I remember
several years back when I was fairly new to the idea of fasting; I was really
struggling to follow through. One thing
you must know about me is I am an absolute sucker for brownies and chocolate chip
cookies; they are very high on my list of favorite things in life. So keeping that in mind, I was sitting at
work during one of my water only days and I was STARVING. My coworker sitting across from me pulls out
a plastic container of…chocolate chip cookies.
My body is screaming, GIVE ME COOKIE!
But my mind was in control so when she asked if I would like one I said,”
No thank you” and continued staring at the computer screen. As most of you probably know, one of the
important factors of fasting is to try your best to keep it private because it
really is just between you and God. So
imagine my dismay when after about five minutes of my coworker savoring the
cookies in front of me, she says “Are you sure you don’t want any?” You see, this particular coworker is what I
like to call a “food pusher”, very similar to a drug pusher, she wants you to
have just a little bit. And please know
this is something I’ve told her to her face, she understands the
implications. She wants you to eat with her. She
needs you to eat with her. Once again, I politely said, “No thank you.” But the last straw came when she actually took
the container of cookies and pushed them closer to me and said,” Eat one.” I lost it.
“I’m fasting and I can’t have a cookie!” I say exasperated. Her eyes got so wide and she started
apologizing. Of course I felt a little
guilty for spilling the beans but my will power was sinking, I did what I had
to do for self-preservation. Plus I don’t
think smacking my coworker over some cookies would have been in line with my
fasting purposes! From what I understand
God doesn’t like that kind of behavior so…
The church I
have been attending is starting a 21 day “Daniel Fast” this week. I thought it was really encouraging for the
church itself to ask members to fast corporately, they’ve also set up several
special prayer services during the fasting period. This is something that you see happening
during the month of January at churches all across the country. I myself have never successfully completed a
21 day Daniel fast; I started one several years back and didn’t make it through
the whole 21 days. But I just wanted to
take a minute and encourage other Christians to fast, it is most certainly not
a topic I am an expert on but over the last several years I have tried several
versions. Fasting is mentioned
throughout the Old and New Testament. It
went hand and hand with prayer. You don’t
have to start out doing a long fast like the Daniel one, if you are new to the
spiritual discipline start small. Go one
day without food and just water. Give up
caffeine for a week. Drink only liquids
and no food. The possibilities are
limitless. The main part is where your
heart is, the purpose of a fast is to draw nearer to God and seek Him through
prayer. If you take the spiritual
portion of the fast out, then you are just on some type of radical diet. Fasting is a SPIRITUAL thing. Two great books you should check out that I
have read are “Fasting” by Jentezen Franklin, and “The Daniel Fast” by Susan
Gregory. The Franklin book is great
because he goes into the scriptural reasons for a fast and gives you examples
of different types of fasts. The Gregory
book really gives a lot of good information on what you can and cannot eat on
specifically the Daniel fast, also tons of recipes.
Just like
the salvation experience, it is hard to describe fasting to someone who has
never done it. While fasting I have felt
so much closer to God. During those
times of fasting it brought to my attention that I spend a lot of time thinking
about food and planning around my next meal, fasting takes that physical need
and puts it behind the spiritual. I felt
more awake spiritually. I also have had
many breakthroughs in prayer; I have had answers come to prayers I had been praying
for months during my time of fasting. The
story in Matthew 17 where the father of a boy who was possessed by a demon
asked Jesus’ disciples to help his son and the disciples could not. Jesus cast the demon out and when the
disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t Jesus replied, “Because
of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard
seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will
move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except
by prayer and fasting.” (Matt 17:20-21 NKJV) One could argue that some answers only come
through prayer AND fasting like this incident from scripture.
So as we
continue into this New Year please consider trying a fast, what would it
hurt? I promise you that you will find
out exactly what I am talking about when you make the effort to get to know God
more. No, it’s not about showing
everyone how “good” of a Christian you are, or trying to “trick” God into
giving you something you want. It should
be a sincere, humbling, and private time of seeking out your Creator. Best wishes to those of you on your fast and
Happy New Year!
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