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Fasting - The First Works of Jesus
by Colonel
Janet Munn
Greater Works – Who Me?
Jesus said to his followers, “As the
Father has sent me, I also send you” (John 20:21) and “whoever
believes in me, the works that I do they will do also; and
greater works than these will they do” (John 14:12). How can
this be? What does it mean that we are sent by Jesus? How are
we to do the greater works to which Jesus referred?
Jesus Our Model
Mahesh Chavda is a pastor and author of
The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting. He points out that
just as a gymnast must first master elementary moves like a
forward roll and a cartwheel, prior to mastering more advanced
moves, so must the disciple of Jesus Christ develop the “first
works” of Jesus prior to demonstrating the greater works
promised by Him.
Before Jesus began his public ministry,
first, he went into the wilderness, led by the Spirit, to fast
for forty days (Luke 4: 1-2). However, Jesus returned from the
wilderness in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). At Jesus’
baptism the Holy Spirit came upon Him. Following the fasting
Jesus went forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. If fasting
was key for Jesus to operate on this earth in spiritual power,
so it is for His disciples. Times of fasting and prayer are
the first works we are called to do if we want to do the
greater works of Jesus Christ.
Authority vs. Power
Jesus clearly told the disciples that
He had given them tremendous spiritual authority (Matthew
10:8), yet when faced with a boy suffering demonic torment,
they found themselves unable to set him free. Upon Jesus’
arrival on the scene, the demon was readily driven out, the
disciples rebuked for their spiritual impotence. Jesus
explained that His effectiveness results from a lifestyle of
prayer and fasting (Matthew 17: 14-21).
There are challenges we will face,
confrontations with evil we will encounter, that will only
result in victory through prayer and fasting. We neglect such
a lifestyle to our own detriment.
Fasting – What it is and what it isn’t
In our overeating western culture, it
could readily be said of us, “our god is our stomach”, as Paul
referred to in Philippians 3:19. Fasting is abstaining from
food for spiritual purposes. Through fasting we put our flesh
in its place and give the Spirit first place; we tell our
bodies, our appetites to wait; we declare that we do not live
by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth
of God. In fasting we proclaim that our hunger and thirst
after God and His righteousness is greater than our hunger for
our next meal.
God does not change. He will not be
manipulated. Our fasting does not persuade Him to do something
against His will, nor do we impress God with our piety through
fasting. Rather we are changed through fasting. The psalmist
David said that he humbled himself with fasting (Psalm 35:13).
John wrote, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ
laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for
our brothers” (1 John 3:16). Fasting is a way to lay down our
lives for one another. When we become aware of someone in
need, we can enter into a period of fasting and prayer, laying
down our appetites, our physical comfort, for the sake of
another as we focus our energies instead on the Lord, on the
Scriptures and on intercession. Jesus amplifies this when he
spoke of the necessity of those who follow him, to deny
themselves, take up their cross and follow him (Matthew
16:24).
The Lord’s Expectations
In the Old Testament, fasting appears
to be a pre-requisite for revival. In Joel chapter 2 prior to
the prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all
flesh, later quoted by Peter at Pentecost, the people of God
are challenged to “declare a holy fast, call a sacred
assembly” (Joel 2:15). Then God promised, “And afterward, I
will pour out my Spirit on all people” (Joel 2:28). Is it
possible that greater revival, an increase in the manifest
presence of the Holy Spirit on all people is delayed in our
day, at least in part as a result of our lack of fasting, our
self-indulgence rather than our self-denial? How often do we
really say “no” to ourselves, to our own appetites and
cravings for the sake of seeking the face of God through
fasting and prayer?
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught
the disciples how they were to pray and how they were to fast,
with an underlying assumption that they would do both (Matthew
6: 5, 16-17). When his disciples were criticized for their
lack of dietary restraint relative to John the Baptist’s
disciples, Jesus assured the critics that when he, the
bridegroom, was taken from them, then they would fast (Luke 5:
35).
Benefits of Fasting
As mentioned earlier, in fasting we
humble ourselves and we know from the book of James that God
gives grace, favor, to the humble (James 4:10). Jesus’ example
reminds us of the power over temptation connected with fasting
(Luke 4). Throughout the book of Acts the early Church
gathered corporately for periods of prayer and fasting in
order to gain clarity and guidance regarding the will of God.
This He made known to His people when they were together
seeking Him in prayer and denying themselves of food as they
sought Him. Imagine if we as Salvation Army leaders began to
make major decisions only as we met together in fasting in
prayer, rather than by committee meetings planned around
meals!
Pioneers of Prayer and Fasting
Queen Esther called her people, the
Jews, to join her in a corporate fast for their deliverance as
a people. Anna served in the Temple in Jerusalem around the
time of the birth of Jesus Christ, with prayer and fasting.
She lived a fasted lifestyle (Luke 2:37) as did John the
Baptist. It was during a period of fasting and prayer that God
spoke to the gentile Cornelius, the Roman Centurion about
contacting Peter which then led to a major shift in
understanding regarding the gospel and the Spirit offered also
to the gentiles (Acts 10:30-31). The Apostle Paul fasted for
safety and deliverance during a fierce storm (Acts 27) and
Daniel fasted individually as a gesture of repentance on
behalf of the sin of the people (Daniel 9). Jesus began his
public ministry immediately following a forty-day fast.
The early church fathers, Polycarp and
Tertulian fasted, as did Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox
and John Wesley. Wesley was so committed to fasting that he
would not approve a candidate for ministry if he did not fast
twice a week! How would that policy change our Candidates’
Councils and us?
Whenever he became aware that his
spiritual power or anointing was weakening, Charles Finney
would immediately commence a three-day fast. Following the
fast, the presence of God would radiate so powerfully through
Finney that people would fall under overwhelming conviction
upon his entrance into a room, a building, or even the city
limits.
Jonathan Edwards and Charles Haddon
Spurgeon would fast and pray in order that they would be able
to preach well! A fruitful endeavor indeed.
Types of Fasts
Elmer Towns outlines various types of
biblical fasts and their purposes, in his book, Fasting for
Spiritual Breakthrough. These include the Samuel fast, in
which people join together to seek God’s guidance for them
corporately (1 Samuel 7) as well as the Ezra fast, a corporate
fast for protection (Ezra 8:22). The Elijah fast is an
individual fast to cry out for God’s help in time of trouble
and discouragement. The Disciples’ fast is for spiritual power
to exercise authority over the demonic (Matthew 17:21) and the
Saint Paul fast is an individual fast for increased light –
for an opening of the eyes of the heart (Acts 9: 17-19). God’s
covenant people agreed together to fast for deliverance from
danger and evil in the Esther fast (Esther 4:16) and the
Daniel fast is one in which the individual fasts for physical
health and strength.
When You Fast . . . .
What is the Lord calling you to by way
of fasting? Are you to enter into a short-term fast, like
Finney’s three-day recharging of the spiritual battery? Or
disciplined observance of the 40 period of Lent, a season of
fasting?
Is God calling you to a fasted
lifestyle, like the prophetess Anna or John the Baptist, in
which you live in a such a way that you are continually
fasting from something or some things? Perhaps you are to give
or significantly reduce your intake of certain unhealthy
foods. Perhaps you have some hobbies or recreational
activities that are not in themselves evil, but that can
sometimes take too high a priority in your life and you need
to fast from them for a period of time. This will help to
re-establish in your heart, your affections and in your
calendar, that loving the Lord your God is the number one
passion of your life. This could involve fasting from the
computer, the Internet, the television, the telephone or
sports or movies – anything that can work its way too high up
on our list of priorities.
May God help us to enter into the
“first works” of Jesus, and from that may we see a great
unleashing of the “greater works” in our midst.
Questions
How would a lifestyle of fasting and
prayer change the way we currently do business?
What would integration of fasting into
our ways of doing and being mean for each of us individually
and for The Salvation Army corporately?
Do you desire to be like Jesus? What
are you doing by way of intentional discipline to move toward
that goal? Could fasting help?
How much are we willing to deny
ourselves, to sacrifice, in terms of our bodily appetites,
that the Kingdom of God would be more strongly established in
these days?
Do you desire to be about the “greater
works” of the Lord Jesus? Are you seeing them to the degree
that you desire? If not, why not? Could ongoing fasting and
prayer, individual and corporate, be part of the answer?
Resources
Chavda, Mahesh. The Hidden Power of
Prayer and Fasting, (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 1998).
Foster, Richard. Celebration of
Discipline (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978).
Towns, Elmer L. Fasting For Spiritual
Breakthrough (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1996).
Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the
Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (New York:
Harper & Row, 1988);
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