The emptiness of fasting

One of the things I’m really enjoying about doing this fast every week and writing a little bit about here is the resources I’m finding about fasting. This spiritual discipline has been practiced by God fearing people for thousands of years. It’s an ancient practice and it’s the kind of thing that won’t ever get replaced by an app from the iTunes. Fasting is just one of those things where you have to do the work of it. There are no fasting pills or fasting shortcuts.

I met with a group of pastors this week in Northern Virginia. Most of the guys in the group confessed their struggle with fasting. It falls in the category of “I should do this” rather than “I want to do this” or “I get to do this!” My experience has been that “I should do this” is often not a strong enough motivator to make something stick with me. Articles like this one from Relevant Magazine are a good reminder of why I should do it and help me move towards actually wanting to do this today. Check it out, there is lots of good stuff in there. My favorite part was this: "Obedience to God is in what we don’t do as well as what we do? Definitely, and fasting is one way to increase our reliance on God and what God does for His people."