Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough: A Guide to Nine Biblical Fasts (28 page)

For many similar cases, read
Brain Allergies
by neuropsychiatrist William Philpott. He treated food reactions by withdrawal of the offending foods for three months. Then he rotated meals by food families every four days. Dr. Philpott uses this treatment for all kinds of physical and psychological problems, including arthritis, with surprising success.
⁶

The rotation diet is complex and difficult, even for highly motivated patients. It appears to me that a yoke of bondage to foods and chemicals is more easily broken by frequent periods of abstinence (fasting). A three-month withdrawal of the offending food is the equivalent of a fast from that food.

Pediatricians, cardiologists, internists and many other specialists use this form of unconventional treatment for many ailments with interesting results. Supervision is a necessity.

It is possible to make an item of food your god by becoming addicted to it. Anything that becomes an addiction displaces God from His rightful throne in our lives. “Jeshurun (Israel) grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him” (Deut. 32:15).

In his classic devotional work,
My Utmost for His Highest
, Oswald Chambers wrote: “Make it a habit to have no habits.” He emphasized that Christ is your Lord, which means “boss.” If you are Christ’s slave, then even good habits may keep you from serving Him. Eating is a necessary
habit that some have elevated to the realm of worship. Don’t let any chemical, food or drink become your god.

On the same principle, don’t become addicted to
fasting
either. Don’t be deceived into believing you should not eat healthfully. You need many nutrients at frequent intervals. Occasional fasting is the exception to the rule of eating.

Our society is addicted to alcohol, sports, food, drugs, education, wealth, power, work, relationships, nicotine, gambling, shopping, etc. According to some researchers, more than 10 million people in the United States alone are negatively affected by the use of some toxic substance.
⁷
According to
The Kellogg Report:

As peculiarly contemporary illnesses, they are caused by affluent overloads of once rare substances, from nicotine to sugar to cocaine, that now flood our society.
⁸

Many things to which we are addicted are good in themselves. Food, sex, money, work, etc., are all wonderful blessings if used under the guidelines for their design. In my experience, these guidelines are best found in Scripture. Diet, however, is usually affected negatively by addictions. We have only to note the harmful effects of alcohol, eating disorders, drugs and smoking. Because these addictions cause us to eat improperly, the solution involves proper food and proper intake, as well as proper emotions. Both eating and emotions are affected positively by proper fasting.

Other addictions that affect us negatively include sugar, fat and caffeine. These substances not only cause us to neglect essential nutrients, but they also make the body lose its ability to digest, absorb and utilize the nutrients it needs. If addictions were broken or prevented by fasting, nutrients designed for our cells could be digested, absorbed and utilized. When fasting is combined with eating the things created for food, “then your healing will appear.”

Prevention of health problems is much easier than recovery. In general, fasting will prevent addiction to foods.

Humans have imperfect enzyme systems (remember that the Fall of man placed limitations on the body: “Cursed are you” [Gen. 3:14,
NIV
]). Each person’s “fallen” enzyme system is unique. This is why one person may be sensitive to milk and the next person can consume large amounts
without any problems. One person could spend a lifetime trying to evaluate how each particular food affects his or her body.

Regular intervals of fasting appear to be a better way of protecting ourselves from a deficient or an imperfect enzyme system. Fasting prevents low levels of enzymes from being overwhelmed by gluttony or overconsumption. Perhaps fasting is a way to counter this aspect of the Fall—a way designed from the beginning when our Creator created a day for rest.

It is said that the brain wants the very substance that is doing it the most harm. In truth, we cannot even trust our own brain to want what is best for us. That is another reason we need food standards like those found in Scripture. The brain tells us it wants more sugar, fat and other luxuries found in what is popularly called “fast food.” The brain likes this food, but if too much is consumed, the body begins to rebel with sickness and/or poor health, and if the cycle is constantly repeated, gluttony and addiction begin to form. Proverbs 23 warns:

When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive (vv. 1-3,
NIV
).

Dr. Joseph Beasley compares the behavior of addicted persons to a burning building:

Every cell of [the body] is gradually being consumed and destroyed by the effects of their addiction or compulsion. Without a recovered body, neither the mind nor the spirit can reach its full potential.
⁹

Dr. Richard Weindruch of the University of California in Los Angeles reported that mice that fasted frequently lived longer and with significantly less disease than mice that were allowed to eat anytime they wanted.
¹⁰

An addiction to foods such as sugar, salt, fat or caffeine will not be cleared by a 24-hour period of abstinence. Often food addictions require from three weeks’ to three months’ abstinence from the offending food to clear the system. Frequent short periods of abstinence may help eventually to clear bondage to food.

Three days before you start your fast, eat only things God created for food, and in the purest, most natural form possible—before basic nutrients have been processed out. Drinking pure water during a fast is wise.

On the first day of a fast, I recommend drinking only water and juice, with no sweeteners. This helps counteract hypoglycemic symptoms many people experience during their first fast. The number of symptoms and their severity may depend on the food addictions you have accumulated. Most symptoms will be mild, consisting of a headache, weakness or irritability. Other symptoms may include bad breath, frequent urination, sleeplessness or a sensation of coolness.

If you feel sick, eat. You do not get extra “macho” points by making yourself suffer. Then try to fast again in a few days, trying to extend the duration of your fast a little longer.

Try stretching the hours by eating lunch, then skipping supper. You will be sleeping during the toughest time of the fast. Then you can “
break fast
” with praise for the food God has designed for you. Before long you will be able to go for 24 hours with water or juice only. You will feel great throughout most of your fast! Fasting like this once or even twice a week may be a great benefit for you. Later you can extend the fast to three days every month or two. Study books about fasting. Let God direct you for longer fasts. You will not be the first to complete a long fast.

For partial fasts, you may want Day 1 to consist of juices, raw fruits and vegetables, and soups.

On Day 2, you could add whole-grain breads, nuts and cooked vegetables and legumes.

Take note of any symptoms that develop as you gradually replace your fast with food. If you develop symptoms after adding one or another food, try avoiding it for several months.

After fasting, make meats only an occasional or celebrative food.

Most people who rely heavily on fasting for health purposes recommend an occasional weekend fast or even a weeklong fast. I can assure you that if you’re healthy, this kind of fasting won’t be harmful to you. Many examples in human history show people completing fasts of up to 40 days without harming themselves. As well, many have recovered from a variety of maladies during times of fasting.

Supplementing your fast with freshly squeezed juices and broths may be helpful. Even a partial fast with vegetables may reduce symptoms. Seek medical or nutritional advice for your specific problems.

Fasting is not a competitive sport. You do not have to set any records. Your body does not get healthier if you out-fast your friend or opponent. Don’t sulk if your spouse “out-fasts” you. God does not give you more pleasure or a special crown for suffering more than anyone else. There is no scorecard!

Protesters in Ireland who have refused food showed no ill effects until genuine hunger developed. When real hunger develops, the body is beginning to deteriorate and food is needed. Some Irish protesters who were very healthy after 50 days of partial fasting died within 2 weeks after the onset of real hunger.

Avoid all chemicals possible during a fast. Distilled or pure water and freshly squeezed juice are preferred. Remember also Jesus’ counsel:

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face (Matt. 6:16,17,
NIV
).

Jesus assumed we would pray, give alms, fast and forgive. His teachings assumed that all believers practiced these disciplines. For Him to give instruction in these practices to the believers was like discussing breathing, sleeping or eating, which were all assumed to be a part of a normal person’s life.

The rewards of observing a fast include spiritual, mental and physical benefits. I believe that fasting is a very valuable way to experience the divine design for total health.

Although the Bible and valid research indicate fasting is beneficial, it will still be hard to fast because of peer pressure and counsel from our families and medical advisors. Even weight loss programs teach us to eat every meal. If we need three meals a day, does that mean every day? Are three meals a day needed? Who said? Is that really healthy? (We often forget that three square meals can make us round!) Which is the healthier—fasting or never missing a meal?

Why do so many of us find fasting difficult?

Our major problem in fasting is the same as in other practices we know are good and wholesome, but we have difficulty doing. It is both a
time
problem and a
spiritual
problem. We are too busy—not only to fast, but to study God’s Word, to engage in good works, to reflect on God’s will for us, our community, church, family, nation, etc. We are too busy to use the tools for the redeemed that would allow us to flourish.

Think about this, however: fasting could give us at least three extra hours a day. Consider all the time we spend in food preparation, in eating—and in post-meal bloated drowsiness! Even more time is often spent in deciding where, what, when, why and how we are going to eat.

Is there any evidence in history that godly people were so preoccupied with eating? On the contrary, many heroes and heroines of the faith spent time fasting—people such as Moses, David, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, Elijah, Hannah, Jesus, Paul, John and his disciples, and Anna.

Furthermore, many leaders God has used throughout history have practiced fasting, including Luther, Calvin, Wesley and Knox. Reading about their lives and work makes it evident that fasting was vital both to their relationship with their Creator and to their leadership and influence.

Recently Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ asked 300 Christian leaders to join him in Orlando, Florida, to fast and pray. Surprisingly, 600 people from various organizations came and fasted with him for three days! Books such as Dr. Bright’s
The Coming Revival
(Nashville: New Life Publications, 1995) and Arthur Wallis’s
God’s Chosen Fast
(Fort Washington, Pa.: Christian Literature, 1993) document the movement of the Holy Spirit on people of our time when they practice the discipline of fasting.

Perhaps fasting will bring revival to our land. I would like to be a part of it—wouldn’t you?

1
. Albert Anderson, M.D., “Creation Health—Forgotten Medical Science” (self-published booklet), p. 2.

2
. George Thampy, Ph.D., “The Effect of Fasting” (Abstract 2252), in a report from a conference about “Food Intake and Body Weight Regulations” received from the author [Dr. Russell] at the Fort Wayne Center for Medical Education, Indiana University, Fort Wayne, IN 46805-1499.

3
. J. Kjeldsen-Kragh, M.D., “Controlled Trial of Fasting and One-year Vegetarian Diet in Rheumatic Arthritis,”
Lancet
338:8772, October 12, 1991, pp. 899-902.

4
. Yuri Nikolayave and Allan Cott, “Continued Fasting Treatment of Schizophrenics in the U.S.S.R.,”
Schizophrenia
1:1969, p. 44.

5
. Allan Cott, M.D., “Treating Schizophrenic Children,”
Schizophrenia
1:1967, p. 3.

6
. William Philpott, M.D.
Brain Allergies
(New Canaan, Conn.: Keats Publishing Co., 1980), p. 28.

7
. Karolyn Gazella, “Addictions: Breaking Free Is Possible,”
Health Counselor
, 7:1, 1995, pp. 27-31.

8
. Joseph Beasley, M.D. and J. M. A. Swift,
The Kellogg Report
(Bard College Center, N.Y.: Institute of Health Policy and Practice, 1989), p. 371.

9
. Joseph Beasley, M.D.,
Food for Recovery
(New York: Crown Trade Paperbooks, 1994), p. 5.

10
. Richard Weindruch, M.D., “Dietary Restriction in Mice,”
Science
315:4538, pp. 1415-18.

*
From
What the Bible Says About Healthy Living
by Rex Russell, M.D. (Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books, 1996). Used by permission.