Fasting is a subject that many believers shrink back from because giving something up could be so hard. In a culture where we’re consistently bombarded with things that appeal to our every want and desire, denying our flesh generally is a powerful approach to re-center our lives in prayer. Fasting can’t only help us hear God’s voice more clearly, but it will probably also help us develop a habit of prayer that may last long after the fast is over.
Before attempting your first fast, there are a few things to contemplate as you prepare your heart, your mind, and your body.
Consider why you need to fast.
There are various reasons to fast, and in numerous seasons of my life, I even have fasted for various reasons. Sometimes, it’s because I desire to see an area of my life experience a breakthrough. In other seasons, it has been because I wanted to realize some direction or clarity from the Lord in a particular area of my life. Other times, it has been because I just desired to hear God’s voice more clearly. It is useful to find out ahead of time why you need to fast, and it could even be helpful to spend a few weeks journaling and praying about your “why.” Fasting could be mentally and physically difficult, so it’s necessary to have a goal in mind to assist keep you from giving up.
Realize what fasting does and doesn’t do.
Let me be honest for a minute. Fasting shouldn’t be a cure-all. Sometimes, even after a protracted fast, your situation doesn’t change. The thing you were praying for is unresolved, or the direction you seek stays unclear. While your circumstances may not change, fasting does put us in a spot where we will experience God. It helps posture our hearts in a spot of searching for the Lord and paying attention to His voice. In that space of listening to the Lord, we will experience a form of peace that spills over into our circumstances. It is during those moments of authentic interaction with the Lord that we grow spiritually.
Decide what and when to fast.
Some people resist a quick because they will’t give food up for medical reasons. However, a spiritual fast doesn’t at all times need to mean fasting from food. Spiritual fasting is, essentially, giving something up and using the vacuum left behind to concentrate on God. Food is probably the most common thing to fast, but other things can include TV, social media, or something so simple as candy. It must be something that has an everyday place in your life that you’re going to realize is gone.
It’s also helpful to have a plan for when you’re going too fast. Will this be a one-week fast or a one-month fast? Are you going to fast one meal a day? Just during lunchtime? It’s higher to plan ahead as a substitute of counting on how you are feeling since you will feel like giving up. It also could also be helpful to share along with your close relations that you just can be doing a quick to assist set you up for achievement. If your spouse makes your favorite meal during a day you’re fasting, you can be far more prone to break your fast prematurely.
Pray when you’re missing your “thing.”
Whether you select to fast from food or something else, you’ll likely miss your “thing” throughout the day. The advantage of fasting from food is that your body naturally sends you hunger clues. Those hunger pangs could be reminders to wish. In addition to some intentional time put aside to worship or pray, those periods of time when you’re feeling hungry or the urge to log onto social media, etc, can as a substitute be reminders to go to the Lord in prayer.
Write down what you’re hearing or experiencing
During a quick, the Lord may start to disclose some things that previously were hidden. Perhaps He will call to mind just how hooked on your phone you were. Or perhaps He will reveal a latest aspect of a situation that you just hadn’t previously considered. Maybe you aren’t hearing God as much as feeling His presence during moments of worship. Write down what you’re experiencing. Some of probably the most impactful seasons of our walk with the Lord could be launched from a quick, and it will probably be so encouraging to look back through the 12 months to be reminded of what the Lord did or said during a quick.
Is the Lord calling you to fast? If He is, I pray that you’re going to respond obediently as you lean into what He desires to do in your heart. For additional support and resources on fasting, take a look at the fasting series of the Hearing Jesus Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-does-fasting-help-us-hear-from-god-fasting-day-1/id1615623952?i=1000569515637
Photo Credit: GettyImages/Uladzimir Zuyeu
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