I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks.
~Daniel 10:3
The very first story within the bible I remember reading was the book of Daniel. I must have been 10 or 11 at the time and there were so many elements of this man who had so much faith in God he was willing to risk it all. As I was reading about the life of this prophet, I was caught off guard by this idea of fasting. Fasting for Daniel was eating a very strict diet of fruits, vegetables and water. There is no meat. There is no wine. There are no dairy products. There is no “choice foods” like bread or foods with sweeteners. And the results for Daniel are astounding.
As a child, when Daniel fasts, he finds himself, and those who fasted with him, growing stronger than those who did not. As an adult, it leads him to enlightening moments. He finds himself being weakened, reminded of the suffering his people endured. Then he receives the strength to continue and receive what God’s messenger is going to tell him. Fasting is vital for Daniel’s faith journey.
The 40 days of the season of Lent is the time in which we intentionally look at our spiritual disciplines and make adjustments to lives so that we grow closer to God. Fasting is just one of many. We see the early disciples fasting and worshipping as they sought to hear the Holy Spirit tell them how they were called to build up the kingdom. We see Moses fasting as he wrote down the commands of the Lord. We even see Jesus fasting as he builds up the strength and spends 40 days in the wilderness, preparing for ministry.
We fast to create an environment in which we can turn our attention to God. We fast to humble ourselves before God. We eliminate foods to draw attention to the sacrifice Jesus made. We weaken ourselves by eliminating food so that God can bring us strength. We eliminate other distractions so that we can re-focus. As time has gone by, the definition of fasting has been extended to include more than just food and drinks. In today’s society we fast from social media, video games, television, and other activities that can draw our attention away from God and towards something else. And while we don’t see this type of fasting in the scriptures, I think mainly because they didn’t have these things, it is just as important.
But it’s not enough to simply eliminate a food or drink or something. There is much more to fasting than that. When we look through the scriptures fasting is almost always paired with something else- worshipping, mourning, or prayer. Fasting is one spiritual discipline that is designed to be paired with others. It’s a spiritual discipline to be used for a season at any time of the year, but it is only a piece of our spiritual lives.
This past fall I remember preaching on the burden the Facebook app was putting on my spiritual health. Every time I picked up my phone, no matter what I was intending to do with it, I would wind-up scrolling through Facebook, sometimes for hours without even noticing. Since moving the app off my home screen as one of you suggested, my Facebook usage has decreased dramatically and I find that I actually have more hours in the day! Don’t get me wrong, I still use Facebook to keep up with family and friends, or to intentionally waste time, but I don’t mindlessly scroll anymore. I actually find it easier to engage in other spiritual disciplines that I had been lacking on a regular basis, like reading scripture or praying.
So what is it that is pulling your attention away from God, or pulling you away from who God has created and called you to be? I invite you to spend some time this week intentionally reflecting on one thing that might be stunting your spiritual growth, brainstorm ways to fast from it, then do it! This week, I will be fasting from Facebook (except for church related stuff).
Comment your thoughts below!
Blessings friends,
Pastor Nicole