Fasting for Guidance

“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8.3, NIV).

We are often faced with a decision for which there is no clear answer. So we follow the wisdom of Proverbs and seek advice from a few trusted counselors. How do we proceed, however, when the wisdom of our counselors proves contradictory? It is in these moments I believe our kind Father is pleased to allow the conceptual fog to remain that we main learn at least two lessons. 1) God is God and we are not. When I fail to come to grips with how exactly to proceed in a complicated situation I must learn to trust my heavenly Father as I tentatively advance down the path I think I believe he is opening for me. It is during these times our trust muscles get their greatest workout. The discomfort of the disorientation created by the fog of uncertainty can sometimes cause us to hastily choose the path of surety when God has really provided no indication of the direction we should take. Sometimes the fog is a gift from which we must not flee.

The second lesson these complicated decisions can teach us is 2) Life is ambiguous and God never intended otherwise. I went through a period in my Christian and pastoral life when I thought there was a verse for everything. Every decision … every conviction … every practice must have clear biblical precedent and if we couldn’t find it we simply had not searched hard or long enough. This led to a quasi-form of Bible Deism. In other words, God had given the Bible to us as the definitive word for all time and now there really was no need for him to communicate with or be involved in the lives of his people. Aside from the many Biblical reasons (!) this perspective is wrong-headed, my first six months in ministry were enough to teach me that the Bible does not address every possible scenario. In other words, there will be many times when we are faced with a decision for which there is not clear Biblical direction. The Bible may offer applicable principles – the Bible may establish a trajectory that we must follow together in order to learn what is the wise choice to make. However, this reality requires us to live our lives in community, in active dependence upon the wisdom Christ has granted to the Church.

Scot McKnight reminded me this morning that God’s people have traditionally fasted during times when they yearned to know God’s will. I believe God desires to communicate with his people. He does not want us waver helplessly – wondering what to do. He exhorts us to live in active dependence upon the Spirit of God by engaging in disciplines that open us up to the Spirit’s movement. In Ezra 8, the people of God were on the verge of returning to the Promised Land after staying in Babylon far too long. They knew it was God’s will for them to return home. Under the leadership of Ezra, they paused, however, at the river Ahava and fasted in order to seek guidance and protection from Yahweh. The word, “paused,” is chosen intentionally. Don’t you think they would have been in a hurry to get home after spending so much time exiled? The wisdom of God’s prophet led them to wait – to wait in order to deny themselves of comfort and pleasure in order to seek what they desired more –  the presence and guidance of Almighty God. The early Church followed this same tradition. In Acts 13 prophets and teachers had gathered with the Church at Antioch shortly after Herod had died.

While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13.2-3, ESV).

We are provided here, with an excellent example of the ministry the Holy Spirit longs to accomplish within the worship life of the local church. Based upon this example in Acts, I believe the Holy Spirit intends to work and speak and move within our midst when we worship together and when we engage in the sacred discipline of fasting together.

Do our Spiritual desires have a bodily response? How desperately do we long to know God’s will? How much do I desire greater union with God? Is my enjoyment of fellowship with God greater than the satisfaction provided by Subway’s Spicy Italian sandwich?

Father, awaken with us a greater yearning for communion with you.  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God of the Living God, have mercy on me a glutton.