Fasting is not one of the gifts that Paul mentions in his writings, but I have learned that those who have been able to use fasting as a part of their faith disciplines, well, these people view fasting as a gift.

What is fasting? I think we all have some idea of what we might think it entails. In the Lutheran Church, there has been a movement that many churches have participated in called the “Thirty Hour Famine”. Under the title “Go hungry to help hungry kids”, students grow closer to Christ and each other as they fast together for 30 hours and raise funds to fight hunger.  It allows students to be part of something bigger than themselves by experiencing hunger in a different way.

That is one way our students can experience the issue of hunger, but a spiritual discipline of fasting is completely different. Fasting, is going without food and/or drink for a period of time. The practice of fasting is mentioned numerous times in the Bible as a reaction to various circumstances. Fasting was an act of repentance, as when the king of Nineveh ordered a fast after the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3:5-9). Fasting was also a reaction to intense grief, as when the bones of Saul and his sons were buried (1 Samuel 31:13). We also find people fasting when G-d’s deliverance was needed, as when Jehoshaphat was approached by a large invading army (2 Chronicles 20:3). So, typically fasting was practiced for religious purposes like of focusing our energies and minds on G-d, but in this day and age, sometimes we need to refrain from both food and drink for health reasons as well, like if you have a medical procedure or a surgery.

Fasting is not easy, especially if you do it for an extended period of time.  However, it may prove to be a temporary discipline that can challenge you in this season of Lent as you take time to refocus your attentions on your relationship with G-d. As always, if you choose to try fasting, be sure you do not have medical conditions that would preclude you from such a discipline.  After all, we all want to be closer to G-d, but not to the point where we cross the threshold between life and death before our appointed time.

Pastor Dave

“I wanted to learn about Christ—about the Old Testament, which had been his Bible, and the New Testament, which was the Bible about him; about the history of the church, which had been founded on the faith that through him God had not only revealed his innermost nature and his purpose for the world, but had released into the world a fierce power to draw people into that nature and adapt them to that purpose, the church that not even the assorted barbarities and blunders of its ragged two thousand years had ever quite managed finally to discredit or destroy…” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

“God had not only revealed his innermost nature and his purpose for the world, but had released into the world a fierce power to draw people into that nature and adapt them to that purpose, the church…”

The gift of prophecy is the gift and/or the ability to proclaim the message, the power, the purposes of G-d to the world. The bible is full of messages from many different Prophets — words and messages from G-d. Some of these prophets include Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi, and Daniel. The Greek word translated “prophesying” or “prophecy” in Paul’s letters properly means to “speak forth” or declare the divine will, to interpret the purposes of G-d, or to make known in any way the truth of G-d.

I think it is important to understand that prophecy in the bible is not like fortune telling or predicting the future. Prophecy is about the prophet sharing what G-d has spoken to them, and also about interpreting the purposes of G-d. This is the role of the prophet, to share what G-d has revealed in humility, not assuming that they themselves know the right interpretation or application of what G-d has shared with them. The Christian community then has a role in weighing the prophecy to help interpret its meaning (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:29-33).  In the end, though, response to the prophecy is to be determined by the individual church community or its individual members. 

As Frederick Buechner suggests, the church is one of the main venues for being messengers of the purposes and the voices of G-d. Notice I said the “voices” of G-d – because we all can offer prophetic words. We all can be prophets, for pastors and others offer prophetic messages throughout each week.  So, keep listening, sharing, and following!

Pastor Dave