The Blessedness of Fasting: Insights from Apostle Dr. Michael Mband
Fasting is more than a spiritual discipline—it is a gateway to experiencing deeper dimensions of divine guidance, favor, health, deliverance, and breakthroughs. In his Day 10 message, Apostle Dr. Michael Mband passionately illuminates the blessedness of fasting, encouraging believers to focus beyond material needs and engage fasting with wisdom and expectation.
- Fasting Provokes Divine Guidance
Apostle Mband emphasizes that one of the greatest benefits of fasting is divine guidance. He teaches that as we abstain from physical sustenance and seek God, our spiritual senses become sharpened, enabling us to better hear God’s voice and receive direction. Citing Isaiah 58:6,11, he explains that fasting “loosens the bands of wickedness” and opens the way for the Lord to continually guide and satisfy us, even in dry seasons.
“During fasting and prayer, don’t just pray for daily needs. Focus on divine guidance. Ask God: which way should I go, what should I do?” – Apostle Dr. Michael Mband
He underscores that faith and expectation are key—God responds where there is hunger for guidance. Just as Solomon received wisdom because he asked with purpose, so too must believers prioritize seeking divine direction over temporal requests.
2. Seek Favor, Not Just Needs
Rather than praying for individual needs—such as rent, school fees, or a spouse—Apostle Mband urges believers to pray for God’s favor. He reasons that favor is a comprehensive blessing: it brings with it provision, relationships, enthronement, and abundance. Drawing on scriptural examples like Joseph, Esther, and Daniel, he demonstrates how favor lifted ordinary people to extraordinary positions.
“When you ask for favor, you are using one stone to kill many birds. In favor is your spouse, provision, and promotion.”
He advises against prayers focused on needs that should be “added” to us as we first seek God’s kingdom. True change comes when we ask for—and expect—the favor that comes through aligning with God’s purposes.
3. Fasting Unlocks Divine Health
Fasting, when approached with faith, is also a platform to experience divine health. Referencing Isaiah 58:8 and Proverbs 18:14, Apostle Mband states that our “health springs forth speedily” when we fast. He challenges believers to aspire not only for healing but for sustained divine health—the kind symbolized by Jesus, who “never became sick."
Faith is essential; belief that God’s promises of health are accessible during fasting sets the atmosphere for miracles and wholeness in Christ.
4. Deliverance from Evil and Unwanted Habits
Apostle Mband teaches that fasting is a potent weapon against “patterns, addictions, and sins that easily beset us.” He illustrates this through the story of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5-10), showing how sincere fasting and repentance led to God’s mercy and deliverance.
He notes that some spiritual chains can only be broken through sustained fasting and prayer—habits and bondages are often too strong for ordinary prayers alone.
5. Fasting Facilitates Answers to Prayers
Fasting, the Apostle contends, “gets self out of the way.” By weakening the flesh, fasting removes barriers to answered prayer, enabling believers to approach God in deeper humility and alignment.
He highlights:
- Isaiah 58:9: God responds to the cries of those who fast righteously.
- Matthew 6:16-18: God rewards fasting that is done with sincerity, not for show.
When believers fast, they often find themselves praying more fervently and persistently, laying the foundation for speedy and supernatural answers.
6. Fasting Breaks Barriers to Spiritual Inheritance
Drawing from Isaiah 45:1-3, Apostle Mband reveals that fasting “removes obstacles” on the path to our inheritance in Christ—making crooked places straight, breaking gates of brass, and opening doors that cannot be shut. By applying the blood of Jesus and standing in faith, believers can lay claim to promises that have long been withheld.
Practical Counsel for Believers
Apostle Dr. Michael Mband concludes with practical exhortation:
- Pray with expectancy: Approach God believing that He desires to guide, speak, and bless.
- Request the mind of Christ: Seek wisdom, humility, and obedience above all else.
- Pursue spiritual objectives: Make divine direction the focus of your prayers, not just material needs.
- Stand on faith: Trust in God's faithfulness, knowing that fasting is a platform to access blessings already secured by Jesus.
Final Thoughts
Fasting is not merely an exercise in denial; it is an opportunity to reposition oneself for supernatural breakthroughs. As Apostle Dr. Michael Mband powerfully teaches, let every period of fasting be marked by a hunger for God's guidance, favor, health, deliverance, and the fulfilment of destiny
