Fasting is a spiritual discipline that has fallen into little use in American churches today. It is little wonder. In our instant gratification, drive-up, feed-me-now culture anything that smacks of self-denial is looked upon with great suspicion. Anyone who shares that they do practice fasting is looked upon as something of an eccentric, or a hero. This misses the point of fasting.
Note that in scripture, fasting is assumed by Jesus as a normative practice among his followers. Jesus, when instructing his disciples in fasting says, "When your fast..." (Matt. 6.16-17). He is assuming that at different times in their journeys, they would find that fasting, as they prayed, would bring spiritual breakthroughs and progress not otherwise possible. Fasting is a key practice in scripture to growth and power.
Fasting is not a practice to be entered into legalistically. It is a means of humbling one's self before God to create the holy space through which God can speak to our spirits. Fasting reveals our dependence on people and things other than God. Through our hunger, we can come to more fully appreciate our dependence on the power and grace of God.
In my own life, some of the deepest revelations that God has given to me have come in those times when I have entered into fasting. Some of the deepest awareness of the grace and love of Jesus Christ have come when I have denied myself food and exposed the deeper motives and condition of my soul.
I invite you to pray and ask God if he would be leading you to practice fasting. Trust in him, follow his leading. You will be rewarded with a deeper and more powerful awareness of the power and presence of God in your life.
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