Great Resource for Fasting...

If you follow my blog, you know starting Sunday we're having a week of fasting for wisdom and guidance for the new year at New Life.  A great resource for anyone who is serious about fasting, or who just wants to know what fasting is and the biblical basis for it is Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough: A Guide to Nine Biblical Fasts, Elmer L. Towns.  Dr. Towns offers biblical and practical insights into the why as well as the how of fasting.  As I was re-reading it today, I was reminded of how "normal" fasting was in the early church, and how seldom fasting is practiced in the American church in our day.  Dr. Towns reminds us that we often succumb to "feel good Christianity," and forget that following Jesus is serious and costly.  Dr. Towns does a great job of reminding us that fasting is not about denying ourselves to gain God's favor, but rather denying ourselves so that we may be more tuned in to God's will and purposes in our lives.  Here's a great quote from the book:

   It's important to note that religious practices such as fasting are less important than doing God's will.  As Micah 6:8 points out, what the Lord truly requires of us is devotion to Himself:  "To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."  Fasting is not an end in itself; it is a means by which we can worship the Lord and submit ourselves in humility to Him.  We don't make God love us any more than He already does if we fast, or if we fast longer...The goal of any discipline is freedom.  If the result is not greater freedom, something is wrong.  (pg. 17 Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough)

If you are considering participating in the week of prayer and fasting, you may want to consider a "Daniel Fast." You may remember that Daniel and other young Hebrew men were taken captive by the Babylonians and placed into training to become leaders.  Part of the "training" was eating a diet rich in wine and meat.  The Hebrews decided to eat only vegetables and water.  (This is a "partial fast") After a couple of weeks the Daniel and his compatriots were in better health than the others!  This shows that obedience to God and a desire to do His will is more important than anything else, and that is certainly why we are holding our week long fast next week!

One last practical suggestion if you are planning to take part in the fast---if you are a heavy caffeine drinker: coffee, tea, colas, etc... and you plan to restrict your intake of caffeine as part of the fast, you may want to "wean" yourself off of the caffeine starting TODAY.  Otherwise, you may experience headaches, fatigue and other symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. In anticipation of the fast, I have taken this week to eliminate iced tea and Dr. Pepper from my "diet" and gone back to drinking only water and juice.  That way, during next week's fast, I won't be dealing with caffeine withdrawal as part of the process!