by Kyle Nielsen

Fasting! Fasting is a spiritual discipline that has been neglected by the modern church. "Fasting is designed to shift our focus from our bodies to our spirits and from our flesh to our Father." The fads of the day show that fasting is designed to help lose weight and slim down. Scripture created and then cornered the market of fasting. There are a few types of fasts out there, and yes they all deal with food. An 'absolute' fast is where water and food are completely given up for a short period. A 'normal' fast is where liquids are still fine to intake but food is denied. A 'partial' fast is where the person gives up certain types of food for a period of time.

Ultimately, why does anyone fast?

Scripture, being the Word of God, states that fasting is something done with the intent to spend time in prayer and in the Word (Nehemiah 1:4-11, Joel 2:13-17). Fasting is done in combination with prayer towards God for a specific purpose. Fasting is where we take time away from satisfying our flesh and devote that time to God. The purpose of fasting is to tune our hearts to God and idols dear to us are often revealed through this practice. Sometimes the idol is 'king stomach', other times it may an activity (social media, sports, tv). Whatever the idol is, the purpose of the idol is to take away time from God and distract the believer.

How to refocus your discipleship walk.

Fasting is a discipline that takes something of significance away to give the Christian what they really need, a deeper relationship with God. Start by praying for God to soften your heart to be tuned to His. The move to reading the texts in Scripture about fasting and continue to pray about it. Finally, decide on which of the 'styles' of fasting that you are going to do (absolute, normal, or partial) and invest those times in prayer and reading the Word.

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