Ezra 8

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, "The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him." So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.

(Ezr 8:21-23)

Fasting. I’m sure you all know what fasting is, but at times feel like you don’t know what it’s all about. You can define it as a “time when you stop eating so you can have more focused time to seek the Lord”. That definition works, but it still doesn’t really tell me when, how, and why I should fast. In our passage today, we see a whole group of people fasting, and we are told the when, how, and why of all that goes on. Let’s take a peek at these verses and see what we can learn.

1. The fast was a way for them to humble themselves before God. – Unlike God, we are completely dependent upon food and drink for our survival. God alone is a fully independent being and He is completely self-satisfied. We are spiritually dependent upon the Lord. When we fast, we are humbly acknowledging our dependence on Him, how much we need him. It acknowledges that we CAN’T MAKE IT ON OUR OWN, that we NEED THE LORD’S HELP, and we need Him to provide us with CLEAR DIRECTION.
2. They were seeking the RIGHT WAY. – The right way for them, for their children, and for their stuff. Have you ever been in one of those situations where you come to a fork in the road and you don’t know which direction to go? Spiritually, this happens more often than we are willing to think or admit. Often, we come to this point and we just make a choice, hoping it is right. For Ezra and his fellow settlers, they NEEDED to make the right choice, THEIR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT. So they fasted. For them, fasting seemed like the best way to make a wise decision in the situation… not the only way, just the best way.
3. It was to be a testimony – Like I said, there were other ways they could have gotten help; but they were concerned mostly with the WITNESS THEY HAD TO THE WORLD AROUND THEM. They had claimed that the Lord would help them; if they turned now and sought help from man; it may cause the men around to wonder if God had let them down. We can get help from outside sources, but the best thing we can do is to seek the face of God. Fasting is a way we can demonstrate that we truly believe God has the answers, and He will help us.

So, where does that leave us? I hope it clarifies a bit of the when, why and how of fasting… helping us to feel equipped to utilize this gift the Lord has given us. We need to view fasting as a privilege, not a burden; a special way for us to “kick it up a notch” when we really feel like we need God’s direction. Don’t be afraid, fasting is your friend.