Fasting and Feasting
““When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.””
Hunger is a powerful motivator.
The movie, Little Shop of Horrors, originally was a Broadway production. The story is fairly is a comedy that ends in tragedy. A flower shop assistant named Seymour desires his co-worker Audrey who just so happens to be in an abusive relationship. One day Seymour discovers a strange plant that develops the ability to speak to him. He discovers that the plant doesn’t need water to survive, but blood instead. So he begins to rationalize feeding his blood to the plant. It might surprise you to know that this is a musical, so the show is filled with singing and dancing and even the plant joins in.
Eventually, though, Seymour escalates his actions from feeding blood to feeding Audrey’s abusive ex-boyfriend till eventually, the plant eats everything and everyone in the show, including Seymour himself.
The message of the show is clear. If you are unwilling to say no to your appetite it can and will consume you.
Fasting counteracts the appetites we hold. What is fasting? It is an abstaining from normal necessities for a specified period of time to make room for God to work. In other words, it is saying “no” to something for a while. Oftentimes this was food but it doesn’t have to be, and it is not a mandatory command. It is something modeled for us but not commanded of us.
So what are you feeding? Your pride? Your Lust? Your sense of security in this world? What are you unwilling to say “no” to? This is why the spiritual discipline of fasting, which we seem to have lost in our Western context, is so crucial to us. While fasting is not an explicit command in scripture there are massive benefits to practicing it.
Fasting refocuses our minds. It reminds us that we do not live on food alone but on every word God speaks and does his will. In the gospel of John, Jesus meets a woman at the well and after He had spoken and ministered to this woman, the disciples pester him to eat the food they brought, Yet Jesus told the disciples,
“…I have food to eat that you know nothing about… My food… is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” - John 3:32-34
When we fast it brings us back to attention to who sustains us, not what sustains us. Before his public years of ministry, Jesus did two things. He got baptized and immediately went and fasted in the wilderness. Dallas Willard in his book, the Spirit of the Disciplines describes the purpose of fasting,
“Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in him a source of sustenance beyond food… Fasting unto our Lord is therefore feasting - feasting on him and on doing his will.”
When we fast from the world we feast on God.
Fasting is good exercise for our will. We lead with the will to open our hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit. By saying “no” to food, drink, and whatever else, you make space in your life to say “yes” to God and his will. This is especially true with fasting from food since that hunger reminds us both of what we ought to hunger for and also reminds us of the poor, those who cannot satiate their hunger.
So let me ask you, what do you hunger for?
Hunger is a powerful motivator. It is why Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6 You are sustained actively by the Father, who loves you. Fasting is a powerful Spiritual Discipline that can and should be used to make room in your life to draw closer to the Father in intimacy.
The Christian Life is less about what you do publicly and more about what God does privately. Do not neglect the growth, development, and comfort the Father has for you in the shadows of obscurity.
