Spiritually Fasting and Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle
January 23, 2019
Alivia Chenoweth- Marketing Employee
Recreation Centers is focused on positively impacting the holistic well-being of the Liberty University community, as stated in our mission statement. The growth of students and staff through the use of our facilities and service to the Liberty campus is one of our core values that we strive to maintain. Holistic-growth is a hard thing to come by but can be done in many ways besides participating in recreational activities. It can also be found in the slowing-down of life through the process of fasting and focusing on your faith and walk with God.
Fasting is commonly seen as a time where you take an absence of food to focus on spiritual growth. That often turns people away from the concept of fasting, but instead think of it as this; the act of humbly denying something of the flesh to glorify God, enhance our spirit, and go deeper in our prayer life.
Fasting can be more than abstaining from food. It can be taking a leave from social media, sports, sleep, friends, etc. It’s usually something in your life that is taking up a lot of time and distracting you and pulling you away from spending time with the Lord and preventing you from developing a deeper relationship with him.
People often fasted before making big decisions.
In Exodus 34:28, Moses fasted on the Mount Sinai before the Lord gave him the words of the covenant aka the Ten Commandments.
Fasting can also be found in Daniel 9:3-5 in Daniel’s prayer to the Lord. He says in verse 3, “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”
Now you don’t need to take it to the extremes as a lot of biblical characters did with wearing sackcloth and not eating for weeks at a time. It can mean something as simple as removing sugar or coffee or soda from your everyday life. It could mean fasting from going shopping at the same places every week. It could even mean fasting from going to the 2ndfloor of the Library and instead taking that social time and turning it to quiet time with the Lord.
Fasting doesn’t mean that you have to quit an active lifestyle. Par-taking in activities such as yoga and meditation give you a great window to have that quiet time to pray to God and talk to him. James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Running or walking is another great way to spend the time in your fast with God.
Having renewed faith, spiritual clarity, and more energy are some of the great attributes that come from the benefits of fasting.