If you grew up in the church, I am sure you have heard of the term "fasting". Fasting is when you temporarily give up something to draw closer to God. When people think of fasting, the first thing that comes to mind is giving up food, but giving up food, is not the only way to fast.
If you decided to give up food, just give up one meal. Giving up food completely is not good for your body and I would not advise anyone to do that. I personally have fasted by giving up food for a few days, but I did supply myself with water during that time. Fasting is often associated with prayer (Acts 14:23 & Luke 5:33). I think we as Christians should be willing to give up something we love or something we are used to having in order to draw a closer relationship with God.
The Bible never says that fasting is a requirement, because it is not. God never tells us that this is something we must do; however, when we do fast, often something good and profitable comes out of it. We should take our mind off of the distractions of the world sometimes and just focus on God. What in your life is causing a distraction from God? With today's technology and apps, social media can be a distraction for a lot of people. If you do not pay attention to the time you are spending on it, you can waste hours out of your day just scrolling on Facebook or Instagram looking at what other people are doing.
If you are a millennial who spends more than ten minutes a day on social media, I challenge you to this: Give up social media for a month. Try not to get on there and scroll at all. As a matter of fact, delete the apps off your phone so the notifications will not be of temptation. You will not be updated on the latest celebrity news, or the latest hometown gossip, but you will find that you will have much more time to focus on God. You will also notice that you really do not need to know what everyone else has going on. You will be your primary focus. So often we get so caught up in getting "likes" from society to where we forget about getting "likes" from God.
Maybe you do not do social media. Maybe you spend a lot of time watching reality TV or weekly television series. Give up TV for a month and see how that works out for you. Our relationship will grow closer to God when he sees that we are willing to make sacrifices for Him. When you can show that God is more important than your news feed or weekly television drama, you will start gaining more favor with God. Be mindful, you do not fast as a means to get what you want. You fast so that you may be changed.
When you fast, do so in silence. Do not tell anyone that you are fasting for the Lord rewards what is done in secrecy.
You do not fast for a show, you fast to gain a beneficial relationship with the Lord. Find something to give up, and use the time that you would spend indulging in whatever you gave up to pray. Pray and grow closer to God. Thank Him for all that he has done, and all that he is going to do. Ask for strength to help you make it through your fast. You will feel very accomplished once you complete your fast, and your relationship with God should feel stronger.
If you have decided to give up something for a spiritual fast, I would love to hear about how it helped you. Go to the contact page and shoot me a quick e-mail after your fast is complete, and tell me how it made you feel to give up something for God. I will be glad to hear from you!
Xoxo,
Krispin
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