Meditation, fasting etc

[christian-surfer]

This is something that I have thought about. I heard some stories that people had practiced some form of meditation and then they said satan or some negative force appeared to them. They them took it to mean that they should not practice meditation. However, Jesus went out in the desert for 40 days and fasted and then satan appeared to him. Given the same logic, why would you spend 40 days in the desert fasting if the end result is that satan is going to appear ? If you meditate and satan appears then you can say “I cast you out Satan “ but by the same logic, I am not sure that it means meditation is bad. Of course there are many different ways to meditate and I have also heard that many people have wrong ideas about it or how to practice.

 

[David Lamb]

This is something that I have thought about. I heard some stories that people had practiced some form of meditation and then they said satan or some negative force appeared to them. They them took it to mean that they should not practice meditation. However, Jesus went out in the desert for 40 days and fasted and then satan appeared to him. Given the same logic, why would you spend 40 days in the desert fasting if the end result is that satan is going to appear ? If you meditate and satan appears then you can say “I cast you out Satan “ but by the same logic, I am not sure that it means meditation is bad. Of course there are many different ways to meditate and I have also heard that many people have wrong ideas about it or how to practice.

Satan will want to attack Christians whenever they do anything spiritual, whether it's praying, reading the bible, meeting with other believers, evangelising, fasting. That is why we need the heavenly armour described in Ephesians 6.

 

[prodromos]

This is something that I have thought about. I heard some stories that people had practiced some form of meditation and then they said satan or some negative force appeared to them. They them took it to mean that they should not practice meditation. However, Jesus went out in the desert for 40 days and fasted and then satan appeared to him. Given the same logic, why would you spend 40 days in the desert fasting if the end result is that satan is going to appear ? If you meditate and satan appears then you can say “I cast you out Satan “ but by the same logic, I am not sure that it means meditation is bad. Of course there are many different ways to meditate and I have also heard that many people have wrong ideas about it or how to practice.

Or perhaps Jesus knew He was going to face Satan, and the 40 day fast was preparation for the encounter. Remember the demon the disciples were unable to cast out? Jesus said that kind only comes out through prayer AND fasting.

 

[Godcrazy]

Or perhaps Jesus knew He was going to face Satan, and the 40 day fast was preparation for the encounter. Remember the demon the disciples were unable to cast out? Jesus said that kind only comes out through prayer AND fasting.

yes that is proof enough. As the exorcist said do not empty your mind but fill it with God, his words etc that it was difficult for evil to attack then, you kinda get a pure mind also he mentions discipline as evil tend to stay away from those that are again hard to get to them

 

[bèlla]

Next time clarify the form they’re using and what it involves. That may be the culprit.

I used to meditate long ago but I stopped. I also had a day of silence. But I built the latter into my life instead. My environment is quiet and peaceful which provides a good atmosphere for spiritual engagement throughout the day. I have an integrative approach to my faith and prefer it to compartmental alternatives.

~bella

 

[The Liturgist]

Or perhaps Jesus knew He was going to face Satan, and the 40 day fast was preparation for the encounter. Remember the demon the disciples were unable to cast out? Jesus said that kind only comes out through prayer AND fasting.

Or, since He is fully God and fully man in hypostatic union, he fasted so as to change our nature through His regenerative act on the Cross and to demonstrate to us that in Him, the devil’s temptations will have no power over us. Since through His divinity our Lord could have erased the devil from existence and would have if that had been in our best interests, but instead Christ our True God basically allowed Satan the choice to embarrass himself like the slanderous murderer that he chooses to be, not unlike what happened with Job but to a still greater extent.

It is also telling that the devil should have known that the Son of Man would not fall prey to temptations, but was so driven by his own self-love and hatred of others that he tried it anyway, thus exposing himself as a perpetual fraud and a coward, who having fallen entirely and irrevocably from grace subsists on the dust of the earth and spends his time in the most self-destructive way possible: he and his minions trick humans by exploiting our weaknesses and in so doing reveal they are nothing and have nothing compared to God. “The Prince of Power of the Air” sounds impressive until one realizes how vacuous that title us.

So thus while we should be cautious of the devil and aware that he prowls like a roaring lion, there is also no cause for alarm because with the only begotten Son and Word of God on our side, through the power of the life giving cross, the devil is without power.

I suspect by the way this is why possession is comparatively rare within our church, and also the liturgical rites we have for baptism and chrismation are sufficient in most cases. You usually don’t hear about famous Orthodox exorcists; we do have them, they are out there, but exist as secret saints among the clergy and monastics to deal with the most unusual and exceptional cases.