Text- 1 Timothy 4:7 – “… Rather, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness”
I love talking about spiritual disciplines because they make the whole concept of “spirituality” very simple. When we understand spiritual disciplines, we will realize that the great mystery that has been built around spirituality is totally dissolved.
If you ever meet a great man of God that you want to be like, don’t try to copy what you see him do on pulpit (his dressing, his voice, his mannerisms, etc.). What you should be interested in learning are his spiritual disciplines. He will sometimes make reference to them during his sermons. Be very attentive to trap them whenever he does.
It is much better if you have the privilege to work closely with him, understudy him, or even live with him. If you ever have any of these opportunities, pay very close attention to his spiritual disciplines. If you can imbibe those disciplines, you are on your way to the greatness you see in him.
Remember however, that spiritual disciplines cannot be called so except they are activities and practices taught or modeled in the Bible. That should always be the guiding light whenever we talk about spiritual discipline.
Today, I will talk about yet another spiritual discipline that we must practice if we desire to cultivate spiritual development and promote our spiritual growth – FASTING.
Tony Evans describes fasting as “The deliberate abstinence from some form of physical gratification…to achieve a greater spiritual goal.” Fasting is not complete when we abstain from food, or some other form of physical gratification. What makes fasting complete is the fact that our abstinence is so that we can concentrate on spiritual activities in order to achieve a greater spiritual goal.
This implies that fasting is like a booster that enhances the effectiveness of other spiritual disciplines, especially prayer. Let’s see some examples in the Bible:
“She [Anna] did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” – Luke 2:37
“And when they [Paul and Barnabas] had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed” – Acts 14:23
It is needful to explain that fasting is not only about abstaining from food. There are many other things we can fast from. For instance, you may decide to do a social media fast or an internet fast (that is, to stay away from social media/ internet so that you can concentrate on spiritual activities).
You may also choose to fast from any other form of pleasure (like sex in marriage; read 1Cor. 7:5 for caution) or any of such activities that bring gratification and satisfaction (like movies). But then, food fast is the most common because it is generally the most common type of fast Jesus practiced and the type of fast we see modeled in the Bible.
Fasting can help us get our minds off earthly things so that we can focus on spiritual activities (like prayer) and take them more seriously. However, prolonged fasting is futile if it overwhelms our bodies or minds with total weakness, such that we become wasted and less focused on any spiritual activity.
PRAYER
Lord, I ask in the name of Jesus that you grant me the grace to be able to discipline myself in the place of fasting; abstaining from physical gratification to achieve a greater spiritual goal.
Image Credit: blogs.discovermagazine.com