Fasting

 Fasting is on the fringes of Christian spirituality.
  Is that true?   
Hey Andrew, long time, no feed!
OK, I don't know where he came from, I did not invite him.
Back to fasting: I have fasted once in my life before this week for twelve hours.  I had never considered it again.
Does it matter?
We studied fasting this past week.  I learned that fasting is an opportunity within our Christian liberty, not a requirement.  The question should be to me, why hasn't it mattered?  I think perhaps because of a lack of education in fasting.  I learned that fasting is an important compliment to prayer this week.  Looking at passages that say that prayer and fasting go together, I felt like perhaps my prayers have been ineffective because I have not incorporated fasting.  From reading Foster and reflecting, I found that benefits from fasting are increased effectiveness in intercessory prayer, guidance in decisions, increased concentration, deliverance from those in bondage, physical well-being, revelations, time to focus on God, living out Christian freedom, engaging in spiritual warfare, finding out what control means, peace, and trust.  I definitely felt peaceful and more controlled during my fast. Fasting can be from food, but also from other aspects of our lives that may try to take dominance.

So I fasted.  I decided to fasted from eating for 24 hours, fast from my laptop for 24 hours, and fast from watching my favorite TV show LOST for 24 hours.  I fasted from eating because I felt like that was the most emphasized form of fasting in the Bible, and I should give it a try.  I tend to have a very selfish view about food, and think that I honestly cannot function without my three square meals a day.  I was wrong. So there's that.
   I also feel like I cannot function one day without my laptop.  I proved this theory wrong.  I checked the next day: I did not receive any life and death emails/Facebook updates.  As I think about it, this probably is revealing pride in my life where I feel like I have to be in control of my life and my different contacts.  Knowledge of this world is good, but knowledge of God is very important.
   Then there is 

(the hit series now on DVD that I have been hooked on for the last four weeks).  I have found at least four hours to watch it every Sunday.  It has become a necessary part of my Sabbath, and I have wondered if I could experience joy in other ways that just this show, whose initial splendor has been fading as the weeks progressed.  Maybe it isn't all it worked up to be.
  Fasting from food I found to be relatively easy.  I have a good measure of resolve when I establish goals, and I never ate, though I was tempted a few times.  While I knew that in 24 hours I would be eating, it felt strange that I was so worried about my sustenance.  I am so in love with food that I experience fear to leave it for a short time.  How can I become less reliant on something that God has made our bodies to be reliant upon?
      Relinquishing my access to my laptop has helped me realize my obsession with awareness.  It seems like us college students have an over-obsession with awareness.  We always want to be aware of what is going on.  With iPhones, smartphones, cellphones, Facebook, Youtube, and the Google, we know everything that is happening in the world at once and in our friends lives, but we don’t know the most important thing.  You cannot research your relationship with God on Google.  How can we be so aware of stuff, but not make time to shut up and be aware of God.  It seems like the closer we get to everything in the world, the further we find ourselves from our Father.  
    Finally, I fasted from

(this is the season 2 cover- because you were wondering).
Having been a tradition for the past month for my Sunday afternoon, or the whole day, it felt strange to not be stranded on a remote Pacific island for hours on end.  I fasted from this because it something that I look forward to every week, even more than church.  It doesn't seem right that I should be excited for entertainment and not for the worship of God. Why? Why do I get joy from this?  How does God intend us to find joy in the Christian life?  Through fellowship, entertainment, activities, work, or what?  These are questions that I should ponder.
      Fasting is meant to be focused on God.  We eliminate aspects of our life that keep us from focusing on God.  I think that I chose potent pieces of my perfunctory day so as to accommodate focus on God.  I functioned well without them.  However, I honestly don't feel like I have changed radically, though my stomach has felt strange for the past few days, and I have been very tired.
  Fasting on a Sunday I felt like I had absolutely nothing to do.  As I have been observing Sabbaths, I have been refraining from physical work and resting.  I found some time to pray, but not as much as I expected.  I mean, you think that life would be perfect when you are fasting, but that is not true.  Living for Christ takes initiative whether you are in times of fulness or emptiness.  Nevertheless, I will fast again.