The Sunday Mail
Apostle Langton Gatsi
FASTING was practiced in both the Old and New Testament and therefore Christians must be familiar with it. Old prophets like Moses, Elijah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Paul and people who constituted the early church fasted.
So did protestants such as Martin Luther (King Jnr), Jonathan Edward and John Knox.
Even Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days and nights.
To fast is to put God first.
That is all one must achieve, to seek the face of God, to make a resolution that God must be important in my life.
There are times when we need to eat, sleep and enjoy. But we need to seek God first.
Fasting also helps to persevere in prayer, it means to be earnest with God until you find the answer because of the problems that you are going through.
Christians need to fast in any circumstance, be it in happier times and in problems. There are many things that await our fast and prayer.
Some of us have children, we have businesses, we have all these things. These are issues that need breakthroughs through fasting and prayer.
When we do so we are saying to God “we cannot do it on our own, we need you”.
So we need to fast, it is very important.
Some people used to fast because they had been humiliated and they wanted God to intervene. For example in Leviticus 23 v 27. Even in times of joy people fasted (Zechariah 18). When you are happy you ought to fast to thank God.
Jesus Christ does not forbid anyone from fasting. He has certain prescriptions for fasting.
For example, don’t show off when you are fasting. It must be between you and your God.
Sometimes when we find out that there is something wrong is somebody’s life, we have to fast and pray like Joshua and the elders of Israel.
They fasted after they had been defeated by Ai. Sometimes in life we have to fast to find out why things are not working, why you are not getting married. As you ask, you find that God answers your prayers.
When we want revelation from God like in Jeremiah 1: 3, God says, “Call unto me and I will answer thee, I will show you might and great things…”
So God is always there to help us (Daniel 9 v 2-3).
Daniel was praying because something had gone wrong in his country and I think Zimbabweans have a lot of things to pray for because a lot of things have gone wrong. I don’t know what you think but for me, things are not adding up for us as Zimbabweans.
So we have to seek God and we should not even be surprised when our fellow Zimbabweans are fasting and praying because they are looking for direction. Things are not well.
In the past, revival came when people sought God. For revival to come, people have to fast and pray.
In Esther 4, we also see that the nation was saved through prayer and fasting.
In Jonah chapter 2 and 3, the nation of Nineveh was saved because of fasting. People prayed, fasted and repented.
In Isaiah 58 v 5 -14, we also see the benefits of fasting.
It makes us enquire from God because Exodus 20 v 5-6 says God is a jealous God and one of the things that He does is visiting iniquity.
Some of the problems that you are facing right now have nothing to do with you, they were inherited from your fore-fathers who were born before you.
That is what we call iniquity.
So some of the problems we encounter have everything to do with iniquity.
Lamentations 5 v 7 says, “My fathers have sinned but there are no more but I have to suffer their punishment.”
We cannot just undo these things over night. We are responsible for the sins of our fore–fathers so we need to go before God and ask Him to forgive us our iniquities.
There are different types of fasting.
There is the total fast in which you do not eat and drink anything. When doing this type of fast, it is advisable not to go beyond three days and also if you are to go longer, you have to consult the doctor first.
During the 21 or 40-day fast, some people choose only to fast their breakfast or lunch. They will have one meal per day and that is entirely up to them.
Some can fast for long without food. They can go for 40 days of prayer and fasting with fluids only.
The Daniel fast is when you don’t eat meat. You just eat selected types of food. That fast is also good for us.
You and God can choose the type of fast. One can choose depending on the seriousness of the problem.
In the scriptures, somebody asked why couldn’t a certain demon was resisting to be cast out and Jesus recommended prayer and fasting.
lf you are going through major things such as getting married or starting a business, you need to fast. In these circumstances, you need to hear from God.
◆ This article was extracted from an interview that was conducted by our Religion Writer, Desire Ncube.
Apostle Langton Gatsi is the founder and leader of One Way Ministries International.
