Do you fast?

[sobresaliente]

Greetings in Christ,

I am in the process of reading A Celebration of Disciplines by Richard Foster and found his chapter on fasting very enlightening.

I know there is no command for fasting, but it is a very freeing discipline.

It seems to be implied in this scripture:

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward
Mathew 6:16

The sermon on the Mount was preached to Christ's disciples.

I am just wondering if anyone on here has fasted. I even have a pole!

If you have not fasted it does not make those who have any better than you, it is simply a discipline, I have enjoyed it very much and have had so many rewards.

Feel free to post anything you have to say on this subject, and please vote in the poll.

thanks so much,
Sobresaliente

 

[ByzantineDixie]

I have read the book and periodically observe a 24 hour fast...but I don't think I would ever pursue the extended fast he also discusses. Even three days seems too, too much for me.

Here is my problem. After a fast I think it's like Mardi Gras or something and I try to make up for lost meals in one setting...like I've earned it or something. Clearly---I have some maturity issues with my fasting. Hey, sanctification is a process....

Peace

Rose

 

[Gsapious]

I want to fast, but at my age, I'd probably end up stunting my growth =\

 

[Photini]

I want to fast, but at my age, I'd probably end up stunting my growth =\

A couple of weeks ago, my eight year old son asked me if he could start fasting. Of course, I said!! But at his age, his fast is very simple. On certain days he will not be eating meat. Start simple, and grow into it....like a training athlete.

 

[Eusebios]

In the Orthodox Church, we observe 4 major fasting periods each year, including Great Lent (of which we are currently in the midst of), The Nativity, SS Peter & Paul and Dormition.We fast on Wed. and Fri. throughout the year as well in remembrance of Christ's betrayal and Crucifixion.
Fasting is indeed a wonderful discipline,and it was practiced by Jesus Christ himself. I submit the following from FR. Alexander Schmemman's seminal work, Great Lent .


On Fasting at Great Lent
Fr. Alexander Schmemann


Satan came to Adam in Paradise; he came to Christ in the desert. He came to two hungry men and said: eat, for your hunger is the proof that you depend entirely on food, that your life is in food. And Adam
believed and ate; but Christ rejected that temptation and said: man shall not live by bread alone but by God. By doing this, Christ restored that relationship between food, life and God which Adam broke, and which we still break everyday. What then is fasting for us Christians? It is our entrance and partic-ipation in that experience of Christ Himself by which He liberates us from the total dependence on food, matter, and the world. By no means is our liberation a full one. Living still in the fallen world, in the world of the Old Adam, being part of it, we still depend on food. But just as our death -- through which we still must pass -- has become by virtue of Christ's Death a passage into life, the food we eat and the life it sustains can be life in God and for good. Part of our
food has already become "food of immortality: -- the body and blood of Christ Himself. But even the daily bread we receive from God, rather than that which separates us from God. Yet it is only fasting that can perform that transformation, giving us the existential proof that our dependence on food and matter is not total, not absolute, that united to prayer, grace, and adoration, it can itself be spiritual. All this means that deeply understood, fasting is the only means by
which man recovers his true spiritual nature. It is not a theoretical but truly a practical challenge to the great Liar who managed to convince us that we depend on bread alone and built all human knowledge, science, and existence on that lie. Fasting is a denunciation of that lie and also the proof that it is a lie. It is highly significant that it was while fasting that Christ met Satan and that He said later that Satan cannot be overcome "but by fasting and prayer." Fasting is the real fight against the Devil because it is the challenge to that one all-
embracing law which makes him the "Prince of this world." Yet if one is hungry and then discovers that he can truly be independent of that hunger, not be destroyed by it but just on the contrary, can trans-
form it into a source of spiritual power and victory, then nothing remains of that great lie in which we have been living since Adam.

St. Vladimir's Seminary; Crestwood, New York

 

[bound2him]

I'd love to learn how, but i dunno, there isnt much in the bible on fasting right?

 

[ethereal hope]

I like the "communal fasting" -- the whole church doing it, like during Lent. Makes it feel like you're part of a marathon, and knowing that others are doing it helps the spirit (with perserverence and humility).

I also try to get my Bible reading done during the fast, and I think I have gained some deeper understandings doing so ...but sometimes I get a little dizzy trying to read while my stomach's growling.

But overall, it's a great experience! Some pastors say that if you can't fast with food (I have young children whom I won't make fast), you can just give up something else that's important to you, like TV if you watch it a lot, or smoking, or maybe just cookies and candy.

 

[Eusebios]

Here is a link that provides more info for those desiring to know a little more about fasting. Hope this is helpful.
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.

 

[prodromos]

I'd love to learn how, but i dunno, there isnt much in the bible on fasting right?

That seems to depend entirely on which manuscripts your bible translation is based on.

In the King James Version:
Matthew 4:2
Matthew 6:16-18 (note it says when you fast, not if)
Matthew 9:14-15
Matthew 17:21
Mark 2:18-20
Mark 9:29
Luke 2:37
Luke 5:33-35
Luke 18:12 (wrong kind of fasting, ie. pride)
Acts 10:30
Acts 13:2-3
Acts 14:23
Acts 27:33
1 Corinthians 7:5
2 Corinthians 6:5
2 Corinthians 11:27

and this is just from the New Testament. The Old Testament has many more references.

John.

 

[Knight]

Here's another note. A fast does not necessarily have to mean food. The idea is you give up something in order to draw closer to God. Food is definately the most common but there can be others.

I'll recommend a book: "A Hunger for God" by John Piper. This entire book deals with the subject of fasting.

 

[The Midge]

For lent I give up snacks between meals. But since I've been doing the 24 hour fast as recommended by Foster in his excellent book the symptoms have not been nearly as acute.

I try 24 hours per week but I'm giving it a reast until I'm over a sucession of cold and flue virus.

/me wanders off to Charismatics forum for a bit a healing prayer.

 

[JMRE5150]

Yes, I do fast.


I am currently working up to a 10 day water-only fast. I am very intrigued by it.

I am currently reading "Fasting: A spiritual breakthrough" by Elmer Towns
as well as "Fasting can change your life" by Jaerry Falwell/Elmer Towns

There is also a 30 day juice fast that is interesting. I have some fasting links you can check out as well:

http://64.106.220.190/fasting_book/water%20fasting.htm

http://christian-bible-studies.com/fasting/

http://billsey.christian.net/ChristianFasting.pdf

Try those if your interested in fasting to bring yourself closer to God. Also, the two books I've listed above are relatively cheap, and are written by the vice president of Liberty University who is also the Dean of the School of Religion there. This isn't some 'fly-by-night author' giving his viewpoints. He relates 9 different biblical fasts and how/what these fasts can mean in your life.

Fasting is a lost form of praising God in todays society. Its a shame. The bible repeatedly refers to fasting and prayer as key points to bringing oneself closer to God.

 

[bound2him]

That seems to depend entirely on which manuscripts your bible translation is based on.

In the King James Version:
Matthew 4:2
Matthew 6:16-18 (note it says when you fast, not if)
Matthew 9:14-15
Matthew 17:21
Mark 2:18-20
Mark 9:29
Luke 2:37
Luke 5:33-35
Luke 18:12 (wrong kind of fasting, ie. pride)
Acts 10:30
Acts 13:2-3
Acts 14:23
Acts 27:33
1 Corinthians 7:5
2 Corinthians 6:5
2 Corinthians 11:27

and this is just from the New Testament. The Old Testament has many more references.

John.

Thanks, although i should have been specific, i meant like detailed instructions

 

[sobresaliente]

Thanks for the input guys. One of the strange things is I have never heard a sermon or anyone teaching on fasting until I read that book.

I wasn't sure exactly how many christians did fast. From what I can see in my own experiences is many times it seems to be reserved for the pastors and preachers when it is really meant for all believers.

Sobresaliente

 

[Eusebios]

Thanks for the input guys. One of the strange things is I have never heard a sermon or anyone teaching on fasting until I read that book.

I wasn't sure exactly how many christians did fast. From what I can see in my own experiences is many times it seems to be reserved for the pastors and preachers when it is really meant for all believers.

Sobresaliente

Sobre.
I didn't really know a lot about it until becoming Orthodox. As I mentioned in an easrlier post, we have 4 major fasts a year and fast on Wed. and Fri. most weeks of the year. We do not totally abstain from food, but do try to cut back on portions of what we do eat We do not eat any meat, dairy, fish (w/backbone), wine and oil.
All members of the Church who are physicallt able to do so participate in the fast, from the Church Heirarchs to the janitor.(hmm... I guess my parish doesn't really have a janitor )
Alas, I digress
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.