The Continual Fast

     Fasting and praying are two of the most powerful things in the Christian walk, but many haven't fasted for varying reasons.  The "Jesus kind of fast" is the most powerful and best kind of fast from the Bible.  This is a lifestyle of prayer and fasting that will keep our relationship strong with God and man.
     There was a young boy who had what Jesus described as a "dumb and deaf spirit" that was trying to kill him in Mark 9:22-23,25,28-29 (Amplified) which says, "And it (this unclean spirit) has often thrown him both into fire and water, intending to kill him. But if you can do anything, do have pity on us and help us. And Jesus said, (you says to Me) If you can do anything? (Why) all things are possible to him who believes."
     The man had asked the disciples to cast out the deaf and dumb spirit, but they were unable to do so.  The disciples weren't without faith and believed in casting out evil spirits, but when they tried doing so, they were unsuccessful.  Verse 25 goes on with Jesus' rebuking this unclean spirit, and it came out of the boy and he was freed.  This disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't cast it out in Verses 28-29 ans He answered them saying, "And He replied to them, This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting."
     Remarkably, Jesus didn't go off to fast or pray, but He drove the spirit out of the boy.  His disciples had at least enough faith to attempt casting it out, but they could not.  As I studied this kind of spirit requiring fasting and praying to dislodge it, I asked the Lord about it.  This sort of prayer and fasting wasn't something only done when you are concerned about running into one of these spirit, but it is something you do all the time.
    I found the answer to my question for the Lord in Isaiah 58 and knew this fasting and praying was a lifestyle for Jesus.  We often fast for various reasons and many times these fasts are rewarded by God.  I wanted a way to fast that would have the reward I desired, which was to set others free.  I also wanted a way to determine the results of my fast afterwards.  I don't want to just go without eating and then hope God reward me for doing so, but because it was effective.  God doesn't simply reward us because we didn't eat for a few days and we should not believe we can gain favor with God because we fast.  We've already been granted favor and grace with Him through Jesus.  What was the right approach to fasting and praying?
     God says in Isaiah 58:3-5 (Amplified), "Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen? A day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? (Is true fasting merely mechanical?) Is is only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him (to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have?) Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?"
     There is a way and a day that God sees as acceptable to Him, but it might not be the way we do it.  What I wanted was to do it His way.  I wanted to cast a devil our of someone who needed to be set free, without having to leave that person in that state while I went off to pray and fast.  Now, I was to discover what God really wanted and how to do it.  I was about to receive the power from Him to do what He wanted me to do.
     God goes on in Isaiah 58:6 (Amplified) saying, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen; To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every (enslaving) yoke?"
     God said that this would be the fast that He has chosen, to do what Jesus' disciples couldn't do.  He goes on in Verse 7 explaining this fast, saying, "Is it not to divided your bread with the hungry and to bring the homeless poor into your house-when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from (the needs of) your own flesh and blood?"
     That's the fast that God requires and that Jesus walked in at all times.  This was the fast that had the power to set the boy with the dumb and deaf spirit free.  This is the lifestyle of fasting and praying that Jesus walked in and taught.  This is why Christians are to serve God in His way and not our own way of fasting.