Sleep Fasting

[Lpe04]

OK, so the Lord was speaking to me last night and said that there are other ways to fast besides food. Then the idea of fasting from sleep came up and I went through the Bible in my mind and remembered the accounts of Jesus going up to pray all night long without sleep. Just wondering, anyone tried this "sleep fasting" before or any other kind of fastings besides food?

 

[Hisgirl]

Although I've not done it, I do remember a story my grandmother told me. Her oldest daughter ( my Aunt) had a chronic ear problem and the doctor scheduled surgery. My grandmother stayed up the entire night before the surgery praying that God would heal her ear. In the morning, the ear was indeed healed and the surgery was canceled.... For some reason, it wasn't something she repeated too much, as my own mother wasn't aware this had happened.

 

[Father Rick]

There have been a few times that I have spent the night in prayer instead of sleeping-- sometimes alone, sometimes as part of a church/group prayer vigil.

 

[Lpe04]

I have found also that when I am sleep deprived for whatever reason it really causes me to walk more by the spirit and less by the flesh. That is, if I am concentrating on my body and it's tiredness and walking by the flesh I will be very grouchy and irritable, but I find myself speaking more in tongues and trying to be more thankful to God and basically more spiritual as this counteracts what the flesh is feeling. And then when I find that I can be happy and spiritual in that state, when I finally do get some rest and am rested up then my happiness really soars. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like when you are fasting with food and you are able to be happy and content even when you are hungry and weak and exhausted, then when you finally do eat food forawhile and get your energy back up then your happiness and contenment and thankfullness really soar. Also it is kind of humbling as it makes you see what is an everyday thing that you take for granted that not everyone has. As during times of sleep deprivation or fasting, I find myself having to rely more on God for everything, especially my strength and energy. His strength is made perfect in my weakness!

 

[victoryword]

OK, so the Lord was speaking to me last night and said that there are other ways to fast besides food. Then the idea of fasting from sleep came up and I went through the Bible in my mind and remembered the accounts of Jesus going up to pray all night long without sleep. Just wondering, anyone tried this "sleep fasting" before or any other kind of fastings besides food?

I don't want to dispute that the Lord actually spoke to you (that is between you and God), but everywhere the BIBLE mentions fasting, it seems to me that it has always been in respect to FOOD. I know that Jesus did do all-nighters in prayer and I have given up sleep plenty of times to pray myself), but I don't know anywhere where that has been referred to as a fast. I could be wrong about all of this so someone can show me Scripture and correct me then I will retract my statements.

Medically speaking, fasting is supposed to give your organs a rest (especially the stomache) from the constant work it must do to process the food you eat in your system. Food fastings are medically beneficial. Medically speaking I have never heard of any other type of fast, at least not one that is beneficial to one's health as a food fast would be.

It seems that when we teach people that there are other types of fasts outside of food (like fasting TV, fasting video games, fasting coffeee) they take the easy way out. It is easier for me to give up TV than it is to give up fried chicken. Heck, I can replace the TV with a good novel and still eat and call it a fast.

Fasting is supposed to be couple with prayer, so I suppose that giving up sleep is closer to what one would call fasting than giving up TV or video games as long as the sleeplessness is engaged in praying. If we are fasting anything but not spending that sacrifice in prayer then I question the validity of the fast anyway, even if it IS a food fast.

 

[CrazyforYeshua]

But, there are those that can't fast food, because of medical reasons, diabetics and such, where they find other things they rely on to give up. I think we would be surprised what things in our lives we would consider a hardship to give up, and spend that time in prayer. I would think God would honor that also.

 

[Lpe04]

I don't want to dispute that the Lord actually spoke to you (that is between you and God), but everywhere the BIBLE mentions fasting, it seems to me that it has always been in respect to FOOD. I know that Jesus did do all-nighters in prayer and I have given up sleep plenty of times to pray myself), but I don't know anywhere where that has been referred to as a fast. I could be wrong about all of this so someone can show me Scripture and correct me then I will retract my statements.

Medically speaking, fasting is supposed to give your organs a rest (especially the stomache) from the constant work it must do to process the food you eat in your system. Food fastings are medically beneficial. Medically speaking I have never heard of any other type of fast, at least not one that is beneficial to one's health as a food fast would be.

It seems that when we teach people that there are other types of fasts outside of food (like fasting TV, fasting video games, fasting coffeee) they take the easy way out. It is easier for me to give up TV than it is to give up fried chicken. Heck, I can replace the TV with a good novel and still eat and call it a fast.

Fasting is supposed to be couple with prayer, so I suppose that giving up sleep is closer to what one would call fasting than giving up TV or video games as long as the sleeplessness is engaged in praying. If we are fasting anything but not spending that sacrifice in prayer then I question the validity of the fast anyway, even if it IS a food fast.

Oh yes, I agree. Prayer while fasting is always a great thing and it is also the motives behind the action. For instance, you should never fast to try to "please" God or to win His approval, because you are really adding nothing to Him, nor taking anything away from Him. But there are some things I have found that are beneficial fasting even if prayer is not neccessarily always accompanied. For instance, if someone is at work they will not have the time to be praying, but they can still be fasting. Fasting in this since can also be used to "crucify" the flesh or to basically control it (keep it under the Spirit). The whole purpose of denying ourselves is that we are denying the flesh (in which dwells no good thing) and are rather looking to God to provide spiritual food and energy to replenish us and keep us going. This is why fasting can be very humbling and can help to bring out the Spirit.

Everything physical has a spiritual counterpart, and with physical food the Lord has taught me that there is also spiritual food and water, and the less you concentrate on the physical aspect (which we need to get rid of as we walk by faith and not by sight) the more you will see the spiritual and look for that rather. Jesus talked about this spiritual food and water a lot (John 4:32: "I have food that you know nothing about" "My food is to do the Will of the One Who sent Me" "If anyman is thirsty let him come to Me and drink freely" "I am the Bread of Life" (equivalent of the manna from Heaven)) and I love the part where Jesus is teaching the disciples the point of fasting.

Luke 5:33-39:
33They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking."


34Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast." 36He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' "


This is a beautiful example using the wineskins as "crucifying" the flesh through fasting that the Spirit may become more prominent and that the flesh will not dominate. Also, after Jesus fasted for 40 days, it said that He came out of the wilderness in the Power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14).

 

[victoryword]

But, there are those that can't fast food, because of medical reasons, diabetics and such, where they find other things they rely on to give up. I think we would be surprised what things in our lives we would consider a hardship to give up, and spend that time in prayer. I would think God would honor that also.

That may be true, but I am still more concerned about what the BIBLE says a fast is than anyone's personal revelation. I believe in personal revelations (we should be seeing more in the church than we do) but all personal revelation should be consistent with SCRIPTURE. Experience (the diabetic who cannot fast for medical reasons) is not sufficient evidence to deviate from Scripture's teaching on these subjects.

 

[victoryword]

Oh yes, I agree. Prayer while fasting is always a great thing and it is also the motives behind the action. For instance, you should never fast to try to "please" God or to win His approval, because you are really adding nothing to Him, nor taking anything away from Him. But there are some things I have found that are beneficial fasting even if prayer is not neccessarily always accompanied. For instance, if someone is at work they will not have the time to be praying, but they can still be fasting. Fasting in this since can also be used to "crucify" the flesh or to basically control it (keep it under the Spirit). The whole purpose of denying ourselves is that we are denying the flesh (in which dwells no good thing) and are rather looking to God to provide spiritual food and energy to replenish us and keep us going. This is why fasting can be very humbling and can help to bring out the Spirit.

Everything physical has a spiritual counterpart, and with physical food the Lord has taught me that there is also spiritual food and water, and the less you concentrate on the physical aspect (which we need to get rid of as we walk by faith and not by sight) the more you will see the spiritual and look for that rather. Jesus talked about this spiritual food and water a lot (John 4:32: "I have food that you know nothing about" "My food is to do the Will of the One Who sent Me" "If anyman is thirsty let him come to Me and drink freely" "I am the Bread of Life" (equivalent of the manna from Heaven)) and I love the part where Jesus is teaching the disciples the point of fasting.

Luke 5:33-39:
33They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking."


34Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast." 36He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' "


This is a beautiful example using the wineskins as "crucifying" the flesh through fasting that the Spirit may become more prominent and that the flesh will not dominate. Also, after Jesus fasted for 40 days, it said that He came out of the wilderness in the Power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14).

I appreciate the response, and while again I do not dispute that God gives personal revelation (and as I stated earlier, the church needs to be getting more than it has been getting), I cannot see where the passages you cite are supporting the personal revelation that you believe you received. I a firm believer that all personal revelation should be consistent with "it is written." Yet, we have to be careful not to "prooftext" our personal revelations. That is called eisogesis.

For example you said, "and with physical food the Lord has taught me that there is also spiritual food and water." The Bible does often compare the Word of God with food and the Holy Spirit with living waters. Now are we going to fast from the Word of God or the Holy Spirit? If we are saying that denyiing ourselves sleep is a form of spiritual food or water, then I would have trouble receiving that without sufficient scriptural evidence.

Again, this is not to deny the need to forgo sleep on occasion and spend that time with the Lord, but can this legitimately or rather BIBLICALLY be termed as a fast?

 

[Lpe04]

But, there are those that can't fast food, because of medical reasons, diabetics and such, where they find other things they rely on to give up. I think we would be surprised what things in our lives we would consider a hardship to give up, and spend that time in prayer. I would think God would honor that also.

Yes, I believe this too. There are many aspects of denying the flesh rather than just food (food is just the most prominent and easiest to see in ourselves). For instance, for a long time I would literally study the Bible for hours upon hours a day until eventually God told me that I was just feeding the flesh with my excessivly long Bible studies day after day. I was hungry, but I was feeding the flesh (the intellect in this case) and was not getting the spiritual growth I could have been getting had I been doing it God's way. Basically, the Word of God is like food for our soul/spirit, but just as some can overdo it with food physically and become obese, I was doing the same thing spiritually with the Bible. I had to learn that with God (contrary to what our old man nature desires) "less really is more".

But yes, the flesh will feed any way that it can. Music is another example of something that I was personally using to feed the flesh (still trying to kick this one ) Although music is not bad and is a God given thing (just look at David and the Psalms) we can also overindulge ourselves in music which I was doing, and it was controling my emotions and taking away from personal time that I could spend with God (I would also literally spend hours a lot of days downloading and just listening to whatever music I wanted to). Basically it had become an idol to me and I was no longer thankful for music that is a gift from God but rather it was almost like something I had to have (I have a friend like this too so I know I'm not the only one).

 

[Lpe04]

I appreciate the response, and while again I do not dispute that God gives personal revelation (and as I stated earlier, the church needs to be getting more than it has been getting), I cannot see where the passages you cite are supporting the personal revelation that you believe you received. I a firm believer that all personal revelation should be consistent with "it is written." Yet, we have to be careful not to "prooftext" our personal revelations. That is called eisogesis.

For example you said, "and with physical food the Lord has taught me that there is also spiritual food and water." The Bible does often compare the Word of God with food and the Holy Spirit with living waters. Now are we going to fast from the Word of God or the Holy Spirit? If we are saying that denyiing ourselves sleep is a form of spiritual food or water, then I would have trouble receiving that without sufficient scriptural evidence.

Again, this is not to deny the need to forgo sleep on occasion and spend that time with the Lord, but can this legitimately or rather BIBLICALLY be termed as a fast?

Well, I believe that although the Bible is written for the five senses, that it is spiritual and to be used for spiritual growth. God is spirit and we must become more like Him and die to self. One of the greatest revelations the Lord gave me once was that the Word of God is the basis for everything, but not the end all as a lot of people have made it to be (it is the foundation in which we build upon), and that God will take you beyond that if you are willing to learn. For instance, the Word is the "instruction manual" for our lives, we use it to renew our minds, to get our thinking back on line with God's, to dispel all lies and get back in line with the Truth, then we can soar spiritually. We use it to break down the "strong holds" that hold us back (fear, doubt, worry, mistrust, pride, unbelief) spiritually from growing as babes in Christ to mature Christians who are manifesting Christ to everyone and affecting everyone around them for the good.

The Lord told me that there are a lot of people who are "spiritually handicapped" because they refuse to move past what they have been given and really soar with God. For instance, Paul knew A LOT more than he wrote about in his Church Epistles, he just gave to us the nuts and bolts that we can have a firm foundation and know the basis of walking by the Spirit, a structure to build upon in which God will take us to new heights never before seen. God told me that if I would learn and trust in His Word, that was the basis (the foundation), and not the end as a lot have made it to be and He would then build upon that and show me a lot more just as He did with Paul. This is what walking by the Spirit really is. Letting go and letting God. Basically God pretty much equated the Bible to something like an owner's manual for a car, or learning to drive. First you learn the laws of the road and get them set in your mind, and once you know those you set out and put it into practice and then as time goes on you get better and better at it and learn more and more things that come in handy but that they never taught you in driver's ED. It is also kind of like learning to play an instrument. First you can read books or go to an instructor to learn style, technique, how to play the instrument, what the different notes and chords are, etc. But then you sit down after that and you actually create music from what you have learned and you develop your own techniques and what fits your style and you learn more and more that you had never read before.

For instance, one time God showed me that the way to activate hope and to build it up is to make a mental image of whatever you are hoping for coming to pass. Although these instructions are not found in the Bible, I know this was from God because it matches with the Word of God (although it is not found exatly in it) and because it works! But the Bible does teach that we are to have hope and that hope is a strong spiritual force that will really increase the power of your prayers and your thinking, but it is God who taught me then how to have that hope and build upon it. This is an example of God using His Word as a foundation and then building off of that as He does. I believe it is the same way with fasting, the Bible teaches us that fasting is a good tool to use, but it does not tell us exactly how or in what ways to do it, that is up to the Lord to teach us.

There are parts in the Church epistles that Paul mentions going without sleep and food, I don't know why but I just felt inclined to write all of that. Take care.

 

[LittleRocketBoy]

It is called a "watch".... after the ancient practice of having "watchmen" on the walls of the city at night. Paul claimed to do this oten:


2Co 11:27 KJV
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

2Co 6:5 KJV
5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;


Very likely referring to this:

Act 16:25 KJV
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

 

[victoryword]

It is called a "watch".... after the ancient practice of having "watchmen" on the walls of the city at night. Paul claimed to do this oten:


2Co 11:27 KJV
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

2Co 6:5 KJV
5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;


Very likely referring to this:

Act 16:25 KJV
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

So is there a distinction between watchings and fastings or are they both the same?

 

[riverpastor]

Um, okay...

I have had times when I "fasted" sleep.

And, yes, there is a certain point when the senses are lessened and an awakening occurs in the Spirit.

BUT...

there is a point, in my own experience, when you go beyond the benefits and you endanger yourself and others...

On one such sleep fast, I stayed up 42 hours before crashing... almost literally.

I was driving at this point... yes, young and dumb...

I was driving home late at night after being at a prayer gathering during my sleep fast.

I don't remember "drifting off", but what I do remember is that as I opened my eyes, I was driving still, but in the grass...

now, talk about your disorientation... when you are driving on pavement one moment and you look up and are driving on grass, the first thing you wonder is:

WHERE IS THE PAVEMENT?!?!?!?

About that time, I passed a highway sign on my left...

I had driven so far over to the right of the road into the grass that I passed the sign on my far left.

That's when I figured out where the road was!!!

So, slowly, I eased back up onto the pavement and, yes, I made it home... with eyes wide open.

My only suggestion is: if you fast from sleep, do so when you are going to be home and have absolutely no where to go!!!

 

[Questioning Christian]

When people talk about fasting, there is always this big focus on what you GIVE UP. But I believe the Bible shows us that fasting is not about what you GIVE UP, but about what you EMBRACE.

When a runner is running a race, he or she is not thinking that they ARE NOT eating, but rather they are thinking that they ARE running.

You can get so absorbed in your work that you forget you are hungry, too!

Do you remember when you first fell in love? Do you remember the warm fuzzy feelings, and how when you were with that person, you didn't care that you were DEPRIVED. You cared that you were blessed with that person's presence.

When you get caught up in the presence of God, and all fades away, and naught is left but an all-consuming love for Him, you can't focus on anything but Him, like when you are in love at the first.

When he said "thou hast left thy first love", he wasn't talking about you leaving your desire, commitment, or your dedication. GOD is love. He was saying "I am your first love, and you have left me".

So we need to get caught up in Him, and count everything loss that we have let go to be with Him. Do not be consumed with what you have given up, or you will begin to look BACK to Egypt, to when you had onion and garlic [like the Israelites]. Instead, look FORWARD to what you have, which is the better of the two choices.

Oh I want to see Him
Look upon His face
There to sing forever
Of His saving grace

On the streets of glory
There I'll lift my voice
Cares all past
Home at last
Ever to rejoice

__________________


When I look into your holiness
When I gaze into your loveliness
When all things that surround
Become shadows in the Light of You

When I've found the joy
Of reaching your heart
When my will becomes
Enthralled in your love
When all things that surround
Become shadows in the Light of You

I worship You
I worship You
The reason I live
Is to worship You

I worship You
I worship You
The reason I live
Is to worship you

_______________

O soul, are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior
And light more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.

 

[FireOfGod]

I have found also that when I am sleep deprived for whatever reason it really causes me to walk more by the spirit and less by the flesh.

That's because you're not in your right mind!

Yes, I have done this. Up all night praying, worshiping, reading the Word. I enjoy it, actually. I've also fasted things like TV, computer, etc. All good results from it.