Author: Nate Korpi

Fasting is a tool that aids in discerning the call of God in our lives. Fasting helps us slow down and hear God’s voice.

Scripture reading
Acts 9:1–43 (NLT)
1Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest.
2He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.
3As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.
4He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
5“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!
6Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one!
8Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus.
9He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.
10Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied.
11The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.
12I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
13“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem!
14And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”
15But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.
16And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
17So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
19Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days.
20And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”
21All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?”
22Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
23After a while some of the Jews plotted together to kill him.
24They were watching for him day and night at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot.
25So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.
26When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer!
27Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
29He debated with some Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him.
30When the believers heard about this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.
31The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.
32Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda.
33There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.
34Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly.
35Then the whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.
36There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor.
37About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room.
38But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!”
39So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them.
40But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up!
41He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.
42The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord.
43And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon, a tanner of hides.

Key passages
Acts 9:3-6, 9 — “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’…. “So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.”

Fasting thought
A discerning fast “involves focusing on our choices instead of on our foods and praying our decisions through to successful conclusions…this type of fast helps us receive God’s wisdom to make our decisions. This type of fast is not for every minor decision in life, such as where to go for lunch or what minor purchase to make. A discerning fast offers help in weighty decisions such as choosing a mate, resigning from a job and other life-changing choices. Fasting brings more light into the application of good decision-making skills.” Elmer Towns

Prayer
Father in heaven, today in my fast I yield to you and seek your wisdom in my life. Through this fast today grant me a greater perspective on those decisions before me, both minor and major. I want your best in my life. Protect me from being impulsive and rash and guide me in your perfect ways. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Take a few moment to journal what God had taught you today. Leave a reply below.

Fasting is ultimately a yearning for something missing. Something was previously experienced but now is absent from our lives.

Scripture reading
Matthew 9:1–38 (NLT)
1Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town.
2Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.”
3But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, “That’s blasphemy! Does he think he’s God?”
4Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?
5Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’?
6So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
7And the man jumped up and went home!
8Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such authority.
9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
10Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.
11But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
12When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”
13Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
14One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?”
15Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.
17“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”
18As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”
19So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him.
20Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe,
21for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
22Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.
23When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music.
24“Get out!” he told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at him.
25After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up!
26The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside.
27After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”
28They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”
29Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.”
30Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, “Don’t tell anyone about this.”
31But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region.
32When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus.
33So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed.
34But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.”
35Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.
36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
37He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
38So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Key passages
Matthew 9:14-15 — “Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.’”

Fasting thought
“Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger or a homesickness for God. It tells only half the story of Christian fasting. Half of Christian fasting is that our physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense. The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because our physical appetites are so intense. In the first half, appetite is lost. In the second half, appetite is resisted. In the first, we yield to the higher hunger that is. In the second, we fight for the higher hunger that isn’t. Christian fasting is not only the spontaneous effect of a superior satisfaction in God; it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would take that satisfaction away.” John Piper

Prayer
Father in heaven, fill my life with a deeper awareness of your presence and power in my life. Grant me a deeper hunger for you than for those creature comforts the world offers. Give me victory this day. In the strong name of Jesus Christ my Lord I pray. Amen.

Take a few moment to journal what God had taught you today. Leave a reply below.

Remember to accompany your fast with confession of sin. Confess your sin, your spiritual weaknesses, your lack of dependence on God; through this we can experience the cleansing forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

Scripture reading
1 John 1:1–2:29 (NLT)
1We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.
2This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us.
3We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
5This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
6So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
7But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
8If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
9But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
10If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
1My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.
2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.
4If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.
5But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.
6Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.
8Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.
9If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.
10Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.
11But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
12I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
13I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.
14I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.
15Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
16For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
17And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
18Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.
19These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.
20But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth.
21So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies.
22And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.
23Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.
25And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.
26I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray.
27But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
28And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.
29Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.

Key passages
I Samuel 7:6 — “When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, ‘We have sinned against the LORD.’”

Fasting thought
“Confession recognizes the absence of God’s presence in our lives through our own willfulness or indifference. Fasting is an act of craving more of God’s presence, power and purity in our lives and ministry. Confession is admitting there is something wrong between us and God. Fasting is longing for the fullness of God to flood our souls. When we practice confession in our fasting, our fasting becomes more than a tool to bring God back to us; it becomes an instrument moving us back to God because God never moves.” GaryRohrmayer

Prayer
Father in heaven, show me through this fast those areas of spiritual weakness and self-reliance in my life so that I may confess them and receive your healing, cleansing and purifying forgiveness. Father, I want to experience a new level of spiritual refreshment and strength that can only come through you. In the strong name of Jesus Christ our Lord I pray. Amen.

Take a few moment to journal what God had taught you today. Leave a reply below.

Fasting is a struggle against the flesh and is emotionally and physically demanding; in this we discover what we really hunger for.

Scripture reading
Deuteronomy 8:1–20 (NLT)
1“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.
2Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.
3Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
4For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.
5Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you for your own good.
6“So obey the commands of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.
7For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills.
8It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey.
9It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.
10When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
11“But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.
12For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in,
13and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!
14Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.
15Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock!
16He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.
17He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’
18Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.
19“But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.
20Just as the LORD has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the LORD your God.

Key passages
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 — “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

Fasting thought
“Do you have a hunger for God? If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul’s appetite for God.  Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called ‘fasting.’”           John Piper

Prayer
Father in heaven, as I move forward in this fast, help me to turn every hunger pain, thought or craving towards you. Teach me to feed on your word and to find a deep satisfaction in your truth. Today, Father, I want to experience the sweetness of your word. Amen.

Take a few moment to journal what God had taught you today.  Leave a reply below.

Fasting is a holy and legitimate pursuit of a Holy God. It can be of great use in conducting a rigorous spiritual inventory of one’s soul and spiritual fruitfulness.

Scripture reading
Psalm 35:1–28 (NLT)
1O LORD, oppose those who oppose me. Fight those who fight against me.
2Put on your armor, and take up your shield. Prepare for battle, and come to my aid.
3Lift up your spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Let me hear you say, “I will give you victory!”
4Bring shame and disgrace on those trying to kill me; turn them back and humiliate those who want to harm me.
5Blow them away like chaff in the wind— a wind sent by the angel of the LORD.
6Make their path dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
7I did them no wrong, but they laid a trap for me. I did them no wrong, but they dug a pit to catch me.
8So let sudden ruin come upon them! Let them be caught in the trap they set for me! Let them be destroyed in the pit they dug for me.
9Then I will rejoice in the LORD. I will be glad because he rescues me.
10With every bone in my body I will praise him: “LORD, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the helpless from the strong? Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who rob them?”
11Malicious witnesses testify against me. They accuse me of crimes I know nothing about.
12They repay me evil for good. I am sick with despair.
13Yet when they were ill, I grieved for them. I denied myself by fasting for them, but my prayers returned unanswered.
14I was sad, as though they were my friends or family, as if I were grieving for my own mother.
15But they are glad now that I am in trouble; they gleefully join together against me. I am attacked by people I don’t even know; they slander me constantly.
16They mock me and call me names; they snarl at me.
17How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing? Rescue me from their fierce attacks. Protect my life from these lions!
18Then I will thank you in front of the great assembly. I will praise you before all the people.
19Don’t let my treacherous enemies rejoice over my defeat. Don’t let those who hate me without cause gloat over my sorrow.
20They don’t talk of peace; they plot against innocent people who mind their own business.
21They shout, “Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we saw him do it!”
22O LORD, you know all about this. Do not stay silent. Do not abandon me now, O Lord.
23Wake up! Rise to my defense! Take up my case, my God and my Lord.
24Declare me not guilty, O LORD my God, for you give justice. Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles.
25Don’t let them say, “Look, we got what we wanted! Now we will eat him alive!”
26May those who rejoice at my troubles be humiliated and disgraced. May those who triumph over me be covered with shame and dishonor.
27But give great joy to those who came to my defense. Let them continually say, “Great is the LORD, who delights in blessing his servant with peace!”
28Then I will proclaim your justice, and I will praise you all day long.

Key passages
Psalm 35:13 — “I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered….”

Fasting thought
“Let us say something about fasting, because many, for want of knowing its usefulness, undervalue its necessity, and some reject it as almost superfluous; while, on the other hand where the use of it is not well understood, it easily degenerates into superstition. Holy and legitimate fasting is directed to three ends; for we practice it either as a restraint on the flesh, to preserve it from licentiousness, or as a preparation for prayers and pious meditations, or as a testimony of our humiliation in the presence of God when we are desirous of confessing our guilt before him.” John Calvin

Prayer
Father in heaven, through your probing eyes search my heart and reveal to me the areas of my life that are hindering fellowship with you.
Expose those areas of my life that are interfering with my spiritual fruitfulness. Grant me the courage to face them with faith and confess
them fully and humbly before you. Father, I want more of you and to be fully used by you. Amen.

Take a few moment to journal what God had taught you today. Leave a reply below