Tempted for Forty Days

Growing up, some taught us that when you fast, Satan cannot speak to you or even dare to come near you.

But is this correct? Does a period of fasting insulate a man or woman from being tempted by the devil?

Do you reach a point in fasting where the devil suspends his work or goes on a break and says, “I will resume temptation when he is done fasting because he is in a higher spiritual state, so I won’t bother him”?

As if that were not enough, a fellow even said that if you break a fast by eating meat, you will be full of power.

He was taking us a step into occultism, teaching rebellion in Israel. We later found out that this fellow was not living right.

The danger with some of these unbiblical ideas is that some of God’s people have been deceived and have accepted every voice that speaks to them during a fast as the voice of God.

Every dream they have during a fast is assumed to be from God, and every supernatural manifestation is considered a divine occurrence.

This is not only religious brainwashing; it is a doctrine of devils (1 Timothy 4:1). It is a harmful doctrine that has made people drop their guard and assume they can scare Satan away when they fast.

Some do not read their Bibles during a fast, as though they have suddenly outgrown Scripture the moment they begin fasting.

They seem to believe that the mere act of fasting elevates them to a higher spiritual plane, one where they can pause their engagement with the Bible.

For all those forty days, Jesus was tempted. Satan did not pause his temptations because Jesus was fasting.

Satan fought Him from the very first day He set out to fast until afterward, when He was truly hungry.

The testimony of Scripture is: “Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered” (Luke 4:2, KJV).

Take note of the phrase “being forty days tempted of the devil.” The Bible states that Jesus was led into the wilderness purposely to be tempted by the devil: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

In essence, Jesus was continuously tempted by Satan for the entire forty-day period in the wilderness.

After the forty days, when He was physically weak from hunger, Satan presented three specific, detailed temptations, which the Scriptures preserve for our learning.

Thus, at no point in your spiritual walk should you go off guard. The same vigilance toward God’s Word that you held before fasting must be held during and after fasting.

At no moment, in season or out of season, are we taught to be careless. We do not overcome Satan by mere fasting.

We overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). Watch.