Forgotten Discipline

In the introduction to his book, Hunger for God, John Piper says:

“The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14.18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable.”

Maybe you should pause here and read that again.

Lately, I’ve been reminded of a forgotten discipline in the Christian walk—the discipline of fasting. I wonder if we were to poll all those who sit in the pews Sunday after Sunday, I wonder how many would say they fast regularly. I wonder how many would say they have fasted for extended periods of time, setting aside the “simple pleasures of earth” for a period of time to hunger more after God.

I am shocked (but not surprised) when I hear long time Christians who say they have never practiced the discipline of regular fasting. Many have never fasted. It seems we have too much apple pie on our tables. It seems we nibble too much.

Fasting, like prayer, is not a way to manipulate God. Fasting, like prayer, is not something added to our life—it needs to be a lifestyle. We fast because Jesus said we will. We fast because what we really hunger and thirst for is righteousness—not Papa Murphy’s. We fast because there is nothing—absolutely nothing—that this world can offer that can take the place of God himself—not even God’s gifts. We fast because it reminds us that a banquet awaits in heaven. We fast because right now, we live in a world filled with injustice and oppression and God calls us to fast in order to break those chains. We fast because nothing can satisfy the hunger in our souls but God. We fast because we have become overstuffed—full of ourselves and the pleasures of earth.

Perhaps it’s time to rediscover the forgotten discipline of fasting. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.”