Your God Is Your Belly!: Understanding the Purpose, Power, and Priority of Fasting

By R. Frederick Capitolin

This book teaches us about the science and benefits of fastingthe art of giving the belly a vacation. Fasting is defined in two words: Eat nothing. Fasting disconnects us from the natural and plugs us into the supernatural. It operates best as a three-man tag-team with loving, giving, and prayerfully seeking God. Fasting is humility. It is the draw near to God, the resist the devil and he will flee, the mounting up with wings like eagles, the run and not be weary, and the walk and not faint.

Those who have mastered the art of denying their body and nourishing their spirit are the Bibles history makers. They are the poor in spirit, the meek, they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, and those who know their God and do exploits. Indeed, fasters are the Moseses, the Elijahs, the Esthers, the Daniels, the Jobs, the Johns, and the Jesuses.

Fasting crucifies the flesh and destroys doubt and double-mindedness.
Fasting is the science of putting new wine into new container.
Fasting has its myths, methods, and motives.
Fasting must be held as a priority, with purpose, power, and pleasure.
Fasting has its how, when, where, and why.
Fasting is beneficial to the entire person,
Physical, mental, marital, medical, financial, emotional, and spiritual.

You know you need to Fast when
You are in a Fight
You have lost Focus
You need Fervency
You need an increase in Faith
You need Favor.

Fasting will help in the curing of diseases, the casting out of demons, and the reversing of
the aging process.

This kind comes out by nothing but prayer and fasting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524530471

R. Frederick Capitolin

Renelien Frederick Capitolin was born on the Caribbean island of Dominica. He attended the Roseau Senior Boys’ School and the Dominican Grammar School, among other schools. In response to his ministerial call, he attended the Christian Union Bible College. He also served as a member of the Dominican Royal Police Force. He pastored the Roseau Church of the Nazarene. He was ordained in 1987 and served in the marriage office in the Caribbean. After some time, he then founded and pastored the St. Joseph Church of the Nazarene in Dominica. In 1998, he migrated to the United States to join his wife and seven children, Cindy, Rachael, Ruth, Kimisha, Jeanel, Renelien Junior, and Benie. They all now live in Boston. He now works full time (temporarily) as a plumbing sales specialist at Lowe’s. He would also like recognize and honor some of the most precious children a man can be blessed to have, Floyd, Lydia, Shamarah, Mirium, and Cedric Capitolin. He feels a special call to minister to the body of Christ in the areas of giving, praying, and fasting.

Book preview

PART I

Chapter One

FAILING THE BELLY TEST

Adam and Eve Failed

God created man and set him in the garden with everything he needed. Man was permitted to say anything, do anything, see anything, and touch anything. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it, the Lord instructed. Well, it is a sad story; man, for the first time, listened to his belly. She took and did eat; he took and did eat. They failed the belly test, and the whole creation story went downhill from there.

The Children of Israel Failed

God allowed the children of Israel to go through the wilderness to the Promised Land, according to Deuteronomy 8:2, so that he could (i) humble them, (ii) prove them, (iii) know their hearts and know whether they would keep his commandments or not. Verse 3 says, And He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know that He might make thee know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

In short, God gave them the belly test. Before God takes you to your promised possession, he gives you the belly test. It is nice to be delivered from Egypt, but he only took you out to take you to the Promised Land. On the way to this land of promise, you must go through the wilderness, and on his wilderness agenda is the belly test, the aim of which is to teach you how to live not by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. How you perform on this test will determine whether you enter the land of promise or die in the wilderness.

No wonder Israel (the old generation) failed to enter because they kept complaining of the garlic and leeks and the entire Egyptian menu. They had failed to make the transition from belly to Bible; they had failed to love the Word more than their necessary food. Hence, their faith failed; they had failed the belly test. When it was time to enter the land, the spies went out and examined the land. Great land, they said, "great agriculture. Look at the size of the agricultural products we brought for you to sample, but we have three problems."

(1) The people are strong.

(2) The cities are walled.

(3) The giants are there (Numbers 13:27–33).

And to add insult to injury, making bad matters worse, when we compare these giants to us, we are like grasshoppers; our self-esteem and self-worth have been injured. So we cannot take the land. They cried, they complained, and they moaned.

Israel’s problem, however, had nothing to do with walls or giants. Their real problem was that they failed the belly test. They had failed to learn that man cannot live by bread alone.

The predicament remains the same today for Christians. Anyone who fails the belly test, though having been delivered from Egypt (place of bondage and of sin), will never enter the promised land of milk and honey (power and prosperity) but will wonder around Sinai (laws and regulations) until they die in the wilderness. The only thing that stands between you and your promised possession is your belly. Any Christian who can have belly victory will have ultimate victory. For on our way to the Promised Land, while we are in transit in the wilderness, we will meet with this kind, which can only come out by nothing but prayer and fasting. It is time to pass the belly test.

Noah’s World Failed

In Genesis chapter 6, God gave a serious account of activities in the preflood world. He said, The wickedness of man was very great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5). He continued to say, The earth was corrupt and filled with violence (Gen. 6:11).

What the Genesis account did not give was the foundational basis or root cause of this corruption. However, Jesus in Matthew 24:38 tells us why they were eating and drinking. There was no belly discipline; therefore, marriages went wild, and corruption and violence ended in destruction.

They were eating and drinking, so they failed the belly test. As a result, God’s judgment was forty days and nights of rain (Gen. 7:4–12).

No wonder when Jesus came on the scene to save us from a flood of judgment (fire), he first had to pass the belly test—forty days and nights in the wilderness eating nothing (Luke 4:1).

If Noah’s world had just passed the belly test, there would have been no flood. So if you suspect that the enemy is coming into your life, home, finances, or church like a flood, check your belly and change your menu. Forty days of eating the Word will cause the spirit of the Lord to lift up a standard against him.

In all your exams, please pass the belly test.

Esau Failed

Another individual who failed the belly test was Esau. However, we will detail this discussion in the chapter Your Belly or Your Birthright. Suffice it to say that he so regretted his belly choice that he sought a place of repentance with tears but could not find it. His belly once and for all had determined his destiny.

It is obvious, then, that your belly can shape your destiny. Like most people, Esau failed the belly test.

Chapter Two

PASSING THE BELLY TEST

Some of history’s greatest people became great for one reason, having passed the belly test. These were people like David, Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra. In fact, no one can be considered biblically great without having passed the belly test. The truth of the matter is this is the test of all tests; you stand or fall, fail or succeed, and be defeated or be victorious. Your winning or losing as a Christian is all based on the belly test.

Fasting produces faith; without faith, it is impossible to please God. Hence, pleasing God will sometimes mean displeasing yourself or, in other words, displeasing your belly. If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself (belly), take up his cross, and follow me, said Jesus. Follow me into the wilderness and see what I do and do it. Every Christian should have a wilderness experience, thus ensuring that he does not live by bread alone and that he can have victory over this kind, for it comes out by nothing but prayer and fasting.

Let us now look at four of history’s greatest men and why they passed the belly test.

1) Moses

2) Elijah

3) John the Baptist

4) Jesus

Moses

Born of parents who obviously had passed the belly test, for the writer to the Hebrews said, By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw that he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment (Heb. 11:23).

Among other things on Moses’s resume was the fact that twice he fasted for forty days. Wow! Twice. It would be nice to know what God’s opinion was of this man who got an A+ on the belly test.

1. The world’s meekest man (Num. 12:3)

2. Faithful in all God’s house (Num. 12:7)

3. Speaks mouth to mouth with God (Num. 12:8)

4. Face to face with God as a friend (Ex. 33:11)

Moses was also able to experience all the physical benefits of fasting, for in Deuteronomy 34:7, it is said, And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died his eyes was not dim nor his natural force abated.

In the final analysis, God said about this man who had passed the belly test, And there arose not a prophet, since Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

Prayer: Oh Lord, above everything else, take me into a relationship with you so deep, where I can know you as a friend, face to face. Amen.

Elijah

Elijah fasted for forty days at one stage and included on his resume were praying for rain and praying for fire.

Among other things, the New Testament had this to say about this man who passed the belly test.

Elijah was a man subject to like passion as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months (James 5:17).

Jesus

Although he was the Son of God, our greatest example entered his public ministry with a forty-day fast. Before you can have authority over demons and diseases you must have authority over your belly. In essence, even Jesus had to pass the belly test.

A man who cannot say no to his belly will never be able to say go to the devil. Yes, there will be ritualism, traditionalism, and formalism. Yes, there will be the make me feel good type of preaching—emotionalism. There will be the confession. We have the power. We have the power. Yet with our so-called power, we cannot heal a flu and we cannot cast out a fly. We have a powerless power. We praise, we worship, and we speak in tongues, but if we do not know prayer and fasting—the belly test—the sad truth is Paul I know, Jesus I know, but who are you?

So Jesus, before conquering the external enemy (the devil), had to conquer the internal enemy (the belly). The enemy on the inside is far more dangerous that the one on the outside.

Like Adam, like Israel, like Esau, Jesus faced the belly test. If thou be the son of God command this stone that it be made bread (Luke 4:3).

Come on, Jesus. Adam failed the belly test. Israel failed the belly test. Esau failed the belly test. But now, as Redeemer and Savior, you are faced with the same test; will you fail us? Oh no, for I hear you say, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Luke 4:4).

Bless God! Hallelujah! Noah’s world could not get it so it cost them forty days of water (a type of the word). Israel could not get it, so it cost them forty years in the wilderness eating manna (a type of the word). But Jesus got it. He passed the belly test. So you can pass it too. Praise be to the Lord!

It is very nice to note the differences and similarities with these three great fasters. Moses died but was ascended (his grave cannot be found). Elijah wanted to die but was ruptured. Jesus died and was resurrected. Thank God for these men, they all have one thing in common, they passed the ‘belly test’, and so can you.

Chapter Three