Women of the Bible Lesson 14 Jael: A Story of Courage Part 12 Spiritual Weapons

2 Corinthians 10:4-6, “For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete.” (AMPC)   

Today we will begin looking at our next spiritual weapon: Fasting. 

To begin, we will look at examples of times of fasting in the Word.   

First, in Deuteronomy 9 we see that Moses fasted while he was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments. Deut. 9:9-10, “When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. The Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone, written with the finger of God, and on them was written all the words which the Lord spoke to you at the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.” (MEV) 

Second, Elijah fasted while he was hiding from Jezebel.  1 Kings 19:7-8, “The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, ‘Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.’ He arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.” (MEV) 

Next, Esther and the Israelites fasted before Esther went in, uninvited, to see King Xerxes.  Esther 4:15-17, “Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ‘Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.’  So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.” (NLT) 

Fourth, Daniel 10 tells us that Daniel had fasted for 21 days while he was waiting for an answer from God.  Daniel 10:2-3, “When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.” (NLT) ‘ 

Fifthly, the people of Nineveh fasted as an act of repentance. Jonah 3:5-10, “The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. 

When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: 

‘No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.’ 

When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.” (NLT) 

To continue, we see in Matthew 4 that Jesus fasted for 40 days before He began his ministry.  He fasted to overcome his flesh. Matthew 4:4, But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ (NLT) 

He fasted to overcome temptation. Matthew 4:7, Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” (NLT) 

He fasted to demonstrate His devotion and dependence on His Father. Matthew 4:10, “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” (NLT) 

Finally, the church at Antioch fasted before anointing leaders for ministry. Acts 13:1-3, Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.”  So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. (NLT) 

What exactly is fasting?  “Fasting is not a magical way to manipulate God into doing our will; it’s not a way to get God to be an accomplice to our plans. Neither is fasting a spiritual way to lose weight or control others. Fasting clears us out and opens us up to intentionally seeking God’s will and grace in a way that goes beyond normal habits of worship and prayer. While fasting, we are one on one with God, offering him the time and attentiveness we might otherwise be giving to eating, shopping or watching television.”i 

Andrew Murray said, “Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God.” 

With the foundation laid that fasting is not manipulating God, or a means to lose weight, but rather it is letting go of the temporal and seeking God, giving Him the time, we would normally focus on other things, let us look at some of the benefits of fasting.   

Benefit 1: Fasting makes our flesh submit to our spirit! Matthew 26:41, “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” (NLT) 

First, fasting subdues the flesh. Kenneth Copeland says, “Fasting shuts down the influence of the body, so the spirit man can dominate. As you stay in The WORD and in fellowship with God, you will not be flesh-ruled. You will glorify God in your body.” 

Second, fasting opens our spiritual ears.  God is always speaking, however, too often we are bogged down with the cares of life and are unable to hear.  Fasting takes our focus off the flesh and life’s circumstances and puts it on hearing God.   

Thirdly, fasting makes room for God to move, speak, and bring change.  Setting aside time during our fast to specifically focus on God, gives Him an open invitation to work in our lives.   

Benefit 2: Fasting brings revelation.  Isaiah 58:8, “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear: then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.” (NIV) Here the word light means revelation.   

Psalm 119:130, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (NIV) When we fast, we focus our time on prayer and the Word. As we read the Word and listen to God speaking to us, we are given deeper revelation.   

2 Peter 1: 3, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (NIV) Everything we need is found in the Spirit (the power of God).  Fasting helps us to tune into the Spirit to find it. 

Benefit 3: Fasting leads to deliverance. Isaiah 58:6, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (KJV) 

Unbelief holds us back from receiving the deliverance that Jesus already paid for. Fasting makes our spirit man strong by growing our faith.  Mark 9:28-29, “And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” (KJV) 

John 14:12, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (KJV) Fasting strengthens our faith for our deliverance and for the deliverance of others.   

In conclusion, fasting is demonstrated throughout the Bible.  Fasting brings many benefits for believers, including, causing our flesh to submit to our spirit, bringing revelation, and leading to deliverance.   

I want to close with a quote from Brian Taylor. In his book Becoming Christ, Brian says, “Self-denial is profoundly contemplative for it works by the process of human subtraction and divine addition.”  

Works Cited: 

i https://www.focusonthefamily.com/live-it-post/fasting-as-a-spiritual-discipline/