The ‘privileged’ writer of Timely Notes Daily Devotional, Founder of In-spirited Writers Training School, and President of The Solutionists Pastor Emeka Anslem has given deep insights on fasting.
See what he shared on his Facebook page below;
So yesterday I mentioned that hunger is a visitor, and just like other visitors, it can leave when not attended to. While fasting, hunger would certainly come, but understand that it is a visitor that seeks attention. If you don’t pay attention to it, it would leave after a while.
I know I made that sound so easy, because to be candid, not attending to this visitor called hunger is a difficult thing. For some people, you’d not only feel the symptoms in your stomach, you’d also feel it in your head and every other part of your body. However, all those symptoms will dissappear if you will endure a little bit longer.
I also mentioned that physical food is an enemy to the manifestation of the spirit of man. The more you feed your stomach, the less sensitive you’d be to spiritual things.
Hunger is the border between the physical man and the spirit man, and just as you’d need valid documents to cross a border, you’d need a desperate desire to cross the border of hunger to your spirit man. This is why fasting does not start in the morning, it starts when you cross the border of hunger. If you fast till 12 noon and you’ve not crossed hunger, then fasting has not started.
The whole idea of fasting is for our spirit man to be more sensitive to the Spirit of God. The bible says the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God. Our manifestation as sons of God is dependent on how much we can receive from the Holy Spirit. If your manifestation is small, blame it on your level of sensitivity.
So yes, fasting is difficult, but so also is crossing any border across the world. The next time you feel hunger while fasting, just remember that you’re crossing the border, and your endurance is the only legitimate way to cross it.
Once you’ve crossed, then your spirit man takes charge of your body. One of the signs you’d notice when you cross the border is that you’d begin to worship God from within you. Perhaps you’ve even experienced this before.
At that point, there’s no barrier between you and God. It’s amazing how man is humbled when he crosses that hunger border just to seek God. You who use to be proud will suddenly be humble.
You who didn’t respect anybody will suddenly learn respect. And that’s because by deciding to seek God through a fast, you restricted the operations of your flesh. The reason why people can tell a lie to save their neck is because they are in the flesh, the spirit man doesn’t consider any consequences before it tells the truth.
If you find yourself struggling to forgive someone, it’s not because of the gravity of the offense, but because you are too much in the flesh, a spirit takes no offense for a wrong done against it.
Feelings and emotions are expressions of the soul and body, not the spirit. People who are always in the spirit are hardly emotional about things. That’s why when one of the disciples of Jesus told Him that he was going to bury his dead father, His response was, “let the dead bury the dead”.
That’s not a good thing to say to someone who just lost a father. However, we won’t blame Him, emotions are not available in the spirit where He operated from.
Living in the flesh kills the operation of the spirit man faster than you can think of. Romans 8:13 says, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”.
I told you earlier that most of the actions of our body are feeling or emotion-sponsored, this scripture buttresses the fact that if you control your body from the spirit, you will live. Feelings can lead you into trouble, but your spirit will not.
You don’t have to fast everyday for your spirit man to be active, however according to Apostle Paul, you have to fast often. Often can be once, twice or thrice a week. As Christians, we must practice the habit of being in the spirit, and this may not be possible without incorporating fasting into your lifestyle.
As I conclude, remember that fasting is not the food of the spirit man, it’s only a strategy that transfers control to your spirit man. However, once your spirit man gains control, if it has no food in it, then you’d be at the mercy of God. The food of the spirit man is the word of God. Matthew 4:4 says, “… Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”.
The word “man” comprises of his spirit-man and the physical man. While the physical man feeds on bread, the spirit man feeds on the Word of God. It’s why the bible recommends that we meditate on the Word of God day and night. Just as you eat physical food day and night, you should also eat spiritual food day and night.
So as you fast from food, feed your spirit man with the Word of God. Read books and scriptures that tackles what you’re fasting for. Listen to messages and the likes. This is important, so that when your spirit man takes charge, receiving from God would become easy. God’s word is the only leverage you have in the realm of the spirit.
Finally, if you’re a nursing mother, please do not engage in a fast. Instead, spend quality time praying and fellowshipping with God. If you’re under any form of medication or battling with a health challenge, having read all these, I don’t have the right to tell you not to fast, it’s absolutely up to you to do what your faith permits.
I’ve seen an ulcer patient fast and received her healing, and that’s because the spirit man cannot have an ulcer nor be diseased. She crossed that border of pain and discomfort, and her healing was established. So again, I can’t tell you not to fast, but do what your faith permits.
I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.
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