Yesterday TGP-Chicago launched a corporate fast after our 3 week series “Ezra: Build the House of God.” This season, we are standing in faith for the next step in the development of our community. As we fast and gather for prayer each night this week, it is always good to reflect on the purpose and benefits of fasting. Below is a small list for our reflection:
-A little bit on Fasting:
Tangible expression of one’s relationship with God
Christians serve God in many tangible ways. We sing worship songs. We have devotional times. We pray. We feed the poor and help neighbors in need. Yet over time, it is easy to let those things fall into mindless routine. As humans, it is our nature to put as many things on autopilot as we can in order to grow and function. However, to maintain proper balance in our spiritual and soulish lives, we often need to intentionally take on an irregular endeavor. The irregularity can help us be more mindful of the present and more in tune with how our bodies and minds are reacting.
Fasting helps with that. In a regular schedule, we’ll have comfort foods, comfort hobbies, and leisure activities. When we take on fasting whether dietary or something different, it shakes up the routine. When our minds drift toward what we routinely do, like eating, we are given pause to remember that we decided to stop eating. Why did we decide to stop eating? So we can intentionally enter the Lord’s presence in prayer and fasting.
In the Bible, believing = acting in obedience. We live our our beliefs through our actions. It is not enough for someone to give God lip service and never work towards transforming their life to imitate Christ. To believe is to act in accord with God’s instruction. Fasting helps empower that. We are called daily to enact our faith through actions. Through fasting we take that action into the realm of the irregular. It is an allocated or sanctified period of time where we more intently serve God by denying our regular appetites/luxuries.
Fasting can help put away desire for distractions
In our culture, there are a great many distractions yelling for our attention. From the roadside billboards telling us we’ll be fulfilled with a certain brand of food, to TV commercials that promise we’ll become more attractive if we use their brand of cologne. We are so bombarded with what I refer to as “noise” that it often threatens to seep into our subconscious.
The best weapon against the noise is a time set aside for sensory deprivation. No TV, No Internet, No Radio, etc. In this sanctified time, we put our efforts into controlling what goes into our minds. Fasting puts away some appetites, but that is only the starting point. From their we extend it out to only allow sensual experiences related to being in God’s presence in worship and prayer. In fasting, we exhibit a great degree of self-control. We put physical effort into our service of God above all other desires. Which means silencing the “noisy” distractions that permeate us on a regular basis with irregular sensory deprivation.
Fasting will align our hearts for God and His will
Fasting is designed to enliven our spiritual experiences. What that means is it creates a sacred space where we can cultivate an ever-growing right relationship with the Father. We clear out our carnal distractions and appropriate our time and energy in prayer and worship. We learn to hear the voice of the Lord to a greater degree. We also become more sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Fasting deadens our carnal senses so that our spiritual senses can be more active and rejuvenated.
There are several other benefits to fasting in both the spiritual and physical arenas. At the end of the day, Fasting is a physical act that we can do in order to engage with our Heavenly Father in a more spiritual way. We fast, not because we are afraid of God. We fast because we love God and we want Him to take the highest priority in our lives, to such an extent that we are willing to go without worldly distractions and culinary fulfillment to be more present with the One who loves and saved us.
What are your thoughts on fasting? Let us know in the comments below!
As we carry on fasting this week, may the Lord bless you with a greater sense of His presence and a clearer ability to hear His voice.