Question:
Does fasting have its place in today’s times?

Answer:
The Lord not only taught His disciples to fast, but how to, and how not to fast as well. “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou…appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:16-18). Fasting is a sincere secret commitment between the individual and his heavenly Father to deny self in order to bring honor to Him.

The fast the Lord has chosen is not the ritual of denying ourselves things, but denying ourselves (denying our wills) in order to bring honor to Him and blessing to others. The fast “that I have chosen” is not “to spread sackcloth and ashes under him,” but “to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free…to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house…” (Isaiah 58:5-7). The Lord denied His will every moment of His life, as He said in His prayer just before going to the cross: “Not My will, but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42).
When Daniel was burdened to know the Lord’s mind, he approached God “by prayer and supplications, with fasting” (Daniel 9:3), and the Lord showed him what is going to happen in the future. Difficult problems can only be solved by prayer and fasting as the Lord told His disciples regarding casting out a demon. “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). Let us like Ezra– “Fast…that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance” (Ezra 8:21).There are great extremes among so-called Christians today as to fasting. Many make fasting of food compulsory, and have attached a superstitious merit to it, while others have altogether neglected the uniting of fasting with prayer. But fasting should have it’s place, on occasion, in our lives, and self-denial must have its place in our lives if we are going to be pleasing to the Lord. Be careful, however, if you do not eat for a time, not to harm your body, for if you are saved “your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost…therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). May the Lord’s love draw our hearts to deny ourselves every moment of our lives, and SEEK ONLY TO PLEASE HIM WHO HAS THE VERY BEST FOR THOSE WHO LEAVE THE CHOICE WITH HIM.