Spiritual fasting is a way to make more space for God in your life. Fasting and prayer are always connected in the Bible, so when we do a thirty-day fast together on this blog (the next one will be in January, you can read about it here), we are encouraged to schedule special time with God as we fast. Whether we fast thirty days, one day a week, every morning, one day a month, or periodically as need arises, we want to connect the act of saying No! to food with our relationship with God during our fast. We may say a small prayer, pay attention to conversing with Him more often during our fasting period, and connect the hunger we feel with the provision of God’s presence.
God made a space in His world for us. Let’s make space in our mornings and enjoy the intimacy with Him. As we make space in our schedule to breathe and be refreshed by Him, making space during the many moments of our daily lives will help us better reflect God to others. Make space to hear His voice when in conversation with others and really listen to people, like He listens to us. Figure out how to make space in your commitments so that you can say Yes! to the things He wants you to do.
Making space is about finding room in our hearts to focus, and fasting forces focus. Paul describes this focus as grasping and taking hold of Him, knowing that Christ has taken hold of us. There are other simultaneous actions requested in this passage that describe this focus: pressing on and reaching forward toward Jesus, listening for His voice as He calls out to you. Visualize Paul’s urging for us to run with focus and long for more of Him, as he does. Find space in your own fasting and life to let Him know that you feel the same, or want to. There is no difference between these two things.
I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly. 1 Corinthians 9:26
Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14
To grow in longing for more space in your life to be with God, consider praying a centering prayer at predetermined times for a week. Your centering prayer may be a short prayer that is taken from Scripture. When you pray it, let it remind you of the whole passage, its meaning, and the message God has for you from His Word.
For example:
Lord, I want to run with focus.
Father, keep me pressing on towards You.
Jesus, take hold of me.
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