A Lifestyle of Fasting

About a year ago, my mother became vegetarian.  She had a number of reasons for doing this, but perhaps the most important was scriptural: She was entering into a lifestyle of fasting.  Recently, God has put it within me to live a fasting lifestyle as well.  My mother is a person who does not eat meat.  There are many people who do not eat gluten, or seafood, or sugar (at least not without insulin).  I am a person who does not eat carbs.  While on the surface, this may look like a diet, make no mistake that I intend to live the rest of my life not eating carbs until and unless God should tell me, "I want you to fast something else now."  It's not JUST a diet.  It's a lifestyle of fasting that I will continue until the day I die. The next thing he tells me to fast may be easier or harder, but I will be fasting the rest of my life.

In this process, I have become acutely aware of instances of fasting in the Bible and what we learn about them.  If this is my lifestyle, I need to know how to live it!  The first and most obvious is the passage that defines a need for a lifestyle of fasting.  In Mark 9:14-29, Jesus casts out a demon after the disciples tried and failed to do so.  They ask him why they couldn't do it and he responds, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."  In the context, both here and the corresponding pericope in Matthew 17:14-21, the statement is prefaced by a much more lengthy chastisement about unbelief. (Luke also records an abbreviated version of this tradition in 9:37-42, but Jesus isn't asked why the disciples failed.)  Reading through the story, you're left with the question: Which is it - unbelief or lack of fasting?  How are these two concepts related? 

In this scripture and through my experience of fasting thus far, I find that they are quite directly related or, at least, the opposite is true.  Belief produces fasting (I know God told me to do this, therefore I do it) but more importantly, fasting produces belief.  There is a shift in your relationship with the person whom you allow to change your everyday life forever.  When I got married, I knew the lifelong commitment I made because my then-boyfriend asked me to would affect me every day.  Likewise, when I began this fast, the lifelong commitment I made at God's request is going to affect me every day, constantly reminding me of his presence in my life.  Being constantly aware of God helps me to hear him better, know him better, and incidentally also increases my faith because he's always THERE and present in my life so it's easy to believe my close life-partner when he says something.  It's easy to have faith.  Fasting is an important part of our walk with God.

The other passage I came across just this morning was the Passover story of Exodus.  When God tells them to eat only unleavened bread for seven days leading up to the Passover, he is essentially calling them to a fast.  It's not that they didn't have time, in seven days, to leaven their bread (as is often taught - it had to be unleavened because they had to prepare it quickly).  True, the tone of the entire instruction for the Passover has an air of urgency about it, but they were doing this for seven days.  Seven days was long enough to leaven bread.  It was so long, in fact, that God prefaced the command to fast with the command, "Get all the leaven out of your houses."  (Exodus 12:15)  In other words, "Keep that stuff you're fasting from out of your sight." 

What I have read and understood about fasting highlights three things for me. 

#1 - Fasting is not a hunger strike.  I've known this for a long time, and it's still true.  Thankfully, the church doesn't routinely teach this to young Christians anymore, the way they have in times past.  As an overview, you aren't going to force God to do something (or to answer you) by fasting - not even if you prove to him you REALLY want it and how good you are at self-control.  It is true that when you're focused on him, you hear better.  So if not eating helps you to focus on him, go for it.  If that thing you're fasting (social media, for instance) is taking your attention off of him, that's a good place to start with what and how to fast. But it's not going to FORCE him to do what you want because you're suffering.

#2 - Fasting may produce self-control, but it's not quite right to say that the POINT of fasting is to build up your self-control.  The Israelites threw out their leaven so they didn't have to self-control their urge to use it.  Jesus went out into the wilderness to fast, where he would've had to turn stones into bread to eat!  Staring at something you're fasting in order to prove your self-control is unnecessarily masochistic and God doesn't encourage us to do this.  Frankly, he's not impressed by your self-control.  Now, exposure to what you're fasting may be required if, for instance, you have to cook dinner for your family and you're fasting food.  But it's not earning you brownie points to be able to resist the temptation.  If you can get the object of your fasting out of your sight, DO it.

#3 - Even at seven days, the fast was long enough to require a lifestyle change, which would have to be reversed when the Israelites went back to their normal way of doing things.  They would have to go out and get (or create) new leaven for their bread.  Fasting is, by definition, a lifestyle change.  It may be short term - you can only go so long without water (*cough* coffee! *cough*).  It may be long term - you can live your whole life without ever eating another bowl of ice cream.

Also, I see from Exodus that fasting can be used (biblically) to build community and unity.  The WHOLE population of Israel fasted for the Passover, corporately obedient to the word of God.  But with that said, the principles of what fasting is and is not are still in place.  It's not a hunger strike, it's not all about your self-control, and it's participation in a lifestyle - whether long or short term.  The early church ascetics understood points 1 and 3, but not 2.  Modern Christians have all sorts of combinations of the above three points, but it's important to recognize ALL of them as forming a basic principle of fasting.

Lastly, God can (and does) at any time reserve the right to override any basic principles he establishes.  If God tells you to fast all food for 6 hours while baking cakes for your neighbors, DO it.  Obedience is more important than understanding why.  But in general principle, we need to rethink how we view fasting, its significance, methods, and application.