WEEKLY HABIT 3: FAST FROM SOMETHING FOR TWENTY-FOUR HOURS
The Habit at a Glance
To fast is to suffer.
DAVID WILLIAMSON
"When you fast..."
JESUS (MATTHEW 6:16)
THE HABIT AT A GLANCE
We constantly seek to fill our emptiness with food and other comforts. We ignore our soul and our neighbor's need by medicating with food and drink. Regular fasting exposes who we really are, reminds us how broken the world is, and draws our eyes to how Jesus is redeeming all things.
THREE WAYS TO START
Pick something to fast from. The first step is choosing something that's helpful to fast from. For regular fasting, I prefer simply fasting from all food. But fasting from sugar, meat, alcohol, caffeine, social media, TV, internet, or something else may be a good way for you to begin regular fasting.
Sundown to sundown. My preferred fast begins at sundown on a Thursday and ends with a communal breaking of the fast at sundown on a Friday. This is a great way to do a twenty-four-hour communal fast with friends.
Start with a meal. If fasting intimidates you, a great place to start is just skipping a meal—maybe lunch—and replacing it with prayer. If you do it with family, skip your family meal so you can pray together. If you do it with friends at work, choose lunch. Being in this rhythm with someone else makes it easier to try fasting, and the communal nature of it changes the experience.
THREE CONSIDERATIONS
Communal fasting. Many find fasting far richer in community—not to mention it's so hard to muster the discipline when it's just me doing it. Consider having a text or email chain going among people who are fasting so you can share encouragements and prayers. Also consider doing an initial prayer time together and/or breaking the fast together.
Prayer. Usually, just skipping meals doesn't lead to prayer. Some find the need to take walks instead of eating to actually pray. Whatever you do, make sure you replace meals with prayer.
Multiple days. This is nothing to rush into, but many have had wonderful times meeting the Lord during fasts for multiple days. Some individuals have had difficult times where fasting for multiple days was the way to repentance. There's something unique about the state the body and soul enters into on longer fasts, and it may be worth working toward them as an occasional practice.
To live without fasting is to live without knowing who you truly are.