Day 13: When You Fast
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:16-18
Lord, your love is better than life and Your Word is better than food and Your presence is our sustenance. When we fast, may we fast in a way that brings glory to You. Let’s ask ourselves whether in our Christian life fasting is basic to us like prayer, or like giving. I would say to the extent of which any of those three things are not regular parts of our relationship with God, then we are missing something that is basic, essential in a sense, core to what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Try using the word FAST to begin your journey with Fasting.
F – Focus on God. We are not doing this for anyone else but because we want to seek and know and love and worship God more and more.
A – Abstain from food. If you have not fasted before start with a day, or if your doctor has not recommended it start with abstaining from something like coffee or tea etc.
S – Substitute your time. Substitute the time when you would eat with extra time in prayer and extra time in the word. I love what I learned early on about fasting. Somebody told me, “Clay, fasting is feasting.” So it’s not just not having those things that you want, it’s having something even better, like feasting on the word of God, feasting on extra time in communion with God.
T – Taste and see that the Lord is good. The whole point of fasting is to say “God, you are better, You are better than a sandwich or a pasta dish, You are better than anything we would want to eat. God, we want you more than food, we want an intimacy with you, we want Your kingdom to come on earth.
I want to encourage you, if you do not have a regular fasting pattern, to get into one, because it’s basic to what it means to follow Jesus.
Clayton Chettiar