Fasting for Spiritual Strength

Fasting is a spiritual and personal habit, and is a subject that people talk very little, and the reason is very clear, because nobody wants to stop eating for any reason. Perhaps the only reason to stop eating it for health reasons, or for a diet to lose weight.

But nevertheless very often the Bible speaks of fasting, the word of God gives us much to be learned about the fasting, people in the world do different things to gain fiscal strength, lifting weights is a common practice, but for spiritual strength fasting is the way to go. Here are some verses that we can look on this issue.

Isaiah 58:6-8 (Good News Translation)

6 The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free.
7 (A) Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to Those Who Have Nothing to wear, and Do Not refuse to help your own relative.
8 Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and you’re Will Be Quickly Healed Wounds. I will always be with you to save you, my Presence Will Protect You on Every Side.

As we can see, the fast that the bible is talking is something people are not accustomed to hear, because if we pay attention carefully, when practice this fast, we not only benefit ourselves, but the main reason is to help others that are suffering.

These people may be suffering for various reasons, this is how we are going to grow spiritually, by helping others in their trials and tribulations, and this is the way the Bible teaches us to grow spiritually. When we practice fasting we gain spiritual strength, and we all need to be stronger in the spirit

According to verses we read in Isaiah 58:6-8, we can be stronger in spirit if we focus on other people, as a fact, a very important point we need to see is that the Bible does not specify the hours of fasting for us. You can do it one full day, or half a day, or more than one day, the important thing is to focus on the word of God while we fast.

General definition of "fasting." Understood by fasting, abstention from eating solid food for a certain period of time.
Other Bible verses on fasting in the book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 1:13
Stop Bringing Me your meaningless gifts, the incense of your Offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting-they Are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings.

Isaiah 58:3
'We have before you faster! "They Say. 'Why Are not you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you do not even notice it! "I will tell you why!" I Respond. "It's because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your Workers.

Isaiah 58:4
What good is fasting when to you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.

Isaiah 58:5
You humble yourselves by Going Through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover with ashes yourselves. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?

My dear friend, as we see in the Bible, we can strengthen ourselves spiritually if we fast according to the word of God. For more information on spiritual growth visit http://bestronginthespirit.blogspot.com
Author: Homero Santos, Christian minister and teacher of biblical studies.