it, Jesus replies. “But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.” – (Matthew 17:21)

If we are looking to go to another level with the Lord. If we want to draw closer to Him. If we want to unlock a higher level of blessing in our lives, let us fast to the Lord. Whether it is food, television, social media, video games, watching sports, playing golf, whatever it is for us. Let us do it, and do it for the Lord. And let us do it only because we love the Lord, and we want to do it for Him.

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your Word today. Reveal to us what is deep in our hearts Lord. Let the good remain, and flourish and grow. Let everything else be washed clean. Make us new. Place upon our hearts today a desire to be closer to you. Speak to each of us Lord, that we might hear your voice. Reveal to us what might be keeping us from you Lord. Reveal to us what might be holding us back from living the amazing life that you have planned for us. Reveal to us what is keeping us from God’s best. Place upon our hearts a desire to fast. Give us the courage to take the first step Lord. And strengthen us and give us the determination to see it through. We seek you first Lord, and give you all the honor and glory, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Image courtesy of: kilgarron

Photo By kilgarron

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