How to Fast Successfully

by Derek Prince

Overview

Jesus did not say, “If you fast,” but rather, “When you fast.”
As you read Derek Prince’s biblical teaching on fasting, you will discover answers to such questions as:

• Why should I fast?
• What happens during a fast?
• What are the rewards of fasting?
• How long should I fast?
• How should I break a fast?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603744409
Publisher:	Whitaker House
Publication date:	07/01/1995
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	80
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Derek Prince (1915–2003) was born in Bangalore, India, into a British military family. He was educated as a scholar of classical languages at Eton College and Cambridge University in England and later at Hebrew University, Israel. As a student, he was a philosopher and self-proclaimed agnostic. While in the British Medical Corps during World War II, Prince began to study the Bible as a philosophical work. Converted through a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit a few days later. This life-changing experience altered the whole course of his life, which he thereafter devoted to studying and teaching the Bible as the Word of God.
Internationally recognized as a Bible scholar and spiritual patriarch, Derek Prince taught and ministered on six continents for more than sixty years. Until a few years before his death at the age of 88, he traveled the world, imparting God’s revealed truth, praying for the sick and afflicted, and sharing his prophetic insights into world events in the light of Scripture. He is the author of over eighty books, six hundred audio teachings, and one hundred video teachings, many of which have been translated and published in more than one hundred languages. He pioneered teaching on such groundbreaking themes as generational curses, the biblical significance of Israel, and demonology.
Derek Prince Ministries, with its international headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, continues to distribute his teachings and to train missionaries, church leaders, and congregations through its worldwide national offices. It is estimated that Derek Prince’s messages have reached more than half the globe through his books, CDs, and daily radio program, which is now known as Derek Prince Legacy Radio. In 2002 he said, “It is my desire—and I believe the Lord’s desire—that this ministry continue the work, which God began through me over sixty years ago, until Jesus returns.”
 
Internationally recognized as a Bible scholar and spiritual patriarch, DEREK PRINCE (1915–2003) taught and ministered on six continents for more than sixty years, imparting God’s revealed truth, praying for the sick and afflicted, and sharing his prophetic insights into world events in the light of Scripture. He is the author of over eighty-five books, six hundred audio teachings, and one hundred video teachings, many of which have been translated and published in more than one hundred languages.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1 What Is Fasting?

The theme of this study is "How to Fast Successfully." This subject does not readily lend itself to a sermon, but rather to some practical teaching on various aspects of fasting. Many people ask: "How do I fast? How long do I fast? How often should I fast? How should I break my fast?" The purpose of this study is to answer these questions and to clear up some misconceptions about fasting. I think it is good to begin with a definition of fasting. The definition I have used several times is: Fasting is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Normally fasting is not abstaining from fluids, but only from solid food. Although there were occasions in the Bible when people did fast without food or without water for as long as forty days, for this study we will consider fasting as abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Many of the people who have asked, "How do I fast?" have been Christians and members of churches for many years. Yet, apparently no one has ever taught them about fasting, even though the Bible has much to say about the subject. Since most of these people know something about prayer, it may be good to begin by pointing out a parallel between fasting and praying. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, when Jesus speaks first about praying and then about fasting, He uses similar language in talking about both topics. The main difference is that when He talks about praying He includes a pattern prayer which we call the Lord’s Prayer. But I think there is a basic parallel between fasting and praying, and I’ll point out two aspects of it. We all know we can pray as individuals, and most of us are also familiar with praying in groups. Group praying we usually refer to as a prayer meeting. Individual praying is what we do when we’re by ourselves. I believe there is the same distinction in fasting: there is group fasting, where people fast together; and there is individual fasting, where a person fasts on his own. We are also familiar with two kinds of prayer: (1) regular prayer at a set time each day, and (2) special times of prayer when the Holy Spirit leads us to take extra time beyond our usual pattern of prayer for a special need. The same, I believe, is true of fasting. I think fasting should be a regular practice in the life of every disciplined Christian. But beyond those regular times of fasting, there are times when the Holy Spirit leads us to give additional emphasis to fasting. So we see that there is a parallel between praying and fasting. Just as there is individual prayer and collective prayer, so there is also individual fasting and collective fasting. Just as there are normal patterns of prayer and there are times of special prayer, so there should be normal patterns of fasting in the life of every Christian and there should be special times of fasting as the Holy Spirit leads.

Table of Contents

1. What Is Fasting?2. Should All Christians Fast?3. How Should I Prepare for a Fast?4. What Is the Purpose of Fasting?5. How Long Should I Fast?6. What Happens during a Fast?7. What about Unpleasant Physical Reactions?8. How Can I Fast with Maximum Physical Benefits?9. What Are the Different Types of Fasts?10. How Are the Sabbath and Fasting Related?11. How Should I Break a Fast?12. In SummaryAbout the Author