Spiritual Disciplines~ Fasting (Mandie) I have a confession to make...I LOVE peanut M&Ms. I absolutely crave them. I usually have a small bag stashed somewhere, either in my purse or in my car or tucked away in a hidden drawer somewhere in the house away from little hands. The sweet salty goodness just calms me on those teetering on the edge kind if days. So when we held our writers meeting for this blog, we decided to draw lots to determine who would write about each discipline. I was not too happy when God chose fasting for me. But I wasnt too surprised either. God has been talking to me for a little while now about making some healthy diet changes, so fasting falls right in line with the word He has been gently whispering in my ear. And like a true disobedient child, I have dug in my heels. I have folded my arms across my chest and made my pretty little pout and thought I dont want to! We are already working on so much together God, I really need my peanut M&Ms just to get through the day. But just like Dumbo did not need that magic feather to fly, I knew deep in my heart it was His word He was trying to get me to lean into instead. Like a true father, He knows what is best for us. ~For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future~ Jeremiah 29:11 So I began to learn a little bit more about this fasting thing. Honestly, two years ago I kind of thought fasting as kind of foreign to me or something only radical Christians did. Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days all the while being tested by Satan! What discipline it must have taken. Discipline that produces self-control. Well, that is one fruit I seem to struggle with as well. Hmmm.... there just may be something to this fasting thing. We already learned about the fruits of the spirit, now we are learning that each discipline has a purpose that produces fruit. Ok, so what was I going to fast from? I heard about how some of my friends were fasting from Facebook, or TV, or chocolate. Anything that stood in the way of their fellowship with God. In other words, anything they had a hard time living without. Anything that has become an idol. So Facebook had become a time sucker in the days of late, so I decided to fast from that. Anything to avoid giving up my peanut M&Ms. That is until Sunday. Sunday morning I heard a sermon so powerful and right on when it came to fasting that there was no denying the fact He had chosen that sermon for me and for many others, for a time such as this. In essence, it said that yes, you can fast from Facebook, or chocolate, if that is what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do. But biblically speaking, fasting involves abstaining from food with a spiritual goal in mind. Food. Not anything else. I left church on Sunday thinking Well, shoot. There is no getting around it. Those peanut M&Ms have to go. So why do we fast? What can we benefit from it? The Hebrew translation means not to eat while the Greek translation means no food. In my mind, however you translate it, it means I was going to be hungry. I know how I get when Im hungry, and its not very pretty. Or self-controlled or joyful. In fasting, we abstain in some significant way from food, and possibly drink as well. This discipline teaches us alot about ourselves very quickly. It will certainly prove humiliating to us, as it reveals to us how much our peace depends upon the pleasures of eating. It may also bring to mind how we are using food pleasure to assuage the discomforts caused in our bodies by faithless and unwise living and attitudes- lack of self- worth, meaningless work, purposeless existence, or lack of rest and exercise. If nothing else, though, it will certainly demonstrate how powerful and clever our body is in getting its own way against our strongest resolves. Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source beyond food. Through it, we learn by experience that Gods word to us is a life substance, that it is not food (bread) alone that gives life, but also the words that proceed the mouth of God (Matt 4:4). We learn they we too have meat to eat that the world does not know about. Fasting unto our Lord is therefore feasting--- feasting on Him and doing His will. ~Willard, pg 166. So the benefit we glean from fasting is Him! I will gladly give up my peanut M&Ms if it means I will get to feast on Him. Fasting, though, is a hard discipline to practice without it consuming all of our attention. Yet when we use it as a part of prayer or service, we cannot allow it to do so. When a person chooses fasting as a spiritual discipline, he or she must, then, practice it well and often enough to become experienced in it, because only the person who is well habituated to systematic fasting as a discipline can use it effectively as a part if direct service to God.~Willard, pg. 167. I am not a person who had chosen this practice before, so I am therefore completely sure how to use this discipline. But I do know that I am interested in learning more. If you are in the same boat I am, I encourage you to research and seek His word for guidance. The Lord has laid it upon my heart to also encourage anyone who may have a medical diagnosis of say diabetes or hypoglycemia to please consult a medical doctor before choosing this discipline. This may or may not be the discipline for you, but keep listening to His voice and He will guide you in the right direction. God will continually call us to obedience in areas in our lives that are not Christlike. We are not only learning to hear His voice, but are called to continually seek His word. He will pursue us until the end of time because He loves us more than even we can imagine! God CAN move through broken people. I have seen it. When we are whole hearted. Sincere. Transparent. Possess pure devotion to Christ. THAT kind of person is walking in obedience, sacrificing everyday, surrendering their will, trusting when they cant see all while standing on His truth. THAT very kind of person can have immense power in Gods Kingdom by shattering strongholds, breaking soul ties, restoring relationships and mending torn and frayed hearts. THAT is Kingdom living now. Are you in?
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 04:25:26 +0000
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