That said, the results of fasting will depend, first, on the purpose of the fast. We saw that in the Bible, fasting might be for repentance. If one reads the rest of those stories noted, or others like them, it will be evident that they were followed by a period of repentance and renewal of their covenant with God. The nations of Israel and Judah experienced many of these turnings. Individually speaking, David was renewed in his relationship with the Lord. God “renewed a right spirit within him,” as he asked. When we fast because we are truly repentant, or even because we know we ought to be, and want to be made repentant, we can know God will always answer that prayer.
Other times, the fasts were for a special answer
to prayer. This is a little trickier. Today, people tend to think of God in a
different way than they ever used to in older societies. We think of God more like
a vending machine or Santa Clause, and if we don’t get what we thought, when we
thought, in the way we expected, we say God “didn’t answer.” Once upon a time
in the world, when the cult of the individual that we have today had not been
thought of, people knew God was bigger than they were, and might have purposes
they could not understand. Esther was surely praying for deliverance when she
fasted, but her expectation included the possibility of her death. Many
Christians today might think their prayer had not been answered, if they saw it
was, in fact, about to end in death. Daniel’s three friends told Nebuchadnezzar
in no uncertain terms, “Our God is able to deliver us from the fire, and He
will deliver us from you! But if He doesn’t choose to deliver us, we still will
not bow down to your idol.” (From Daniel
3:17-18, paraphrased.) So if we pray for a special answer, the main objective
of the fast is to make us willing to accept whatever answer we receive, without
losing faith.
If we fast for an evangelistic outreach, there
are two objectives. One, perhaps the most important from God’s point of view,
is again to unite us with His will. But the main one in our mind when we pray
will be that His Word will draw people to Himself, and we can be sure God will
honor such prayers, whether or not we see answers we recognize and understand. Isaiah
55:11 says God’s Word never returns to Him void. When we fast and pray, we
can claim that promise.
A couple might fast and pray for the
strengthening of their marriage and family. Again, this may mean confronting
attitudes and expectations they didn’t even realize they had. God may impress
them that they need help, perhaps professional Christian counseling. But His
will will be done, and their marriage
will be strengthened, if they unite together with each other and with Him.
A church might come together to fast for greater
unity in their congregation. Then we may know God will work for unity and
develop it in His will, but we may not expect what forms that work will take.
Those participating in the fast may find themselves confronted by God with
attitudes they must then fast to break! They may need to ask for or offer
forgiveness. They may need to confess sins they thought were secret. It may
even happen, God forbid, that someone will end up leaving the church, if God knows
that person cannot or will not work for unity where he or she is. But a congregation
can know God will always answer a prayer for unity.
Another important purpose of fasting, not
touched on here so far, is to break the power of a particular sin. If we fast
for that reason, we can always know God is nearby, waiting to give us the
victory. He will change our attitudes and make our desires mesh with His, as far as we will allow Him to. This may
take some strong fasting and prayer, not because God is not stronger than any
sin we could face, but because our will may be stronger than our fast, at first.
If we persevere, we will grow more like Jesus, and will learn to hate the sin
more than we love it. Then we know its power is broken.
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