Fasting Study

Replies to This DISCUSSION

Permalink Reply by Pamela Cook Dreyer on September 15, 2008 at 4:27pm

I have not listened to Jim Martin's fasting series yet. Some of what I have heard over the years has been confirmed by one of Pastor Dave's messages on fasting. It may be in his series on fasting. However I actually heard him talk about this in person. He went into detail on Is 58 in a way I had never heard taught before.

I had fasted on occasion before I started attending The Prayer Center over three years ago. I agree with Debbie. It seems like when I add fasting to praying I see more results, especially dealing with strongholds in my thinking. I have found that I have seen changes that I did not even know were needed. I cannot explain how that works:) During my prayer time a few weeks ago I felt the Holy Spirit told me that I would see some things taken care of in my body. I'm not sure what they are because I have only been diagnosed with a couple of things (low thyroid and another minor annoyance I will not mention here).

Doug, you are doing the right thing in finding out what the Bible says about fasting. The Lord wants to minister to you on this issue. I have heard teachings on fasting that you really cannot find in the Bible. As you pray and continue your study I'm convinced the Holy Spirit will reveal what you need to know. May more Christians search the scriptures like you do. This is what the Bible says to do. You will get your answers.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Lee on September 19, 2008 at 2:28pm

Debbie and Pamela, I appreciate your comments and encouragement. I will probably start some limited fasting even before I finish the study.

Before I started attending The Prayer Center, I attended a church pastored by a married couple that my Mom knew from years ago, Jim and Kathy Love. Kathy has been going to the Creek County Jail on Thursday nights to serve the Word to the female inmates for several years. I started interceding for her, the other women that go with her, and the inmates. I will probably fast on Thursdays to augment the intercession.

I have done the final editing of the Fasting Scriptures list. I've attached it to this post, and if you have problems accessing it and would like a copy, drop a line to dougdlee@cox.net. I'll be glad to email the file to you.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Cook Dreyer on September 19, 2008 at 3:15pm

Nothing has been mentioned about her being at the conference. In fact I do not remember anyone mentioning her the past year or so. She was not at the one last year or I'm sure they would have mentioned her.

I have heard her name but have never heard her minister. Of course the folks at TPC have great things to say about her ministry.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Cook Dreyer on September 19, 2008 at 3:17pm

I was able to access the file. I'm using Safari so I'm sure people using IE or Foxfire (or Firefox) should not have any problems.

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Permalink Reply by iktusNETwork on September 24, 2008 at 8:05pm

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Blessings, IktusNETwork

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Cook Dreyer on September 24, 2008 at 11:03pm

I'm using Safari on my MacBook Pro and on my Windows XP computer. I love dealing with RSS feeds. I use it to check out the media on iktusNETwork as well as reading MANY blogs. The feature to keep up with new articles is a lot easier to deal with in Safari than in IE or Outlook.

I also find that web pages load really fast. Safari for Windows has a lot of bugs in it before but I have had no problems with the latest version.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Lee on September 29, 2008 at 5:52pm

I thought I had done the final editing of the Fasting Scriptures, but while I was researching something else, I came across another passage that applies. That passage is 1 Kings 13: 1 -10.

For anyone who hasn't yet downloaded the list, I've attached it to this post. If you already have the list, just add the reference by clipboarding it into your list. (Clipboarding = copy and paste via the Clipboard.) Sorry about the inconvenience.

I will probably delete the old version of the list once I confirm the new one has loaded. I can't edit the post, but I can delete the attachment.

BTW & FWIW, I use Firefox. I switched after I had a problem with Internet Explorer. I'd click on the icon for IE, and it wouldn't show on the screen. It would show up in the Task Manager, so I know the program opened. That was with IE6. I know I could have switched to IE7 or 8, but FF works better on my old and slow machine.

Attachments:

• FastingScriptures.txt, 1 KB

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Permalink Reply by Doug Lee on October 8, 2008 at 12:10pm

Well, the first phase of the Fasting Study is done. I have comments on all the passages, but I will have to admit that many comments are my own observations, and therefore subject to change as I receive revelation from the Holy Spirit, or sound teaching from seasoned servants of God's Word.

Because this document is still a work in progress, I'm not going to attach it here the way I did the list of Fasting Scriptures. If anyone wants a copy, drop me a line at dougdlee@cox.net, and let me know what format you want it in. I use OpenOffice, and so it's in .odt format, but I can convert it to .doc or .pdf format if you wish. If you don't specify a format, I'll send it in a PDF because it works on all platforms, and the Reader program is free.

As I mentioned in another post, I have started to do some limited fasting in conjunction with interceding on Thursdays for the women's ministry at the Creek County Jail. I eat breakfast, usually a bowl of cereal, and then I don't eat again until I am through with my intercession.
What I am finding is that my thoughts during the day easily turn to food, and I have to remind myself that I can't eat yet, for I have chosen not to eat until the proper time. So, the biggest struggle in fasting doesn't occur in the stomach or the mouth, but between the ears!
Eventually, I will add breakfast to the meals that I skip on Thursdays. Then I will transition to fasting for a solid 24 hours. Thursday will probably become my regular day to fast.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Lee on January 17, 2009 at 5:05pm

I have produced a final edition of the Fasting Study for publication. It contains all the passages about fasting, my comments on those passages, summaries of the comments, and links to online teachings about fasting from Pastor Dave Roberson, Jim Martin and others. In this form, I intend for others to use it as a "seed" for their own study of fasting. I will be adding new content to my own study, and I encourage others to do the same to their own copies, so they will benefit from doing their own study.

Some notes for those interested:
1. I am making it available only in PDF format. If you wish to use it in another format, you can clipboard the contents into your favorite word processor, text editor, or desktop publishing program.

2. I use the New American Standard, and it is still under copyright. I had to get written permission to use the large number of verses that I did. To avoid violating the restrictions, I am offering the document only through IktusNETwork, and I ask everyone not to redistribute the document. If you know of anyone that wants the document, tell them to contact me directly.

3. I will distribute the document only by email. Contact me at dougdlee@cox.net.

One thing has become obvious from the work I have on this document: Fasting is a subject mentioned throughout most of the Bible, from Exodus to 2 Corinthians, yet most churches and ministries say nothing about it. When looking at fasting in depth, you see it can be such a powerful tool to enhance one's relationship with God, and you can't help but wonder why so little is said about it.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Cook Dreyer on January 17, 2009 at 5:12pm

Religion does not want to promote the idea that each individual person can develop their own walk with God. Anything to keep people tied to the institution of religion will be promoted.

A lot of Christians have heard horror stories of people that did not fast properly. This frightened people away from fasting. Here in Tulsa the going trend was that in order to have a powerful life in Christ you only had to fast 2-3 days when no such thing is mentioned in the Bible. Again people were robbed because of lack of teaching and understanding.

I also think that because people have not really understood the benefit of fasting, most are not willing to give up food if they see no benefit. I think if people really understood how fasting directly affects a person's relationship with God more people would do it more often. I know when I began to hear teaching on fasting I was more proactive in fasting than beforehand. Why starve yourself for nothing?

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Permalink Reply by Doug Lee on January 17, 2009 at 9:37pm

Even when religion concedes that someone can have a personal walk with God, they still try to exploit it. If you want to know how they do that, just send an offering of $100 to....

Just couldn't resist doing that, heehee! But you should see my point.

Fasting is more than just going without food. It is turning your attention away from fleshly appetites towards God and His Word.

I realize that any problems that I might have with fasting lie within me, and are not due to fasting itself. Sure, fasting has the potential to do harm, but the responsibility is mine to learn how to do it safely. I guess that's one of the benefits of having been in the military (Army National Guard). In the military, you deal with things that are inherently dangerous, and even though the Army must do all it can to provide you with the training to handle those things properly, the responsibility to learn is still yours. Even though I had shortcomings in some of my military experiences, I never questioned the value of those activities just because I had a problem measuring up.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Cook Dreyer on January 17, 2009 at 9:49pm

You are right about exploitation:)

I agree about fasting being more than going without food. Before I understood that I and most people I knew felt that the going without food was a sacrifice to God to get Him to do something. Most people were not willing to go without food in that context because there was no measure of progress with God in their lives. Of course you and I know that is NOT the point of fasting.

Sad to say most people do not have the initiative that you did on studying out the word for themselves to find out what they hear is true. They take what the preachers say in most cases without question. DANGEROUS.

I agree that your military experience gives you a perspective on your walk with God that most people do not have. You have the mentality that you are given the tools to survive BUT it is up to you to know how to use them correctly to be successful. This should be the approach for every Christian no matter the context. Unfortunately that is not the case with most Christians. However I think that is changing because too many of them are sniffing out that something is really wrong with what they are hearing, especially since just about every preacher is tying funds to the message for spiritual development as you so clearly stated.

We have started our season of fasting here. It will last for a while. I am excited to see what changes take place as a result. The Lord revealed to me a few months ago of a couple of things that will happen as I continue in this consecration.

Just know the Lord is pleased at your desire to honor Him.

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