Just a few people from the Bible who fasted and the result of their fast.

*Jesus- began his earthly ministry after fasting for 40 days
*Moses- after a 40 day fast received the 10 commandments
*Daniel- after a 21 day fast God blessed Daniel with wisdom beyond that of anyone else in the empire
*Esther- Haman called for the annihilation of all Jews. Esther called for a 3 day fast for all the Jews in her city. The result- the Jews were spared and Haman was hanged on the gallows he built.
*Hannah- could not bear a child. She “wept and did not eat”. God heard her plea and the prophet Samuel was born.
*Ezra- declared a holy fast for children
*Paul- God called him and shared the assignment for his life during a fast- Acts 9:7-9
*Peter- was fasting on a rooftop when God gave him a new revelation and called him to take the gospel to the Gentiles- Acts 10
*Jehoshaphat- needed to know the Lord’s plan to defeat an Army. Through a fast God’s plan was revealed and the Army was defeated.
*Elijah- the word Elijah received during his fast affected even the next generation
*Joseph- fasted in prison. When released he became fabulously wealthy and was put over all the money of Egypt. (Gen. 41:39-45)
*Solomon- humbled himself in fasting and prayer and God greatly increased his wealth and wisdom (Kings 3:10-13).

**My favorite because it happened relatively recently to a great Nation**

The people of Israel in 1963- It was on Yom Kippur in 1963 that the nations of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria allied to attack Israel and wipe out that nation. All of Israel had been fasting and repenting of sin before God for 24 hours. History records that the soldiers literally ran out of the synagogues to the front lines, having had nothing to eat for 24 hours. At first, the battle was going toward the Arab armies who pushed Israel back for 3 days. It appeared that victory for Israel was impossible, but the battle turned on the third day. Even though they were significantly outnumbered, Israel’s army was victorious and took back what ground they lost, plus more. Today, when you hear new reports about things happening in the “occupied territories” remember these are the additional lands Israel claimed during the Yom Kippur War.
All of my information came from Jentezen Franklin’s book, Fasting. As I have been doing my daily devotions I began to recognize that many people fasted in the Bible and God heard and answered their prayers. Now, the people on the list are just a handful of those who fasted throughout the Bible. There are so many more and many nations that did also. These were just a few that stood out in my mind as I was reading. I decided to “document” who fasted, what they fasted for, and how God answered their prayers as a testament to myself of how mighty God is. I knew this already, but as I have stated before, I sometimes have a lack of faith, so for me to write down all that God did helped me to see that if he can do such mighty work in their lives, then I KNOW he can and will do the same for me! He delivered nations from captivity and from great armies. He provided protection, healing, and wealth to those that were faithful to him. He showed direction and gave the 10 commandments to Moses. All of this was done through fasting, praying and believing.