This message was delivered in New Zealand by Derek Prince, who had the interesting life of being born in India with an English citizenship, and yet died in Israel—and taught the Bible everywhere in between. The subject, “Spiritual Secret that few people practice today,” caught my eye. It opened a key in my heart, maybe it will in yours. His words, not mine, are briefly shortened here. He begins:
Though this key to answered prayer is clearly presented often in the Bible, the majority of Christians are unaware that it exists. The failure to use this key is one major source of ineffectiveness in the Body of Christ (i.e., the “Body” is the universal Church, bought by His Blood, sold out in faith to Him). Let’s turn to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is giving instruction in how to pray, etc. Note two parallel passages in Matthew 6:5-6 and 6:16-17:
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues…. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door...
“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance… 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face…
Both passages begin with a negative, then give the proper way to do it. Dr. Prince asserts that the close parallel suggests that the two acts should be done together to increase the power of prayer. Jesus definitely taught fasting (He said “when you fast”). Fasting is associated many times with prayer in Scripture, as we shall see.
Dr. Prince mentions two predecessors who arrived at a similar conclusion: Martin Luther and John Wesley. Wesley’s journal said “I am persuaded that if a Christian understood the need to fast, and does not fast, he will backslide just as surely as if he were convicted about prayer, and does not pray.” Wesley would not ordain to the ministry any man who did not commit himself to fast twice a week, i.e., not to eat breakfast or lunch as a minimum on those days. That was a basic requirement to gain close access to the Lord.
You may say, What’s the use of fasting? To deny me pleasure? To give me pain? I thought it was Old Testament. No, don’t forget: Jesus commands it in Matthew above. There are doubtless many positive purposes, but Mr. Prince will only deal with one: It is a God-appointed way to humble ourselves. The greatest single barrier to the Lord is pride; and anything that will get that barrier out of the way will facilitate getting closer to God’s heart. Andrew Murray’s book Humility spoke to him on the subject of pride. A verse from Scripture echoes that. See Luke 14:11:
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
The best example of that verse is Jesus and Satan. Jesus had a humble birth and childhood; He did not demand services from His followers. He died as a lowly criminal. And God highly exalted Him (Philippians 2:9). Satan, on the other hand, though a created being, wanted equality with God. He also wanted to be victor over Jesus. But he fell (Luke 10:18). Note also that when Jesus was preparing to confront Satan, he fasted—for 40 days, quite a feat. He suffered starvation, as any human would. But He was made closer to the Father.
Realize that God never says that He will humble us, so we should not pray that. God always tells us to humble ourselves. Anything that enables us to humble ourselves is a priceless blessing—even if it isn’t always enjoyable at the time. And one of the biblically appointed ways to humble ourselves is by fasting. We’ll prove that starting with Psalm 35:13:
I humbled my soul with fasting
Your soul is the arrogant part of you, the egoistic part. It has three functions: the will, the intellect, and the emotions. (The soul is not the same as the spirit). You say, or think often: “I want…I think...I feel,” to satisfy those three in a worldly fashion. God reacts to this selfness by saying, in Scripture, “What you want, think, or feel, aren’t important. What’s important is My will; and if your habit is not thinking about my will, then you’ve got to deal with your soul; and one way to do that is by fasting.
Prince said “I heard from a lawyer who decided to fast. The day was a miserable day of pleasant smells that he couldn’t indulge himself. So at the end of the day, he gave his stomach a lecture: “Now, stomach, you’ve made a lot of trouble for me today, so for that I’m going to punish you; I’m going to fast tomorrow as well.” A good example of endurance. Humbling your soul is bringing it into subjection. Fasting gives you control over the stomach. The stomach is a wonderful servant—but a terrible master. Broadening that, who is the master in your life; you or your fleshly cravings? When you choose right, you eventually come under the blessing of God. And you don’t do hard choices once; it needs to repeat and become a habit. If you become arrogant, God puts some distance from you—and you will feel it. God will tell you that “I can see that you want your way.”
A relevant verse is Leviticus 16:29-31, which was written by Moses. For background, this chapter provides the ordinances of the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur—the most sacred day in the Jewish religious calendar. It’s their sacrifice to make atonement for their national sins (not to be confused with Passover). The future of their nation depended on their participation in that sacrifice—but that does not mean they do a sacrifice individually—the priest does it on behalf of the nation. God requires their response to be that they shall “afflict their souls,” or, really, “humble their souls.”
“This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls…. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
Note that the priest does the sacrifice; they did not arrange it, and, what’s even more important for today, it was outside their power to provide. Atonement came from God’s grace. BUT—they could not benefit from the sacrifice unless they met God’s condition, and humbled their souls. (Ed. Note: Now that we are in the New Covenant, with Jesus’ sacrifice, the way to gain atonement is different than the Old Testament. This change doesn’t affect fasting as useful to obtain humility. Fasting helps you sharpen your focus on sins that trouble you, which makes you less useful for our Lord’s work. An important note: I am not suggesting you carry this idea to extremes by self-flagellation or something. Luther did that until he saw another way—the way of Christ.
The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross opens the way to defeat selfishness and sin, appealing for the help of the Holy Spirit. We could never add anything to it; but again, if we are to benefit from it by living a godly life, we must meet God’s condition of humility. Note how the Jews have always defined the phrase “afflict your souls:” In Acts 27:9, this same sacred day of humbling and repentance is also called The Fast. (It could mean any fasting to do away with lusts of the flesh that hinder you.) This proves that God’s requirement for humility often involves fasting. God wants us to present, or submit, our body.
Generally, fasting means no food, but water is OK. We may experience physical weakness, but our spirits should strengthen. How you fast is up to you to decide.
In one case, after the disobedient Jews were forced into exile or slavery by Babylon, they obtained permission to bring a remnant from Babylon to the land of Israel. Ezra led a group on a four-month journey back to the Promised Land. They had to travel, unarmed, through robbers and brigand territory. Keep in mind, Ezra had women and children along—and the precious vessels of the temple, crafted of fine burnished metal. How to get safe passage, and obtain grace from God to avoid danger? His solution: he proclaimed a fast in Babylon before he began, as Ezra 8:21 says:
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.
So their trip was without incident. We find another insight if we read on to verse 22-23:
For I (Ezra) was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.
Ezra’s testimony is that their fasting provoked God to act on their behalf, so he didn’t request any help from the king for safety. God will put you in a position to see if you really believe in your testimony, too, on occasion. They did indeed go through the trip safely. Mr. Prince attributes this “luck,” in moving with a large family through war and famine and surviving--by their fasting and prayers.
Dr. Prince now speculated of the possibility of the judgment of God on his host country, New Zealand. What should they do if that is prophesied to come down? They should fast and humble themselves before their God. He then got back to Scripture and spoke of the wicked Ahab and Jezebel leading Israel to idolatry and wickedness. The prophet Elijah confronted him and pronounced God’s judgment on him. In I Kings 21, he told him that every male in his family would be destroyed. So there would be no heir to the throne from his family. This was an important thing; so Ahab did some real thinking. Read what Ahab did in I Kings 21:27-29. It shows Ahab doing the right thing, finally, and it shows God’s mercy: The key was his fear of God made him humble himself before Him:
So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”
If fasting and humbling himself could do that for wicked Ahab, what could it do for us? We should never consider ourselves as too ashamed of our sin to still appeal to Him for help—God will always listen to the pleas of His true children.
Yet another example is in the book of Jonah. God told him to just walk around in Ninevah and proclaim judgment on the wicked city in only 40 days. It was another story of how Jonah didn’t feel like doing it, but in any event, Ninevah—after listening to only one sermon repeatedly preached by a stranger, actually listened and truly fasted and humbled themselves, and God once again offered grace and relief from that judgment. The Word of God is so powerful on them in Jonah 3:6-10:
6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Can you imagine such a thing happening today with presidents or prime ministers? Earnest prayer and fasting could make that happen, too. The Holy Spirit can shake off our complacency. Praise God for His mercy side, as well as for His judgment side. I have to warn you, there are bad endings to stories, too, in Scripture, where people ignored God’s judgment—and paid the price.
Yet another great story (you should tell your children these wonderful stories) is in Esther. Haman, an enemy of God, had persuaded the king, Xerxes, to issue a decree, that was unalterable, to kill all Jews in all 127 provinces in his vast Persian kingdom (modern day Iran+)—which stretched from India to Ethiopia. This would wipe out just about all Jews there were, since most everything civilized in the earth was in his kingdom, except the Far East. Esther, the queen, was a Jewess, though the king did not know it. When Mordecai (her cousin) told her of this upcoming tragedy, she did the right thing: read Esther 4:16:
16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
We can expect that it was because of their fasting and humbling themselves before the Lord, that she concocted a brilliant plan. Together with God giving the king a sleepless night and just happening to read the “Daily Events” journal on the right past date, God turned the whole thing around—and their enemies were the ones killed. This story, with the Hitchcockian twists and turns, is exciting reading. Without the Jews, there would be no Redeemer, Jesus the Christ. And what was the turning point? Their fast. It would be impossible to exaggerate fasting as a changer of the course of history—even til’ now.
The New Testament likewise speaks of the power of fasting. In II Corinthians 6:4-5, Paul is forced to defend himself before a skeptical people, offering his proofs of apostleship. He cites many things to offer proof. Note one of them:
4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
He believed in its importance. He does the same thing in II Corinthians 11:23ff. This still has power in ministry today, Mr. Prince spoke of his own inner conviction that God laid strongly on his heart, right after he was saved, that he should fast. This was before Wesley’s journals. He testified that through that, that he made great spiritual progress.
The experiences related in Acts 13 have been called the beginning of a missionary program. It is the first sending forth of apostles in Acts. Notice the prelude: what did they do to plead God for success in opening hearts to the Gospel, in conquest of the Evil One? Fasting and prayer, of course. As recorded in vv1-4:
Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon…and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit…
So, did they think out a plan for something attractive to draw the unsaved? Maybe decided on a “seeker-friendly” church? No, they fasted. They took their own hands and their own plans off it, and waited for Him to give the next move. God responded to them, picked His right guys, and sent the Holy Spirit out and convicted many hearts to turn to Him. Acts 13 is a turning point in the church.
Very seldom does the church today seek God’s strategy. We take ‘Plans for Church Growth’ class in seminary, rather than seeking His plan. So church growth has stopped in almost all developed nations. The early church knew they had to take time off, even from eating, and beg to hear God. His results are always good. Note how, after fasting to obtain God’s will, they fasted a second time, this time to commit those two men to carry out God’s will. Then they laid on hands before sending them forth. Note how the Holy Spirit accompanies them. How much sweeter can you get, that you pursue your ministry accompanied by the Holy Spirit? At that time, they were called prophets and teachers. But in Acts 14:14, they were called apostles. They were able to perform miracles, and they were an effective proxy for Christ. That’s what we could do, change lives. If we would only begin at their beginning. Dr. Prince believes we could have an apostolic ministry too.
They brought disciples to the Lord where they visited cities. Later those churches were ready to appoint elders in each local body for government. The proper procedure is elucidated in Acts 14:21-23. Note the necessary key:
And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
So elders are fasted and prayed for, too. Thus, the two most critical offices in the early church, apostles and elders, were arrived at through fasting and prayer.
We pray, but too often do not fast and humble ourselves. Why not use this effective plan of the fastest growing church in world history, today? Can you beat what they did? They turned the violent (and vast) Roman Empire into a Christian empire in under 300 years. Why not use such a successful plan again? It’s clearly God’s plan, since it seeks His face. Do we assume that a “modern” way is better? Do you think God has changed, and become more “modern”? A note here; appointing elders seems to be preferred to electing them. Hmm.
Let’s end by quoting II Chronicles 7:14, which gets back to that parallel word, humble:
If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
May God help us to turn away from compliance to the world, believe in hell for the unsaved, and in no other way than Christ, seek deliverance, and may He teach us to humble ourselves before Him and fast whenever there is a decision to be made—and to do His word to us when we look for it often. Amen.
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