A Lesson From Ahab

Ahab was one of the evil kings who ruled over Israel during the period of the divided kingdom. In fact, he may have been the worst king out of some pretty terrible kings.  First Kings 21:25-26 says, “Surely there was no on like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols….” After the Lord’s anger was full, he sent Elijah the prophet to let Ahab know that both he and his wife were about to face gruesome death. The Word of the Lord was not “iffy.”  Elijah made the absolute statement that they would be destroyed. What happens next blows my mind. 

The Bible says, “It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently.  Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me?  Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days….'” 

Much could be said about this passage, but I come to it in a time when God has been reminding me repeatedly of the power of fasting. You won’t find a strong man of God in the Bible who didn’t regularly fast as a part of his prayer life. Reading through the Old Testament, it seems 8 out of 10 stories of God’s power involved fasting at some point. Name a famously awesome Bible character. He fasted and saw God move as a result. Somehow we skim over this, but look again and you’ll see that God responds to prayer and fasting like nothing else.  

In the New Testament, fasting is no less prominent. John the Baptist and his disciples fasted.  Jesus fasted, and said that later His disciples (that’s us) would fast. Jesus once indicated that sometimes prayer alone would not suffice, but that fasting would be needed to get the job done (Mark 9:29). There is something very powerful that happens when we add fasting to our prayer life. I know this both from reading the Word of God and by personal experience.

However, the point I want to make here is finer than just that Christ followers should fast. The point is that if Ahab, perhaps the most evil king of Israel, could basically change the plans of God through a season of desperate prayer and fasting, then what if those of us who are righteous in Christ were to fast as seriously? Someone will want to debate whether God changed His plans. Just read the story. God said he was going to do one thing. Ahab fasted and prayed. God said he would no longer do what he was going to do. Say what you want, but God’s heart was moved and He did something differently because of Ahab’s season of prayer and fasting. What if we fasted and prayed as desperately as evil Ahab?

We are not desperate enough.  We are not asking enough.  We are not fasting enough.