The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting

Happy August! School is just about to start and all the mom’s said HALLELUJAH! Just kidding…. Kind of 😉 But truly, I hope that whatever season of life you are in that this summer has been wonderful for you! Cooler temps are ahead—even if it is still two more months away.

This summer I had the pleasure of taking the “Journey” class here at our church with Pastor Jody. Jody is also my boss so I consider myself extra lucky but if you have ever been around Jody her spirit is so gentle and kind she honestly makes me want to draw near to Jesus. So, taking this class with her was so amazing. The class focuses on experiencing transformation while walking with Jesus, specifically through spiritual disciplines. “Spiritual disciplines are habits, practices, and experiences that are designed to develop, grow, and strengthen certain qualities of spirit — to build the “muscles” of one’s character and expand the breadth of one’s inner life. They structure the “workouts” which train the soul.” (An Introduction to the Spiritual Disciplines | The Art of Manliness). I have dabbled in spiritual disciplines in the past but going through them over the course of 10 weeks was so powerful. I wanted to write this month for the blog on my favorite discipline.
I am literally sitting here eating. I LOVE food. I rarely miss a meal and the concept of being HANGRY is a real thing to me (haha). So when I tell you that fasting was the most powerful discipline for me…whoa! But then, doesn’t that actually make sense? That the thing that can be the hardest for us to give up and trust God through—that He would speak to us the most in that. That is just like Him to meet us there. I did a little preparation ahead of time and found some specific verses to meditate on when I was fasting, as well as wrote down the things I wanted to intentionally be praying for. It was SO powerful. I had these specific things I was praying over during that time but God actually kept bringing something else to my mind. It’s like He was saying, “Since you are quieting your heart and mind to HEAR me, THIS is what I want to reveal to you to be praying about.” It was so neat. That day, I fasted breakfast and lunch but even when I went to go eat dinner, I truly felt like I could have gone longer. The amount of time isn’t the point but God’s word and presence really did sustain me.

If you have never fasted the intended way (I had fasted before but not the way God intends for it), I encourage you to give it a try! Decide how long you will fast, write down your key prayer points and scripture to go to when you feel hungry and just see what God does. I actually look forward to doing it again because I KNOW God will move. I am expectant of that. Giving up food, or anything else that you rely heavily on other that God, in exchange for His presence it such a powerful thing and He always shows up in that. Here is a scripture I kept referring to when fasting, maybe it will be a good one for you, too.

“ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (italics mine). Ephesians 6: 10-18.

Be alert. Listen. Write down what you hear and reflect on this special time with the Lord so you can go back to it and see what you experienced. You will have to share with me- I LOVE hearing about it!

Blessings,
Nikki Quaid