How Fasting Fills You Up
Feb 1, 2020| by Thomas Kincaid
This Lent as a parish, we’re going back to a basic Christian practice—one that Jesus himself practiced, one that he commended, and one that has been the habit of Christians for centuries. We’re going to engage in some intentional fasting.
What is fasting?
Fasting is intentional abstinence from something in life that we either biologically need or will at least miss a great deal. Most often in the Scriptures and in the practices of the Church, people fast from food, but a faithful fast can include other things as well. What’s most important is that it’s something that we either need to survive (like food) or at least something of which we will be shaped by its absence.
How can I figure out how to do it well—or at all?
If we are abstaining from something we need, then how can that work? Put simply, fasting makes us realize what we really need—a deeper relationship with the God who made us and who provides for us.
This Lent we will be providing a Lent Kit—with detailed instructions on the how-to of fasting. It’s important to plan realistically knowing that whatever you fast from will be missed. In those moments of longing—or even pain from the fasting—it’s important to know where to turn.
What’s going to happen to me?
In short, when we fast, we are temporarily weaker. It’s important to not be surprised by this outcome. If, for example, you were to follow the traditional Ash Wednesday fast from all food from the time you get up until sundown, you would find yourself tired as the day wears on. You might even become irritable and unable to do things you can normally do well. That’s normal! Put another way: That means the fasting is working. Fasting is intended to challenge us to realize we live only by God’s provision, and, in so realizing, we are hopefully drawn into a deeper relationship with him.
Even if your fast is from something that doesn’t cause biological weakness (as food does), you will still likely experience moments of intense longing and/or sadness from the absence. Again, this ultimately is a good thing. Those moments are reminders to pray, to study the Scriptures, and to remember those who go without far more often than most of us reading this article.
Why bother?
So fasting is difficult and even painful? It will make me tired and grumpy? So why bother? In short, fasting reminds us “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Fasting can be one of the most powerful experiences of spiritual growth we ever experience.
So don’t miss out this Lent by avoiding fasting. You’ll have great tools provided in the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday, as well as numerous programs throughout the season to help all of us fast. In fasting, we will find ourselves feasting on the Lord.