FATHER spoke by THE SPIRIT in Isaiah chapter 58:
6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?”
Before Jesus began His public ministry, He was led to fast forty days:
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted (peirazō) by the devil.
2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
The Greek word peirazō means: to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself; to assay. When one assays something, the intent is to determine its purity by a strict test. Isn’t this what happened to Jesus when the tempter came to test Him? The purity of Jesus’ ministry was verified before the power of His ministry became fully operational as mentioned in Luke chapter 4:
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.
15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus is our example and if He found it necessary to fast, we too should fast in an appropriate manner. Our fast need not be forty days in a wilderness, but we should seek FATHER to determine the criteria by which we fast on a individual basis. The purpose of a fast is to get the “world” out of us and bring our flesh into full subjection to our spirit. We need to remove the noise all around us which distracts us from a pure and complete communion with FATHER. Jesus isolated Himself from others who would draw His attention away and create demands on His time and attention.
His fast optimized His sensitivity to THE SPIRIT realm. Jesus easily recognized sickness and disease versus demon oppression. His ability to hear FATHER was fully operational so that He was able to deal with every situation according to FATHER’S Divine Intent. There were no impurities in His character for His fast tested and verified the purity of His intent.
Are we willing to commit to being assayed? When we fast with the proper motive, FATHER will expose and remove any impurities keeping us from being totally sensitive to HIS SPIRIT thus allowing us to fulfill our individual callings. The length of the fast may be different for each of us, depending on our unique situations. Other aspects of our fast will depend on what FATHER instructs. Some may be called to a three day fast whereas others may be called to a seven day fast or even longer. Let FATHER be your guide to the details.