FASTING SECRETS REVEALED
By Linda Schreckenberg
Bro. Rhodus, please tell us about yourself, your ministry, and the church you attend.
I’ve had the Holy Ghost for over forty years and have been in ministry for thirty-five years, during which time I’ve assisted, pastored, and evangelized. My wife, Tammy, and I planted a church in Hammond, Indiana and were there for eleven years. We installed a new pastor there less than three years ago and left that work in his hands. We now attend the Christian Revival Center, pastored by Rev. Michael Otano, a great man of vision and prayer in Merrillville, Indiana.
You’re very passionate about the topic of fasting. How important do you feel fasting is in reference to Christian discipline?
The eating drive is the number one drive of the body and is the determining factor. If a person doesn’t have his eating under control through fasting, that simply means his flesh is in control. Paul said to walk in the Spirit and live in the Spirit. How can you do that if your flesh is controlling you? We want to be careful and not let entertainment or anything else control us, and fasting brings self-control. Great men and women of the Bible were those who fasted. Moses fasted two forty-day, back-to-back fasts. Jesus fasted forty days. When He took His twelve disciples to the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus brought Elijah and Moses, who had both fasted for forty days when they were alive, back from the dead.
Adam and Eve in the garden, as well as Jacob and Esau, dealt with the eating drive. There are people who don’t pray and fast, yet they’re used by God because they have faith. In my opinion, they’re on dangerous ground. We don’t want to crash and burn. Fasting is all about humility and gaining faith in God, not faith in ourselves. We must keep ourselves under subjection!
Why do you feel many struggle with the discipline of fasting? How can they overcome that struggle to make fasting become a joy?
I’ve gone for weeks or periods of time without fasting. Then, I had to start slow, maybe fast half a day for two or three days to get my body and my mind back into it. There is a spirit of fasting, just like there is a spirit of prayer. And, the Apostle Paul mentioned the spirit of holiness. The spirit of holiness refers to a mindset. I want to have a mindset of holiness before the Lord and live in that mentality.
You can get into a spirit of fasting and maintain it even after the fast. Many break their fasts with a huge meal, but that defeats the spirit of a fast. In my book on fasting, I explain maintaining the spirit of fasting for several more days afterwards. Then, you will begin to know the joy of fasting and look forward to fasting, because the Spirit has taken over.
You mention the word “secrets” when referring to fasting in your studies. Can you explain what you mean by “secrets?”
There are older revelations and information that haven’t been talked about for a while, yet they are valuable secrets. My study has uncovered some of those powerful concepts, or secrets, that will work for us today. There have been teachings contradictory to what the Scriptures are actually saying. For example, in Matthew 17, one misnomer is the contradictory teaching that the mustard seed is about small faith. Jesus rebuked small faith five times in the gospels, so small faith does not move mountains or get miracles. Jesus was talking about strong faith, big faith, as the potential of prayer and fasting. We know a fast doesn’t necessarily move God, but it builds our faith to greater dimensions to believe for greater things.
Can you explain some of the specific how-to’s regarding fasting that you would like to share with others?
Many of us have the discipline for a one-day fast. In the Bible when they fasted, they laid aside everything, including work, and set aside the entire time to pray and seek God. They expected an answer, and God came through. Those of us who work and have busy lives can set aside our Saturday or day off to fast and pray and seek God. I share stories and Scriptures in my book on fasting, but it’s not a book just to read through. I wrote it to be a book of learning, so I break down a fast and show examples of how, and how not, to fast.
There are various types of fasts. What has worked best for you in your personal experiences?
Being consistent in fasting is most important, regardless of which type of fast we do. One fast I do, among others, is the 24-hour Jewish fast that begins at 6 PM and goes till 6 PM the next day. I’ve seen miracles in all kinds of fasts and between periods of fasting. Actually, Daniel didn’t plan a twenty-one day fast, but to fast until the breakthrough came. It just happened to be twenty-one days, but Daniel couldn’t see the spiritual warfare taking place in the heavenlies during those twenty-one days he was fasting.
Are there examples of what you have seen happen through fasting?
While working on a church plant a few years ago, I had to drive by a very immoral nightclub two or more times a week. I began to point at the club as I drove by and commanded it to burn down in the name of Jesus and not be rebuilt. I did this over several months, and one day as I drove by, it had burned to the ground. A Burger King now stands in its place.
During the time frame at that church plant, my mother and I would go to pray at the church, taking authority over the city which at one time had around 300 taverns. It was like a miniature Las Vegas, with strip clubs and bars up and down neighborhood streets. We prayed against the spirit of alcoholism and bound the demon over the spirit of that city that had it bound for decades. We did this for months. Then, one day, the bold headlines of the newspaper declared the story. The mayor was buying up all of the properties where these establishments were, and over the next year, that entire main area was bulldozed to the ground! Then, during prayer one morning, I turned to see an angel sitting in a chair in the dark sanctuary. Fasting opens up heavenly and angelic realms.
Where can your book be purchased, and what is the price?
Fasting Secrets Revealed can be purchased through Amazon.com and is available in paperback ($11.95), eBook ($6.95), audio ($14.95), and iTunes.
What is your contact information?
I may be contacted through my Facebook page, Ministry of Charles A. Rhodus, or my website, www.charlesarhodus.com.