The other day I was chatting with a coworker, and he mentioned he was “intermittent fasting.” For those unfamiliar, this is a current popular weight-loss trend where people provide themselves a small window, 3-4 hours, to eat food and then only drink water or tea for the remainder of the day.
I observed my coworker with optimistic interest. I was in full support of this fast but knew it was not sustainable. Sure enough, after a week or so, I came into the office to find him with a Chipotle burrito on his desk, and just like that, the fasting had ended.
In college, I fasted once a week for several months. The aim was to draw closer to Jesus in a secular setting where temptations were abundant. Truth be told, it was one of the harder things I’ve done, but it taught me an important discipline that I hadn’t learned by simply reading the Bible or praying.
Fasting requires a sacrifice that has immediate physical impacts. Whether it’s an hour or a week into a fast, hunger and fatigue will set in, and we are faced with the choice of trying to push through in our own strength or turn to God.
For Christians, this is where the discipline of fasting enters a deeper level. When we deprive ourselves and turn to God for strength, he can reveal himself to us in ways that we perhaps may not see otherwise.
There are various reasons to fast: mourning, repentance, seeking God’s will or simply discipline and self-control. These are just a few examples we see from the Bible.
Jesus fasted. After 40 days and nights in the desert, he was tempted but stood strong. His response to Satan’s temptation to eat was, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).
Moses fasted when he was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights when he created the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28).
In Jonah, when the Ninevites repented, they fasted to show they had turned from their sinful ways (Jonah 3:5-10).
Fasting is a way to focus on God. In a world filled with distractions, it often takes removing something to get our attention. When we do face temptation today, we frequently turn to food or other distractions instead of relying on God.
While fasting from food is the most traditional form of this practice, the most effective fast is to remove whatever is distracting you from God the most.
Counselor and professor Heather Webb said it well when she described fasting as “abstaining from anything that fills the space inside us that God longs to occupy.”
For Lent this year, I decided on a fast from social media. Pastor Charlie Sandberg recently wrote an informative blog on how our phones are changing us. I can see the truth of this when my iPhone gives me a weekly screen time report. I was convicted whenever I’d see my social media time ranking above my Bible app.
Giving up social media has been freeing. Sure, there are times throughout the day when I go to click that Instagram icon that I deleted, but in its place, I added the “Pause” app. This app, created by Ransomed Heart Ministries, offers space, one to 10 minutes, to pause and focus on God. It is based on John Eldridge’s new book titled Get Your Life Back, which confronts the fact that we are losing our souls to today’s frenetic pace.
For me, fasting in this way has been a helpful practice. Rather than mindlessly scrolling through social media, I’m able to connect with God in the midst of a busy day. Perhaps that is the purpose of practices like Lent and fasting in the first place.
David Young has been a member of Faith for three years. He is a public relations communication specialist who has a background in journalism.
At Faith, David serves as the lead for the blog and the The Perspective newsletter. He loves creative writing and being able to share captivating stories with the church.
David is a Colorado native who enjoys climbing Colorado’s 14ers, fly fishing, backpacking and mountain biking.