Cultivate a Love of Fasting

Fasting is a gift. We must each begin our journey to cultivate a love of fasting. It takes time for God to do this divine work within our hearts. Regular fasting is important because there are things we can only experience and discover through fasting. God is with us as we regularly abstain from all food and nourishment. Jesus will help us cultivate our love of fasting.

To be a monastic is to dedicate our lives to prayer. Fasting is a unique and all encompassing way to pray. The way we embody prayer through fasting is unlike other kinds of prayer. We choose to empty our bodies and depend on God. In our emptiness and weakness we must rely on God even more. We abstain and give up what sustains our lives to be with the one who gives life. It takes time and prayer to cultivate a love of fasting with God. With time, we will watch the seeds we plant and care for be grown by God into strong trees. These are trees that we return to every time we fast and enjoy the cool shade of their canopy.

There are different kinds of fasting in Scripture. There are times and places for the various types of fasting. For our Way of Life we turn to a kind of fasting Jesus spoke about. The disciples of John the Baptist had asked Jesus why His disciples didn’t fast. The response that Jesus gave was about presence. Those with Jesus were not fasting because they were present with Him. Yet, there was a time coming when Jesus wouldn’t be physically with them. At that time, they would fast.

We fast because Jesus is not physically here with us. Something happens when we begin fasting weekly. We experience a presence with God that we cannot experience any other way. At the center of all our fasting is a closeness, intimacy, and companionship with God. This is the reason we establish a rhythm of weekly fasting to be with Jesus.

As we fast, we confront our most fundamental biological desire – to eat. We cannot expect to grow in mastery of ourselves if we cannot master our hunger. Fasting is a school of endless lessons. The lessons we learn are intimately intertwined with our bodies, lives, relationships, and God. As our bodies empty we discover who we are without the most fundamental comfort in life. When our bellies are full and life is going well, it is far easier to put on the fruit of the spirit ourselves. It is far easier to put on love. With our bodies empty we can take stock of the natural presence of the Fruit of the Spirit within. Let us prayerfully accept all that we truly are, and in faith pray for who we may become.

In fasting, we reject the dualism that tells us that only the spiritual matters. We choose to look at our physical bodies in their empty state and affirm, together with God, that creation is good. We accept that every sensation our bodies experience is a part of our whole self. The body of Jesus is just like mine. He felt hunger just like me. Our bodies are good, and pleasing to God. Even after the resurrection, Jesus was in a body that felt and could be touched. We affirm in fasting that our bodies matter. In that last day, our bodies will be remade when we are resurrected like Christ was. We fast because we have hope for today, tomorrow, and forever.

So we choose to fast. We make it a weekly part of our life to fast. We fast in private, without broadcasting it to the world. We fast for us. Fasting does not give us power over anyone. Instead, prayerful fasting invites us to a place of humility and brokenness. This is similar to the humble posture we see in Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve. Pray for our God to give you a love of fasting. To love fasting means to love the whole experience of fasting. Fasting is a gift. The love of fasting is a gift. Let us be patient as we cultivate this love with God. Let us ask God, who gives good things to those who ask.

There is grace and accommodation when anyone is unable to fast without risk or harm. This situation may be temporary or permanent. Instead, we invite you to abstain in place of a weekly fast. This is a different practice from fasting. We should approach it with different expectations. Due to what fasting is, there are things it can show us that abstaining cannot. Consider how you will adapt and change what you abstain from over time. Anyone who needs and accepts this accommodation fulfills their commitment to this chapter in our Way of Life. They are still encouraged to pray that they would be able to fast a few times each year. This way, they can share in the deep and divine joy that comes from fasting. We believe that the bodies we live in should not exclude anyone from being an Urban Monastic. In all things, remember and treasure God’s grace and mercy.

• Reflect on the negative and impulsive things you have noticed within yourself when fasting. Pray over each thing God shows you.
• Plan time to seek out the presence of God on the days that you set aside for fasting.
• Read the accounts of fasting in scripture. What types of fasting do you see, and how are they similar or different?
• Contemplate the unique presence with Jesus you can experience through prayerful fasting.
• What would it look like for God to invite you to an extended fast of at least 4 days?
• Celebrate every time you are able to finish a fast as you planned!
• Reflect on how you can establish a weekly rhythm of fasting that does not reveal your fasting beyond your household.
• Meditate upon how fasting helps you more naturally embody the Fruit of the Spirit.
• Reflect on how you have experienced the presence of God when you were fasting.
• How do you experience your true self when you are fasting? What surprises you about who you really are in your hunger and emptiness?
• Grieve how you were misled about the dangers and fruitlessness of fasting as a prayerful practice.
• Celebrate when you stop a fast early because you are caring for your mind, body, or spirit.
• Meditate on what God has taught you through regular fasting.
• Would you say that you currently love fasting? Why or why not?
• What have you experienced or discovered uniquely through fasting?
• Meditate on how you have practiced prayerful fasting without it being a means to vanity or weight loss.