This was the conclusion people reached when a Mozambique pastor died earlier this year while undertaking the 40-day Jesus fast.
People currently regard fasting as an activity that weakens their health and, if not managed properly, can lead to death.
It is the deliberate abstaining from eating and drinking, depending on the style of fasting practiced.
Fasting began with Moses when he spent 40 days and nights with the Lord without food or water, according to Exodus 34:28.
Fasting in the Bible involved not eating, praying, and consecrating oneself, which is still practiced today.
There was never a time fasting led to sickness or death in the Bible. We document fasting styles from people in the Bible:
- Daniel Fast (vegetables only, Daniel 1)
- Jonah Fast (Absence of food and drink, Jonah 3: 1-10)
- Three-day Fast (Esther, absence of food and drink, Esther 4:16)
- Twenty-one-day Fast (Daniel, absence of pleasant food, meat, wine, and oil, Dan 10:2)
- Forty- day Fast (Jesus and Moses).
To fast, remember to consider why you’re doing it, health and water consumption period.
In the Bible, people fasted for specific purposes; Daniel for consecration and Esther for her people. For each fast, there was a specific reason for observing it.
We practice fasting for the wrong reasons in today’s culture. We should question our motives for fasting before we start.
If your answers are concrete enough, scale and rationalize them. Anything done with a wrong motive rarely ends well.
So, the next time you go on a fast, verify your motive first.