Fasting for Faith
On the Spiritual benefits of fasting, and an example fast you can try
Jesus and the Bible teach the importance of fasting. It’s a critical part of our Spiritual growth and progress. It needs to be part of our Spiritual life.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. With Lent starting up this week, today I have a special post in preparation for it.
The Bible makes many references to fasting. And Jesus also taught us the importance of fasting. Fasting is an important Spiritual activity and a core part of a healthy Spiritual life. As Christians, fasting should be part of our Spiritual routine.
Christianity has a few occasions for fasting, and one of them is Lent, which starts this Wednesday, February 17. Lent 2021 will run from February 17 to April 4, which is Easter. So if you’ve never fasted before, this year’s Lent (which starts this week) is a great time to start.
In today’s post I’m going to write about why we fast, what we can gain from fasting, and I’ll end by introducing a fast you can try for yourself. So let’s get right into it.
Weaker Flesh, Stronger Faith
Jesus Himself taught us the importance of fasting. He first taught us by His example. After being baptized, He went out into the wilderness and fasted for forty days and forty nights. This showed right from the start that fasting was important to Him.
Moving on, He mentioned the importance of fasting in Matthew 17. His Disciples were unable to cast out a difficult demon from an unfortunate victim. But Jesus cast it out immediately. When the Disciples asked Him why they couldn’t cast it out, He told them it’s because their Faith wasn’t strong enough. He told them that if their Faith was strong, nothing would be impossible for them. They could even move mountains.
And then He said that this kind of strong demon does not leave without prayer and fasting. This is significant because Jesus is making a connection between fasting and the strength of our Faith. He’s telling us if we fast, we have stronger Faith. Faith that’s strong enough to expel the strongest demons.
(17) Then Jesus answered, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with…
