Our last two articles have examined the spiritual discipline of fasting in both the Old and New Testaments. We discovered that it has been a common spiritual practice for God's people across the ages. At this point many of you may be wondering how you could experiment with the practice as a means of focusing your life upon God. What follows is a brief overview of how one might go about fasting.
Be clear about your basic purpose for fasting: as has been said, fasting is a spiritual practice by which we can focus our mind and heart upon God rather than upon the body. Fasting is not to be used as a means of earning "brownie points" with God, as a way of punishing yourself for misdeeds, or as a means of losing weight. It is to be used as a time of self-examination and focus in which our hearts can be opened in new ways to God's leading.
Check with your doctor: you should not begin a fast until you have cleared it with your doctor. For many of us there may be requirements to take medications with food, issues with blood sugar levels, or existing eating disorders (among other issues) which might make fasting difficult and even dangerous. By checking with your physician you may be able to work out a modified fast regime that keeps you safe while you practice.
Begin slowly: some of us have a tendency to set extreme immediate goals in all that we do. This might express itself in trying to fast for a long period of time at the outset of experimenting with fasting. It is better to begin slowly, fasting for part of day, then a day and if desired perhaps for a longer period after that. Remember that fasting is a spiritual discipline intended to focus our minds and hearts. It is not a competition to see who can fast the longest or the best.
Let someone know you are fasting: this may seem a bit odd that you should let someone know about this practice considering Jesus did not like public displays of fasting. I offer this advice for two reasons. First it allows someone to pray for you while you fast in order to encourage you in your fasting. Second there is someone who is watching over your physical well-being, helping to assure that your fast does not harm you.
Decide on the type of fast in which you will be engaged: this means deciding if you are fasting as the beginning of an ongoing practice (weekly, monthly, annually), for a specific purpose (seeking God's will on a particular issue in your life), or merely experimenting to see if this might be a practice in which you might want to further engage. By so doing fasting does not become haphazard but has a focus which will make it more meaningful.
Set a definite time and length for your fast: good parameters are helpful in any task including spiritual disciplines such as fasting. Setting parameters entails making clear when you will begin your fast and when you will end it. You may want to choose a particular day of the week as well as a specified time during that day. This will help to insure that you actually fast rather than letting it slide by.
Be consistent: if you choose to make fasting a practice, it is good to be consistent in the timing and length of your fasting. By so doing you begin to develop a rhythm to your practice which will deepen your experience of encountering God. This is similar to prayer, where having a set time and place to pray helps to ensure that prayer (and fasting) become long term practices.
Spend time in prayer: as I have noted in earlier articles, fasting is a practice intended to connect us more fully with God. If it is to do so it needs to be accompanied by prayer. The connection between the two can be seen in the scriptures where fasting and prayer are almost always linked.
Reflect on your experience: Ultimately any spiritual discipline must deepen your relationship with God or it is not worth doing. If fasting does not prove to be meaningful to you, then perhaps other disciplines might prove more beneficial.
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