How Long Do I Fast?
August 25th, 2008 by Nicholas Chorba
Is one meal enough? Or forty days? The Bible doesn’t prescribe any particular length of time to the Christian to fast.
As such, unless there is a naturally built in deadline for the fast (such as Esthers’ entrance to the King), we should defer to the doctrine of Christian liberty that is derived from Romans 14. Essentially, this doctrine says that each believer must be fully convinced in his own mind upon any matter that is not explicitly stated (in context) by the Bible, or any matter to which has a principle derived (in context) from the Bible.
Because of the lack of exact direction in the matter of length of time to fast, and until it might be further revealed to me, I would tell you that the length of time would be best known to each individual by their own sense, and according to their own individual faith. Perhaps you will predetermine to fast for only such a time, or perhaps God will impress upon you either before or during the fast when you should stop.
Often enough, the Bible shows a person who is troubled, and he will simply begin a fast without any known plans of ceasing. I do not wish to discourage anyone from this type of approach. However, when you do and you are praying, are you listening to God as well as talking to him?
You see, wrestling with God in prayer is fairly common in the Bible. But, are you fasting in such a way that you believe that God must do whatever you ask for in prayer? Such an attitude is somewhat like magic, or even a temper tantrum. If you do this or that you gain the effect that you desire.
For all of the questions that Job had, when God answered him, he didn’t even actually answer a single question that Job had asked. Often, the answer to our prayer requests is different than what we thought it should look like. However, the answers are also often exactly what we pray for.
Don’t give up on asking God for anything, but don’t neglect listening to him when he is speaking in his still, quite voice. It could be that what is troubling you, is just your own lack of understanding. It is not uncommon to gain understanding after extended and focused prayer.
One last note on this. The results of fasting while praying are not always evident within the time that you are spending fasting. If you spend, for example, two weeks fasting; it could very well be that the answers you seek will occur nine months later, or even longer.
Cool post. It’s amazing how often our priorities are on what we want when we fast. I don’t know how many times people have fasted as if they were using some magic key to unlock the doors of heaven and get their prize. God desires intimacy with us. To me, that should be the ultimate goal of a fast. To come closer to God. God calls each of us to fast in our own time (12 hours, 3 days, etc.) and in our own way (no food, no food or drink, etc.). Your post was right on, in my view. Thank you for letting the Lord speak through you in your blog.