In order to fast for God, you should fast with the desire to deepen your relationship with Him.
Fasting for God is a popular subject and activity among Christians. A Christian can fast anytime they decide throughout the year; however, most people choose the season of Lent to fast. During Lent, people normally abstain from a certain food or habit for forty days and forty nights to resemble Jesus’ forty-day and forty-night fast in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). Amid Jesus’ supernatural fast, He chose to deny Himself food and water. While Jesus was fasting in the desert, He was tempted by Satan three times and overcame the temptations with His power and authority (Luke 4:1-13).
Perhaps Jesus faced forty days without bare necessities for survival to show us that fasting, denying ourselves to focus on God through prayer, is a powerful tool He supplies us with to overcome attacks from Satan. Whether fasting is a consistent part of your worship, or you have never tried fasting, let's discover crucial ways this practice can allow God to reveal Himself to us:
How to Fast for God
Most times, many people only associate fasting with fasting from food; however, there are many ways to fast for God. Before you fast, it’s good to recognize why you are fasting. If you are fasting just to appear more religious than someone else or for selfish motives, then you are not truly fasting for God. A person should only fast for God if their heart is in the right place. In order to fast for God, you should fast with the desire to deepen your relationship with Him. Whatever you fast from should be something that takes up a considerable amount of time in your life.
Food is a traditional item to abstain from; however, it might not be most beneficial to fast from food, and certainly not water, for some people. Many people suffer from medical issues if they go a long time without food, such as people with diabetes or a past history with an eating disorder. If someone with these types of medical illnesses participated in a food-based fast, they could become ill or have a relapse in their illness. Fasting for God does not have to involve abstaining from food. When you are deciding what to fast from, try to choose something that prioritizes your day-to-day activities.
For Christians who need another fasting option besides food, it would be beneficial to consider fasting from things that take up a considerable amount of time, such as scrolling through social media or watching Netflix. Neither of these things strengthens our relationship with Christ, and they could potentially hinder our relationship with Christ if what we are looking at is contradictory to the Scriptures. Both scrolling through social media and watching Netflix can consume our energy. It would be healthy to fast from one of these items and dedicate that time, instead, to read your Bible and pray. The whole purpose of fasting is to deny yourself of things that tend to distract and lead to sin to focus more on God and spend quality time with Him.
Start Small
When you fast for God, it is advisable to start small before you do a complete forty-day fast for Lent. Just like a runner training for a marathon, you have to start with small runs before you dedicate to a marathon. In the same way, before you start a fast for God, break down attainable, bite-sized goals. If your goal is to stop cussing for the duration of Lent, start a few weeks earlier so that you can prepare yourself for the long haul. Rather than fasting from being angry for forty days right off the cusp, dedicate one day at a time to abstaining from foul language. These small training exercises can better equip you to undergo the entire extent of the forty days and forty nights fast for God. When you are preparing to fast, don’t overwhelm yourself all at once. Start small and you won’t feel overwhelmed by the entire process of it all.
Set Your Priorities Straight
To fast for God means you are truly fasting for God. You should not be fasting for selfish reasons nor should you be fasting to appear more holy or religious than someone else. Jesus warns us not to fast as the Pharisees did (Matthew 6:16-18). The Pharisees fasted to get attention and admiration from the people. When you are fasting for God, make sure you are fasting for the right reasons and not for selfish reasons.
There are many other things you could fast from this year in place of food, water, social media, or television. Some other unique ideas that you could fast from could be fasting from anger, hatred, lying, self-hate, or cursing. Choosing to fast from one of these things for God could be a life-changer for your spiritual walk with Christ. God doesn’t want you to be angry, hateful, dishonest, hate yourself, or speak profanities. Instead, God wants you to be caring to others, loving, honest, and speak kindly. If you notice you have a habit of being angry, hateful, dishonest, hating yourself, or cursing, one of these items might be the perfect thing for you to fast from for God. Being caring to others, loving others, being honest, and speaking kindly all extends God’s love to others. This type of fast for God brings glory to God and fills His heart with joy. If you want to fast for God, you need to set your priorities straight, making the only goal to glorify God. As long as your heart is in the right place and you are striving to focus on God, your fast will be pleasing to Him.
Fasting with Purpose
Fasting for God can be challenging at times, but when we look at the bigger picture, it doesn’t seem as daunting. The purpose of fasting is to get ourselves focused on God and to keep our hearts, minds, and souls fixated on Him. Fasting should not be done out of selfish motives as fasting needs to be done with God as the focus in our lives. How to fast for God may sound complicated, but it’s not if your heart is in the right place. Even if you mess up during your fast and only make it thirty, twenty, ten, or two days, the effort you put into the task is what matters. God sees your heart and He knows if you are doing something out of selfish reasons or honest intentions. There is no point in trying to trick God because He knows everything—including our hearts and minds.
Now, the challenge is up to you. What will you decide to fast from during this Lent season? Social media, television, anger, or something else? The options are endless as long as your heart is in the right place. For me, this year, I’m going to fast from self-hate throughout Lent to help me focus more on God and less on a bad view of myself. Rather than feeling myself up with self-hatred, I’m going to redirect my thoughts to my Lord and Savior. You can join me in my fast for God too if you want, or you could choose another thing in your life that takes up a good majority of mental space and fast from that.
During your fast for God, focus on Him and let His love swell up inside you. He is awesome and mighty to save. Even if it seems impossible at times to focus on God during your fast, start over and turn back to Him. Messing up during our fast doesn’t mean we have failed—it just means we are human. Focus on God during your fast this year and you will glorify God in your life.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Dallas Reedy
