This is the information that I have found about fasting and there is more. I didn't understand the reasoning for the fasting, but I knew that I was called to do this several different times and it did make a difference in each case.
Seven Reasons for Fasting
For moving mountains! “…you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you…except by prayer and fasting.”
For humbling yourself. Since we know that “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble.” Luke 1:52. “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?”
For making yourself acceptable to the Lord. “ Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?”
For loosening the bonds of wickedness!
For letting the oppressed go free and breaking every yoke!
For seeking God. “Then I proclaimed a fast there…that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him…”
For favor when meeting with your spouse. “…do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way…and if I perish, I perish.”
Additional Benefits
Benefit Number One: Gaining Control over your Mouth! My main reason for fasting when Dan was gone was to get my mouth under control! I did not have a gentle or quiet spirit (or for you men “meekness”) until I began fasting. For those who have written with this same problem I have written back:
“Fast, fast, fast! This will make you too weak to say or do anything!!!” “You must work on your mouth! Don't add your comments!! Stop trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember "won without a word!" Try fasting. That's what worked for me. I was too weak to say anything, all I could do was smile !
Benefit Number Two: Killing the Flesh and Strengthening Your Spirit! Fasting is the BEST way to prepare yourself for marriage restoration since it strengthens your spiritual man, while at the same time, killing the flesh!
Benefit Number Three: Weight Loss When you are in the process of trusting God to restore your marriage, you usually have a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. This is the best time to begin fasting - even if you've tried it before without success. And many of you will welcome the added benefit of weight loss! Just read what this sweet lady wrote and shared with us:
“Because of fasting, I've lost 70 pounds since last August!!! (about an 11 month period) How's that for God's amazing grace? I've not been this weight in 15 years, and while I still have 15 pounds to go (I guess I'll have to get rid of those next year), this is the weight I was at in high school! God is so goooood!!!! I had three people last week who didn't recognize me...and I know that's as much a spiritual change in my countenance as my weight loss. I am a strong believer in fasting.
More Important Information on Fasting
Fasting is mentioned many times in the Bible. The scriptures that are found below are those that we refer to the most and are the ones that God led me to when I was believing God to restore my marriage to Dan.
Matt. 17:19-21 “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Isa. 58:5-6 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed, And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD? Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free, And break every yoke?”
Esth. 4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
Ezra 8:21 “Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.”
Ps. 35:13 “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting; And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.”
Now when I fast, I do drink water, but I don't eat.
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