An Outline On Fasting

  1. The definition of a FAST:   To fast means primarily "not to eat".  Fasting is not an option.  It is commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus did not say "if you fast", but "when you fast".  Matt. 6:16-18  Matt. 9:15

  2. Types of fasting:

    • The Partial Fast (The Daniel Fast):  No meat or wine - Daniel 10:3 "I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth".

    • The Normal Fast:  Abstaining from food but not from water. Matt. 4:2 "He fasted orty days and forty nights and afterward He was hungry." Luke 4:2 "He ate nothing."

    • The Absolute Fast:  Abstaining from food and drink.  Ezra 10:6 "He spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he  was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles."    Esther 4:16 "Hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day.  I and my maids will also fast as you do."  Acts 9:9 "And for three days he neither ate or drank." 

    • Supernaturally Sustained Absolute Fasts:  Moses had 2 periods of 40-day fasts without food and water in Deut. 9:9, Deut 9:18 and Exodus 34:28. 

  3. Blessings for Fasting: Read Isaiah 58.  Listen to the tape series - "Faith For Fasting" by Pastor Jerry, available at the Tape/CD Ministry Center

 

GUIDELINES FOR THE DANIEL FAST

    FOODS YOU MAY EAT:

    • Legumes: dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black-eyed peas

    • Fruits:  apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, oats, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon.

    • Vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, beets broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery,  corn, cucumbers, eggplant,  gingerroot, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra,  parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini.

    • Other: seeds, nuts, sprouts

    • Liquids: spring water, distilled water, 100% all-natural fruit juices,  100% all-natural vegetable juices

 

    FOODS TO AVOID: Meat, White Rice, Fried Foods, Caffeine, Carbonated Beverages, Foods containing preservatives or additives, Refined Sugar, Sugar Substitutes, White Flour (and all products using it), Margarine, shortening, high fat products.