In Scripture, this type of fast is generally carried out with other believers. This type of fasting helps us to express grief over our sins and shows our seriousness about returning to the path of godly obedience. As with Nehemiah, fasting can be a tangible sign of our concern over a particular work God is doing. Here are some things to consider as you prepare for fasting:. Pray and confess your sins A necessary step before fasting is to humble yourself before God see Psalm and confess your sins see 1 Samuel You get the idea.
In fact, the Catholic Church has been recommending this practice for ages and still continues to do so, especially in recent times of scandal and spiritual crisis. This puts us in a better mental space to be in touch with our spiritual needs, and, as a result, it makes us more confident in our decisions. Basil the Great explains. The Church already has several days designated for the community to join together in fasting. The Catholic practice of fasting is centered around Lent, the 40 days in spring we use to intentionally prepare to celebrate Easter.
Because Jesus died for us on a Friday, there has been a long tradition of Catholic fasting on Fridays throughout the year, but this has become a more informal practice in recent years. According to St. Some people believe that all fasting is spiritual fasting.
We too hold this perspective. Our belief in holistic health and wellness means that our bodies are connected with our minds and spirits. As a result, the physical act of fasting does not happen in isolation. Spiritual fasting is really just a way of describing a purposeful focus on our spiritual health and vigor through the physical act of fasting.
Outside of religious orthodoxy, acts of faith like spiritual fasting are not something to be prescribed. Only you know what it means for you to be spiritual. But when it comes to finding some resources or inspiration for your personal spiritual fasting practice, we can help.
Spiritual fasting naturally varies according to your faith, comfort and experience level, and your personal goals. Spiritual fasting is something that can be practiced for general health and wellness or for a specific reason or goal. Some fast for the spiritual aspect while others practice fasting for health and healing. Some people find that a spiritual fast is a helpful way to manage a difficult life situation, overcome a test of faith, or to reconnect with nature. Common motivations for spiritual fasting include:.
So you can choose from common spiritual fasting techniques according to your faith and your goals. Should you decide to pursue spiritual fasting, keep these general ideas about spiritual fasting in mind:. Spiritual fasting is physical.
It involves denying your body its basic need of food. This is what makes the practice a fast and not just a practice of spiritual meditation or contemplation. Denying the basic physical need for food is important. The idea is to deny your body its physical needs in order to move the focus away from your body and toward your faith and spirituality. The physical act of denial is an act of faith. First, to yourself , t hen to your higher power or place within your spiritual paradigm.
Fasting is an act of discipline and self-control. Spiritual fasting is how you practice your ability to manage the desires of the flesh. Spiritual fasting for health is how you remove those basic earthly things to create space for your higher power. This basic act of humility is important for the work ahead of you: your faith. Further, the discipline of fasting is also a path toward improving your body. Fasting can help you lose weight.
See our post on periodic fasting to learn how you can use healthy fasting for a period of time to improve your overall health. The physical denial aspect of healthy fasting is necessary to clear the way for finding or restoring spiritual clarity. When you are fasting you are not focusing on feeding your body. So you will have more energy to focus on prayer, meditation, or other forms of spiritual contemplation.
Spiritual fasting is not about denying yourself what you need. Instead, it is about managing your needs in order to orient yourself toward something greater than yourself. The goal is to focus on your faith and spiritual health. Hunger is easily remedied. Your spiritual wellness often requires a longer view. Spiritual f asting is a way to open yourself up for introspection.
A spiritual fast is not a public display of your faith, or strength, or fortitude. You do not enter into spiritual fasting by announcing your intent or advertising your journey. In this era of over-sharing it is tempting to make your spiritual work as public as other parts of your life.
But the spiritual benefits of fasting await those who embark on it with humility. Fasting can be done with close personal friends or family. But what follows the act of physically fasting should be left between you and your higher power.
Fasting is about cutting out those things that do not serve your spiritual study. So this includes sharing your spiritual fasting work with others. I have been fasting for several years and God keeps nudging me to post about it and just happened to find you today at the link up.
Love your incites to it. I was just talking about this verse the other day where fasting and casting out demons coincide. It is always fun seeing where God leads as these disciplines become messed in to our everyday.
Fasting is one of the disciplines that has fallen on neglect is this day and age. Thanks for a great reminder of its importance. Also in the process of reading Habits of Grace b DAvid Mathis which has a section on fasting —Could it be that God is giving me a nudge??
Has been a good nudge, though, to give it a try. And I have really thought about on,y fasting for one meal. My body needs to eat on a regular basis, so I have always thought fasting was off limits to me!
Thanks for your encouragement and challenge here, Kathryn. This is excellent. I used to fast once a week, did it on Mondays for about 2 years. It became a day to focus on the Lord and to rest a bit from other things even though I still had home school. But somehow, I lost the habit, and more recently have just done it once a month with our church.
I really would like to try it soon again. Its nice to read your post very encouraging and easy to follow but to be honest i did fasting in my younger days but now i find it very difficult to do it,when ever i think of fasting i feel tired,lazy,hungry and sleepy which makes me weaker and weaker in my spiritual life Will anyone please pray for me?.
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