I am no expert on fasting so I went to the book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by D.S. Whitney. Here is a VERY brief summary on his chapter about fasting.
Types of Fasts
- Normal fast- no food, yes water
- Partial fast-limited food
- Absolute fast-no food, no water (no more than 3 days)
- Supernatural fast-no food, no water, more than three days
- Private fast-not being noticed by others
- Congregational fast-fasting with members of your church
- National Fast- fasting with and for your nation
Reasons to Fast
- To Strengthen Prayer
- To Seek God's Guidance
- To Express Grief
- To Seek Deliverance or Protection
- To Express Repentance and Return to God
- To Humble Oneself Before God
- To Express Concern for the Work of God
- To Minister to the Needs of Others
- To Overcome Temptation and Dedicate Oneself to God
- To Express Love and Worship to God
Whitney notes that fasting is voluntary and must be done for spiritual reasons otherwise it is just dieting. Also, he explains that the more modern idea of abstinence from things besides food is a legitimate form of fasting.
The Lenten fast is usually a partial fast to express grief, humility, repentance and to serve others.
And now, to the personal part...what am I fasting? Since I have been thinking about Lent for a couple of weeks, I've already decided. I'm fasting time wasters in my life. Most of these have to do with the computer--checking facebook all day, checking in on local and national news, spending too much time on "Ticket to Ride" on the ipad, watching TV that isn't part of family time. I don't want to give up computer time completely because I communicate with family with it. However, I do spend too much time finding out my hippie flower name, watching babies on Youtube and seeing how many of the top 100 books of all time I have read. I believe that cutting out these time wasters will make it possible for me to observe Lent in the serious manner that I desire.
By the encouragement of a friend, I recently limited my facebook feed to immediate family only. This way I can still be in contact with my family, but it limits my time on facebook and limits the bunny trail temptations (i.e. "What color best represents my personality", so-and-so is eating lunch, here's ANOTHER selfie of her).
ReplyDeleteI can help you limit your feed if you think that would be helpful for you during this season.
Beth, that would be VERY helpful! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete