Fasting
Yep, I said the "f" word, but don't stop reading! As I meditate on the various ways I encounter the Lord, the subject of fasting has been swirling around in my spirit. Let me first say that I'm writing on each subject as the Lord prompts, with no particular order of importance to me. There are so many different ways to fast and I was thinking about the fact that in different seasons of my life, I also fasted in different ways. It's not my intention to discuss a current trend in small groups that fasting isn't for today. The Bible is chock full of proof that we are to fast - period.
For many years I did full fasts with water and juicing only. Those were some of the most amazing fasts I have ever done in my life. There was something about the feeling of physical emptiness that enabled me to hear the Lord very clearly. It's something I don't fully understand, but the hunger and weakness quieted my mind. During those years of fasting I received such clarity on situations where I truly needed His leading. For me the times of my full fasts were times of delight because of the ease of hearing Him in them.
The second season of my fasting consisted mainly of Daniel Fasts. These were actually harder fasts at times, than the full fasts; partly because my flesh wanted to eat what it craved and partly because the encounters with the Lord weren't as amazing, so there wasn't as much incentive. The ability to control my food cravings and give my body was it needed instead of what it wanted was symbolic of what the Lord was doing. There was no clarity of His voice in these fasts; no immediate reward of His
presence, and I had to push through by faith. At the time I didn't realize how much that would help me to persevere through some very difficult seasons in my life where the Lord was only giving me what I needed and not what I necessarily wanted. For me it was about strengthening my spirit and being led by it, instead of being led by my flesh.
The other main way I have fasted has been by shutting out distractions in my life. I would cut out things like Facebook, email, TV, etc., in order to keep my free time focused on Him. For me the decision to fast these things was much harder than actually doing it. These have always been times of deeper revelation because my mind isn't as cluttered with useless information and I am intentionally listening more.
Obviously there are many other things we can fast - fasting words of criticism or sarcasm, fasting video games or talking on the phone - the list is endless. However, there is one thing I know - fasting always does something within us even when we aren't aware of it. During a fast we don't even have to have a great deal of set apart time to make the fast worth our time. Something happens within our fast that causes us to become more aware of Him and our attention is constantly drawn back to Him because of the sacrifice we are making in our bodies.
Don't let fasting scare you. If the Lord is calling you into a season of fasting, it will be worth it - promise!