Mahesh Chavda grew up in Mombasa, Kenya, in a Hindu family. After encountering Jesus as a teenager through a series of vivid dreams, he eventually became a Christian pastor. But the early years of his ministry were marked by frustration — he believed God healed people, yet he rarely saw it happen.
The Turning Point
In 1977, Chavda felt God call him to a forty-day water-only fast. He was living in the United States at the time and had no track record in healing ministry. The fast was gruelling. By day ten, he was weak. By day twenty, friends urged him to stop. He pressed on.
During the final days of the fast, Chavda described receiving what he called a "mantle" for healing and deliverance. He did not hear an audible voice or see a vision. He simply felt something shift — as if a door that had been locked was now open.
What Happened Next
Within weeks of completing the fast, Chavda began seeing healings in his ministry that he had never experienced before. People who were deaf could hear. People with tumours reported them disappearing after prayer. Over the following decades, his ministry documented thousands of healings across Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Chavda became known for extended fasts, completing multiple forty-day fasts over his lifetime. He maintained that each one deepened his capacity to see God move in supernatural ways. He never claimed the fasting earned the healings — he said it removed the internal barriers that prevented him from exercising the faith God had already given him.
What This Means for You
Chavda's experience suggests that fasting can unlock capacities that already exist within you. He believed in healing before the fast — but the fast removed whatever was blocking him from walking in it. If there is a calling or a gift you believe God has placed in your life but you have not been able to step into, fasting may not add anything new. It may simply clear the path to what was already yours.