Fasting

This is an outline for a report I'm giving on "fasting". Thought it would be good to post.

The Practice of Self Emptying: rediscovering the fast
Chapter 5 Soul Feast


Jewish reason to fast:
1. Express personal or national repentance for sin
Humble supplication before God in the face of imminent destruction or calamity (see Joel 2, Jonah 3, and Ester 4).
2. prepare oneself inwardly for receiving the necessary strength and grace to complete a mission of faithful service in God’s name (Moses, Elijah, and Jesus’ 40 day fast).

We will comprehend little of how we are nourished by Christ until we have emptied ourselves of the kinds of sustenance that keep us content to live at life’s surface.

Some historical fasting figures:
1. Wesley fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays
2. Calvin fasted to:
a. Subdue the needless desires of the flesh
b. Prepare for prayer and meditation
c. Express humility before God in confession
3. Abba Poemen (a Desert Father) said “For my part, I think it better that one should eat every day, but only a little, so as not to be satisfied.”


Lent and the Fast

What Lent is not:
1. 6 week inconvenience in an otherwise abundant year.
2. Trying to please God with voluntary and minor suffering.
3. Testing ground for our willpower.
4. “spiritual rational” for losing 10 pounds before swimsuit season.

What Lent is:
1. Opportunity to return to normal human life (life of natural communion with God as it was before the Fall).
2. Spring cleaning of the soul.
3. Life restored by accepting limits on our consumption and activity .








Types of Fast

Food Fasts:
1. Normal fast – abstaining from all food, solid or liquid, but not from water.
2. Partial fast – restriction of the diet, but not total abstention.
3. Absolute fast – abstaining from both food and water.

IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER:
* A fast depletes your normal energy reserves so reduce normal activity.
* Work your way up to an absolute fast. Don’t go “cold turkey”.
* Don’t “tank up” on extra calories before or eat a big meal after the fast.
* Drink plenty of water.



Other Forms of Fasting
The purpose of abstinence is to learn rightly to enjoy God’s gifts. Fasting is not primarily a discipline through which I gain greater control over my life, but one through which God gains access to redirect and heal me in body, mind, and spirit.

Abstain from objects of consumption that have come to fill emotional voids in our lives.
* Sex
* TV
* Recognition
* Media stimulation
* Needless shopping sprees
* Prejudging people
* Drugs
* Internet
* Over-packed schedules


Keeping a Journal During the Fast

Questions to ask:
* How do I respond to hunger pangs?
* What feelings attend the experience of physical emptiness – panic, irritation, boredom, helplessness?
* How do I express these?
* Do I sense any inward cleansing, release, or freedom?
* Do I feel a need to draw the attention of others to what I am doing?
* Do I find myself attentive to God’s presence in new ways?
* Do I find myself connected to others in new ways?
* What is God revealing to me through my responses?