The Dreaded Spiritual Practice
Jun 13 2023 - Amy Raby
**Disclaimer: This post is not meant to boast. The intent is to praise God for His power and faithfulness and to invite others into this intimate and ancient spiritual practice gifted to us by God.**
God has been surprising me lately. I love that. Just like when your kids or spouse or friends reveal a side of themselves you haven’t seen before or share something about themselves you didn’t know before. It’s beautiful and leaves me in wonder and even more in love.
I’m learning things about prayer and God that make me feel like I’ve been missing an entire side of a person I’ve known most of my life. Things I haven’t done before like daily praying the Our Father (the Lord’s Prayer) or the Shepherd's Psalm (23)—it’s like I’m tapping into an ancient power and unity connecting me to the followers of Jesus who have said and sung these words for thousands of years—or things like fasting.
Prayer is changing me, so it’s no surprise that God is inviting me to grow in the area of fasting as well. In just one quick internet search of prayer and fasting, they are coupled together in all of these scriptures:
Ezra 8:21, 23
Nehemiah 1:4
Psalm 35:13
Daniel 9:3
Matthew 17:21
Luke 2:37; 5:33
Acts 10:30; 13:3; 14:23
I Corinthians 7:5
To this, I am surprised once again. By God’s emphasized connection between prayer and fasting and by my lack of fasting for all my life. If we are to pray without ceasing, and prayer and fasting go hand in hand, then a regular rhythm of fasting seems absurdly appropriate for any follower of Jesus.
I grew up learning about fasting and practiced it a handful of times as a teen and young adult. At that point, my understanding was simple—when you feel hungry, pray and think about God. I never enjoyed it. I never wanted to do it, and I honestly didn’t get the purpose.
Recently I listened to several teachings about the spiritual practice of fasting and asked my husband Justin if he would try fasting with me. No surprise to some of you who know him, he said, “let’s do it…tomorrow.” That’s not what I was expecting, at least not that soon. I instantly began wrestling between my flesh and spirit. Tomorrow? You’re not ready. You can’t just stop eating all of a sudden. You need a few days to prepare your body, your mind…just do it later. Thankfully the Spirit spoke up…people around the world don’t get to plan when they miss a meal. Many of them wake up and have no idea if they’ll eat today or not. Trust me, I will help you. Thankfully, the Spirit (and my pushy, spontaneous husband) won.
We decided to ease into it and fast all day until dinner. I ate a heavy protein snack at 11:00pm the night before, you know, just in case. We woke up the next morning and began the day of fasting. We were praying about a few specific things, and so as I felt hunger pangs, I prayed for them. Honestly, I was terrified and doubted that I could do it, but oh how the Lord surprised me.
Yes, I was hungry. Yes, I felt a little tired and weak, but something was totally different. I felt energized in my spirit. I felt happy. I prayed more, not just for the things we were specifically praying about, but about anything. When I felt frustrated with a family member, I prayed. When I felt like eating, I prayed. When I worried, I prayed. It’s almost as if I was too physically empty to depend on physical means of resolution. I had to engage my spirit with God’s because it took less physical effort.
A powerful principle I gained from the teaching I’d listened to on fasting was this: I have a stronger hunger to see the Lord answer this prayer than I have for food. One prayer was for a prodigal child to return to the Lord. So, as I was hungry, I would pray, Lord, I want your daughter to return to you more than I want food. I feel like this was a game changer. It supernaturally satisfied my physical hunger. I prayed Jesus’s words, “I have food to eat of which you do not know,” John 4:32, asking God to miraculously give me this spiritual food.
As dinner approached, I honestly wanted to continue our fast. I felt like I could keep going because God was showing Himself to be so strong in my weakness. I guess I wanted to eat more though because I enjoyed a chimichanga around 6:30pm.
I was so surprised by the Lord’s comfort, strength, and blessing through fasting. I am in awe of this profound connection between the spiritual and physical. It left me wanting! It’s a happiness I had never experienced before, and it came on the heels of the death of a loved one. The week of writing this, we lost my sweet grandma, whom I love dearly, to the eternal arms of Jesus. In the middle of my grief, fasting brought the sweetness of Christ to my heart and so much more.