The Early Christians Fasted
“One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.”
(Acts 2:2-3 NLT)
“Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.”
(Acts 14:23 NLT)
“For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.”
(1 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV)
Many Christians try to make excuses to not fast. One of the classic examples that are used to justify not fasting is the fact that “Paul never instructed the church to fast in his letters.” Although Apostle Paul didn’t give recurring instructions to fast in his letters to the churches, does that mean we should not fast? Apostle Paul also never mentioned the virgin birth one time in his letters. Are we to assume that Paul didn't believe in the virgin birth? Absolutely not, that would be absurd! Was the apostle Paul a man who believed in prayer and fasting? We see from the text above that he was. We have records that the apostle Paul fasted on many occasions, showing us that he was a man that practiced the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting! We also see from the text above that Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to “teach his ways in Christ” as he did to all the churches everywhere. If Paul was undoubtedly a man of prayer and fasting and we have records that he taught his ways of following Christ to the churches he pioneered, we can conclude that the early gentile churches were those of prayer and fasting. Also, the early church fasted two days every single week! Jesus said that our righteousness must exceed the Pharisees. The men who heard this command from Jesus in the flesh took this literally and fasted twice per week. They figured that if the Pharisees could fast twice per week without the power of the Holy Ghost, why should a spirit-filled believer have less devotion? Jesus fasted, the apostle Paul fasted, and the early church fasted. Do you fast? If not, why not? Are you more enlightened than Jesus, the apostle Paul, and the early church? I think not! Do the deeds that an early Christian did and have the kind of supernatural life that an early Christain had!