My Journey into Fasting - Part I

                                          Fasting P's and Q's - by Linda Young
Disclaimer :)   I am in no way saying either that you should or should not fast, or that any kind of fast is wrong or right.  Certainly Scripture is filled with examples of God blessing His people who fast .   Everything that follows comes from my personal journey and what I believe God has shown me.

Several years ago, a group of ladies I was meeting with decided to fast every Monday to seek God's guidance in ministry.  I was excited to be a part of the group, but had concerns, because in the past, the physical symptoms I experienced while attempting to fast made it impossible to continue.  So I asked, what is it about going without food that makes God more likely to hear and answer prayers? 

They rushed to reassure me that fasting didn't mean fasting from all food or even any food.  One lady entered the meeting sipping on a McDonald's Sweet Tea, saying that she was fasting from Starbucks coffee on Mondays.  Another was going to fast from television on Mondays, but asked if it would be okay if she TiVO'd the Olympic event that was going to be televised that night and watched it Tuesday (is that cheating?).   I decided to fast from food.

I really wanted to fast the right way, so I began researching for a good book to read on fasting.  Here's a small sample of some titles I found:

"Fasting: The Private Discipline That Brings Public Reward"

"Fasting Journal: Your Personal 21-Day Guide to a Successful Fast"

"Intermittent Fasting (Just One Day Per Week): How I Went From Short and Fat To Short and Sexy!"

"The Amazing Power of Fasting--Discover the Ancient Secret to Effortless Health, Wealth and     Unconditional Love"

"Fasting that Moves the Hand of God"

"Fasting from Alif to Yaa: A Day by Day Guide to Making the Most of Ramadhaan"

"FASTING - the Second Step to Eternal Life"

It is clear just from the titles that all fasting is not godly.  But why would God be pleased if I deprive myself of food?  Someone said God will know how sincere I am.  Does He not already know my heart?  Are my prayers really sharpened by fasting?  Does a dull prayer not reach God's ears?  Can God hear me better when I'm starving myself?  Will He answer a prayer differently if I fast and if I don't?  Is He manipulated or moved by a hunger strike?

With all these questions, I began journaling my fasting journey and my questions.  I wrote some things that I knew weren't right as soon as I wrote them down.  My own words kept coming back and haunting me.  Obviously I was off base, so  I turned to Scripture to see exactly what and when and how God told His people to fast.   I couldn't find a single verse where God tells His people to go without food, when to fast, for how long, and how to do it.  But Scripture had much to say about a fast that pleases or displeases God.  The Hebrew word for fasting is "tsum" which means basically to cover your mouth, or to go without food and/or drink, so we can assume that a Biblical fast is one where we go without food and/or drink.  The ladies told me it was because they didn't have Starbucks or TV back then.

The book of Daniel describes that Daniel declined the king's rich food and asked for a very basic diet.  This is often considered a Daniel fast, eating only veggies and grains.  But rather than a true fast, wasn't Daniel merely abstaining from foods that would defile him, in other words, keeping kosher?

If "tsum" means cover your mouth, can there be a true partial fast?  Perhaps there's a difference between abstaining and fasting?  Maybe we abstain from bad habits to break them, or to discipline ourselves, or abstain from certain foods for our health, but that the true meaning of fasting is going without food?

Can it be that the practice and discipline of fasting was a Pharisaical Jewish tradition and not a commandment from God?  Can it be that Jesus fasted because it was tradition?  That when He told His disciples, "when you fast ..." He meant it more like, "when you go to the grocery store, buy milk."  Not a "thou must" but a "since you will"?

My Q's (questions) found their answers in P's:

I.  PURPOSE:  PLEASE GOD
Isaiah 58:3-5  'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "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. 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?

Jeremiah 14:12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague."

Zech 7:5 Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?'

Clearly, all fasting does not please God.  I reasoned that if God didn't command us when and how to fast, I could learn something by reading about the very first fast recorded in Scripture, by whom and why; and ultimately, why Jesus fasted.   If anyone could fast in a way to please the Father, it is Jesus.

The first fast recorded was Moses in Exodus 34:2: "Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain."

Jesus' fast is Matt 4:1.  "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil."

In each, God called them to the fast.  Had I really been called by God to fast on Mondays, or did I just want to experience something amazing and be a part of the gang?  Was it really God I was fasting for?  So what pleases God about a fast? 
Being changed or transformed by the fast.

Compare Isaiah 58:3-5 with verses 58:6-9 "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?  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 . . ."

See the before and after?  The actions verbs that please God that come from fasting: to loose, untie, set free, break yokes, share food.  And not for "only a day."  Notice, too, that there is no mention at all of going without food.  In fact, He says share your food.

Again, compare the "before" of Zechariah 7:5 with the "after"  in verses 8-10:  "And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah:  "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'

In Exodus 34:29 we learn that Moses was transformed physically.  He was so radiant from his fast and His time spent with God that he had to wear a veil.

Because Jesus was and is always perfect, we can't exactly say that Jesus as a man was transformed, but we do see that His life on earth, His ministry on earth, was changed from that moment forward.

Our goal is to fast in a way which pleases God, not to please self.  Consider all the book titles that I mentioned previously.  Who is the focal point of those fasts?   Self.

So from these Scriptures, we have a few principles about a fast that pleases God:

1)  God calls or invites us to fast

2)  A fast for God, a fast chosen by God
3)  One that changes us.  It is transforming. 

My Journey into Fasting - Part II

                                                    Fasting P's and Q's - by Linda Young

II.  Plan and Prepare for Prayer

One of my journal entries went something like this:  Thank you Lord, for keeping me so hectic and busy all day long that I didn't even realize I was fasting. Seriously?  That can't be right.  In Isaiah 58:4 (NIV), God says that "you do as you please."  Contrast that and my journal entry with Joel 1:14 and  2:15-16 where God calls the people to sanctify a fast, consecrate, set aside, declare holy.

But there I was, doing as I pleased, going about my routine and doing all my normal things.  I was going without food for no reason.  Oh, sure, when my tummy grumbled I would shoot up an arrow prayer as I worked.  But my time was not set apart or sanctified, and there's nothing holy about the noises my tummy made. 

There are two words that Scripture repeatedly links with fasting.

The first word is prayer.  Plan to set apart, to consecrate some time for prayer.  What kind of prayer?

Moses talked to God, but he really listened to God.

 Although Scripture doesn't tell us what Jesus prayed while he was fasting in the desert,  we can assume He was intimately conversing with the Father.  He was being strengthened to overcome temptations and spiritual warfare.

I notice here that both Moses and Jesus spent the time AWAY from their normal life responsibilities and spent the time ALONE with God.

Anna, the prophetess mentioned in Luke 2:37, worshiped as she fasted.

In Nehemiah 9, Israel confessed their sins as they fasted.

The second word linked with fasting is humility, to humble yourself.

My first journal entry went something like this:  I am preparing to fast today.  I have a supply of Gatorade in the frig to prevent dehydration and hopefully prevent roaring headaches, plus a bottle of Tylenol on my desk just in case it doesn't, and a supply of Imodium just in case other issues present themselves.

I wanted to avoid suffering and discomfort.  I was worried with self and the comfort of self.  Can God be pleased with a fast when I'm only worried about myself?  Suffering and adversity changes us (remember the kind of fast that God has chosen).  When we suffer, we start to see things differently.  We can see what is important and what is meaningless.

Comfort has become an idol to us in America.  How often do we avoid things, conversations, people, situations that make us uncomfortable?  We push our uncomfortable clothes to the back of the closet.  We spend money on things that make us more comfortable.  Ever said, "I'm just not comfortable with that." But comfort isn’t always a friend.  Comfort seems to keep us from seeing ourselves as we really are.  We never have to face our true selves, to really evaluate our lives.  If we really did, we might be humbled.  When we really look at ourselves, we will find humble confession in order as part of our prayer.

So plan to set apart time with God in prayer when we fast.  Consecrate it, make it a holy time with God in prayer.  Spend the prayer time in worship, in talking with God and listening to God, being strengthened by Scripture, and humbly confessing our sins.

III.  Practice!!

Another journal entry was one where I was very upset with myself.  It was a day of fasting, and I had wandered out of my office for more Gatorade.  I absent-mindedly picked up a few cookies from the counter and munched on them while I fixed my Gatorade and went back to work.  As soon as I sat down and realized what I had done, I felt awful.  I failed!  What kind of idiot fails at fasting (me, obviously!)

Do you remember the old joke that asks, how do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, practice, practice!

There was a book in that list I mentioned that spoke of having a successful fast.

So what is a successful fast?  Is a fast successful when we get the answer we want to our prayer?  Would Queen Esther's fast have been called a success if the king ordered her execution, but the Jews were still saved?  Is it a successful fast if I can make it for 24 hours without food without fainting?

Could it be that a successful fast is one where we have grown closer to the Lord, or felt His calling to ministry, or truly confessed and repented of a sin?  Could it be that any aspect, large or small, of our life or our self is changed from those moments forward?

God knows our heart.  And since it is not the act of doing without food in and of itself that pleases Him, we are free to practice, practice, practice, until we find the fast that works for us.  Even if I ate some cookies, I believe the fast is successful if I have grown closer to God and have learned something new.  Isn't that enough to change me?

IV.   Pitfalls:

What pitfalls prevent us from fasting, or what pitfalls can come from a fast?

1. No time to set aside. 

Really, we don't have to spend an entire 24-hour day fasting.  Again, it's not WHAT and the WAY we do, but our motive and our heart behind it.

2.  Fear
-of failing
-of suffering
-that it won't make a bit of difference?
          And isn't all that just pride? 
Pride of accomplishment 
Pride of self

3.  Embracing legalism of how a fast is done properly.

Concluding point:  Perhaps Brother Lawrence says it best "That all bodily mortifications and other exercises are useless, except as they serve to arrive at the union with God by love . . ."

Ronda's Testimony

It was in the summer of 2012 that Ronda was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma, a very rare, and very aggressive cancer with a poor prognosis.  In the months following the diagnosis, she faced surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, along with the accompanying doctor, unexpected hospital visits. Extreme fatigue became her constant companion, as well as other physical side effects, isolation, emotional, and spiritual struggles.  Now, almost a year later, she shares some of her thoughts and how God carried her through. 

                                                                                                                     

God used people.  First, and foremost, was her husband, Steve, who proved to be a faithful and compassionate caregiver.  Ronda felt abundant love through her family,  church family, friends, and work associates.  Her boss at Parson's graciously gave her the freedom to come in just when she could for as long as she could, and for many months it was not at all.  The support of all encouraged her in tangible ways through meals, cards, emails, and phone calls.  

God used prayer.  Ronda recalled many specific answers to prayer during the long months, and the encouragement of knowing that others were regularly lifting her up in prayer, in general.  One day she realized a prayer she made as a child was now fully answered. Her simple prayer of many years past was to understand unconditional love.  This cancer journey brought with it the realization that God had answered that prayer.  Another prayer that Ronda expressed repeatedly to the Lord was that His will be done.  She prayed for physical healing, (as did many of us), but was willing to accept whatever God's plan was for her life.  The way she signed her emails was an expression of this, "resting and trusting in Him".  What better challenge is there for each of us than that - whatever we are facing? 

God used His word.  The Psalms, especially, ministered to Ronda as she related to David's cries to God with a heart laid bare and honest.  The journal she kept during these months often refers to the verses that God used to minister to her.  Hungrily, she drank in the comfort offered in those chapters. 

In this last year, Ronda repeatedly expressed the desire that God be glorified through this experience, no matter what the future held, and also that others would be blessed through her response to this trial.  At one low point last fall, she told me God revealed to her one specific way she could do that.  Instead of feeling inadequate because she couldn't put her thoughts in words, God reminded her that He had given her creative abilities that could be used to bless others.  She started looking on the internet for head wraps, a covering designed specially for women who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy.  The ideas started flowing and she became excited about how God could use her.  Shortly after that she did a demonstration at Parson's store on head wraps.  With her report of "no cancer" this spring Ronda is looking forward and asks for prayer that God will open up doors for her to combine her creative talents and her cancer experience to touch other women with the love that God has shown her.