Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough-The Physical Affects the Spiritual by Shane Idleman
You choose: Will it be the pain of discipline or the pain of regret? One yields a sense of extreme fulfillment; the other, a lingering sense of defeat. Ironically, we pray for God to heal when we should also pray for the self-discipline to change harmful habits. Fasting is hard because self-denial is hard (discipline), and overindulging is not rewarding (regret). It becomes a never-ending cycle of defeat unless we break the cycle by choosing discipline over regret as we seek the will of God.
Pastor Shane Answers Fasting Questions HERE!
God teaches us through discipline because He loves us. We are also encouraged to discipline our bodies to experience breakthrough. We cannot effectively be filled with the Spirit and lack discipline. Our faith is not passive; it’s active faith. Romans 6:16 (NASB) sheds much-needed light: “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” Either way, we are slaves—we are either God’s servant or a slave to our passions and desires. Self-discipline is a fruit of the Spirit, according to 2 Timothy 1:7.
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Those who say that discipline is legalism are dead wrong. We are called to yield to the Spirit and quench sin—but when we yield to sin, we quench the Spirit. Fleshly appetites are subdued when fasting. Fasting is challenging because the flesh always wants to negotiate with us. It says, “Can’t we meet in the middle? Don’t completely remove food—that’s too extreme!”
Self-control is also required for leadership. In Titus 1:8 (NIV), Paul adds that a leader “must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” John Wesley required fasting so that his leaders disciplined their appetites rather than allow their appetites to rule them. It’s been said for centuries that no man who cannot command himself is fit to command another. Paul told the Corinthians that he strikes a blow to his body and makes it his slave so that he will not be disqualified for service (1 Cor. 9:27). An undisciplined leader is an oxymoron.
We also see the power of fasting in Joel 1:14: “Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.” The magnitude of the situation determined the response. God’s people had departed from Him. The call was to return through fasting, prayer, and broken-ness. Fasting is depriving the flesh of its appetite as we pray and seek God’s will and mercy. We are saying, “The flesh got me into this predicament, now it’s time to seek God’s mercy and humble myself before Him.”
