Fasting, the Carnal Self and The Word of God

by Mihran Kulhanjian

 

 

My dear Friend,

As Christians we strive for a tender heart, to love and care for all, particularly for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling, to be true to ourselves and above all, to be true to the Lord Almighty, to fulfill His will for our lives.  As we mature in the faith, fasting becomes a discipline which develops as we fear the Lord, wanting to get near Him and the revelation of His Word. 

 

To know the Lord is to fear the Lord, to love and respect Him and take Him seriously. To fear the Lord is to obey the Lord and to do those things which He prescribes for our life. To fear the Lord is also to avoid the things that displease Him. We must not forget, our sins have been crucified on the cross with Jesus.  If we are indeed, Christian, born again with the Spirit living in us, the old man is dead.  Our old man has been put to death on the cross. We are no longer a slave to sin. We have to realize this fact and live it.  We have to repent when we sin. Ask God's forgiveness and to not sin again. We must turn from sin and be holy as God commands. If we believe in Him, would we not want to please Him, doing those things that please Him and avoiding those things that displease Him is natural according to the Spirit, but unnatural for the fleshly carnal self?  Let's be in the spirit and not in the flesh. We have a choice. God has given us self-control. It is up to us to use it.

 

Premeditated or willful sin is a  choice, many times caused by demonic influence and Satanic attacks where one falls, yielding into the temptation. But  also it is what we feed into our mind because of our carnal nature which causes us to sin.   The devil attacks us inwardly, working through our mind first, and then we act it out in the flesh. We must not succumb to the wiles of the devil.  If you are not being attacked by the devil, it is likely you already belong to him and you are no threat to him.  But a committed Christian is a threat to Satan and Satan fears the committed Christian. "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). We restrain the devil, and that which is evil, including all demonic forces with the Word of God just as Jesus, our Lord did in Matthew 4.  Jesus used Scripture from Deuteronomy  8:3: 

 

  So He [the Lord] humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

 

Then Jesus was tempted by the devil after Jesus had been in the wilderness, without eating food (fasting) forty days and nights (Matthew 4:3-4):

 Now when the tempter [the devil] came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

 

We use God's Word to expel the devil from us.  Harbor the sinful thoughts and the devil will have his way with you. You know what I am saying, because every believer has wrestled with impure thoughts.  And every Christian as well as unbeliever has a choice. We choose righteousness and holiness or we choose to be disobedient. We choose godliness, those things of God or we choose wickedness, those things of the devil.  We choose self-control and our love of the Lord and others to not sin.

 

Fasting helps us to clarify and prioritize what is important in our lives when God is involved. Through fasting we can gain godliness, humility and a clearer perspective of the spiritual realm. We fast for spiritual purposes. We fast to get closer to God and to get clarity from God for that which we seek. We fast for healing of soul and body. And we fast to clean a sinful heart which has gone astray and wants to return to the Lord in forgiveness and peace.

 

We humble ourselves and believe in the Lord when we fast. Belief that the Lord will answer our prayers and petitions. It is already completed. The Lord has done His work for us.  He had taken a seat at the right hand of God. It is time we realize it by believing it and moving forward with friendship and communion with the Lord daily with prayer and by obeying His commands.

 

We are instructed to pray continually, to never cease.  Do you know what this means?  It means we keep God on our mind throughout our day; for He is our provider, our fortress and rock, our Lord, our God.  He wants the best for us. And for us to receive God's best we must be close to Him, seeking His mind and His will for our life.  Seek the nearness of Him and He will draw near to you.

 

I want to address now the carnal person and what fasting will do to mortify the carnally minded. To be carnal is to act and live in the fleshly world, being lead by the flesh not abiding in the spiritual, nor calling on and being lead by the Holy Spirit. Many professing Christians never escape carnality; they indulge in wearing immodest and provocative clothing, smoking, alcohol drinking regularly, tattooing and piercings,  sexually active outside of marriage, consumed with pornography, homosexual behavior, they blaspheme God knowingly and unknowingly and use obscene and vulgar language and gestures, and innuendoes. They are materialistic and indulge is over eating, and not caring for the body. These are double-minded professing Christians.  Yes, professing Christians who are indistinguishable from nonbelievers and idolaters.  Are you surprised?  They say they are Christians yet deny the power of God and commit little or nothing to Him. All that which is of the flesh is carnal, and it is of the world, not of God.  Perhaps, you know professing Christians who do behave as a believer and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, professing with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in their heart that He died and rose from the dead. 

 

Fasting will break you from these sins and others when you deny the flesh and put your mind, seriously, on God. A remarkable thing occurs when you deny the flesh of food while in prayer and study of the Word.

 

Some of the most productive days I have every had have been during a fast (my usual fast is 36 hours water only).  My mind was clear and my energy was strong.  And yours will be too.

 

If you have never fasted with God's Word, begin with a short twenty-four hour fast with no food. Drink water, cold or hot regularly and go about your daily business, keeping God's Word on your mind with prayer and study throughout the day and evening. You will realize the fast was no big deal. You will have humbled yourself to God, fasting for Him, to gain wisdom, understanding, discernment and His knowledge. Clarity of thought will also be evident. Once you have achieved a short fast you will naturally want to do a three day, seven day, or even forty day fast.  Seek the Spirits guidance, and He will reveal a fast for you. When you are seeking answers for a specific condition you will fast as long as it takes to get the answer.  Seek the Lord and His righteousness and His promises will be delivered and your prayers answered. Believe. Have faith. Love the Lord, your God, for He is faithful.

 

When we fast, let's fast in truth as we pray in truth. Let's fast and pray in the spirit, and believe.