Blogger Break

I was shocked when I looked at the date on my last post. Guess I needed a little blogger break. We were speaking of fasting.

Here's something that became really clear to me from Richard Foster's book. I had actually considered a 24 hour fast to last from when you woke up, going the whole day without eating until you ate breakfast the next day. Well in reality, that was fasting 32 hours or more: 24 hours plus the number of hours you slept before your fast plus the time between your last meal and the time you went to sleep.

Foster suggests the Lunch to lunch fast for those learning the discipline of fasting. Eat Breakfast and lunch, then fast until lunch time the next day. This is 24 hours of fasting but you miss 2 meals. Maybe this sounds like to little, but it is actually attainable.

You can then build up to longer fasts: 32 hour, 3 day, 7 day etc. Remember fasting is a discipline and disciplines are built over time. Start out slow and become habitual with it. Then build on what you have.

Sorry for the long delay. Look to hear from me a little bit more frequently.

Fasting In A Fast World

Fasting is a lost discipline.

I can't say that I have heard it spoken of widely in any of my Christian circles. I can't remember a recent sermon, radio show, news article in a Chrisian Magazine that spoke of fasting. For the average American Church member, I think that fasting has become a truly lost discipline.

I must admit that it was enlightening to read about fasting in Richard Foster's book. Fasting for spiritual purposes has a long history within the church. At one time there was a general church mandate to fast 2 days a week - Wednesday and Friday. As a matter of fact there is evidence from the scripture that fasting twice a week may have been a common practice for Jews living during the time of Jesus. Paul did it, Peter did it, The Church at Antioch did it. Why don't we do it?

My opinion aside on the reasons...I think we should do this. It is a discipline. Disciplines take work but they have benefits when pursued. Fasting draws us closer to God. It provides a door into spiritual health that can be achieved in few other ways. Many shy away from it for fear of getting "weak" from the lack of food. On the other hand, many testify of the spiritual strength which comes from the practice.

So here's my challenge. Start doing it. Slowly but deliberately. And let's see how much God will accomplish in our lives through it. You can use the comments section to post your testimonies about how God is using this discipline in your life.

In my next post I will speak about the "how to's" of fasting

This is Ed's summary of and thoughts on the book: "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster

Flash ‘Em: Discipline 2, (the last part)

Richard Foster quotes Frank Laubach:

“ He purposed to learn how to live so that ‘to see anybody will be to pray. To hear any body as these children talking, that boy crying may be to pray.’”

An interesting concept. Flash Praying. Flash quick, hard and direct silent prayers at the people you come in contact with. Pray for strangers. Pray for your co-workers. When you hear an argument pray. Someone crying? Pray. Not a long drawn out prayer. Quick. Fast. Direct.

Lord help that little boy feel your love and stop crying. Restore the trust between those arguing people. Give Jane peace in her position at work. Give wisdom to my boss as she decides what to do next.

Watch their response. Go ahead, look for an immediate answer to prayer. A smile, a sense of calm, a little boy who stops crying.

If all of us combined our 100s of little drips of prayer, imagine what could happen…

A wave of God’s grace applied to people in need

Go ahead, try it. And let me know how it works for you.

Summary of the book: "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster