How to Fastনমুনা

FASTING IS GREATER THAN DOUBT

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, writes, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (6:7–8).

Even though most people take the flesh to mean the physical body, it is much more than that. The flesh has works (see Galatians 5:19–21) and desires and cravings (see Ephesians 2:3). In those verses (and the many others throughout Scripture), the whole disposition of the flesh is almost always expressed in contrast to, and even as antagonistic to, the spirit. First Peter 2:11 tells us, “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and ex­iles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.”

The things of the spirit cannot be explained rationally. And so whenever we are prompted to pray the prayer of faith—maybe praying for a healing miracle or restoration in a frac­tured relationship—the moment we begin to engage in prayer, the mind goes into overdrive to make a logical case as to why the things we are asking for are impossible. Our senses, our memories, and historic and scientific fact, along with our fears of embarrassment and rejection, immediately build a bullet­proof case for why our appeals to the divine are not practical, not justified, not warranted, and will never materialize. We feel the doubt rise into unbelief, and we fail to ask boldly, confidently, fear­lessly. We are what the Bible calls “a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8) and unable to receive anything from the Lord (see verse 7).

We’ve all experienced moments when we failed to con­nect with the peace and calm of the reassurances of God’s pres­ence and His promises simply because we were too close to the problem—too rattled, distracted, or distraught. A soul hum­bled through fasting does away with all that.

Think of fasting as an anchor for our minds and our emotions for the times when we have no faith, conviction, or cognitive clarity to pray. Fasting negates the paralyzing power of our brains so we can move forward in faith with what our spirits know to be true.

How do fasting, faith, and asking God for the impossible go together?