Moreover when ye fast… – Matthew 6:16
Can I tell you something? Yes, you can fast too much. Now, most of us probably don’t have that problem. But, I’ve known people who did. You hear stories about it, but I knew a man personally who fasted so much that it didn’t end well.
He was a good man. He wanted God to move in Manchester, Georgia—a small town, about 25 miles from Warm Springs, Georgia. You might know Warm Springs. It’s where President Franklin D. Roosevelt would go to soak in the healing waters. Well, right near there is Manchester, where this pastor lived.
This man loved God. He was a Holy Ghost-filled man, and he sought after God with all his heart. He believed that if he fasted enough, God would move. And don’t get me wrong, there’s a truth to fasting. But fasting doesn’t change God. It changes us.
Still, this pastor thought the more he fasted, the more powerful God’s move would be. So he fasted. Not just a few days—he’d go on for 40, 50, even 60 or 70 days. This wasn’t a one-time thing. He’d do these extreme fasts again and again.
I prayed with him during these times, and I even preached in his small country church. But one day, I got a call from his wife. She was crying. She said, “They’ve got Arthur in the hospital.”
Arthur was his name. She said she had to make him go because he wouldn’t go on his own. He was one of those old-time guys—you didn’t go to the hospital unless you were dead.
When I asked her what happened, she said, “Arthur tried to break his last fast, but his body shut down. He can’t process food anymore. His digestive system isn’t working—everything he eats just comes back up.”
The doctors had him on IV fluids for a week, but they told her his organs were shutting down. They said he wouldn’t be able to live unless his body restarted—his stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas—everything had stopped working because they had no job to do. And despite everything the doctors tried, his body wouldn’t start back up.
They had some of the best specialists at Emory University in Atlanta working on him, but they couldn’t fix it. Eventually, Arthur passed away.
Now, let me make this clear—God didn’t kill him. It wasn’t God’s will that he died. But he violated natural laws trying to make spiritual things happen. We can’t override good safety principles with our faith.
You can fast too much. Again, most of us don’t have this problem because most have forgotten about the spiritual discipline of fasting. But it’s something that would help the body of Christ discipline their flesh. Fasting changes us, not God. But there are other ways to fast that doesn’t include not eating at all.
Remember Daniel’s 21 day fast? The Bible doesn’t say he fasted all food for 21 days. It says he ate no “pleasant bread.” There is more than one way to fast. Daniel didn’t eat anything that was around him. He just ate a little. Fasting is about keeping the flesh under and not letting it dominate you. You don’t always have to fast food. You can fast your time, giving up doing one thing and giving that time to God in prayer.
The Lord told Dad Hagin that He would be more pleased with him if you would live a fasted life, rather than fasting all the time. What is a fasted life? It means never eating everything you want. Keep your appetite under. That’s the foundation of what fasting is. Living as fasted life instead of routinely fasting will cause greater strides in your spiritual growth. It will cause your flesh to stay under longer and more consistently than if you’re just fasting every now and then.
No matter what you do, use wisdom. Use common sense. Be safe. God is with us!
