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Day 3: Spirit-Led Fast

During the 21-day fast we began as a church in 2021, I felt a strong touch of God to extend my fast to forty days. My immediate thought was that I was barely on the sixth day. I had yet to reach twenty-one!

At that moment, the Spirit reminded me that Jesus did a forty-day fast before starting His ministry. He brought to my mind these verses that after that fast, “the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him” (Matthew 4:11), and “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region” (Luke 4:14).

I knew with such security that the Holy Spirit was calling me to follow Jesus’ example. If Jesus didn’t start His ministry without a fast, who am I to advance my full-time ministry without an extended period of fasting? I was on my knees when this happened, and with tears in my eyes, I stood up and told my wife, Lana, “I am going for forty.”

We do not have to be led by the Spirit to fast; it is part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

You can choose how and when to fast, but it is a different story when God Himself chooses a fast for you. When God invites you to a fast, respond in obedience, for He will supply you with His strength for that period of fasting.

Let's pray:

Father, I desire to follow Your guidance. Holy Spirit, please give me the strength to follow You. I humble myself before You. Do your work in me.