4Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? (Zechariah 7:4 – 6)
Today we turn our attention to the Discipline of Fasting. Often, people fast when they want to get a special prayer answered. Of course, the Bible does support fasting for special requests and for other objectives such as humility. If we deeply consider the Biblical basis for fasting though, we come back to the question God asked in the passage above from Zechariah: “was it really for me that you fasted?”. Like every other Discipline, Fasting must ultimately be for God’s glory.
Before we get to our question today, I want to give you a heads up that tomorrow will be dedicated to actually fasting (i.e., not just theory). You should of course only participate in a food fast as your health allows. I am raising this today since the blog is read at varying times of the day around the world.
Bringing our focus back to today, please prayerfully reflect on the passage above and consider the following question.
Question:
When you fast (food fast or otherwise), what do you usually focus on and why?