What's Up With This Fasting Stuff?

As a great portion of the Church spends these days in fasting, we should ask ourselves why? Why fast? Why spend time not eating, not watching television or movies? Why turn off FaceBook? Why set aside video games? Why put away those magazines? The reason is very simple. When you are in a forest all you can see is trees. You have to come out of those trees in order to see the forest.

Like it or not we surround ourselves with the things of this world. We may preach the Word of God but we still take pleasure from this world like anyone else. But those pleasures can blind us to the bigger picture. They can distract us from our calling and purpose. They can ruin out palate for the taste of God's Word. They cause our life to be complicate, cluttered and down right messy and usually it is our devotion to Jesus that gets squeezed out.

Fasting gets us out of the "trees" and allows us to take in the beauty of the "forest". It allows us to breathe, re-evaluate where we are, what we are doing and what is important. It frees up our mind and our heart so we can give them the rich "food" of heaven. It gives the Spirit room to restore our soul. It closes the door on all that "noise" so we can be still and know that God is God.

Many Christians struggle spiritually. Many say "I can't hear the Spirit". Many question their beliefs. It isn't because the message of the gospel has changed. It isn't because Jesus has changed. It is because their life is so full of "noise" they can't hear God. The solution is to do what we have always supposed to have done:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1)

Didn't Jesus say not to pursue the things that the pagan's pursue? But what do we spend 99% of our life doing? Is there really any difference between us and those without Jesus, besides us going to church, maybe? During this time of fasting we should be asking God to examine us, to correct our ways:

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (v. 2)

The Word says to set our hearts on things above and then it says to make sure our minds are there as well. There is a reason for this: We aren't like everyone else. We aren't like our friends who get caught up in the dramas of Tumblr and FaceBook. We aren't into the High School scene. We don't make work our life. We don't live for retirement. Our goal is not to own a home, two cars and to have 1.2 children. We are not concerned about the stock market or worried over the rumours of wars. We don't diminish our calling by throwing away our calling on xbox games and movies. We are different from the world:

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

And that is the truth of the matter. We do not live for ourselves but for Jesus. We don't live in ourselves but in Jesus. We do not seek self-pleasure but what pleases God. Our joy is not what we do but what we are because of Jesus. Our peace does not come from external matters but is a gift from Jesus, deserved or not.

I hope your goal in your fasting is to rediscover these facts. I pray you are seeking his face.

Fasting Provokes Greater Obedience (fasting series)

You can't be in the presence of Jesus without being changed. You cannot spend two hours in prayer without being changed. You cannot fast in the Spirit and not be changed. Simple fact, God changes us. He doesn't just change our thinking but our heart as well. As he changes our thinking, perspective and heart we in turn change our actions. There is no possible way that we can be in a relationship with Jesus, obedient to the Spirit and then not allow the Word of God to affect us. If we do not allow it to affect us we are lying when we say that we love Jesus.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:22-25) 

Do you want to know what is so great about fasting? It strips us of all the lies and leaves us in a place where we are honest before our LORD God Almighty. We see how bloated we were and as we are emptied of all the baggage that had us puffed up we realize the simple truth of it: if we really love Jesus we will be obedient to what he has told us. Simple. It's about obedience.

If you love me, keep my commands. (John 14:15)

It's about hearing his voice and responding. It's about hearing his voice from the Word of God and doing what we are told. It's about being open and desiring the conviction and direction of the Holy Spirit, never considering yourself and just doing it. Just do it. That's what it is about.

You say you love Jesus. How much? Enough to obey?

Are You Fasting Or Dieting? (fasting series)

Jesus fasted for 40 days but it wasn`t 40 days of sitting around doing nothing. He was engaged in spiritual warfare as the enemy tried to keep him from stepping into his purpose and destiny:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted^[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. (Luke 4:1-2)

I used to struggle with fasting, not able to get past 1 or 2 days. I found it hard, getting headaches, terrible stomach cramps, feeling weak and sick. I then noticed that on a busy day I could miss both breakfast and lunch and feel no ill effect. Yet, on a day of fast I would be overcome by hunger pains an hour after missing breakfast. What was this about?

A fast is not a matter of missing meals and it is most definitely not a diet. There is one purpose to a fast and that is to hear clearly from God, to get as close as we can to him, to have all the obstacles we have gathered to be removed so we can hear. It is not a time to skip meals but instead a time for some spiritual warfare, when we get onto our knees in prayer, entering into heart worship and diving deep into the Word. If we just create emptiness we are going to struggle but if we allow this time to become a lush garden of the Spirit then the fast will go quickly and will not end in failure.

If our fast is making us weaker and taking us further from God then we have a problem with our attitude and approach. It is better for us to stop, think it through and start at another time, understanding better our aims and goals in the fast. Perhaps we need to do more than fast food. Maybe we need to find a "desert", a place where we remove all the distractions from this time. Perhaps we should also fast our television, computer, books or whatever else is interfering with us seeking God's face.

Understand, if it's just about skipping meals we are not fasting, we are dieting.

When we emerge from our "desert" we should be stronger than we were when we went in. We should come out of it with passion and desire to see God's will complete in us and through us. We can't just go back to the same old same old. If we do then we know we did not really fast. You can't spend this kind of time with God and lay out this kind of sacrifice and come out the same. Jesus came out of the desert with the enemy under his feet, with his Father fixed before him and a passion to bring the Good News into the darkness. We should have that same experience, never to be the same again, ready to see the world changed by Jesus. If you come out this way then you know it has been a good fast.

Clarity To Know God's Will (fasting series)

What an incredible experience to fast and pray. There is not enough teaching or emphasis on this very special tool that has been given to us. Perhaps people have misunderstood Jesus' teaching to do it in secret and so keep it a private matter, not talking about it or encouraging others to enter into it. There is no better way to strip yourself of the useless things in your life and get a clear focus on Jesus.

There is a reason why we read in Scripture:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

This is definitely speaking about our daily living but our daily living gets bogged down with the unnecessary and useless things of our life. A fast brings into clear view what is and is not important. A fast cleans out the system. It reminds us that we are not living for our own pleasures. It reminds us that God has a plan and a will for our lives. How many of us have gotten trapped in this culture of entertainment, when our own needs have become more important than the needs of the lost for Jesus? How much does God's will even place in our daily thinking?

There is something amazingly wonderful about the clarity that missing 30 or 50 meals brings to your mind and perspective. It is that clarity that we are looking for, when the fog parts and we see God's glory, his purpose and his plan. The vast majority of the Body of Christ in North America has conformed to the pattern of this world and it is horrible. Millions of people are going to hell, but as long as we have our television and potato chips we are happy. How can God be pleased with his children?

We are suppose to renew our mind which happens through the Spirit and in the Word of God. There is nothing as renewing as a spiritual fast which cleans out the body, spirit and mind, as we set aside more time to be in worship, the Word and prayer. We have filled our days with so much junk how could we ever expect to know God's will? How can we hear his voice or the prompting of the Spirit over the ten murders and 20 sexual situations we will watch as entertainment on our televisions tonight?

It's time for the whole Body of Christ to return to fasting and prayer, to seeking the face of God and getting back to the reason we are still here. Forgive us Lord and show us the better way.

Now What Is This About Attitude? (fasting series)

Fasting is not any easy thing. I find it is not so much the hunger as it is the delight of the taste of food that I miss. I never realize how much I enjoy the taste of food until I have missed 20 or 30 meals. However, I will not allow this to break my resolve to set aside these things for the purpose of being changed and brought closer to the Lord. For me it is not enough not to eat; I want a stronger resolve than this so I carry on life as normal. In fact, I go beyond normal.

I do not avoid food at all while I fast. I sit with my family for all meals and enjoy their enjoyment of the food. Truth be told, I insist on preparing all the meals for my family, baking bread and blessing whoever I may with the extra time on my hands. It is not that I believe I am supper human and I am not trying to prove anything to anyone because it is not always an easy thing to do. The fact is, my fasting has nothing to do with anyone but me and Jesus. I just want to know that my love and dedication for him is real, that I can be resolved to go the distance not matter the adversity and trials I might face. It is not easy but either is our walk with Christ in times of adversity.

I believe that is one of the greatest reminders I receive during my time of fasting; Jesus never said it would be easy to follow him but he still invited us to follow. He even warned us that choosing to follow him would be a choice for a life of adversity but he also promised that he would see us through to the end. Unfortunately, in North America and other parts of the world, we don't live our life that way. We seem to cave with every little trial that comes along. We see it as some personal affront to our person, a trampling of our rights. We fail to understand the spiritual muscle the Lord wants us to develop. We act more like cream puffs than warriors. We want the whole world to know we are suffering and why. Little do we understand that we are robbing God of his glory, that we are saying to the world "My God can't look after me".

Jesus told us that when we fast not to allow our appearance to look as if we are. If you have fasted for longer than a week you know that your appearance begins to change. You become thinner looking. You lose some energy. You may get dizzy spells and may have to turn down some of the more rigorous activities. You start minding the cold. If you want people to know you are fasting it is an easy thing to let them see. Jesus said not to. It is the same with adversity and trials in our lives. Continue on as normal, trusting that our Father will look after everything. Don't go around telling everybody your problems, looking weak and frail, robbing God of his glory by complaining about him. He said he would look after you and he will. Have a little fortitude and resolve to trust his promises, to go the distance, to come out of it with your faith and witness intact. Show Jesus you meant in when you said that you love and trust him. Tell him that when you said that you give him everything you really meant everything. Did you not promise to go all the way? Was that only as long as the sun was shining? And what about attitude? What is the sense of going through the difficulties for Jesus but then rob yourself of the glory of it my complaining or being in a rotten mood?

Psalm 100 exhorts us to worship our God with thanksgiving and praise:

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving
     and his courts with praise;
     give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
     his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100:4-5)

Just as apostle Paul told us to always be joyful, we should make this psalm the anthem of all our fastings and in this way maybe we will remember to do this in all adversity and bring God great glory. Yes, I will continue to demand the greatest resolve from me in all things and I will test it in my fasting. I am resolved to go the distance in all things with the Lord. I want to give in as much as the next person but then I remember that Jesus went the distance for me. And I don't want to just do it, I want to do it in style, with laughter, joy and the praises of my Lord upon my lips at all times. He is great and he has done great things; he deserves our very best.

The Breaking (fasting series)

In this season of fasting something incredible begins to happen; the insignificant begins to fall away and the important things of God begin to rise up. Fasting brings many things into clarity and the fact that we are an unfaithful bride is one of those things. We give ourselves to so many things, compromising without recognizing the compromise. We love our Lord but it's not as pure and wonderful as we may think. So many things have crept in that we take to be normal but when the light of Jesus falls on them we see them for what they are, ugly and unwelcomed. You will be amazed at what some of these things are. You will say, "I didn't realize".

There is a breaking that takes place as we realize what we have done with this relationship and as his glory and holiness grips us in those arms of love; we only what to live for him. We want to let go of everything and throw ourselves into those arms, giving ourselves without comprise, only wanting to see him glorified in our life. You may even feel jealous of the woman in the Bible who poured out her love with the lavish gift of expensive perfume. So many who did not understand this act of love criticized such an abandoning gift but I really don't think she noticed and if she noticed she didn't care. In Mark 14 we see Jesus accept this gift with thankfulness and look how quickly and thoroughly he defends her:

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (vv 6-9)

You better believe it is told. We constantly give her a big shout out, for representing us, our love for our Lord, at such a dark moment. That was an act of complete devotion that told the world to go jump off the cliff because she was going to love him any way she could.

As we draw closer to Jesus in our fasting we too will experience this and be overwhelmed by it. It will come in various forms but it will always provoke a desire to re-dedicate our all to him. His love is so great and ours is so small in comparison but we want to give to him, even if it is as poor as our love. He deserves it. He deserves so much more. He deserves our undying dedication and our full attention. Enough with these distractions and the duplicity of our lives. He said it was all or nothing. He said we could not serve two masters. He said he has done it all for us so that we could serve him with our all. The fast will bring you so close that everything that does not belong to him will become repulsive to you. Let it happen. It's a good thing.

Allow the breaking to come. Allow it to wash over you. Allow the cleansing to be complete. Allow his love to fill every crevice, crack and rough spot until his holiness makes you smooth and beautiful in his image. He is our God and we serve him all our days with all our passion and desire. To God be the glory in our life. Come Lord, be the fire inside of me.

What Does A Fast Change, If Anything? (fasting series)

Do you mind if I ask you a personal question? Why are you fasting? No, I am being serious. What are you hoping to get out of it? Some people do it to lose weight even though fasting in the Body of Christ is a spiritual matter. Others fast because they want something from God? They want to earn his favour or twist his arm to get what they want. Fasting is neither of these, and if it is for you, you may find yourself complaining like this lot:

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, 
‘and you have not seen it? 
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ (Isaiah 58:3)

Of these people God said:

For day after day they seek me out; 
they seem eager to know my ways, 
as if they were a nation that does what is right 
and has not forsaken the commands of its God. 
They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. (Isaiah 58:2)

But God sees more than intention, he also observes the fruit of our heart. They may have been fasting and seeking to come closer to him but their action toward others during their fast showed anything but a heart for God:

Yet 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.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high. (Isaiah 58:3-4)

If our fast is not changing who we are, bringing us closer to our Lord, allowing our heart to be changed to be more like his, then we are wasting our time and sacrifice. God asks this question of us:

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, 
only a day for a man to humble himself? 
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed 
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? 
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? (Isaiah 58:5)

What kind of fast do you consider would be acceptable to the Lord? One that has benefit for our eternity, one the brings us more into line with his heart, one that changes us:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke? 

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  (Isaiah 58:6-7)

Consider for a moment what you want from this fast. Consider your motives and desires. Honestly, what do you want from this? If there is an selfishness or manipulation involved then either change your heart or quit the fast. We can't earn anything from God. Everything comes from his point of grace. The greatest thing we can desire for ourselves is a heart like Jesus and if fasting opens me up to this change then I will fast. That is the purpose of fasting, to be changed so that we would desire and understand the will of God. If we enter into it with this purpose, to be changed, he tells us things are going to happen:

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.  (Isaiah 58:8-9)  

Isn't that our great desire, to hear the voice of God say to us "Here am I". Open our eyes Lord! We can't live without your presence.