Fasting

Fasting is one of the practices of Jesus that is not really practiced much in Western society. Fasting is in direct opposition to the call from culture to live into every desire you have and indulge in every comfort possible. When everything outside tells you to live it up and not deprive yourself of any earthly good and desire, the practices of Jesus help us reorient our hearts toward Jesus. Jesus is all we need. This is hard to truly believe, but easy to say. This is where fasting comes in.

Jesus fasted in the desert before beginning His ministry. Jesus also said His followers would fast once He left the earth until He returns. That is right now.

First, what fasting is not.

Fasting is not done for the health benefits that go along with it. Yes, there are many studies about the benefits of intermittent fasting, but the spiritual practice of fasting doesn’t seek worldly benefits, but spiritual presence. Fasting is not something done in a flashy way. Fasting is a personal encounter with God and not something that should be touted as an accomplishment. Fasting is not testing your willpower to see how long you can go without eating. Fasting has a definitive beginning and endpoint and focuses on God through prayer in the middle.

Now, what is fasting?

Fasting is physical training that leads to spiritual formation. John Mark Comer reminds us in his book Live no Lies that “our strongest desires are not actually our deepest desires.” (pg 121) Our strongest desires are oftentimes the desires that are right in front of you at any given moment. For me, this is oftentimes good food. I love to eat and I often overeat. This is where fasting can come in handy - you are depriving yourself of good things so you can focus on the best person.

We very quickly allow “nonessentials to take precedence in our lives. How quickly we crave things we do not need until we are enslaved by them.” (Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline pg 56) Fasting is training your body to not get what you strongly desire so that you can focus on your deeper desires. It is a reminder that we are not ultimately sustained by food, but by God. Yes, God has given us food to help sustain us but we cannot lose focus of the goal of food - strengthen us so we can ever-increasingly focus on the true sustainer.

Prayer and fasting must be intimately linked together. Without prayer, fasting is not doing the forming work desired. Without prayer, fasting is simply not eating. Fasting, however, is a deeply personal experience with God.

I don’t want you to misunderstand me and think that enjoying food is wrong or somehow sinful. That is absolutely not the case. God created food for us to enjoy and for us to sustain our bodies with. However, in our Western culture the perception around food is not it pointing to God’s goodness, but simply indulging our longings. Food for us is not often an experience but is an obligation. You hear people say “I eat to live.” While you hear others say “I live to eat.” Both extremes are the reason we need fasting as part of our spiritual journeys.

Fasting limits good things for a time to train our bodies to respond when we don’t get what we desire. Over time, fasting will retrain our bodies, and thus our minds, about how to respond when things don’t go our way and we experience disappointment, neglect, and frustration. Your body will say, “I’ve experienced this before. What did I do? Oh yea, I prayed. I focused my negative energy towards the giver of all good gifts.”

How to fast?

When beginning this practice, it is good to start small. Start with a dinner-to-dinner fast. Ultimately that is skipping two meals - and most of us can handle that. Some of us do that unintentionally multiple times a week. Some people fast once a week, others twice, and others just once a month. What's key is to have a rhythm in place so that you don't forget about it.

Maybe you've been practicing fasting for a while and feel like you need a longer reset and refresh with God - try a bit of a longer fast. Make it 2 days or 3 days. But I wouldn't suggest going longer than that.

During your fast eat no food and only drink water.

During your fast, you will notice your body telling you to eat. Don’t push these feelings down, but allow them to lead you to prayer. Say a short prayer every time you feel hungry. Something simple and short like, “God, help me rely on your strength and not my own.” The point of prayer is to be in conversation with God and to focus our attention on Him. Allow the normal rhythms and signs of your body to gently nudge you to the Father.

When you come to the end of your time of fasting, do not overeat. Allow yourself to view food as a gift from God. Allow your time of prayer and fasting to change your relationship to food and anything else that you find you indulge in.

Don’t underestimate the power that fasting can have over weeks and months and years of practice.