Matthew 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
Many people do pray, but very few fast. Yet in the Bible, whenever God wanted to shift a person, a family, a nation or a generation, fasting was involved.
Beloved, fasting is not a religious ritual. Fasting is a spiritual law.
Fasting is not about abstinence of food; it is about focus. Fasting is not punishment or affliction to the body. It is alignment of the Spirit. It is an act of humility and subjection of flesh to the Spirit.
Fasting is a deeper hunger for God.
Fasting is a spiritual tool and not a religious routine. In the Bible, fasting is presented as a weapon, not a ritual. Jesus Himself said: *“When you fast…”* Not if you fast. This means fasting is expected in a serious spiritual life.
Our perfect example is JESUS CHRIST.
FASTING IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE:
1. It Brings You Into Spiritual Connectivity.
Your body and emotions can be loud,
and your flesh demanding. But fasting quiets the flesh so that the spirit can hear clearly every word spoken by God. Jesus says in Matthew 4:4 that, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
So, when you fast, your flesh becomes weak, your spirit becomes sharp, and your spiritual discernment becomes active. Fasting restores divine order in your life.
2. It Humbles The Soul Before GOD.
Fasting is a posture of brokenness.
David said in Psalm 35:13 “I humbled my soul with fasting.”
Fasting takes off pride, self-confidence and spiritual arrogance.
God does not release fresh grace into a proud fasting vessel.
3. It Builds Spiritual Sensitivity.
When you fast according to the Will of God: It increases your spiritual perceptions. You will hear God faster, more audibly and with clearer directions.
Your spiritual antenna to sense danger earlier will not be confused.
Spiritual atmosphere will be easily detected. Daniel was a man of spiritual perception. The Bible records the fast of Daniel in the book of Daniel 10:2–3 that his fasting activated angelic encounters and spiritual revelations.
4. Fasting Activates Spiritual Authority.
Jesus clearly teaches us that certain spiritual battles cannot be won by prayer alone. “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Some doors are ancient. Some battles are territorial and aided by principalities. Some oppressions are ancestral and stubborn.
So, for you to have victory over all these, you need fasting alongside prayers to upgrade your spiritual authority.
5. Fasting Invites Divine Intervention.
When all human solutions fail, fasting brings heaven into the matter.
A national fast was declared by Esther before approaching the king. The fast was necessitated because of the inherent Jews genocide in Shushan.
Esther 4:16 “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
That fast reversed the genocide, conspiracy, and the satanic policy.
Fasting can change verdicts.
6. Fasting Opens The Channel Of Directions.
Many believers are confused because they are prayerful but not separated.
In the early church, leaders were fasting and God spoke.
“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said…”* ( Acts 13:2)
Fasting produces clarity of divine instruction.
7. Fasting Empowers Consecration and Holiness.
When you fast, you wet your appetite for consecration, your spiritual discipline grows, and your resistance to temptation increases.
Fasting weakens the flesh and strengthens spiritual restraint.
This is why Jesus fasted before entering into ministry.
8. Fasting Prepares You For Spiritual Assignment.
Before Jesus stepped into public ministry, He fasted for forty days and forty nights. (Luke 4:1–2)
Fasting precedes divine assignment or deployment.
If you want spiritual impact, spiritual preparation is not an option.
9. Fasting Brings God’s Restorative Power.
God Himself defined what acceptable fasting looks like.
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen…”* (Isaiah 58:6)
True fasting releases deliverance, healing, restoration, justice, and breakthroughs.
Fasting is transformational.
10. A Kingdom Divided Against Itself is Brought to Desolation.
Jesus says in Luke 11:17; Matthew 12:25 “…Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; …And every city or house divided against itself shall not stand”
I want to challenge all Christian leaders not as a divided body – but as a *UNITED BODY OF CHRIST* to come together with a teaming spirit and pray to God with one voice while we embrace a true fast to end the unjustified, reckless, and incessant killings of helpless innocent Nigerians.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Final Note and further reading: Luke 8:5-15
May God unite us, open our ears, sharpen our discernment, restore our fire and release fresh authority upon our lives in Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen!
Pastor Wole S. Omotunde
THY WILL GLOBAL CHURCH, LAGOS
(08023134496, 08148094611)
woleomotunde@gmail.com
