Several years ago, I was in the States eating Mexican food with an old friend who was trying to start a new church. After months of prayer and hard work, the church was getting off to a slow start. People were staying away by the thousands. As I listened to their struggles, my friend put his taco down, looked me square in the eye and said desperately: “If you were in my shoes, what would you do?”

This article was first published in the January/February 2006 issue of Ministry Digest.

“Pastor, I want to be full-time.” I had no idea what he wanted when he set the appointment with me, but I certainly was not expecting this. 

“Full-time what?” I asked.

“I don’t know, just full-time, like you, I guess.” He was relatively new in church and probably had no clue what I actually did on a daily basis. 

“So you want to minister.” I was trying to make ministry, not full-time, the point. 

“Yeah, like you and Jun and Ferdie.” 

“What exactly do you want to do in ministry?” 

“I don’t know, anything full-time, I guess.” Anything but stay in school, I thought to myself. 

“How long until you graduate?” 

“I’m tired of school, I want to go full-time now.” As the conversation went on, I discovered he was struggling in a couple of classes, thus the urgency to be a full-time minister. 

I tried to explain to my friend that there was no calling to be “full-time” mentioned anywhere in the Bible, but that every Christian was to represent Christ “full-time” no matter where their paycheck came from—whether they were a student, a teacher, a factory worker, or the factory owner. I am pretty sure he did not understand what I was saying. Like many, he assumed that if one really loves God wholeheartedly, then that means “full-time ministry” is the best career path. 

I have met many people who are “in the ministry” or on the church payroll who don’t seem to actually minister to people very often or very effectively. Isn’t it more important to minister to people no matter where we work, than to be “in the ministry”? It is quite common to meet missionaries who do little mission work, but they are full-time missionaries living on the mission field with mission support simply because they felt “called to be missionaries.” I think having a mission from God and actually doing mission work is much more important than “being a missionary.” 

For the Apostle Paul, ministering God’s Word and ministering to people were more important than being in the ministry. There were times he made tents for a living, but still ministered to people, and there were times he did ministry for a living while he ministered to people. For Paul, the big issue was not whether he paid his bills through the tithes and offerings or the proceeds from tent sales; the big issue was doing ministry. 

David was certainly called by God, yet he was never in the “full-time ministry.” In his day, full-timers included priests, Levites, and prophets. David was none of these. He was a shepherd, a musician, a soldier, and eventually ended up in politics, but he was never a priest, a Levite, or a prophet. God called him and used him mightily, throughout his “secular” careers. 

Joseph was also called and used by God, but was never “in the ministry.” He was in jail, but not in the ministry. He was a houseboy for a rich family, but not a full-time minister. He held a high cabinet position in a pagan government, but he was not paid through “love offerings.” He was used by God to save his family and his people, but it took them many years to recognize that God was indeed working through Joseph.  I suppose there are many people like Joseph today who are quietly going about their daily jobs, and sometime in the future we will all realize that God planted them there for our good and for the good of our nation. What they are doing now seems quite ordinary, but since God is in it, one day we will see the big picture and realize God was actually working through the mundane to accomplish something extraordinary, using the secular to do something spiritual.  

Daniel was an excellent student and an advisor to a ruler, but not a full-time minister. He certainly represented God in everything he did and said, but he was not officially “working for the ministry.” He served God by serving an ungodly government leader. Because of the way Daniel did his job, God got glory and the nation was transformed. It took many years, but that is often how God does things. He is generally more patient than we are. 

May God give us more people like Paul, David, Joseph, and Daniel—people who serve and represent God full-time no matter where they work, people who are more concerned with actually doing ministry than with having a ministry calling card, people who have ministry in them even if they are not officially in the ministry. 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving.      

Colossians 3:23,24

“I’ve been set free! This book has set me free!”

This was the first sign of life Roberto had shown since our pastor had encouraged our church to join the multi-denominational nation-wide three days of prayer and fasting for the upcoming elections. He enthusiastically waved a small book above his head: “Steve, you have to read this book! It set me free!”

The book was about fasting, written by a well-known faith teacher. “How could a book about fasting invoke such an enthusiastic response, especially from Roberto?” I silently muttered. “At least he’ll stop acting like he’s going to starve to death during our fast.”

“Look, man.” He opened the book and held it right in my face. I wondered what was in it that had “set him free.” 

“I used to think fasting was important,” he explained to me, “until I read this book. Now I’m free!”

Now I got it. He was freed from fasting. The premise of the book was that fasting was an Old Testament way of getting God’s attention. That was law. This is grace. All we do now is “pray the prayer of faith.” No need to travail. No need to persevere. Forget Luke 11 and the principle of asking, seeking, and knocking. Forget Luke 18 and the parable of the persistent widow. No need for extended times of intercession. “Just use your faith and confess the word, brother, and all mountains will move.”

Well, I’ve been set free, too. Not by Roberto’s book, but by the truth of God’s Word. Not free from fasting, but free to fast. Set free from the “stomach god” that Paul mentioned in Philippians 3:19.

Here’s what Jesus said about fasting:

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

There are two words in these verses I want to comment on. The first word is when. Jesus seems to assume His followers would fast. He didn’t say: “If you guys ever happen to fast . . .” He said: “When you fast . . .”

The second is reward. Jesus promised rewards for those who fast properly. Following are seven rewards of fasting:

1. Fasting turns back God’s wrath and judgment. Moses records that God was angry enough to destroy Aaron and the children of Israel because of their golden calf idol (Deuteronomy 9:18-20). But, as we know, God’s wrath was turned back after Moses fasted and prayed. There has been much said and written the past few years about God’s wrath and judgment on different nations. I’m convinced that Christians can turn back God’s judgment through fasting and prayer. Of course that will never happen unless God’s people get more concerned about the next generation than their next meal.
2. Fasting releases prophetic strategies for victory. The Moabites, Amonites, and several other hostile nations were arrayed against Israel. (See 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.) King Jehoshaphat called for a fast. You know you are in a desperate situation when a guy known as JehoshaPHAT calls for a fast. During the fast, a prophetic word was given that laid out God’s strategy for this particular battle. “No swords. No shields. No spears. Get your tambourines ready, we’re going to war!” I’m sure there were some battle-hardened warriors who thought that word was way off. After all, “We’ve never fought a battle like that before.” As always, God knew best. If we are willing to skip a few meals, we may receive prophetic strategies to influence our cities for God’s glory. They may be new and untried strategies, but if they are from God, we can be confident they will work.
3. Fasting activates and mobilizes people and provision for God’s work. Nehemiah’s building project was preceded by corporate fasting. Would it have been as successful without the fasting? I don’t think so. In 1984, God opened the door for our fledgling church to have its own (rented) building in Manila’s crowded University-Belt through fasting.  Each time our church has expanded to a new building to own or rent, a vital part of our fund-raising strategy has been prayer and fasting.
4. Fasting releases wisdom and favor. Daniel and his friends went on a partial fast (vegetables and water only). At the end of the fast, they were compared with the rest of the young men of Babylon. The results are recorded in Daniel 1:20. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. Would you like to be ten times better than your competitors? Just lay off the pizza for a few days and seek God wholeheartedly.
5. Fasting clarifies and redirects callings and ministries. Paul, Barnabas, and a few other Antioch church leaders were meeting together, and while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: set apart for me Barnabas . . . (Acts 13:1-3). While they were fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke. Would He have spoken this new direction even if they had not fasted? Probably. The real question is: Would they have been sensitive enough to hear the Holy Spirit speak if they had not fasted? Maybe. Maybe not. Are you seeking God for a new direction in your life or ministry? Good time to fast.
6. Fasting breaks demonic strongholds. On one occasion, the disciples unsuccessfully attempted to cast out a demon. When they asked Jesus why they had failed, He responded:  this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21). This seems to indicate that there are certain demonic situations that, for one reason or another, can only be defeated through fasting. Isaiah said that true fasting will loose chains . . . untie the cords of yoke . . . set the oppressed free and break every yoke (Isaiah 58:6). Have you ever encountered a stubborn demonic situation? Maybe it’s the kind that only goes out by prayer and fasting.
7. Fasting increases spiritual power. Luke records that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and that He was led by the Spirit.  After His forty day fast, He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:1,14). How many Christians do you know who are full of the Spirit and led by the Spirit, but do not walk in the power of the Spirit? Need more power? Spiritual power is one of the rewards of fasting.

Thousands of our church members start each year with seven days of corporate prayer and fasting. During the fast, we have noon and nightly prayer meetings each day. God’s Word promises a reward to those who fast. The following are a few of the rewards people reported during a recent week of fasting.

“Today, I received the largest purchase order in the history of my business.”

“Before, I couldn’t open my mouth all the way. Now my jaw is completely healed!”

“Someone called my wife and said that God had spoken to them to pay the whole amount of our Couple’s Retreat registration. Then, the next morning another person said God told them to give my wife some cash.”

“All my life I’ve been afraid of small, dark, enclosed places. Tonight, I was the last one to leave the library on my campus. Normally, I would be terrified in that situation. No more! I’ve been delivered from claustrophobia.”

“I’m in the process of raising my support to be a missionary overseas, and last night, someone I didn’t even know approached me after the prayer meeting and said he would pay for my whole airfare.”

These are just a few of the tangible rewards people received during our fast. There were many more physical healings and financial provisions. More than that, there were countless spiritual breakthroughs. May we all declare war on the “stomach god” and, unlike Roberto, be set free to fast.

(Note: We encourage only healthy adults to fast. If you are pregnant or nursing, you should not fast. If you have any medical condition, you should check with your doctor before fasting.)