Find Your Best Nourishment Through Fasting
Are you fasting this year?
Friends and family all know that, for the past several Lenten seasons, I have embarked on the 21-day Daniel Fast (www.thedanielfast.com, Susan Gregory) so I get this question often. Lent draws us in to remember our own mortality and our need for Christ. Fasting invites us to reset our spirit lives. It rejuvenates my prayer life and revives my relationship with Jesus. I look forward to it.
I had every plan to begin the fast this year on Sunday March 31st and end on Holy Saturday.
This year, though, I have been out of sorts since January. We have experienced a lot of rainy days so it’s easy to write off the funk as seasonal depression. But it’s more. My devotion time has been sparse and unproductive, I’ve been overly frustrated at work, not sleeping well, not eating well, and last week I had an emotional melt down over wallpaper.
I find myself where David found himself, my soul panting like a thirsty deer longing to be nourished by the living God. If I know the fast will bring me into this place of spiritual revival, why am I waiting? That question floated across my mind as an invitation from the Lord to come and meet with him.
I have done typical fasts before. The kind where you skip a meal or two on a particular day, hopefully also spending that day in prayer and study. Or the kind where you give something up – preferably something special or important or that you enjoy so much not having it constitutes a real sacrifice. My experience with this version of a fast was that I could power through the hunger grumbles one day a week or I’d find other ways to satisfy the gap left by the absence of whatever I had given up. But I did not necessarily translate the spirit of the fast into the rest of my day or week.
The Daniel Fast is not about abstaining from food, it’s about eating in a certain way that requires bending every single food choice you make to align with the principles of the fast. No sugar. No dairy. No processed foods. No yeast. No meat of any kind. No coffee. You CAN eat all the fruits and vegetables you want, high quality oils, nuts and whole grains. This fast invades every single waking moment of every single day. Do you have any idea how much time you spend thinking about food? This fast will illuminate that for you!
I have recently chosen the last three weeks of Lent because that third week is always the hardest and it occurs during Holy Week – the last week Jesus would spend as a man on earth. As I wrestle with my enemy over food and drink choices and cravings, I am reminded how Jesus wrestled with his enemy in the garden. As I choose to deny myself the fleshly pleasures of chicken, chocolate, cheese, and craft beverages, I am reminded of how Jesus denied his divine ability to skip the cross and instead yielded his will to God’s will.
But God has issued an invitation to a thirsty and hungry spirit. Don’t wait, start now.
Does your soul thirst and hunger for God? Come meet with God through fasting. Click To Tweet
The Daniel Fast is set up to be a 21-day journey, but nothing restricts our experience to that. So I am beginning the fast Monday and will continue through Holy Saturday.
Why not start today?
A fast is primarily a spiritual experience that happens to involve food. Entering the fast takes mental and spiritual preparation to align our minds with the Spirit. We will encounter adversity – temptations to quit, headaches from caffeine withdrawal, and myriad invitations to eat out. Under our own strength, we probably would quit. Choosing to start on Monday provides us the time to pray for our fast, asking for the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and for a greater awareness of that strength.
Practically, beginning on Monday (or on the day you pick in the near future) gives us time to prepare our pantry. Most of us will need to do some menu planning and shopping to procure fast friendly foods. We must plan to succeed and have the options on hand to make choices that honor our fast commitment.
Most importantly, we need time to develop our devotion/meditation plan. This will just be a crazy diet if we don’t prioritize the spiritual. Commit to setting aside time each day for prayer, meditation, and study. The fast is not easy and this aspect is critical. It’s where our thirst is quenched and our hunger is satisfied. Despite not being a morning person myself, for the fast, I encourage you to carve this time out of your early morning. Starting the day with Jesus ushers us into discovering the joy of abiding in Christ as we derive our nourishment from him. It resets our focus for the day and reminds us of why we are fasting.
Susan Gregory’s The Daniel Fast book includes tips to help prepare your pantry and frig, recipes, and most importantly, a 21-day devotional written specifically for the fast. I use it every year. I also use Seeking God’s Face: Praying with the Bible through the Year; a daily devotional that is organized around the Christian calendar. The selected scriptures during Lent draw us into reflecting and meditating on humanity’s need for Christ – giving us space to personally respond to what we hear God speaking into our hearts. You may have your own favorite devotional. You might choose to read and meditate on one of the Gospels. It doesn’t matter. What counts is your desire to draw your nourishment from God.
Are you thirsting? Hungry? Longing for a closer relationship with Jesus? God invites you to come meet with him during Lent.
Don’t wait. Plan now. Pick your day to start. Encounter Jesus during Holy Week in a profoundly personal way as you fast.
It will be the best nourishment you have ever experienced.
