FASTING AS A FAMILY

-Pastor Doug Wekenman, Teaching Pastor

Have you ever felt “off” in your body or soul? It could be because you’re out of spiritual alignment. Let me explain…

We are designed to live from the “inside out” (prioritizing our spirit over our body), but most of us live from the “outside in” (prioritizing our body over our spirit). I believe a lot of us start to feel “off” when we get the order wrong.

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be good in health, as it goes well with your soul.” – 3 John 2

Pay attention to what John is saying: I hope you’re in good health; I hope your family is great and your job is going well, but only as it goes well with your soul. After all, what good is it to gain the world if you lose your soul in the process? (Matthew 16:26)

So, how do we realign and care for our souls? That’s one of the benefits of fasting.

WHAT IS FASTING?

Simply put, fasting is going without what you want in order to access what you need. When you realign your soul and live “inside out,” you find yourself walking in the unforced rhythms of grace. Jesus once said, “the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). By denying your flesh something, you’ll awaken and strengthen your spirit to “take the wheel” in your daily decisions. And rather than living FOR what your body wants, you live FROM what your spirit needs, which is the presence and power of God.

HOW DO YOU MODEL THIS WITH YOUR FAMILY?

This is a great way to model priorities to your kids. For example, “In this family, we go to church even when we don’t feel like it.” Or, “ In this family, we put God first even when it isn’t easy.” Usually, we fast from some version of food, but here are some other ideas of things to fast: social media, TV, shopping, complaining, video games, etc. You don’t need to pray together for an hour every single day. It can be as easy as picking a specific time in the morning to hold hands as a family and pray for two minutes before you leave for work and school. You don’t need to go into full-on “monk-mode” for it to be spiritual. Living out little examples and taking small steps will have seismic effects in the lives of your children.

LET’S GET PRACTICAL:

I think fasting is the most powerful of all the spiritual disciplines. It’s also the most intimidating. Fasting is kind of like leg day at the gym – we know we need it, but we’ll find every reason to skip it. However, I think the main reason it scares us is because we think we have to go big or go home, and nothing could be further from the truth. Keep it simple!

My wife Sam and I have three kids: Will is six, Kinsley just turned four, and Mila is five months. Since they’re so young, this will be our first time modeling fasting in front of them. I’m looking forward to the fun challenge of teaching Will that while there’s certainly nothing wrong with Saturday morning cartoons, sometimes it can feel really good to read the Bible, use our imaginations, and take care of our souls instead. When Kinsley sees me skip breakfast and pray in the living room, it’ll be my chance to say something as simple as, “I’m reminding myself that God is all I need.” We have an amazing opportunity to normalize the discipline of fasting for our kids!

Here are some practical fasting ideas:

Choose something simple together to fast, like watching TV. And instead, spend time together reading the Bible or a Christian book. Then you can have a simple discussion and pray with each other. Remember, what you replace it with is more important than what you give up!

Fast one lunch a week. During lunchtime, make a list of family prayer requests, turn on some worship music, and spend thirty minutes praying, reading, and discussing. You can also buy lunch for a family in need and delicately remind your kids that a lot of people all over the world go without food every single day.

Remind yourself and teach your kids that we don’t incorporate any of the spiritual disciplines (prayer, worship, reading the Word, and fasting) into our lives so that God will love us more. We fast to get closer to Him and experience more of His life-changing power, not because we have to, but because we get to! We live on purpose not FOR His love, but FROM His love. He already loves you unconditionally!

Welcome to the world of fasting! No legalism or obligation allowed. Start small, make the journey fun, and watch as it leads to big changes in your family.