April 2008

An Act of War

by Vijay Jayaraman

One hundred and ninety pounds of meat, 711 pounds of fruits and vegetables, 237 eggs, 200 pounds of flour and cereal products, 580 pounds of dairy products, 154 pounds of caloric sweeteners, 66 pounds of added fats and oils, and 53 gallons of carbonated soft drinks. That, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is what the average American put into their body in one recent year. I haven’t seen the latest from George Barna, but my guess, based on limited exposure to Christian camps and Young Life fundraisers, is that the statistics among evangelicals are not wildly different.

The pages of the Bible are filled with those who failed to restrain their appetites—with disastrous spiritual consequences—and those who triumphed over their stomachs, with spectacular spiritual results. Adam and Eve took down the human race with a fatal attraction to fruit, Esau sold his birthright for a single meal, and the Israelites suffered judgment by craving meat over manna. And yet, God used Daniel mightily as he resisted the king’s food and wine, and Jesus, the second Adam, triumphed through 40 days of fasting in the desert, leaving this testing ground full of the Holy Spirit.

How can we at SBCC escape the tide of indulgence that wars against the souls of western Christians? I maintain that the neglected discipline of fasting coupled with prayer will lead to a life more controlled by the Holy Spirit, and less enslaved to a host of fleshly appetites. Let me offer a definition. Biblical fasting is a periodic discipline in which we temporarily abstain from food in order to draw near to God and sharpen our focus on His kingdom. In doing this, we offer our bodies to God as living sacrifices, emptying ourselves physically that we might be filled spiritually. Fasting is full-body prayer, in which the hunger of our bodies is a parable of the poverty in our souls, desperately crying out to be filled.

Is fasting really necessary for us as Christians? If our sinless Lord inaugurated His earthly ministry with a 40-day fast, we would do well to take notice. Furthermore, Esther, Daniel, David, and the nation of Israel fasted. Jesus gave instructions about how to fast to His disciples, and predicted they would fast in his absence.  Paul, Barnabas, and others in the early church fasted. Add to this Paul’s instructions to imitate his way of life, and his aspirations to imitate Jesus, and it is hard to escape the conclusion that we, too, are called to fast.

A look at church history reveals many more fasting men and women whom we regularly quote in our sermons and whose books we devour as a church. The Puritan William Law, for example, said the man who never fasts is no more a Christian than the man who never prays. Harsh words, perhaps, but worth probing. 

In recent years fasting has been largely ignored by the church, primarily because we have confused a grace-filled life with an undisciplined life. Far too many Christians proclaim they tried fasting and it didn’t do anything for them. Such words betray seduction by the quick-fix spirit of the age. Fasting is not magic. It is a discipline that when faithfully practiced over the years will utterly transform us, producing humility, thankfulness, discernment, purity, patience, verbal restraint and an increased appetite for God’s Word and work.

The cultivation of purity is one of the more relevant fruits of fasting for a scandal-tainted American church. Conversely, failure to control our stomach will open us to sexual temptations. The writer to the Hebrews hints at this coupling of gluttony and sexual immorality, warning his readers, See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance. Similarly, the sexual immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah was accompanied by being overfed, arrogant, and unconcerned. Three years ago, I went on a 2-week business trip to Sydney, Australia. Being 9000 miles from home in a lonely hotel room with unlimited access to fine food, in a city where lingerie ads wallpaper the subways, is not good for any man. Surrounded by temptation, I found escape through a 24-hour fast.  I discovered it is easier to make a covenant with your eyes when you have first made a covenant with your stomach.

Remarkably, in my scan of men’s books on fighting sexual temptation, none give serious consideration to a regular discipline of fasting and prayer as a weapon against sexual addiction, though much is made of accountability groups. Recent years have seen a number of well-known American evangelical leaders fall into sexual sin. Is it possible the affluent west has raised a generation of leaders unschooled in the disciplines of self-denial? Many fallen leaders were courted by presidents and politicians, but unlike Daniel, did they lack the wisdom to refuse the king’s food and wine, in order that they may preserve their saltiness?

As we seek to be different, a great place to start is to read the chapter on fasting in Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, or John Piper’s book, A Hunger for God. Beyond these, consider the following:

1. Fast before Tuesday morning prayer. Wouldn’t it be great if a number of us fasted on Monday, and showed up Tuesday morning with empty stomachs and open hearts?
2. Fast for discernment. I remember a workplace decision I made as a result of a 24-hour fast coupled with reflection on the book of Proverbs. Before the fast, I thought the obvious choice was “A”; but by the end of the day I had decided on “B.” Two years later, I am still thanking God for changing my mind.
3. Fast for the impossible. Broken marriages and broken hearts, unrepentant sinners, persecuted Christians, addictive behaviors, evil governments, gang violence, prodigal children, and abortion. Ask God to fight for us in these places.
4. Prepare for battle.  Fasting is an act of war against the world, the flesh and the devil. Expect them to fight back.

I write this article acutely conscious that I am very much a beginner in the school of fasting. But it is a school in which I am unambiguously enrolled. Even as a beginner and reluctant student, my feeble efforts have at times been met by extraordinary grace. If I were in the habit of keeping a journal, here is a record of grace that it would contain…

I come home from work this Monday tired and hungry. I help get dinner on the table for a meal I will not be eating. After dinner, I am strangely motivated to persevere in praying with my children. I surprise myself with a kind of supernatural patience, enduring repeated interruptions and childish squabbles. I open a Psalm with little inspiration, but in a few moments the living and active Word directs our prayers. As a family, we are repeating, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” The Spirit is moving. My body is empty, but my heart is full. The morning arrives; the Father’s fellowship is especially sweet. I have discovered an ancient spiritual weapon, and it is working.

As we at SBCC wrestle against the powers of this dark world, let us walk the road of fasting and prayer until the Bridegroom returns, puts all enemies under His feet, and we feast with Him forever.