Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough: A Guide to Nine Biblical Fasts (19 page)

Truth stands without us like a sentinel on guard. But too often we ignore the truth. Yet, like gravity, truth stands whether or not we agree with it. When we fast, we signal our willingness to accept God’s truth instead of our own subjective musings.

Often we try to justify ourselves and our decisions. We try to make things go our own way. We don’t look at all the facts, and we don’t understand the facts we do look at because we are blinded by our presuppositions. We think we are never wrong. Two paramount problems in decision making are (1) our omniscient memories (we think we are always right because we remember being right before); and (2) our omniscient insights
(we think we must be right because we thought of the answers).

The more we consider the facts, read the Bible and look into the heart of God, the more we realize that our answers may not be what we originally thought. We can lie to ourselves about truth, but truth remains truth. Truth, like a hot stove, always burns us when we touch it.

What is the best way to start a fast? Start as Saint Paul did. The Bible says he fell to the ground, “trembling and astonished” (Acts 9:6). When he asked, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” he was confessing even in his confusion that Jesus is Lord. When Paul recognized Jesus, his life was turned around. Paul began his fast by simply calling on the One who could help him.

Step 4: Stop All Self-Effort and Yield to God

There is a time for initiative and self-effort. There is a time to get up from our knees and work because the night is coming. The Bible tells us, “Whatever you do, do it heartily” (Col. 3:23). We are supposed to work hard. But there are times to stop working and to be quiet before God.

When you enter into the Saint Paul Fast, stop all self-effort. Fasting is not a time to work; it is a time to wait. Fasting is not a time to sweat; it is a time to sacrifice. Fasting is not a time to labor; it is a time to plunge deep into the heart of God in yieldedness to Him.

Step 5: Pay Attention to the Physical

The outer affects the inner. Sometimes it’s important to go away to a completely different location for a fast. Sometimes it is important to enter into your closet or go into your private room where no one will bother you. Sometimes it’s important to kneel, at other times to bow humbly before God, at still other times to stand before God with hands lifted, reaching out to God as Solomon did at the Temple dedication (see 1 Kings 8:2). It may be appropriate to lie flat on the ground before God, as did the apostle Paul in his encounter with Christ on the Damascus road. The outward stance should reflect the inward stance of the heart.

Step 6: Pay Attention to the Spiritual

a. Submit your spirit
. When Paul said “Lord,” it was a great admission by an antagonistic Jew that Jesus was his master. When Paul called Jesus “Lord,” he was admitting that his past actions were wrong. He yielded his prejudices. He submitted.

Begin your fast by admitting to the times you were wrong. You might even list them—not to show to others, but to see yourself as you really are. Then, submit any future self-efforts to God. Why? Because you know you were wrong in the past. Use the Saint Paul Fast to search your inner person for answers and wisdom.

When Paul began his fast, he added, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). In essence, Paul began a three-day search for truth by asking the Lord to help him.

b. Search with your whole heart
. God has promised, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). At times we think we are honestly searching for God, but the longer we stay in His presence the more we realize that the self has crawled onto the throne of our hearts. The longer we stay in the presence of God, the more we discover devious motives in our hearts. We might be making decisions for money, glory or even sinful reasons that rebel against God. During the Saint Paul Fast, we search for answers and find them when we search with our whole hearts.

c. Allow the Lord to search you
. What does it mean to allow God to search us? He said, “I, the Lord, search the heart” (17:10). God already knows our hearts, but when we ask Him to search us, we symbolically hand Him the flashlight and willingly allow Him not only to see into our hearts; but also ask Him to show us what is there. He already knows what is in our minds. God knows us better than we know ourselves. But with the flashlight in hand, He allows us to see what is there.

d. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you
. When you enter into the Saint Paul Fast, you are asking the Holy Spirit to be your teacher. Just as an earthly teacher will inform and enlighten you, so when the Holy Spirit becomes your teacher, God shows you what to do. “The Helper, the Holy Spirit...will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

One of fasting’s great rewards is connecting with the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit will teach us every detail about what we should do. For instance, we can’t fast instead of studying for the chemistry exam. We don’t fast in place of hard work, claiming that He will teach us all things. That is not the purpose of fasting, nor is it God’s way. We are to study, memorize, apply ourselves, pray and perhaps fast—then we take the chemistry exam.

Again, notice what Jesus promised. He said the Holy Spirit “shall teach you all things...whatsoever I have said unto you” (14:26,
KJV
). The Spirit will help you recall what Jesus said. You will gain insight into the Word of God and come to know the person of God. When you begin the Saint Paul Fast, pray, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law” (Ps. 119:18).

e. Study diligently
. While we wait upon the Holy Spirit to teach us, the Scriptures also tell us “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God...rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). We are to give diligence to learn the Word of God. When we study best, God speaks to us the most. When we study best, we get the most from meditation. When we study best, we become most like Christ. So during the Saint Paul Fast, bring your Bible, dictionary, concordance and Bible encyclopedia. Study His Word to find out His will.

f. Pray
. What do we pray as we search for answers during the Saint Paul Fast? We can do no better than to pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties...and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23,24).

Step 7: Obey What You Learn

Paul had been knocked to the ground on the Damascus road by the revelation of Christ. But he had to do more than meet Christ. “The Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city’” (Acts 9:6). This was a very clear command. What did Paul do? He arose, and allowed his companions to lead him to Damascus (v. 8). Saul got up from the ground and began following the only thing he knew the Lord wanted of him: to go to Damascus. Later in life, Paul spoke about the incident in these words: “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (26:19).

Just as there are twin propellers that keep the power boat cruising straight on the lake, so there are twin forces that keep the Christian life on an even keel. These “propellers” are
knowing
and
doing
. Some people veer off course by only studying to know. Others rush in to do, not having biblical knowledge. Biblical faith involves the balance of both knowing and doing. We are told, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5,6).

As you continue the Saint Paul Fast, use pencil and paper to make a list of everthing you will do after this fast. What will be the outcome of
your decision? How will you inform others of your decision? How will you stay accountable? For what will you pray?

Step 8: Be Willing to Be Patient

When Saul met Jesus Christ, God did not give him a complete road map of his future. He was only given his next assignment. He was told to go into the city. There he would get his next orders. “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:6).

In your first Saint Paul Fast, you may get only preliminary direction. You may have to fast a second or third time. Remember, Paul went three days without eating or drinking before Ananias came with further direction (v. 9).

How does God speak to us? Sometimes the answer will come gradually, like the dawn of a new day. Long before the sun peeks over the horizon, there is some light through the windows. Slowly, more light creeps into the room. Then suddenly, the sun bursts over the horizon. But even then, it is not as full daylight as it will be at noon.

In the same way, God may give us some light in our first Saint Paul Fasts. We see a few things vaguely, such as the shapes in the backyard that begin to appear before the sun appears over the horizon. We may have to plan to fast again to get the full sight of noon. Some may have to fast several times to get the answers they seek.

This doesn’t mean there will not be times when God breaks into your world with full insight the first time you fast. Remember, Paul was a blind and prejudiced Jew on his way to arrest Christians in Damascus. Suddenly he was blinded by a great light—Jesus Christ. He could only respond, “Lord.”

Likewise, you may get a sudden insight from fasting. You may have been praying and fasting for several hours when suddenly God shows you what you must do. The Greek philosopher Archimedes was commissioned to determine the total amount of space in a gold sculpture. The task was difficult without melting down the statue. Archimedes put the problem aside to take a warm bath. He then noticed that the water rose when he submerged himself into the tub. Suddenly he realized he could measure the amount of water his body displaced to determine the space of his body. When he realized he could do the same thing with the statue, he jumped from the tub yelling, “Eureka!” (Greek for “I have found [it].”) From that story, we still use “Eureka!” when we get sudden insight.

Step 9: Be Open to Insights from Others

You will probably embark on the Saint Paul Fast alone, as did Paul. Even in your solitude, however, realize that God may give an answer through someone else. Although God spoke in a limited way to Paul, He gave additional insights through Ananias (see Acts 9:10,11). Similarly, God may use others to give you direction. While you are fasting, God may be giving the answer to someone else. Even though you end the Saint Paul Fast without the answer, that doesn’t mean there is no answer. It simply means you do not have the answer at that time. God may have given someone else the answer, and you may have to wait for that person to come into your life.

God had prepared Ananias to pray for Saul’s spiritual and physical condition. “Ananias...entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus...has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit’” (v. 17). We might have thought that because the great apostle Paul had just met Jesus Christ he could have prayed for himself. But no! God used Ananias to pray for Paul to receive his sight and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

You may discover during the Saint Paul Fast that you cannot heal yourself; you cannot find the answer yourself; you do not even know what is wrong. God may bring a more mature person into your life to give you instruction after your fast. So what was the purpose of fasting? You have prepared your heart to receive the message from someone else. So when you leave the Saint Paul Fast, don’t be surprised if God answers your prayers through the life of someone else.

Step 10: Prepare to Be Misunderstood

Paul was journeying from Jerusalem to Damascus accompanied by several men. Some were probably his servants, and others his companions who would search the houses for Christians, arresting them. Notice that God did not speak to the men who were with Paul. “The men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one” (v. 7). Only Paul saw Jesus Christ.

When God leads you to the Saint Paul Fast, He may not lead other
members of your family or even those who are involved in your decision to fast with you. Usually the Saint Paul Fast is a lonely fast. You stand alone before God; your communion is solely with Him. Do not be surprised if others do not understand.

Practical suggestions abound to help the Saint Paul Fast become effective. The following are just a few to remember as you begin on your journey:

The more weighty your decision, the more often and the longer you should follow the Saint Paul Fast
. As we have noted, when fasting was first introduced, it was probably because people who went through deep distress and life-changing pressure just did not want to eat or drink anything. They were so consumed with their problems that food was the last thing on their minds. Whether Paul was taken up with the distress of his immediate emergency (i.e., blindness) or whether he truly fasted for God’s blessing, the text is not clear. But it is true that the more severely your problem shakes your equilibrium, the more intense should be your fasting.

Plan Bible reading that is not directly related to your decision
. As you read from various portions of Scripture, your mind will relax in God’s presence. Then perhaps the answer will “pop” into your mind. In the quietness of peace, God may speak to you about a topic you are not presently studying.

During the Saint Paul Fast, you should purpose to read the entire New Testament in one day. If that is too much, surely you should purpose to read chosen books of the Bible.

Know and apply principles of decision making
. Write out the five steps of decision making previously mentioned. As you fast, review your data in addition to these steps and follow them systematically. Following this formula, like a pilot who goes through a checklist before the plane takes off, guarantees that nothing is left out of the procedure. In the same way, as you go through the strategy of decision making, the steps become your “checklist” for solving crucial issues.