“Why fast?  By Pastor Daniel
 
Introduction
We have just entered into our nation’s yearly fasting and prayer for 40 days.  As I approach that day with the launching online on 7th August, I asked myself again the same old question - shall I fast?  Why fast?  What does the Bible say about fasting?
 
Not a command but a pursuit
It is interesting that in the new testament, there is not a word of command for Christians to fast from the letters of the apostles.  The apostle Paul who wrote a big bulk of the New Testament did not once mention that it is a command for Christians to fast.  Yet surprisingly, the church has practice fasting for more than two millennia. That is interesting, I thought.
 
So with that, do I still fast?  Is fasting Biblical?
 
Yet reading portions of scriptures especially the book of Acts as we are in the midst of preaching the book of Acts, I discovered that fasting was assumed.  Fasting was the practice of the early church, probably carried forward from the Old Testament where many at times in line with repentance, there were fasting and praying with sackcloth.  Also in the Old Testament fasting many at times are accompanied by consecration of lives to the Lord.
 
We actually find a pattern of fasting as the early church grows and multiplies in the book of Acts. In one of the most pivotal junctures in the story, when the church is to embark into the mission to the Gentile world, the leaders in Antioch “were worshiping the Lord and fasting” to seek God’s guidance at a key moment in their church life (Acts 13:2–3). While they were doing so, the Holy Spirit spoke to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). Then “after fasting [again] and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:3).
 
Then Acts 14 provides us with a pattern of prayer and fasting “in every church.” As Paul and Barnabas revisited the cities in which they had made new converts on their first missionary journey, they “appointed elders for them in every church” and “with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed” (Acts 14:23).
 
What I see here is the fact that while fasting is being practiced, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, it has brought in a new dimension - the seeking of God and His Spirit in repentance, in direction and providence and in consecration to do the work of God.  Thus fasting may not be a command in the New Testament but it must be a pursuit of a Christian when he desires to seek God.
 
Jesus did make references to fasting, but oftentimes using the phrase, “When you fast....” assuming the practice of the day as a devout Jew.
 
Not how but why
Taking on how Jesus mention fasting, “when you fast...” it is not about how but rather why.  We have heard many ways of fasting like Daniel’s fast (a vegetarian meal) or a partial fast (no solid but fluids allowed) or even complete fast for a given period of time.
 
I believe it is not about how we do our fasting.  You may choose whichever suits you but more important, to know why we are fasting.  NECF gave us a foundational reason - to hear the voice of the Spirit in times like this.  That is why we fast.  We fast to seek God - be it in repentance, in guidance or in giving ourselves to the Lord.
 
Conclusion
This is my short thought on fasting during this annual period of 40 days.  May I emphasize once again that it must be the pursuit of the heart and we know the reason for fasting.  I trust that some of you have begun and others are still thinking about it.  May I encourage you to venture into it to see the LORD working in your life.  God blesses you all.