• Current • Older • Profile •
• Beliefs • Rings • Misc • Links •
• Notes • G-book • Awards • Design • Host •

Fasting
2004-02-27 - 12:33 p.m.

Lots of people today are rediscovering fasting - both outside the church, as a form of protest, and within it in order to gain spiritual power and blessings. For a long time fasting went out of fashion and was associated entirely with the Catholic church, and particular its self-mortification excesses of the middle ages. It has come back into use and many feel called to fast for specific purposes.

Fasting is particularly associated with exorcism, for some. In the Gospels Jesus told the discuples that some kinds of demons could only be removed by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21). So some people see fasting as a kind of exorcism tool. Now, I am like many people in that I am sceptical about exorcisms in general - even if some people truly are demon-possessed and not victims of mental or physical illness then I still think some people go overboard with exorcism. We know that healing and exorcism can be done at a distance (Matthew 8:13) and I would incline to say that if we think someone is demon-possessed that we attempt to cure them without standing over them, shouting, in case we are wrong and thus cause them harm. That little digression aside, the Bible does not teach that exorcism or healing is the only purpose of fasting.

People in the Bible fasted for one or two reasons. The most common reason seems to been in order to purify themselves (a little like detoxing, I suppose), to concentrate the mind on God and make them humble. In itself there is nothing wrong with this but it can all too easily become a way of making oneself superior to others, by saying "look how long I have fasted. Look at how righteous I am." That sort of attitude is condemned throughout the Bible, not least by Jesus Himself:

"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:16-18 RSV)

The second type of fasting involves a fast for others, as a means of concentrating prayer by removing from the mind external distractions. I once heard it said that there are two routes to religious ecastasy (i.e. an exalted state such as the mystics sought); one is by dancing, wine and drums (like the Dionysiacs) and the other is by prayer, silence and fasting. As it happens both types are permissable in our faith as David used music and dancing in his prayer, and fasting and silence are also used in different contexts. Daniel fasted in mourning for his people, in exile in Babylon. He fasted for an external purpose - to receive an answer from God in a matter of great importance, that Israel be restored to Jerusalem. In answer Daniel saw visions not only of Israel's return but of the end of time itself. Fasting was an extraordinary measure, and is accompanied with lots of prayer in order to achieve a specified end.

"In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years which, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes." (Daniel 9:2-3 RSV)

For myself, I see a way to harmonise these two scriptures: one referring to a sort of self-improving fasting and the other to a fast for an external end. Jesus tells us that if we fast, no one should know. Fasting is between an individual and God and no matter what its purpose, is not something that should be obvious to anyone. We should be careful not to get so caught up in our spiritual self-improvement or even just in praying for others that we neglect to give physical help to others as well (Matthew 25:31-46). Scripture warns about thsi tendency of ours throughout - knowing that we find it easier to dash off a prayer for "the poor" than to give money, food or clothing to the poor. We should try to do both. So it is with fasting - we may fast for ourselves or for the help of others, and think we have done something great that God will approve of and that will move Him to act for others, whereas we ought to fast and give physically too. There is a passage in Isaiah which deals with just this point:

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. "Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in." (Isaiah 58:1-12 RSV, emphasis mine)

We cannot accept or collude in the oppression or poverty of people and still fast for its removal - that is rather hypocritical. We must change those situations, person by person, and just by just fasting and thinking we have done a great deal. The Bible teaches that we may truly change things by doing both. Which makes sense if we truly want things to change. Give, change things, and fast that God may help you to do so and be with you when you do so.

-HolyFool