Kicking it Old School: FASTING

Saints, today I’m going to take what should be an obvious turn and encourage you to engage the time-honored practice and tradition of fasting to augment, foster, and facilitate a deeper walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’ll try to be brief. Why fasting? First, three conceptual points.

1. Jesus fasted and advised His disciples re: the practice.
2. The apostles, early church fathers, and great saints throughout the history of the church fasted.
3. The practice of fasting is mentioned throughout the Scriptures as a primary way to humble one’s soul and flesh before God. If you have a concordance, break it out and dig into the Word yourself for first-hand illustration.

Next, four practical points.

1. The time you spend thinking about, preparing, consuming, and cleaning up after a meal is all time you could spend with your Lord.
2. Every hunger pang or signal of physical discomfort can prompt you to return to the Lord in your spirit to sustain you with His life and Spirit within you.
3. Fasting helps to give your human spirit an edge in disciplining and subduing your body/flesh.
4. Fasting, when done unto the Lord, seems to sharpen your conscious perception of heavenly things, including the presence of your Lord. For one thing, your body isn’t all distracted by the digestive process, by the jump in blood sugar levels and then the resulting insulin dump and then the resulting crash in your blood sugar and then the resulting sleepiness and then the resulting craving for more food, and the resulting resumption of this whole process again. For another thing, your spirit seems more sensitive to heavenly things. And the more you develop your spirit’s sensitivity through exercise and practice, the more enhanced your spirit’s perceptual awareness seems to become, all other things being equal, pending the Lord’s grace and direction, of course.

Take it seriously and begin implementing it in your spiritual practice.

If you have never fasted before, some practical suggestions will follow this legal disclaimer: I am not a doctor and am not providing medical advice; further, if you’re older or have an underlying health condition, please consult with your doctor or other qualified medical or health care professional before beginning a fast. 

PS: You are responsible for you, m-kay?

That being said, here are a few tips. If you have not fasted before, you might want to start on a day when you will not be working or exerting yourself. You don’t want to put undue stress on your body, so perform your first fast in a controlled environment, where you can easily rest or cut your fast off right away if you experience too much discomfort.

A related idea here is to set aside plenty of quiet, private time for you to spend with your Lord, which should be easier if you’re not working or exerting yourself or doing lots of chores or errands.

But before you begin, ask the Lord for His guidance. You are His slave and want to please Him. Know that fasting can help draw you closer to Him, so if you feel you have the go-ahead from your Lord and Master, dedicate your fast to Him, ask Him to support you through His divine life in your human spirit, and to draw close to you and to reveal Himself to you through this ancient spiritual practice.

As an aside, I’ll note there are plenty of videos on YouTube that discuss Biblical fasting. Also note that it’s possible to fast in your own “natural” strength. However, I would encourage you to disregard that practice and just focus on fasting unto the Lord in His strength.

Another word: You can start by just skipping one meal. Then, in a week or two, you can fast again, and this time, you can skip two meals. Then, in a few more weeks, you can fast again, and this time, suck it up and skip three whole meals (and related snacking) and end up going for 24 hours. 

Don’t go crazy when you try to fast. Slow and steady wins this race. You’re not training for the Olympics or going on a hunger strike.

Also: Drink adequate amounts of water. Take your meds. And get plenty of rest and proper amounts of sleep.

May the Lord guide and bless you in this practice and reveal Himself to you in a special way.