Charles Schultz once wrote in a forward of another artist's work that a good comic has to be more than an illustrated joke. It has to be drawn in a funny way too. It was a principle he drew as well as wrote. Boogaloo found the Peanuts comic in this Sunday's paper and busted up laughing. 
Now I know she didn't get the joke because she can't read yet and the concept was above her head anyway, but there was this one panel where Lucy freaks out because Snoopy kissed her, and Lucy's mouth was so wide and her eyes were so big and her scream was all in letters that Boogaloo knew ("Aaaaaaaaaa."), so Boogaloo knew exactly what was happening. She kept going back to that panel so finally I read it for her, and all we heard for the rest of the day was "Aaaaah, getsim water. Getsim disinfecant. I kiss a dog." 
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The Purpose of Fasting
“A holy and lawful fast has three ends in view. We use it either to mortify and subdue the flesh that it might not be wanton, or to prepare the better for prayer and holy meditation, or to give evidence of humbling ourselves before God when we would confess our guilt before him.”
~ John Calvin (Institutes 4.12.15).
My husband looked up from his computer game about two weeks ago with a serious look on his face. “Love,” he said. “I think we should give up meat for Lent.” I looked up from my computer, pleasantly surprised. I hadn't really expected him to give up anything for Lent. In the past, he’s gone along supportively with whatever I cook up, but it’s always been my “thing.”
Then he threw a kink in my elation. “I really feel like we need to alter our eating habits. We need to include more vegetables. Protein and starches are helping me a little bit too much.” I didn’t say anything, but I crinkled my internal brow a bit because I wasn’t sure if revising one’s eating habits was a real reason for fasting. Certainly it would be good for us, but would it really be a fast?
Not really. True fasting has one essential component: humbling one’s self before God. Mortifying the flesh, Calvin calls it, that it might not become wanton. Mortifying. Now that’s an interesting word. It calls to mind both embarrassment and death at the same time. “I am so embarrassed that I could just die. I am mortified.” Why on earth would we want to do that to our bodies?
Well, for starters, the “flesh” is not just the body. It’s anything that has to do with our carnal appetites. Attention to food could fall under the category of the flesh, but so could attention to clothes, a hunger for thrills, an obsession with movies, or a need for prestige. The flesh is the hungry, appetitious part of the human being, the part that says, “Feed me. Feed me.” And it has a tendency to get out of control. In fact, the flesh is kind of like a toddler. It runs all over the place and does it wants and takes what it wants. It doesn’t always want bad things, but it recognizes only its wants, and it’s prepared to throw a fit if it doesn’t get what it wants. It’s also prepared to keep pushing the issue until you give in.
Think about your thought patterns for the last half hour. If you were to divide your thoughts into spiritual, soulful, or carnal, where would most of them fall? Most of mine, and I don’t think I’m unique, would fall into the carnal category. My head hurts a little, I like the way my new jeans fit, and gosh, my schedule is full today. If that were all there were to life, we’d be in great shape. But it isn’t. If we let our flesh dominate all of our thoughts and actions, then the Creator who made us and saves us gets pushed aside without his due honor and our fellow human beings who are made in his image get pushed aside without their due attention and love. If that’s where all our thoughts are, then that’s where all our actions will be.
Therefore, we fast. Marilyn Hickey put it this way: “Abstaining from food is often God's way of showing that His desire for us is that we regain mastery over all things associated with our flesh in order to subdue our flesh and elevate our emphasis on spiritual matters.”
In other words, fasting is when we make our spirit and our soul say to our flesh, “Your are the toddler. I am the mommy. God is the Daddy. It’s his house, and I’m in charge of it, so what we say goes.” And then we stick to what we’ve said until the flesh says, “All right, spirit. I can do that. I want to help you obey God and make the world a better place. Helping is fun.” Just like teaching and disciplining a toddler, subduing the flesh can be very unpleasant. It takes time. It takes consistency. It requires being the bully sometimes and a lot of “Because I said so” but the only way to have a smoothly functioning household is if the parents are in charge, and the kids have learned to be happy about it. And just like wrestling with a todder, fasting will teach you how weak and inconsistent you are inclined to be.
But subduing the flesh is only the first purpose for fasting, just like discipline is only a means of making a child capable of other things. When the flesh is no longer running amock but playing quietly in the corner, the spirit can sit down before God and say, “Lord, we need to talk.” When the flesh isn’t whining to be fed, held, or entertained, the spirit can sit with God and talk and listen and resolve issues and make plans. Heart hurts can be addressed. Weaknesses can be weeded out. Deep communion can take place. It's not a sequential process. Sometimes the internal todder gets cranky and has to be reminded what it's supposed to be doing. But as the demands of the flesh get weaker, the spirit has more energy to pursue God.
Michael Fackerell, missionary and mediator of the Christian Faith Site, puts the relationship between the two this way: “Fasting gives you God's focus for your life. It is a major key to hearing God's voice (the other is true worship - the two are related). We need focus from God more than anything. The world we live in is working overtime to distract us, to entice us, to win our hearts and minds, our focus, and to determine our vision. Fasting cuts out the world so we can tune into God. If we are obedient to God, fasting will make us catalysts for revival and awakening.”
He also says, “Fasting is not magic, nor does it twist the arm of God. God wants to do many amazing things, but He looks for those willing to urgently make the corrections needed to come into line with him.”
Make no mistake. God is still in the business of changing the world, and we are his chosen vessels for doing so. Fasting is a means of emptying the vessel that is placed before God, namely ourselves, and then waiting for him to fill it and put it where he wants it to be. Fasting puts us, individually or corporately, in our correct place before God so that He can do the work that He wants to do. When done with the proper spirit, it shows God that we honor His greatness and recognize our own weakness and need.
P.S. For the record, I am not trying to imply that my husband is unspiritual. Later last week, Seth said, "I think we should also read Proverbs during Lent on top of our regular Bible reading. After all, it doesn't matter what you give up if you aren't trying to make more room for God."
Calvin, John. (1539). The Institutes of the Christian Religion, kindle ed. Henry Beveridge, Esq., trans. MobileReference.
Fackerell, Michael. (2011.) Fasting and Prayer: Key to Power. Christian Faith. (accessed February 22, 2012) http://www.christian-faith.com/forjesus/fasting-key-power
Marilyn Hickey. The Power of Prayer and Fasting. The Christian Broadcasting Network. (Accessed February 16, 2012.) http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/prayerandcounseling/intercession/Hickey_PrayerFasting06a.
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