fast: The act or practice of abstaining from something. A period of self-denial.
Romans 8:12-13, Matthew 16:24, Matthew 6:16-17
Biblical Precedence for when we should Fast:
national calamities - Zechariah 7:4-5, 2 Samuel 1:12
afflictions & illness - Psalms 35:13, Daniel 6:18
rejection & slander - psalm 109:24
repentance of sin - 1 Samuel 7:6
preparation - Matthew 4:1-2
separation or discipline - 1 Corinthians 9:25-27
when danger is approaching - Esther 4:16
intercession - Deuteronomy 9:9,18
How do I fast?
self-denial - Leviticus 16:29-31
pray and fast together - Daniel 9:3
replace food with something spiritual
The result of Fasting:
self-control - 1 Corinthians 9:25-27
intimacy with God - Jeremiah 29:11-13
eternal perspective - Psalm 90:12
some quotes on fasting:
In a more tangible way than other spiritual disciplines, fasting reveals our excessive attachments and the assumptions that lie behind them. Food is necessary to life, but we have made it more necessary than God. How often have we neglected to remember God’s presence when we would never consider neglecting to eat! Fasting brings us face to face with how we put the material world ahead of its spiritual source…
The discipline of fasting has to do with accepting those limits which are life restoring. Our culture would seduce us into believing that we can have it all, do it all, and (even more preposterous!) that we deserve it all. Yet in refusing to accept limits on our consumption or activity, we perpetuate a death-dealing dynamic in the world. That is why the discipline of fasting is so profoundly important today.
If a king would take possession of his enemies’ city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same with the passions of the flesh: if a man goes about fasting and hungry, the enemies of his soul grow weak.
There are three levels of partaking of food: abstinence, adequacy, and satiety. To abstain means to remain a little hungry after eating; to eat adequately means you are neither hungry or weighted down after you eat; to be satiated means to be slightly weighed down. But eating beyond satiety is the door to gluttony, where the lusts of the flesh come in. But you, firm in this knowledge should do what is best for you, according to your abilities, not overstepping your limits.
Nothing is more contrary to the Christian than gluttony.
Fasting is a spiritual remedy to what is, really, a spiritual problem. To fast shows our reliance upon God for all things. It reminds us that we are, ultimately, spiritual beings.
peace & courage to you my friends!
-davey
No comments:
Post a Comment