H: Making Fasting relevant for Now, compared to Biblical times:

H: Making Fasting relevant for Now, compared to Biblical times:

Consider these from the earlier list of types of fast:

TV for a day/a week
Internet
Emails
Facebook
Computer Games
Online Games

In some ways, fasting in these areas are more pertinent than fasting from food these days. Fasting from food still reveals a level of dependence, greed, and distraction that we need to tame in our hunger for God ... but consider the role and impact of food, meals and eating in Biblical times, compared to today in the 21st Century West.

History and Now:
Think for a moment about life in 1st Century Palestine:
Family and social life gathered round the meal; they had less convenient food buying, storage and preparation; and then they ate with prolonged conversations and time spent in company.
These social times with family, friends, neighbours, and community were their Facebook. A chance to catch up on who's doing what, who thinks what, what's happened to who, who's saying what about who, and where the buzz is in life right this minute.


In terms of friendship around meals and eating, this is All good, and something we would do well to learn from in our time, with our schedule/calendar dominated society, with pressure to eat and go out to events in the evening, and families eating scattered through the house, alone (or gathered but not engaging with each other) in front of the screen.

But the effort and time involved with meals was NOT a great catalyst back then for someone getting alone with God.

For us, we have other MASSIVE distractions, and social time and relaxation is now often based around the screen in some form or other.
So as a catalyst to get alone with God, these other new forms of fasting can be very difficult, and very effective. They also reveal your genuine priorities, and shows you the level of temptation that you may not even know you are suffering from, because you never normally bother resisting it.

For example, could I cut out Sport viewing?! I confess that I find that difficult! I say this with the replay of Spurs ('my' team!) v Leeds clashing with the Prayer Meeting this week, after the first match was on the Saturday night when the half night of prayer was at our house!

But, fasting is only worth doing if you are giving up something good that you enjoy. Otherwise, what are you removing from distracting you from God? The goal is heightened discipline in your behaviour, to generate heightened awareness of, and sensitivity to God, with less interruptions and distractions.

For that reason you don't fast from unpleasant things you don't like – like Eastenders or X Factor, you fast from good things that you enjoy – like cricket viewing, obviously!!!

So, that's what fasting is:
A spiritual discipline in which we try to can cut out our wrong priorities and distractions, even around necessities like food (but not just food)

to help us to be more likely to be able to be undistracted in hearing His prompting and guidance, and in sensing His presence and hearing His voice.

Fasting is a God ordained method of removing or distancing ourselves from normal distractions, temptations or interruptions, to focus in on Him, to reduce the likelihood of anything preventing us from interacting with Him.