Fasting builds stronger faith

There is power in food.

It is something people think about many times a day, even if only as an afterthought. People worry about affording it, buying it, cooking it and eating it. It is an essential part of life, said the Rev. Scott White, rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rocky Mount.

So, when people give food up to participate in a spiritual fast designed to bring them closer to God, it means something, White said.

“Food is a very real thing. It is something that we touch every single day of our lives. So when we handle it a bit differently, ... it reminds us of the presence of God in the world. It reminds us of our connection with our neighbors, many of whom have no food, and it makes us more connected with our own bodies,” White said.

Fasting as a spiritual exercise can be done in several ways and with many different goals, said David Butts, president of Harvest Prayer Ministries, a religious teaching organization in Terre Haute, Ind.

It is not a diet or a hunger strike designed to twist God’s arm into doing what someone wants, Butts said. Nor is it supposed to be worn as a banner of piety by people wanting to show how “faithful” they are.

Instead, fasting is an act of trust and humility, Butts said.

“It is basically saying to God, ‘I understand that food is absolutely necessary for life itself, and I am humbling myself before you, symbolically laying aside that which is necessary for life itself in dependence upon you and seeking you,’” Butts said.

There are few rules when it comes to fasting in Christianity, partly because it was approached in so many different ways in the Bible, said Greg Wheeler, who organized a citywide 21-day partial fast. Members of several local churches are participating through Feb. 21.

With a partial fast, in this instance modeled after Daniel 10:2-3, believers sacrifice foods such as meats, desserts, alcohol and breads, but do not refrain from eating altogether, Wheeler said. It is a relatively safe option since people are essentially reverting to a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts and water.

“One of the challenges is the first three days. When you deny yourselves things like caffeine and sugar, your body goes through a withdrawal where you feel really weak, you’ve got bad headaches. When you put pure vegetables and fruits in your system, it cleans you out. It is a natural detox,” Wheeler said.

Lent is another example of partial fasting, with Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans giving up certain habits or foods for 40 days to symbolize Jesus enduring temptation from the devil in the desert, White said.

A more traditional example of fasting involves not eating at all and drinking water and juice for sustenance, Butts said. This can be maintained for days or weeks in a healthy way, but with extended fasting, people will face physical weakness and energy loss. It can be a risk for people with health problems such as diabetes, so a doctor should be consulted first.

The most radical example of fasting sees people refraining from food and drink entirely, which is not recommended for more than one to three days, said the Rev. Daniel Parker, senior pastor of Christian Fellowship Church in Elm City. The Bible talks about Esther going on such a three-day fast and ordering members of her household to do the same.

“She called for a three-day fast before she was to go to the king and be heard by him to have her people spared from the annihilation that was upon them. What Hitler did to the Jews, a man named Haman was trying to do centuries earlier in the Bible,” Parker said.

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Radical fasts that extend beyond three to seven days can be found in the Bible with examples such as Moses, Elijah and Jesus, but these were exceptions based upon direct guidance or a supernatural ability from God, Butts said.

Another form of fasting is practiced by Muslims in the Islamic calendar’s ninth month, Ramadan, said Fazeh Shehadeh, a volunteer teacher at Musjid Al-Huda Islamic Center in Rocky Mount. During this time, Muslims cannot eat or drink between sunrise and sunset but are able to eat normally through the night.

Muslims also are told to pray to Allah more than the prescribed five times a day and spend extra time reading the Quran.

It is a time Shehadeh always eagerly anticipates, not something she feels obligated to do.

“The main month to me is Ramadan. I wait for this month. Just like when you have a wedding for your son or you are going to have a baby, … you are just wanting so hard to be there. This is what I feel,” Shehadeh said. “To me, I do it because I enjoy just following God’s rule and pleasing him.”

Being whole-hearted is important to a fast; more essential, though, is prayer, Wheeler said. Whether people are seeking direction, needing deliverance or wanting to deepen their faith, spiritual growth only comes when they commune with God, he said.

It is too easy for people to get caught up in the cares and worries of life and only spend time on their relationship with God when they get a chance, Wheeler said. Fasting changes a person’s perspective and brings that relationship to the forefront.

At the end of the 21-day partial fast many local churches are on, Wheeler hopes people will have developed a deeper relationship with God.

“After this fast, if you say, ‘What do you think God is doing in the Earth today,’ they may have a better answer ... of what he would have his people to be doing right now as far as just obeying him. I think it is going to give an awareness to the things in our lives that just take up our time that are unnecessary,” Wheeler said.