Nothing.

I should probably just stop right there. That would be the shortest blog ever.

Simply put, fasting is to abstain from food, usually for a certain period of time or for a certain purpose.

The discipline of fasting is not unique to Christians. In fact, many religions are required to fast, including Muslims who fast from dawn to sunset for the month of Ramadan. During Lent, Catholics are asked to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and to abstain from eating meat on Fridays (hence those awesome fish fry dinners at every American Legion hall in America).

Though the Bible is full of references to fasting, from my observation, the practice is not a consistent discipline in an average  Christian’s life. Mine included. So yesterday, because I had a friend who desperately needs healing, I fasted and prayed all day. Well – most of the day. Well – from dawn until sunset…less than 12 hours. And I actually thought I deserved a medal or something.

This is my confession. I’m proud and arrogant when it comes to Christian disciplines and I have no will power when it comes to food. If I hadn’t left my normal lunch at home (and thankfully no one brought anything good to work yesterday), I probably would have caved by 10 in the morning. Why is it I think I’m starving after only one hour without food? Pathetic.

So – that’s my newest addition. I’d like to study the discipline of fasting, maybe read a book or two, and get into what the Scriptures say about this “doing without food” thing. I don’t anticipate any 40-day fast in my future…let’s be honest. It’s like telling me when I first started running that I would do a marathon that same year. Not going to happen.

But if the practice of fasting was a normal part of the people of the Word, it should be a normal part of my life as well. Thanks for reading – now, you can go back to your snacks.

Isaiah 58:6 – “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke.”