Creatures of Habit: FastingSýnishorn

Fasting: The Hang-up of the Habit 

If fasting feels like a challenge to you, that’s a good thing. It should feel like a deprivation. That’s the point. We “fast from” in order to “feast on.” Fasting from food or some other form of physical satisfaction allows us to feast on God’s Word and His presence, which brings spiritual satisfaction.  

But if our spirit is not properly aligned with God’s purposes in this discipline, we can experience something worse than temporary deprivation…we can fall into temptation. And that temptation is to puff up our chest and take pride in accomplishing a checklist of spiritual disciplines while completely missing the fruit that should result. This was the spirit of religious people like the Pharisees, who were so busy patting themselves on the back for doing the right thing that they were oblivious to what God really wanted to reveal to them through their spiritual disciplines.  

Why does God want us to fast?  

Because he wants to reveal His strength in our weakness. He wants to show us mercy in our state of vulnerability. He wants us to see our need for him. He wants us to drink living water from the endless well of the Word of God.

The fruit of fasting tastes sweet to the humble, but it tastes bitter to the proud. 

Pride causes us to put our eyes in the wrong place. If our eyes are on the checklist that we accomplish, we may miss the blessing.  

There is an incredible amount of spiritual benefit that comes when we fast from things of this world in order to feast on the things of God. Don’t miss it by having your eyes in the wrong place. Focus on the feast, and you’ll enjoy the fruit!

• What is your attitude towards fasting? How can you adjust your mindset so that you can more fully enjoy the fruit of this vital spiritual discipline? 
• What is something else, other than food that you could fast from in order to better feast on the things of God?

Read Luke 18:9-14 and heed this important warning from Jesus as you continue to develop a habit of fasting in order to feast!