need help with fasting

Hi; good to see you; God bless His Word to you. It's faith in the Lord Jesus which comes through reading the Word prayerfully that blesses for eternity. John 3.16 has a marvellous summary of the Gospel. Fasting, if it helps you read the Bible more carefully and spend more time in prayer, might help, but fasting is not central to believing the Gospel. It can easily become a religious ritual, and Ephesians 2.9 clearly says that we are saved 'not of works' but 'by grace...through faith' (Ephesians 2.8)

Never heard of the John the Baptist fast but welcome to CF!

The Bible says that his food was locusts and wild honey but this doesn't sound practical for us today because most people wouldn't eat bugs.

If you are very active and are on medication then fasting may not be a good idea at this point in time because God would not want you to potentially harm yourself doing this.

If you are at a point when these two things no longer apply, then my advice would be to take a multivitamin and drink water. The multivitamin will give you some of the vitamins you would normally receive by eating food so your body would be able to function close to normal. Fasting without water is very dangerous so I wouldn't recommend doing this. We can only survive a few days without water so after a day or two, it would become a serious health concern. Going without food is mentally challenging because you have to deal with the feeling of hunger and suppress your desire to eat but most people can survive several weeks without food so it is not that dangerous.

bellsmom said:

hi, I have spent the last few hours trying to find what the john the Baptist fast involves. I found the disciples/Daniel ones' may do to involve food not total fasting. to health issues take meds. cannot not eat and I get sick if not eat and exercise a lot so need food. I'm interested in john baptist one to is supposed to help be a better witness and be closer to god. though I feel I am doing pretty well to I see god working in my life I want to do better. I am about to end 3 week one ladies in our bible study did. we gave up something we enjoyed. we did pretty good but sure most were not %100 to is nearly impossible. we also did see god working in our lives' and it was not to difficult (for me at least) as expected.

please any help with fastings' be greatly appreciated

thx. all.

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Hello and welcome to CF!

In our Church (Orthodox), fasting is a discipline we are very familiar with. However, when one has medical considerations, the fast may need to be adjusted for that person. We don't honor God by damaging our bodies.

It's also important to understand WHY you are fasting, and what you hope to accomplish. As has been said, care must be taken. If fasting is the focus, then it is too easy to either manage to complete the fast "successfully" and end up giving place to pride as a result, or "failing" at the fast and giving place to despair or some similar sentiment.

Fasting can be good to help us gain some degree of control over our bodies, and to learn that spiritually we can choose to deny the flesh. It can be helpful to humble us and make us realize our total dependence upon God. It can help sharpen our focus, since the saying that a well-fed belly makes one spiritually dull has some accuracy to it. But it is not an end in itself, and it should not be considered as an act where we somehow win the favor of God or influence Him to do anything for us.

There can be much more; that is only a basic outline. This is why we have spiritual guides in our Church to help us know that our focus is what it should be and that we don't end up falling into any of the common errors easily associated with fasting.

Again, welcome to CF and I pray that you are blessed by being here.

Fasting, meaning to abstain from food. So the whole premise is to draw near to God.
We should desire to draw near to God that He would reveal himself to us. Knowing God and following His son Jesus is what we as Christians should desire.
So then the main reason for a fast is to draw near to God, to know Him and His heart.
People fast in many ways, for many reasons, but the main reason is as stated.

Hello and welcome.

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