Purpose: “To loose the bands of wickedness” (Isa. 58:6)—freeing ourselves and others from addictions to sin.

Key Verse: “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:21, KJV).

Background: Jesus cast out a demon from a boy whom the disciples had failed to help. Apparently they had not taken seriously enough the way Satan had his claws set in the youth. The implication is that Jesus’ disciples could have performed this exorcism had they been willing to undergo the discipline of fasting. Modern disciples also often make light of “besetting sins” that could be cast out if we were serious enough to take part in such a self-denying practice as fasting—hence the term “Disciple’s Fast.”

Purpose: “To loose the bands of wickedness” (Isa. 58:6)—freeing ourselves and others from addictions to sin.

Key Verse: “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:21, KJV).

Purpose: To “undo the heavy burdens” (Isa. 58:6)—to solve problems, inviting the Holy Spirit’s aid in lifting loads and overcoming barriers that keep ourselves and our loved ones from walking joyfully with the Lord.

Key Verse: “So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer” (Ezra 8:23).

Purpose: “To let the oppressed (physically and spiritually) go free” (Isa. 58:6)—for revival and soul winning, to identify with people everywhere enslaved literally or by sin and to pray to be used of God to bring people out of the kingdom of darkness and into God’s marvelous light.

Key Verse: “So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, ‘We have sinned against the Lord’ ” (1 Sam. 7:6).

Purpose: “To break every yoke” (Isa. 58:6)—conquering the mental and emotional problems that would control our lives, and returning the control to the Lord.

Key Verse: “He himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness.… He arose and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights” (1 Kings 19:4, 8).

Purpose: “To share [our] bread with the hungry” and to care for the poor (Isa. 58:7)—to meet the humanitarian needs of others.

Key Verse: “The jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah” (1 Kings 17:16, NIV).

Purpose: To allow God’s “light [to] break forth like the morning” (Isa. 58:8), bringing clearer perspective and insight as we make crucial decisions.

Key Verse: “And he [Saul, or Paul] was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:9).

Purpose: So “thine health shall spring forth” (Isa. 58:8, KJV)—to gain a healthier life or for healing.

Key Verse: “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank” (Dan. 1:8).

Purpose: That “your righteousness shall go before you” (Isa. 58:8)—that our testimonies and influence for Jesus will be enhanced before others.

Key Verse: “He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink” (Luke 1:15, KJV).

Purpose: That “the glory of the Lord” will protect us from the evil one (see Isa. 58:8).

Key Verses: “Fast for me … [and] my maids and I will fast … [and] I will go to the king … [and] she found favor in his sight” (Esther 4:16; 5:2).