Too Fast to Fast?
On a scale from 1-10, how much of a hurry are you in in life?
How would people experience you and how would you experience life if you were in less of a hurry?
Well on a scale from 1-10, 10 being the highest level of hurry, I would put myself around an 8 (+ or -). Another interesting question to pair this with would be, how would you rate your need for control 1-10?
We are in a series about listening to the heart and voice of God in the 10000 MINUTES of our week. We’ve practiced Jesus’ powerful invitations into silence and rest, and how to bring Jesus into every thought and circumstance, and this week we are going to the next level:).
Please don’t stop reading when I mention this week’s Jesus invitation: Fasting. Yup I said it! Ok, why have you or have you not fasted?
In the past I would fast for things that I really wanted an answer to, or for direction, etc, and mostly with a pretty strong agenda. And I will admit, that I haven’t fasted in a long time. I had had such high expectations for results and when they were consistently not met, I just put this practice on hiatus. Looking back, I would say that my heart wasn’t really wanting more of Jesus, but what He could do for me.
Why fast? There are so many Biblical references and reasons for this discipline, but a common thread seems to be the practice of humility through physical surrender. From finding freedom from addiction and temptation (Isaiah 58:6, Matthew 4:1-11), to asking God to reveal the next right step (Acts 13:2, Esther 4:16, etc), to casting out demons (Mark 9:29), to pleading for healing, fasting is aligning with God.
I also find it interesting that Jesus said in Matthew 6:16, “and WHEN you fast” not “if” you fast. Now He was talking to a culture that knew the art and practice of fasting very well and had it in there regular rhythms, but I am still struck by it. “WHEN you fast” is an assumptive statement, and I take it as an invitation into alignment.
I fasted this past week, wanna know what I heard/learned? Well it’s called a spiritual practice and discipline for a reason. I sucked at it! I basically fasted without intentionality, and that is simply called starving your body:) Fasting makes you slow down and establishes need for God, but I just powered through it like I was in a hurry. Because I was! I once again, fell into the trap of fitting God into my schedule and powering through.
Fasting with intention is a tuning of your heart to what He’s doing. Alignment.
Would you fast with me at some point this week? Slow down, be intentional, and align with what Jesus is up to!
10000MINUTES Practice:
Fast to Align with the heart of God (from food or something else, ie. social media, porn, desserts, Netflix, etc).
(food is the hardest because it is an actual need, whereas social media may be an addiction but not a physical need)
Text “10k” to “55678” if you want weekly text reminders to your phone. We’ll be sending out a few encouragements a week to help you practice Jesus all week long!