Have you ever been hungry? Like not literally starving. But imagine you haven’t eaten all day and you just know your stomach is going to be growling and aching a little if you don’t eat something before you go to bed. If you’ve never felt it, that’s okay, and if you have that’s good!
I’ve never been great at fasting but this past training camp I decided to try it. In the past I’ve always forgotten that I was, or just chose against it, but this time I decided that I would.
Another struggle for me is getting in the Word. I know this might come as a shock (sarcasm) but I often find the Word of God boring and overall unfulfilling for my “action-enjoying” self. Basically, (this isn’t going to be a long post) if this is something that you’ve struggled with before, I recommend a good fast.
I didn’t know much about how to handle my fast. The people that I had seen do them in the past would just sort of disappear around mealtimes and reappear when they were over. I figured they were reading their Bibles or praying or something. So that’s what I did.
During every meal time instead of eating with my friends I would just sit and read, and something kind of crazy happened. I felt…fulfilled. Obviously my stomach was still empty, but I came away from those times without even thinking of the food that I was lacking. Along with this came what felt like a better appreciation and understanding for the living Words that I was reading.
-This almost feels like more of an informational article than a blog post and I promise I’ll give a proper update this weekend. But I just felt a sort of pull to write this one out.-
Jesus told us that as long as He is with us there is no need to fast, and He is with us! We have His Holy Spirit with us! However, does this mean we shouldn’t fast? I don’t think so.
I think that fasting is a discipline. An act of giving up something you’re dependent on in confidence that the Lord will provide. We’re dependent on different things too, it doesn’t even have to be food. Christ also gives us other directions on fasting that I think we should take into account in Matthew 6.
All in all, I just wanted to point out something that I feel like does not get highlighted much in the church today, but that I think has a lot of benefit. If you try it and you don’t like it, that’s okay. Fasting is about dependency and humility, not success. And always ask the Lord about it. “Should I fast?” “From what?” “For how long” “Why?” These are great questions to ask Him.
As always I will be praying for you, and please feel free to comment any prayer requests. I hope to talk to any or all of you soon!
