8 Life-Changing Benefits of Fasting

Fasting is something that we oftentimes relate to religion.            

Any religious act without context typically gets thrown to the furthest corner of our minds; never to be considered as useful in our everyday lives.               

This is understandable, especially for those who don’t want religion to creep into their relationship with God.                   

Still, what if I told you that fasting holds incredible benefits that have nothing to do with religion?                   

Would it change how you perceive fasting?                                    

Perhaps, this post might reveal to you exactly how fasting is one of the most useful tools that we have concerning our relationship with God!                     

So, if you are ready to learn more about fasting…                

Here it is!              

8 life-changing benefits of fasting,

that will improve not only your relationship with God but also your physical, emotional and mental health. 

 

Fasting makes room in your heart to let God in!                        

Do you want to see this in scripture?              

“The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.”                 

‭‭Acts‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.                  

When Peter was hungry, he was eager to receive.               

Peter had a need and a desire to fill that need.            

Because Peter was seeking God through prayer while he was in need, he was more able to receive revelation.                   

When we fast and allow ourselves to hunger for something, we are more determined to find something that can satisfy.                   

Having a need is what initiates fulfilling a need.                

We don’t seek if we don’t feel a longing.             

There is no need to fill something that isn’t empty.          

When we feel an emptiness crying out from the inside, it’s the perfect opportunity to fill it wisely.               

Fasting eliminates certain fillers and leads us to fill our needs with something specific.                

When we fast from delightful foods or other forms of pleasure, we allow ourselves to experience need without allowing ourselves to fulfill those needs with our usual fillers.             

Our body now has a hunger is not being addressed as it usually is, so you experience a more desperate longing for something to meet your need.              

Peter was praying while he was in need so God filled his hunger with revelation instead of food.                

Fasting creates an opportunity to decide what fills your emptiness.                 

This is why fasting helps us receive more from God than usual!                 

It is because we are pushing away habits and choosing to fill routine needs with brand new fillers!                   

It’s our chance to see God be what fills our souls!              

“For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.”              

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭107‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.           

Fasting develops discipline!        

In the later chapters in the book of Acts, we see a pattern among the disciples.                 

They started their journeys or missions with prayer and fasting.              

‭‭we see an example of this in Acts‬ ‭13‬:‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬…                     

“Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”                  

Not only did prayer and fasting prepare their hearts, but it created a discipline.                

This was a continuous habit and because they were conditioned by prayer and fasting, they were disciplined to endure similar difficulties, which they commonly faced while ministering.              

Fasting gives you opportunities to serve others, even if there is nothing in it for you.

I have experienced this personally…         

There are things that I only did for others if it benefited me, when I was free to eat and drink what I wanted.             

When I was not fasting, I didn’t mind bringing my loved ones delicious foods and coffees, because I would also be able to participate and enjoy the pleasing delicacies.                 

However, I noticed that my desire to serve people the things that I am unable to enjoy, is lower than when I can enjoy those pleasures.                 

This may sound terrible, but I never noticed how selfish even my selfless acts of service was until I limited what I could benefit from those acts.               

This gave me an opportunity to serve others and give them the very best, even if there was nothing in it for me!                        

This teaches how to serve selflessly and give without expecting a return!                  

Fasting cultivates patience!        

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”             

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.           

During a fast, you temporarily keep out of sight, pleasures.           

While you do not see them in the moment but you know that they will be seen again, you are eager to get to that point.                

You are excited to see the moment when they return!             

Fasting allows there to be a waiting period which establishes patience.               

Fasting resets your body!      

Fasting is not only spiritually healthy, it’s also remarkably beneficial for your physical health!                 

Research proves that even a 48-hour fast can reset your body and lead to incredible health benefits!               

Allowing your body to rest from digesting complex foods or all foods in total, gives it a chance to focus on repair, healing and growth.           

Digesting food takes up a lot of your body’s attention and energy.              

Letting your body focus on healing leads to a stronger immune system, a cleansed digestive system, and a decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, etc…               

Even the Daniel fast can increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin and improve your blood pressure while giving your body an opportunity to be filled with nutrient-dense foods.                  

Fasting keeps you from developing strong addictions!   

Along with physical and spiritual benefits,     

Fasting is also beneficial for your mind!             

The power of addictions can be broken during periods of fasting!              

For example:                

Fasting is a proven method to cure sugar addictions!                    

It doesn’t just work with sugar though…              

Anything that you practice fasting from, cannot remain an addiction.                

If you struggle with any addiction that is controlling your decisions, fasting is a great way to take it’s power away and allow you to break the mental patterns that keep you chained.                       

Fasting increases your dependence on God!   

It’s no surprise that when you fast, you are in need.       

You are increasing your vulnerability and dependence.     

Only when you stop feeding your needs and desires, do you realize how dependent you are on the those things.          

In this state of dependency, you need to lean on something for help.     

You need to fill that need somehow!          

We see Jesus increase His dependency on God, when He fasted in the wilderness for forty days.          

Go to ‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭13.                       

“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.”                  

Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭2 NKJV.                 

 

Jesus allowed His flesh to hunger and chose to be filled instead with the Holy Spirit!             

He chose to let God be what He depended on, not food.                

Jesus faced temptations and stood strong because He wasn’t depending on material things or food to hold Him up.            

He knew that He could have food… He is God, but He also knew that when the flesh was weak, the Spirit was strong!                

Jesus knew that He had to depend on the Spirit of God if He was going to make it through temptation.            

That is actually something that the devil tried to tempt Him with…                

“And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ””                               

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.                

Jesus knew that we can’t live by bread alone, so He limited the bread He consumed, in order to be filled with what truly would hold Him up.                

Keeping Himself from growing dependent on food, made Him more dependent on God!                

Fasting grows appreciation for the things that you had grown used to having.              

God made everything for us!           

We tend to think anything enjoyable is bad, but we know that God made good things to be enjoyed by His creation!           

“and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.”          

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.             

It’s bad only if we fully depend on those temporary pleasures and devote our lives to them.                 

God calls us to keep away from worshipping and devoting our hearts to other created things…             

He does not call us to keep ourselves from gratefully enjoying those things.                 

“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”              

‭‭I Timothy‬ ‭6‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.            

God doesn’t want us to trust in these gifts, He wants us to utilize and enjoy them.                   

If we aren’t careful, our dependency on pleasures will cause us to trust more in their power than we trust in God’s power.             

We make pleasure our god instead of see pleasures as gifts from our God.                

How do we avoid depending on pleasures while still enjoying them?                 

Fasting!             

When you choose to limit your consistent access to pleasures, you allow yourself to see that you can live without them.            

You also grow to appreciate those gifts!           

No longer do you seek them as if they were the air that you breathe!             

Fasting reminds you that pleasures are sweet additions to your life and you enjoy them, instead of depend on them.                   

You are grateful when you see that pleasures are not always going to be there.                 

If you have ever had problems breathing, you quickly realize that something that you thought would always be there, may prove otherwise.             

Something you took for granted due to it’s consistency in your life, becomes something that you are immensely grateful for.              

Knowing that you are not entitled to any good thing; that it is God who graciously gives it to you, cultivates gratitude and causes you to fully enjoy it.