(By Shane Idleman) Fasting is not simply one of those mandates in the Bible related to abstention of food, Pastor Shane Idleman says. It’s about subduing your flesh and, more importantly, submission to the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit will lead us, guide us and convict us,” Idleman says. “But He only leads those who want to follow Him. He waits for you to submit to that. It’s the flesh that often holds us back from the things of God. Fasting is biblical and it’s a very important spiritual discipline.”

Jesus said to His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 6:18). Fasting, Idleman says, brings spiritual insight and wisdom and starves the flesh. When you cave into your flesh, it relegates you to a habit of submitting to your flesh, and the Holy Spirit cannot do the work in you that He hopes to. CONTINUE


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