FASTING

WHY DO WE FAST?

Fasting is a willing abstinence from food for a period of time. We live in a culture of excess - not only when it comes to food, but also in regard to luxury, material possessions, comfort, fame, and addiction. For so many of us, the desires of our body have come to hold power over us. In the battle with our “flesh,” we have become its slave, not its master. The desires of our flesh often unintentionally become insidious idols in our journey of faith. This is where fasting comes in.

Fasting is a dramatically counter-cultural practice to deny the flesh the basic necessity of food, and instead hunger after God alone. Fasting resets your focus, cultivates healthy spiritual disciplines, and increases your awareness of God in every moment.

FASTING IS NOT:

• a diet

• a punishment for being bad

• something to be publicly flaunted for self-adulation

FASTING IS:

• intentional self-denial to clear space for God

• inherently sacrificial

• formative and worshipful

TYPES OF FASTS:

• Full fast (no food, only liquids)

• Daniel Fast (eat no meat, no sweets and no bread. Drink water and juice. Eat fruits and vegetables)

• Partial fast (fasting part of the day - for example, from 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sun up to sundown)