In what ways does a group fast?

Do we fast?

In our Community

To voluntarily go without food, to fast, for the sake of a spiritual purpose is markedly considered counterculture in today’s society. Food is used in most social circles in building and growing relationships in almost every setting. Fasting is something many Christians have never done, and, where food is ubiquitous, fasting is not something specifically common, sought after, or very common. What does it mean to fast, why even do a fast, and how do I fast, besides how often, can seem so daunting. But it doesn’t have to be daunting as long as we understand it better.

There are two types of fasts, an absolute fast and a defined fast. Absolute fasts are when food and water are denied for a short period of time for a specific reason. In contrast, a defined fast is when one might give up sugar, meat, bread, or another food item for a specified amount of time, also for a specific reason. Most Christians today partake in defined fasts and do fasts in groups more than individually.

In a defined fast, a food item chosen should be something special but not dietary unyielding, complex, or cumbersome but something that alerts your senses to another direction. This direction is the Lord. His guidance, His love, and His direction for your life and for your group. If your group wants to fast, find something you all can do without, have a meal or a snack together where this item is obviously missed, like spaghetti without bread or a hamburger without the bun, then address the issue of its omission. Prayer is also a part of fasting. You may do it personally or collectively when your small group is fasting.

Ask, what does it mean to you to have this meal without this food item?

Prayer, Circumspect, Thought

Does it alert your senses to think about something spiritual? It should. You can journal about what your heart is saying while you contemplate the food’s absence and how important it might be to this meal. You can take turns speaking about how you feel, what you are thinking about, and how you can do without this item because you have God’s strength to assist your senses that miss it. There is no perfect way to fast, just that God taught about it in His Word and He rewards fasting. Matthew 6:16-18.

God’s Word

Since fasting is something that encourages our faith, helps us understand what it means to be prayerful and introspective, and can be life-changing we look to it for our reflection time or a Aha moment. Jokingly, we do a fast with something we do not like, for example, as a tea drinker, I might fast coffee! The Bible speaks about fasting as an event we do to help us, not to change God. We, at times, need redirection and if fasting is something that is shocking enough to straighten our view of God’s grace in our lives, it can lead to a breakthrough in whatever we seek. In Joel 1:14, God says to call a sacred assembly, fast, and “cry out to the Lord.”

Pastor Rick

His thoughts on fasting: Why do we fast, does it help? He said this, “In the Bible, God’s people fasted immediately before a major victory, miracle, or answer to prayer. It prepared them for a blessing!” -Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church