Let’s Stay Connected
Come join me on Facebook or Twitter to receive additional encouragement as well as info on new devotions, events, and speaking engagements.
You can also have a link to each new weekly devotion delivered directly to your favorite RSS newsreader or to your email inbox (via Feedburner).
to your blog or website:
150px x 150px:
You may freely reprint anything on this site for your personal use or for sharing with others as long as you include:
“By Megan Breedlove - http://www.MannaForMoms.com”. Please do not make any changes without my permission. If you reprint it to your website or blog, please include a link back to this website. You can also click here to:
Want to know how to fit time with God into your busy schedule as a mom? Manna for Moms: God’s Provision for Your Hair-Raising, Miracle-Filled Mothering Adventure will show you how God meets you every day in the middle of even the most mundane moments of motherhood. With sixty all-new devotionals and study questions, Manna for Moms will uplift your spirit and open your eyes to the many ways God meets you throughout your day.
Take a look inside the book here.
Order a copy here.
Originally published on March 21, 2011.
This devotion is part of a series of devotions on how to grow in your walk with God. If you have not already done so, you may find it helpful to read the introductory devotion, Growing in God: Mommy Edition.
Fasting: purposefully going without a particular item for a certain period of time.
Every mom I know is used to doing without certain things: hot meals; sleep (!); time alone; time with her husband (without the kids present); extra disposable income; and the ability to take 4-hour car trips in four hours, instead of six or seven. But most of us don’t do without these things on purpose.
We may have planned to become pregnant or to adopt, but going without the things mentioned above is a byproduct of being a mom, not something we purposely set out to do as a goal in itself. Fasting, on the other hand, involves deliberately doing without something for a certain purpose.
Why would a mom want to do that? After all, we spend much of our lives denying ourselves in one way or another so that we can rear our children. Why would we want to add one more thing to the list of things we don’t get to enjoy?
There are at least four great reasons for fasting. First, denying ourselves something is great for our self-discipline. Society wants to teach us that we’re entitled to what we want. Deny ourselves? Suffer? You’ve got to be kidding, right? Wrong. Fasting reminds us that we don’t have to be at the mercy of our desires. We are more than bodies whose every whim must be satisfied. We can take control of ourselves and bring our bodies and minds into submission.
Another great reason to fast is that it makes more time for other things, such as focusing on God through prayer, meditation, song, or any other way He prompts our spirit. We can use the time we would have spent pursuing the food or activity to connect with God instead. As moms, we often don’t have all the time we’d like to spend with Him. One great way to carve more time out of our day is to fast from something.
Third, fasting reminds us to focus on God. Not only do we have more time to do so, but we’re reminded to do so every time we find ourselves desiring the food or activity we’re fasting from. If you’re like me, it’s easy to go through the day and forget, in the midst of my busyness, to stop and connect with my Father. But if I’m fasting from something, every time I think about it and realize I can’t have it, I’ll be reminded to think about God instead.
Fourth, fasting is a marvelous way to show God that pursuing Him is more important to us even than whatever we’re fasting from. In the case of food, it’s a way to acknowledge that we realize that spiritual food for our souls is even more important than physical food for our bodies. When we’re fasting from an activity, we show Him that connecting with Him is far more important than entertaining ourselves, or than connecting with other people.
What, then, should we fast from? Often, people fast from food. They can then use the time they would have spent eating to bow before God in prayer instead. Their hunger pangs or cravings remind them to keep their focus on God throughout the period of fasting. If you are pregnant or nursing, however, or if you have certain medical conditions, fasting is probably not a good idea for you. Make certain that if you choose to fast from food, your doctor agrees that it is safe for you to do so. Tell him or her exactly what foods you plan not to eat and what the length of your fast will be. Then abide by your doctor’s recommendation.
If you cannot fast from food, or even a particular food, you can fast from a favorite activity. Perhaps you could fast from reading, watching TV, or using Facebook. How much time might you have to connect with God if one of those things was eliminated from your life for a period of time? And which would be more valuable anyway: spending two hours on the internet, or spending time with God?
I can’t tell you exactly what you should fast from. If you go before God in prayer and ask Him, however, He’ll tell you. He may direct you to fast from food, an activity, or something completely unexpected. Whatever it is, the lack of it allow you to spend more time connecting with Him, and that will be far more valuable than whatever you’re giving up.
I’ve heard more talk about fasting lately, but fasting actually isn’t a new idea. In fact, it had been around for long enough that Jesus knew His followers understood what it was and the purpose behind it, and assumed that they would fast as a part of their spiritual lives. So if Jesus thought fasting was a good idea, we should too.
Are you willing to go before God and ask Him what you should abstain from, and for how long? Do you desire a more intimate connection with Him enough that you’re willing to fast, perhaps even regularly? I’ll admit that I don’t fast very often. I just don’t think about it, unless, like now, it’s the Lenten season, or unless there is some extremely important decision my husband and I have to make. But if Jesus assumed I would fast regularly, I’m going to trust His judgment that fasting would be good for me. Not just when I want an answer about something. Not just when I’m “supposed” to fast at a particular time of year. But regularly. Will you trust His judgment too?
Matthew 6:16—when you fast.... (italics mine)
Matthew 6:17—but you, fasting,…. (italics mine)
I’d Love to Hear from You!
The main reason I write is to be a blessing to other moms, and I’d feel blessed to hear back from you. Feel free leave a public comment below or contact me privately with your own words of encouragement, comments, suggestions, questions, concerns, requests to speak at your church or mothers’ group, or anything else that’s on your mind. — Megan Breedlove