"Am I doing a bad thing by not fasting?"

The answer is not necessarily that you are a horrible Christian by not fasting during prayer month, but it helps.

You may have heard this already, but we are composed of three things: body, soul and spirit. 

You feed your body and you clothe but it does not last forever. When you die, your body stays here on earth and will deteriorate. The soul on the other hand is all about your emotions, your desires, your fleshly lusts. It’s what makes you, you. It is also what goes to Heaven when you die. Your soul is what the Lord wants. In fact, it is what the enemy wants too! Our souls are so precious, this is the reason why there is a battle out there over who gets dominion over your soul. The Lord had to come on earth to win our souls BACK to Him! The spirit however, is what you use to worship God and serve Him. Your spirit is what connects you to God. Everyone, Christian or not, has a spirit. The only difference is that Christians have the Holy Spirit to regenerate their spirit (we yield our spirits to accept the Spirit of God). It is very important for you to understand that your spirit and your soul are ALWAYS in a battle for who gets attention.

When you feed your soul, you are depriving your spirit. But when you feed your spirit, you are depriving your soul. The point of fasting, is to starve both the body and the soul so that your entire attention can go towards the spirit. It’s important because your spirit is what connects you to God’s Spirit right. The bible says, those who worship God, must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Also, when you read the Word of God, you need the Spirit of God to help your spirit connect to God’s spirit to understand his word.

It seems complicated, but really it's not. It’s actually very simple. Your soul thirsts for (needs) God everyday but it desires fleshly things and the body fulfills those desires (like eating or sinning), however, the spirit desires God. So in order to focus on the spirit, we need to surrender our body and our souls to Christ, and the best way to do it is through fasting.

Some people instead of depriving themselves from food (which is the traditional fasting) they will deprive themselves from technology per example. That HELPS TOO! The soul must bless The Lord along with the spirit, so by disconnecting yourself from whatever distractions you have and all other gods you may have in your life, will help you.

The famous question: 

Will God answer my prayer quicker if I fast ALL DAY!?

The answer is the ATTITUDE! At the end of the day, God only cares about your attitude.

When you give your offering per example, He will never look at the amount but will look at what the attitude of your heart was when you gave him your offering.

Did you give only because the pastor said so? Did you give only because everyone else is giving? Are you NOT giving because you have other things to pay for? 

You may give a dime and be grateful for that one dime The Lord blessed you with therefore you’re giving it back to Him in thanksgiving. Same goes for fasting! You can be starving yourself all day, but may only be doing it so people might be impressed with you, or maybe you’re only doing it because your entire church is doing it and you don’t want to look rebellious! Please, if that’s the case, go eat!

You must have an understanding of what you want. You need a goal, a point, and a purpose! As for me, I tell God, “listen I’m giving this up, and you know how hungry I am or how badly I miss my phone (or whatever else I’m giving up) to show you that I desire your presence way more. Father I need you to honour my sacrifice by hearing me and by helping me find you!”

Friends, understand also that fasting WITHOUT prayer is only starvation. It is foolish to think that you are accomplishing something by ‘fasting’ if you are not praying. Jesus fasted 40 days! And was also praying during those 40 days. You see, we know that the body needs food to survive, the soul needs affection and fleshly desires to survive but the spirit needs the Word! During your fast, your soul WILL try to fulfill fleshly desires, it WILL fight your spirit, and the enemy WILL tempt you! And you WILL stumble but only IF your spirit is NOT strong and routed in the Word!

Jesus was tempted during his fast… on the LAST day of his fast even (Matt 4). And he resisted the enemy, in fact he chased him away. If Jesus overcame it, then we can also overcome it! Know that if you are not feeding your spirit, your soul WILL take over… so by feeding your spirit, it is empowering you to overcome the hunger of your soul and your body.

Matthew 4:4 (NIV)

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

 Isaiah 58:6-14 NIV - (what The Lord considers true fasting)

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: 

to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)