Training to Fast

A great read even if you don't choose to fast.

Most of my friends who read the title of this blog post might think I forgot a verb. For years I trained "to go" fast, as in "to run" fast, or at least to run faster than previous times. But this week I am in training to fast which is more about slowing down rather than speeding up. I'm preparing or doing a week of spiritual warm ups and training, if you will, to get ready for a 21-day fast, beginning on Monday, June 10. I have never fasted. My parents fasted periodically when I was a child, and churches where I was a member growing up did church-wide fasts, but I never participated. I didn't think I could fast because of the physical demands I daily asked of my body. At one point in my life I needed nearly 4000 calories to keep up with the energy I was burning during training. Training plus the blessing of inheriting my dad's super high metabolism was hard to keep up with growing up. I'm certainly not as fast as I once was, nor does the training I do require 4000 calories and my metabolism has probably seen its peak, but I still try to keep a pretty routine and rigorous fitness regimen for someone ever nearing the 30 year-old milestone of life and all while working more and sleeping less. Running was once a god that consumed my every waking breath, thought, food choice and other decisions. At times such living could be a neurotic way of life that bordered or crossed over into idolatry. I am happy to say that is a life of the past that no longer consumes my whole being in such an idolatrous, all-consuming way. I don't have time for such devotion even if I did want to continue such a life! Though I still like to compete from time to time, it is less the focus of my running and staying in shape. Running--and even competing--has become therapeutic, an escape, or a time to unplug and zone out or spend miles in silence and solitude in the wee early morning hours talking and listening to God. I am a person who needs movement and one who needs to be challenged, and so running, in ways, feeds my soul.

But recently I have hungered to feed my soul in a way I believe the ancient spiritual discipline of fasting will do. I was reminded in The Daniel Fast by Susan Gregory (the book walking me through my first fast) that almost every leader in the bible fasted; look up some of these examples for yourself: Moses--Exodus 34:28, Elijah--1 Kings 19:8, Ezra--Ezra 10:6, Daniel--10:3, Esther--Esther 4:16, Anna--Luke 2:37, Jesus--Luke 4:1-2, Paul--2 Cor. 11:27, Cornelius--Acts 10:30. Their fasts were connected to a spiritual issue; they restricted food for a spiritual purpose, not as a way to diet. There is a difference in dieting and fasting; fasting is, as Gregory points out, "is to draw closer to God...it is an intentional choice to 'turn down the noise of the world' and focus on your relationship with your Father." The Daniel Fast is a partial fast. I won't just be drinking water and eating bread. Rather Daniel's Fast is based on Daniel 1 and 10 when Daniel--in the face of an oppressive king when Daniel was determined to remain faithful to God--"ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into [his] mouth, nor did [he] anoint [himself] at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." It is a biblically-based fast that is entirely plant based with only water to drink. I think my morning cup of Joe is going to be one of the hardest to give up, but I am determined during this time of fasting to stick with the Daniel fast plan to help me grow in God, or rather the best way to say it is to allow God to grow in me as I pray about how to lead our church in this day and age, so that like Daniel, I can live faithfully even when all those around me

Back in the day.

seem to be abandoning God for other man-made gods.

I am intentionally beginning the fast on the first full day of the SC Annual Conference when church leaders--both clergy and laity--gather in holy conferencing to worship, fellowship, learn and talk about the ways we can make disciples for the transformation of this world. Gregory encourages those who participate in the Daniel fast to "identify the top three or four issues in your life that cause you stress or concern. Ask yourself, 'If I could change three things about my life, what would they be?'" At the heart of this question, for me, is the United Methodist Church--both locally and globally--and how we can grow to be a vibrant and relevant church again in the lives of people every where. My four-fold focus this fast will be for the 1) SC United Methodist leadership, 2) the people and leaders of SC, 3) what is my role, as a minister and constituent of this state, in embodying and preaching the Good News in SC, 4) how can God move through the people of Wesley Memorial to better minister in our context. My prayer is that I will grow as a leader, so that I have a better discernment of where and how God wants to use me to further his kingdom--especially within the conference and church I am currently serving for the next year. So here it goes...a 21-day journey in the fast lane :)