Is there any basis for fasting?

Obituaries
Today I have decided to focus on a very popular topic, especially at the beginning of the year, called fasting. I have no doubt that I am going to cause some wrinkles in some of my fellow believers’ brains as they go through my series on this subject.

gracetidings:with dr doug mamvura

Today I have decided to focus on a very popular topic, especially at the beginning of the year, called fasting. I have no doubt that I am going to cause some wrinkles in some of my fellow believers’ brains as they go through my series on this subject.

This is mainly due to the fact that some of us are so engrossed in religion and traditions of man (Mark 7:13).

Please note that my intention is not to stop Christians from fasting, but to encourage them to take advantage of what Jesus did for us at the cross and fast on point. The following is God’s rebuke to His people who fasted for 70 years and God says it was not for Him. My prayer is that we don’t fall into the same trap.

“Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me. Ask all the people of land and the priests: “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months, for the past 70 years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?” (Zechariah 7: 4-10).

Fasting for 70 years is a long time and yet God didn’t recognise that fasting. The motive for fasting is very critical and I do pray that our generation of believers will fast with knowledge and understanding of the purpose of fasting.

Many Christians are currently going through their period of fasting. Fasting is a great spiritual exercise which should be encouraged to every believer.

However, one has to be very clear about why they are fasting. It shouldn’t be “because everyone is doing it so I can’t be left behind”. Some do it out of a guilty conscience seeing that the whole church is fasting. If that is the reason why you are fasting, you may be on a hunger strike when you think you are fasting.

It is important to take note of the following points when one is fasting:

When you fast, it changes you, not God. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, He changes not. I often hear people saying we need to fast so we can move God as if God is stuck. Fasting does not motivate God to do anything. I can see some of you already picking up stones, but please hold on a minute I will explain as we go through these series.

Basing our fasting on Old Testament teaching is a serious error because we are in the New Covenant. It is important that you familiarise yourself with the New Testament fasting otherwise you will just waste your time and effort.

Most believers don’t know how to “rightly divide the Word of truth”. If you pick up a newspaper dated April 15, 2000, stating that the late president Robert Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe, it was true as at that time, however, Zimbabwe now has got a new President: Emmerson D Mnangagwa. Similarly, with scripture, there were things that were true and relevant in the Old Covenant which have now been replaced as result of the finished work of Christ, hence He cried at the Cross: “It is finished.” Unfortunately, some of us believers mix both the old and new Covenants. Jesus warned us that you can’t put new wine into old wineskins.

Jesus completed for us all the requirements for fasting and provided the results to us by grace. This again is foreign to most believers. Again, please bear with me. Does this mean therefore that we shouldn’t fast? No. So, am I not contradicting myself? Please hold on. God’s chosen fast we see in Isaiah 58: 6-10 is not humanly possible to meet. Before we go to those verses, let us go to verse 4 of the same chapter: “You don’t fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high. You fast only for strife and brawling and to strike with the fist of wickedness.”

Let’s go to His chosen way of fasting: “[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose, to undo the bonds of wickedness, to tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and break apart every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and not to hide yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?”

In keeping with “rightly diving the Word of truth”, fasting was first introduced in the context of “atonement” in Leviticus 23: 26-29 (the principle of first mention) and therefore fasting should be primarily understood in this respect. Whilst fasting is primarily about not eating food, it is about denying self in preference to and identifying with the oppressed or under-privileged.

The level of self-sacrifice and selflessness required to deliver the given “to-do list” in Isaiah 58: 6-10, are not humanly achievable. The requirements also disqualified some people who didn’t have the resources, power or position to do the works. The list shows that these things cannot be done in 10 days, 21 days or even 40 days of fasting that are proclaimed in some of our churches. It is a lifestyle. Choosing to do one or two things doesn’t help. Let us also remember what the law says: “If you base your blessing on self- performance, you must do all that is required by the law, else you are guilty of breaking all the law, even if you fail in one aspect (James 2:10).”

God was not telling His people what they must do when fasting because He knew they couldn’t. Rather, He was telling them that His standard of fasting is much higher and therefore they must not brag about their efforts as if they were successful in fasting. Sadly, this message has not been heard in some churches today.

The requirements for God’s chosen fast were fulfilled by one person, Jesus Christ. Luke 4: 18- 21, states His manifesto: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Jesus is God’s chosen fast. He fulfilled God’s requirements so that by faith, we can enjoy the benefits of His fasting. Our fasting should focus on helping us to believe what Jesus accomplished for us. It is my prayer that we don’t reduce the glorious blessing of fasting into a “hunger strike” against God.

l Dr Doug Mamvura is a graduate of Charis Bible School. Feedback: [email protected] or Twitter @dougmamvura