What is the reason for fasting?

Question

I haven't done it yet, but I've always felt like I should do it sometime. I've never been told the reason behind fasting, and was wondering if someone could explain it a little better to me.
Thanks!! :)

Answer 1

Here is some history on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting

Blessings!

Answer 2

you will have out-of-physique adventure much less complicated if one fasts considering in essence we are spirit and via fasting we are disassociating ourselves with the fake actual concept it is bolstered if one is purely ingesting and ingesting. physique decide for nutrients yet no longer the spirit soul. The spirit soul can exist without the physique however the physique can't proceed to exist without the life of the spirit soul interior the physique. The spirit soul being aloof from the physique can actually disassociate from the physique if the soul's id with the physique is slackned via incredibly some ability and fasting is purely one in each of various techniques on a thank you to try this.

Answer 3

Sometimes a person may have a besetting sin that they have not been able to get victory over. Sometimes you may feel a special urgency for your prayers to be heard and answered by God. These are times for prayer and fasting. The purpose of fasting is to break the bonds of wickedness and to make one's voice heard on high.

Isaiah 58:4b You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5"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?
6"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?
7"Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Answer 4

Dear Kevin,

There are many reasons to fast:

1) The Scriptures say: "When you fast." so it's assumed that you will fast.

Reasons people fasted in Scripture:

-To repent for their personal sins.
-To repent on behalf of a nation and people.
-To pray intercessorily.
-To seek God's will in a matter.

Fasting is obedience. But more than that it's really showing God that you are serious about something. That you desire Him and His word more than physical food.

I usually try to fast on a day where i can be in a safe environment: (like saturdays) where i can also spend time alone with the Lord (with my Bible) and just engage in sincere prayer.

There are also times for corporate fasting- i remember when our church was deciding over a church building- a bunch of my brothers and sisters in Christ- got together to pray and we fasted before we met up -- and this helped us to really seek God's will as we prayed together.

Hope this helps. i strongly suggest a book: Spiritual disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney which has an excellent, excellent chapter on fasting!

Kindly,

Nickster

Answer 5

Christ was fasting for 40 days, while he was in a desert. That was the only moment of his life when he was tempted by Satan. Fasting means following Christ's example, and resistance to all the temptations of the body and mind - especially mind. Fasting is the period when a Christian learns how to avoid ill thoughts. Of course, if you meant why Christians are fasting. But the essential idea is same in all the religions.

Answer 6

Fasting is a way to allow the soul and spirit to be come seperated, therefore opening a person up to receive from God without temporal (carnal) desires getting in the way. I would suggest a simple fast like abstaining from television, or your favorite desert for about a week. Observe during this time what you have taken out and what you have placed in it's stead during this period of time. A suggestion would be the time taken to fullfill one of these desires be used for reading, meditating or more importantly prayer. This will allow more time with your higher power to reveal His will and purposes and designs for you. A food fast is very important because a good part of our day is taken up in naturally feeding ourselves so that we can continue to survive. You will find that when you abstain from food and water that this is the ultimate fast and it can open you up spiritually to those things that you concentrate and meditate on most. Therefore, insure you have a set study course and direction or you will find yourself having a wilderness (lost) type of experience and will not want to do it again. Balance is the key. Don't apply yourself to fasting to lightly and don't get to serious, take your time and examine and observe the changes. Most importantly fasting is not for comfort but to become more in touch with those things you don't ordinarily take time for in your daily routine. Therefore, fasting takes you places you want to go but is hard to stay there unless there is a concerted effort to do so. Finally, study a good balanced book on fasting so that you will understand what others have experienced and what you can expect your experience to be like. I hope this helps you out as much as a good fast does.

Answer 7

To reduce your desires and increase your soul and will power.
Clean the body of impurities and the mind and bring yourself closer to Allah SWT the Lord All Mighty God!

To be like the angels they eat not and bend never.
To increase your reward in heaven and on earth.
To be like the poor of the earth and feel the pain of hunger and thirst that they feel everyday.
To beg Allah SWT to remove your sins inshAllah

Everything is granted before you like fasting and praying and it will be granted after you. Prophet David aka Dawud A.s. was the best of the fasters you used to fast one day and iftar break fast the next.

Is that enough we can do on forever regarding this and there is great knowledge we would love to give but unfortunatly Yahoo doesn't want to participate in cleaing the filth so we have to clean all the error that creats terror and well we been saying it for over 10 years in Yahoo, we have to clean it all up inshAllah.
Salam

Answer 8

Fasting for short periods of 2-3 days when you drink only citrus juices and water does give the digestive system a rest and a chance to get cleaned out.

You can eat some active-cultures yogurt and probiotic drinks after the fast to help your body build a good immune system too.

But this question belongs in the health and fitness area; it has nothing to do with religion.

Religious fasts are craziness; everyone fasting together (for a month, like Ramadan) or whatever only makes for a whole bunch of irritable people. I'm sure at least a few wars got started during or after one of these collective lunatic periods.

Answer 9

Depending on your religion, people fast to have a better understanding of want/need. You do not realize how much you have compared to others who have nothing. Some religions do it so that the money you would have spent for those meals can go to others who have none and to help the sick, poor and elderly.

Fasting allows you to be spiritually closer to God. You have a better understanding of the Sacrifices that God made for us and to have spiritual enlightenment.

Answer 10

Fasting without love is nothing. Fasting is not just fasting in food. Fasting is a spiritual way of discipline into our soul. I don't want to eat in three days because I just want to fast. Do you think you can bare the hunger without complaining.

What is the importance of fasting? Fasting is a time to detached for things that lead us satisfaction or self-centered.

Answer 11

It is when you deny the flesh (self) and abstain from eating( the fleshly desires). By doing this It will bring you Into a closer walk with God. WHen you deny yourself,you get God's attention.It makes you aware of the spiritual things of God. Your spiritual senses become more sensitive to the things of the Lord. Alot of people fast to bring deliverance to an area of thier life or guideance.