“Fasting is one of the most abused and least used of all the spiritual disciplines. Yet for millennia, it has been a core practice for apprenticeship to Jesus. All the great heroes of the Old Testament fasted. The first story we read about Jesus’ adult life is of him fasting for forty days and nights, like Moses and Elijah before him. The central characters of the New Testament continued this practice, as did the early church, which fasted twice a week - every Wednesday and Friday - for over a millennia. It’s not until quite recently that fasting fell out of favor. 

 

And that comes as no surprise. We live in a culture not only of food, but of excess and luxury and addiction to what psychologists call “the pleasure principle.” Yet for so many of us, the desires of our body have come to hold power over us. In the battle with our “flesh,” we have become its slave, not its master. 

 

Fasting is an ancient Christian discipline to break the power of the flesh in our life – our desires, sins, and cravings – and to feed on the Holy Spirit.” - practicingtheway.com

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Fasting, when coupled with prayer, is one of the most powerful spiritual exercises we can engage in. Over time, the pressures of life, the weakness of our flesh, and just the day-to-day busyness of life itself can weigh us down, causing us to get out of sync with God and His plan for our lives. But fasting helps us hit the reset button, and draw closer to God (James 4:8).