Disciplines for Life/Fasting: When Hunger = Power

From Gospel Translations

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Fasting, biblically defined, is abstaining from food for spiritual benefit. For most people, fasting ranks right up there with walking barefoot on hot coals, chanting mantras into the night, or taking a bath in goat’s milk. As a child I recall telling my mother that I was “starving” when dinner was an hour late. But skipping dinner altogether? When you don’t even have the flu!?

Many people in our consumptive society lack the insight that sometimes it is better to deny yourself a good thing in order to attain something even better. That’s the case with fasting: by denying ourselves food, we experience a few hunger pangs and a bit of physical weakness in order to grow in intimacy with God and explore new vistas of his truth and grace.

The Purpose of Fasting

Fasting is a biblical practice, not a biblical command. If you have not fasted until now in your Christian life, don’t live in fear that you have been disobeying God. You haven’t.

For most Jews of Jesus’ day, fasting was a common practice, rooted not only in their Bible and commentaries but in their culture as well. The Pharisees fasted twice a week—on Wednesdays and Fridays. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ phrase “when you fast” (not “if you fast”) shows he assumed this was a regular activity. And though other religious groups criticized him and his disciples for not fasting enough, Jesus predicted that when he—the bridegroom—left the scene, his disciples would fast (Mt 9:15). This last example seems to imply that those of us following Jesus today will participate in the spiritual discipline of fasting.

Jesus felt no obligation to match the self-righteous intensity of the Pharisees when it came to fasting. He saw that their motive was to impress others—perhaps even God—with their display of spirituality. People usually respect such outward signs of commit ment, but God looks deeper. “Was it really for me that you fasted?” he asked the pious Jews of the period following the Babylonian captivity (Zec 7:5). The physical practice of fasting won’t make us more spiritual, but it can open doors that we’ve yet to enter in terms of knowing God and delighting in his presence. As we look now at the host of reasons why we should develop this biblical habit, let’s strike self-righteousness from the list.

Fasting yields insight and understanding from God. Are you confused about something in life? Do you need direction? Are you puzzled by a difficult part of Scripture? Fasting can position you to receive God’s answers to your questions.

Daniel was a man of tremendous influence in Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar’s wisest counselor. Yet when the prophet read Jeremiah’s prophecy that the Israelites would be in captivity for 70 years (Jer 29:10), he was stumped. So in the ninth chapter of Daniel we find him fasting and asking God for understanding. While in the midst of his prayer, Daniel receives God’s hand-delivered message from the angel Gabriel. “As soon as you began to pray,” said Gabriel, “an answer was given, which I have come to tell you” (Da 9:23).

We can’t expect Gabriel to show up each time we skip lunch, but we can fast with a biblical expectation that God will give us the insight we need.

Fasting helps us master the desires of our flesh. There’s a snack room at my office where I can buy candy bars for only a quarter. Recently I found I had slipped into the habit of visiting the snack room every afternoon at around 2:00 for a little boost to my taste buds and my belly. I wasn’t hungry; lunch was only one hour past. I’d simply taught my body to enjoy that kick of fat and sugar every mid-afternoon. And though my waistline didn’t show the effects, I felt God put his finger on my sweet tooth. So I stopped my afternoon candy breaks. For a while I really missed them, my mind sending that “You’re starving!” message because my body wasn’t getting its food fix.

Candy bars are a minor obsession compared to something like cigarettes, alcohol, or inappropriate sexual excitement. But if through fasting you can learn to sub- due your craving for food, you can gain control over lots of other areas as well.

Paul was determined that nothing other than the gospel of Jesus Christ would master him (1Co 6:12). He disciplined his body so that it would be his slave (1Co 9:27). As fellow servants of Christ, we need to develop the same attitude. If God reveals that we have an undisciplined craving for anything—coffee, nicotine, Diet Coke, or candy bars—we need to show our flesh who is in charge. Fasting is an excellent place to start. This counts for any area of life that needs discipline: control over what goes into our mouths can lead to control over what comes out in the form of anger, gossip, or boasting.

Fasting humbles our souls. Just before the Israelites crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, Moses reminded them of what they had learned in the wilderness: “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you...He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Dt 8:2,3). But the Israelites quickly forgot. Once they entered Canaan, a land “flowing with milk and honey,” they strayed from their dependence on God.

When life is comfortable and we have everything we want—good food, a nice place to live, financial security—it’s easy to forget the One who has given us such blessings. We’re prone to say, as Moses warned the Israelites, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me” (Dt 8:17). Fasting is a great way to clear our minds of that delusion. Fasting takes away our sense of independence and lets us experience our powerlessness before the Lord.

In Psalm 35, David says, “[I] humbled myself with fasting” (v.13). When I fast, I feel weak. It sometimes feels like I’ve chosen a day of self-imposed sickness. I’ve never begun a period of fasting thinking, “Oh, this is great! No food for a whole day!” Sometimes I get headaches, and on fasts of more than a day I can get dizzy if I stand up too fast. Twenty four hours of fasting makes me weak and tired. But it’s a weakness that I highly value because it reminds me of my absolute dependence on God and his mercy. It is this heightened sense of dependence that I consider to be the most valuable result of fasting.

Fasting prepares us for challenging tasks. At different points in biblical history we find people fasting in anticipation of a significant challenge. Ezra was one of the leaders who brought the Jews back from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem. Before setting out on the long, dangerous journey he called a corporate fast to ask God’s protection (Eze 8:21-23). Jesus launched his public ministry with a 40-day fast (Mt 4:1-3). This time also equipped him to face the incredibly attractive propositions of Satan. Paul and Barnabas received confirmation of their sense of call to apostolic ministry during a time of worship and fasting (Ac 13:2-3).

Are you facing a significant or difficult decision? Is there a crisis in your life? Do you need grace for the week of vacation you’ll be spending with non-Christian relatives? Whether the challenge is spiritual or secular, consider preparing yourself with a fast.

Fasting sensitizes us to poverty and injustice. The Jews in Isaiah’s day exhibited all the outward signs of righteousness. But God revealed through the prophet that their fasting and religious zeal was hypocritical. Why? Because it didn’t affect their hearts. “On the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists” (Is 58:3,4).

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