Today my church begins six days of fasting.
So I decided to blog about fasting this week.
This will be like Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, except it will be about fasting, not sharks, will be here instead of the Discovery Channel, and be a blog post instead of video.
I know for most Christians fasting is not the sexiest of topics, but I think that’s because many Christians have a wrong idea of the purpose for and effect of fasting.
The truth is I hate fasting. I fast though because of what Jesus does in my life when I fast. Here are three of them. Fasting . . .
1. Sharpens my ability to hear to the Lord. I can’t explain why that is, but it’s true. When I read the Bible during a fast, the words seem to jump off the page and I when I pray I sense His direction more clearly. This is, in fact, a fairly universal experience for Christians when they fast.
2. Refocuses my priorities. Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). When I fast I’m reminded of how true that it is, particularly when I hear Him through prayer and what I read in the Bible.
3. Helps me from being enslaved by my desires. Peter said a person is enslaved by what he cannot resist. (2 Peter 2:19). The Apostle Paul talked about those who were “slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites…” (Romans 16:18) and those “whose god is their appetite…” (Philippians 3:18-19). If one can learn not to be enslaved by the most fundamental of desires, they can learn by the grace of God and power of the Holy Spirit to overcome their sinful ones as well.
Welcome to Fast Times at Gregory Scott Blog.
I can’t promise you will see any sharks this week, but maybe you’ll find something insightful on this oft-forgotten spiritual discipline. GS