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Why is water fasting not used more by Christians today?

Richard.20.12

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Its used in both the Old and New Testaments. If you do a word search in the New Testament you'll be surprised how often its referred to. People only think of the 40 day fast of Jesus in the wilderness but its mentioned so many times. Yet today we almost never hear of Christians fasting. Curiously, if you look at how most Christians look today in the western world, they could clearly do with a bit of fasting. They're just as overweight as non-Christians. Shouldn't we set a better example? Being overweight equals a much shorter lifespan. Obituary photos demonstrate this stark reality all over the world. Also it guarantees far more physical pain and disease. We strive for spiritual health. Why not physical health as well? Most Christians don't have a much better diet than non-Christians it seems. Is this setting a good example?

And if fasting is used its usually done in the most unhealthy way possible with no knowledge of the fasting process at all. The necessity for purified water, not cold, consumed often, an absence of exercise and the breaking of the fast with pure, unprocessed food. One church had a fast and broke it with pizza. The sheer ignorance of that is just beyond comprehension when there is so much free information available on this subject.

I guess most of us extract from the Bible what we want and avoid the less comfortable areas. Water fasting can be awkward, difficult and socially unaccepted. But isn't our faith the same at times? How many people in the Bible did socially unacceptable things putting God first? I'd say almost every single prominent person in the Bible did! Satan is very adept at using social norms and conventions to constrain us.
 

Eftsoon

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Hmm,fasting is fairly common from what I've seen. I mean there's a whole Lenten season which is a kind of fast. Many actually go the whole hog and fast for 40 days.I've been part of many churches which hold fasts periodically.
I agree with you though, It's a wonderful way to reconnect with God, and I think more vital than ever. We are stuffed to the point of nausea with junk.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Fasting within the church can be confusing. The best fast is of course the 'complete' fast, which lasts at least one full day, wherein one only drinks water and abstains from usual activities, resting instead. Fasting is both a spiritual and a physical exercise. Sadly most are ignorant about the science of fasting, which is very necessary in order to get the most benefit from the fast.
 
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Richard.20.12

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I have often wondered if the premier way of eating/resting is to fast one day a week on our day off (Sabbath). God instructed the Israelites to cease work on Saturday. Well preparing a meal and the cleanup afterwards is quite a lot of work. If you live in a humid, warm location you just can't leave stuff open otherwise your place will be swarming with bugs. The answer it seems is to fast and do none of that and have a really complete rest. Young children are a question mark though. They will probably grow better fasting 1 day a week but there's been little research on this. It surely couldn't be worse than the terrible state of health most youth are in today. Something to think about in our overfed, underactive world.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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I have often wondered if the premier way of eating/resting is to fast one day a week on our day off (Sabbath). God instructed the Israelites to cease work on Saturday. Well preparing a meal and the cleanup afterwards is quite a lot of work. If you live in a humid, warm location you just can't leave stuff open otherwise your place will be swarming with bugs. The answer it seems is to fast and do none of that and have a really complete rest. Young children are a question mark though. They will probably grow better fasting 1 day a week but there's been little research on this. It surely couldn't be worse than the terrible state of health most youth are in today. Something to think about in our overfed, underactive world.

When my church fasted very young children were excepted for obvious reasons. Older kids who were not yet baptized were not required to fast although they could if they chose to.
 
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RDKirk

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Its used in both the Old and New Testaments. If you do a word search in the New Testament you'll be surprised how often its referred to. People only think of the 40 day fast of Jesus in the wilderness but its mentioned so many times. Yet today we almost never hear of Christians fasting. Curiously, if you look at how most Christians look today in the western world, they could clearly do with a bit of fasting. They're just as overweight as non-Christians. Shouldn't we set a better example? Being overweight equals a much shorter lifespan. Obituary photos demonstrate this stark reality all over the world. Also it guarantees far more physical pain and disease. We strive for spiritual health. Why not physical health as well? Most Christians don't have a much better diet than non-Christians it seems. Is this setting a good example?

And if fasting is used its usually done in the most unhealthy way possible with no knowledge of the fasting process at all. The necessity for purified water, not cold, consumed often, an absence of exercise and the breaking of the fast with pure, unprocessed food. One church had a fast and broke it with pizza. The sheer ignorance of that is just beyond comprehension when there is so much free information available on this subject.

I guess most of us extract from the Bible what we want and avoid the less comfortable areas. Water fasting can be awkward, difficult and socially unaccepted. But isn't our faith the same at times? How many people in the Bible did socially unacceptable things putting God first? I'd say almost every single prominent person in the Bible did! Satan is very adept at using social norms and conventions to constrain us.

Resting while fasting might be necessary for people who live continually in scarcity, but people who are well-fed six days a week can easily carry out normal activities for 24 hours without food. A 26-mile marathon burns only 3/4 of a pound of fat. Most of us are carrying a lot more than a pound of excess fat and most of us don't run a marathon every day.

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. --Matthew 6

Nobody is even supposed to know that you're fasting. Your daily activity should not change.

The current understanding of Jewish practice in the first century is that Jesus and the people around him probably ate only two meals a day: A mid-morning break-fast and a supper at dusk. Notice that no other regular daily meals are mentioned in scripture. The concept of eating three meals a day wasn't developed until the 1700s among prosperous Europeans.

Native hunter-gatherers only ate one meal a day in the evening. We know that because hunter-gatherer populations today still eat only one meal a day. They do their hunting and gathering throughout the day and come together in the evening for a single family or tribal meal for the day.

My point is that what we call "intermittent fasting" (skipping all snacks and one or two meals a day, but eating at least one hearty meal a day) was what ancient people did all the time. One or two meals a day with nothing but water in between is how God designed us to live. The liver, pancreas, and several other organs need long spaces of time with no food in order to carry out their functions healthily.

In the US today, many people barely go an hour through the entire waking day without eating (and that includes snacks, sodas, and sugared coffee, all of which is a "meal" as far as the body is concerned). The body is not made for that.

What I've discovered--and all the information is out there--is that "prayer and fasting" are not only effective for spiritual health, but are also necessary for optimum physical health. It's what we've got to do. It's the way the body works...and the medical community is beginning to realize it.

When we are stressed, the body releases hormones (primarily cortisol) that prepare the body for powerful activity to deal with the cause of the stress: To fight or to flee. But in our modern life, our actual physical response to our stressors...is merely to sit there at our desks.

And worse, when stressed we are likely to eat for comfort--the very opposite of what our bodies are preparing to do. The body is prepared to eat when we are relaxed, not when we are stressed. It releases an entirely different set of hormones (including insulin) to handle eating. When we eat while stressed, the hormonal confusion causes the body to store food that it otherwise would have burned.

The bottom line is that eating while stressed makes us fat. Even if we're counting calories, eating while stressed will still make us fat. The proper response to stress (if you can't run around the block or go a round in a boxing ring) is prayer and fasting. Don't eat--pray. In the secular world, they say "meditate," but for Christians, it's prayer. And fasting..skip that meal and pray instead.

Look again at the practice of the ancients of Jesus' time. They ate their big meal at dusk after work. First, they spent quite a bit of time washing feet and hands. Then they spent quite a bit of time in prayer--meditating. By the time they actually began eating, they were relaxed and their bodies were prepared to receive food with the correct hormones flowing.

In fact, that's how people around the Mediterranean Sea still eat. It's not so much what they eat (the so-called "Mediterranean Diet" is very different from place to place around the Mediterranean Sea), it's how they eat. They eat when they are relaxed.

Jesus was always "fasted and prayed-up" to deal with demons any given day. We should be "fasted and prayed-up" to deal with our own demons of the day. Fasting should be a drop-of-the-hat thing for Christians.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Resting while fasting might be necessary for people who live continually in scarcity, but people who are well-fed six days a week can easily carry out normal activities for 24 hours without food. A 26-mile marathon burns only 3/4 of a pound of fat. Most of us are carrying a lot more than a pound of excess fat and most of us don't run a marathon every day.

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. --Matthew 6

Nobody is even supposed to know that you're fasting. Your daily activity should not change.

The current understanding of Jewish practice in the first century is that Jesus and the people around him probably ate only two meals a day: A mid-morning break-fast and a supper at dusk. Notice that no other regular daily meals are mentioned in scripture. The concept of eating three meals a day wasn't developed until the 1700s among prosperous Europeans.

Native hunter-gatherers only ate one meal a day in the evening. We know that because hunter-gatherer populations today still eat only one meal a day. They do their hunting and gathering throughout the day and come together in the evening for a single family or tribal meal for the day.

My point is that what we call "intermittent fasting" (skipping all snacks and one or two meals a day, but eating at least one hearty meal a day) was what ancient people did all the time. One or two meals a day with nothing but water in between is how God designed us to live. The liver, pancreas, and several other organs need long spaces of time with no food in order to carry out their functions healthily.

In the US today, many people barely go an hour through the entire waking day without eating (and that includes snacks, sodas, and sugared coffee, all of which is a "meal" as far as the body is concerned). The body is not made for that.

What I've discovered--and all the information is out there--is that "prayer and fasting" are not only effective for spiritual health, but are also necessary for optimum physical health. It's what we've got to do. It's the way the body works...and the medical community is beginning to realize it.

When we are stressed, the body releases hormones (primarily cortisol) that prepare the body for powerful activity to deal with the cause of the stress: To fight or to flee. But in our modern life, our actual physical response to our stressors...is merely to sit there at our desks.

And worse, when stressed we are likely to eat for comfort--the very opposite of what our bodies are preparing to do. The body is prepared to eat when we are relaxed, not when we are stressed. It releases an entirely different set of hormones (including insulin) to handle eating. When we eat while stressed, the hormonal confusion causes the body to store food that it otherwise would have burned.

The bottom line is that eating while stressed makes us fat. Even if we're counting calories, eating while stressed will still make us fat. The proper response to stress (if you can't run around the block or go a round in a boxing ring) is prayer and fasting. Don't eat--pray. In the secular world, they say "meditate," but for Christians, it's prayer. And fasting..skip that meal and pray instead.

Look again at the practice of the ancients of Jesus' time. They ate their big meal at dusk after work. First, they spent quite a bit of time washing feet and hands. Then they spent quite a bit of time in prayer--meditating. By the time they actually began eating, they were relaxed and their bodies were prepared to receive food with the correct hormones flowing.

In fact, that's how people around the Mediterranean Sea still eat. It's not so much what they eat (the so-called "Mediterranean Diet" is very different from place to place around the Mediterranean Sea), it's how they eat. They eat when they are relaxed.

Jesus was always "fasted and prayed-up" to deal with demons any given day. We should be "fasted and prayed-up" to deal with our own demons of the day. Fasting should be a drop-of-the-hat thing for Christians.

I agree with most of this (what I can understand), however the knowledge of health in the general population is a big threat to the medical industry. They seek to inform the public only to the extent that it might relieve their workload to reasonable levels without impacting their income.

And the caveat to that is that they know well that the public won't follow good advice anyway.
 
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RDKirk

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I agree with most of this (what I can understand), however the knowledge of health in the general population is a big threat to the medical industry. They seek to inform the public only to the extent that it might relieve their workload to reasonable levels without impacting their income.

Our doctors simply weren't trained in nutrition, nor were they trained to think of "food as medicine." They basically parrot what comes out of the government...and for sure, the government is led by the nose by whichever portion of the agribusiness industry that's lobbied most effectively.

They're not reading up on the latest nutrition information. The people who do keep up with this stuff are athletic advisors. They have to prove the pudding or their athletes don't win. They know what works and doesn't work. There are studies being done all the time, but doctors are rarely reading studies on nutrition because their training does not treat food as medicine.

I am lucky that my doctor is also an athlete (he does mixed martial arts), so he happens to be well-versed in sports medicine. We spend a significant amount of time going over the details of my blood tests to tweak my diet for nutrients and supplements--not even prescription--and make changes according to results.

And the caveat to that is that they know well that the public won't follow good advice anyway.

That is also a huge factor. Huge. Most people won't follow healthy dietary advice anyway. For instance, my mother-in-law, a diabetic, eats horribly most of the time, then eats properly for her condition the day before her appointment hoping to fool the doctor. What good is that? That's not fooling the doctor, the doctor knows she's no cooperating, so he just prescribes pills.

A couple of years ago, my wife sat down in front of her doctor, looked the woman in the eye, and said decisively, "I want to live. I will do whatever is necessary to be healthy and live. I will change my diet and my life, whatever is necessary to live." She says her doctor's attitude changed completely, and rather than simply dispensing drugs, she began paying more attention to what the details of the testing showed, more like my doctor.
 
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Richard.20.12

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When my church fasted very young children were excepted for obvious reasons. Older kids who were not yet baptized were not required to fast although they could if they chose to.
They probably did that to be safe legally. The problem is because so few Christians today fast they have no experience with it. And if they fast its usually just for a day or so. I've never heard of anyone in church settings that went 40 days yet several people in the Bible did that. I thought we were supposed to learn by example!
 
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Richard.20.12

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> people who are well-fed six days a week can easily carry out normal activities for 24 hours without food.

Oh absolutely. Especially if they are not eating refined carbs. That's the key. Then they have long lasting energy stores. Sadly very few Christians seem to care much about their health. Until its too late - then they care a lot.

> Nobody is even supposed to know that you're fasting. Your daily activity should not change.

Yes, and it doesn't need to usually but if people are just starting it can feel strange and unfamiliar so for them it might be better to take it easy. Once they do it a few times its so easy.

The rest was very informative. Thank you. And so true about our incessant eating!
 
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OldWiseGuy

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> people who are well-fed six days a week can easily carry out normal activities for 24 hours without food.>

This is because there are still a couple of previous meals providing energy to the body due to the time it takes to digest food. That is why the 3-day complete fast is the 'gold standard'. Only when the entire digestive system is at rest does the fast become most effective. The energy used for digestion, which is a large fraction of the energy produced by food, is then used for cleansing.

So it can be considered that the first day to day-and-a-half are actually only preparation for the truly cleansing part of the fast.
 
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Sunshinee777

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Jesus said ”when” you fast, not ”if” you fast.. so fasting is part of christian-life.
I have been doing ”just” 24h fastings because I feel like more could do only damage because I don’t eat very well like..never. But that 24h fasting does good to me personally, very humbling indeed. God bless.
 
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Richard.20.12

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Every time I fast I notice an improvement in my spiritual health.
The most I have gone for is only around 3 days though, I would like to accomplish 2 weeks at some point, but I always get hungry and my mind tricks me into eating before long.

Are you consuming anything besides water?

And how much water are you averaging per day? You shouldn't get physically hungry if its at least 2 litres/quarts per day. But as you say, our mind can be our own worst enemy. And the longing for normal amounts of energy to resume.

But why stop at 2 weeks? The real benefits occur right at the end of a 40 day (or so) fast when you get a sudden, intense hunger to signal its time to resume eating. When fasting is mentioned in the Bible what time period is usually indicated? 40 days.

Realize that to get that sudden hunger all your fat reserves must be depleted and back then they were probably a lot leaner on average than most of us are today. So factor in a few more days now. But always resume eating when that hunger hits. That's when your body starts using muscle and you enter into starvation. Almost nobody could ignore eating anyways at this point. It will be like nothing you've ever experienced before.

Herbert Shelton, probably the most experienced fasting therapist who ever lived (oversaw 100,000+ fasts over several decades at his European fasting clinics), noticed that tumour reduction and elimination occurred with long/40 day+ fasts. He deducted it was because after the fat is gone the body looks for anything else it can use for calories. This is the cancer cure we've always had but almost never used. And about the only one with no side effects. Take that, chemo......And its free.
 
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Richard.20.12

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Sadly, few can take the time for a prolonged fast.

Some people manage to continue working through their fast. They try to time the weekend for the 3-5 day bad spell in the beginning though. And they may take a day off during the fast on a bad day. But if their job is not physically taxing some do it. Usually after they've been doing lots of other fasts for years.
 
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Torah Keeper

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I am on day 2 of a 5 day fast for personal reasons. Not for health or weight loss. But because I want God to tell me what to do about a stressful situation.

Fasting is something you have to train for. First a day, then next time, try 2. Drinking extra water is also necessary because we get so much of our water intake from food.

I feel normal on the first day. By the second, I slow down as my body shifts from glucose to ketones. After 3 days, breath smells like acetone. And puking bile by day 5 from my digestive system pushing old food back up into the stomach attempting to get extra nutrients. It is really uncomfortable but my teeth are immaculately clean by the end. Cavities begin to heal. Gums regrow. My sense of smell is super sensitive. I am sure fasting does wonders for healing the entire digestive system.

I continue working during a fast. But 2 days is typically the end of hard labor for me.

And I recommend ending a fast with juice. Don't pig out on junk after a multi-day fast.
 
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RDKirk

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It is really uncomfortable but my teeth are immaculately clean by the end. Cavities begin to heal. Gums regrow. My sense of smell is super sensitive.

That's an unspoken benefit of fasting. I've been intermittent fasting for a couple of years now, one meal a day, also with very low carbs (leaves and stalks, no grains or roots) and my dental health has improved immensely. It's mostly from not having starchy carbs, which turn to sugar in your mouth even as you're chewing.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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And puking bile by day 5 from my digestive system pushing old food back up into the stomach attempting to get extra nutrients.

This...doesn't sound good. :eek:
 
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