Watching TV while on a spiritual fast will become increasingly ridiculous. In every commercial you are being tempted with food. Most of all, it destroys your Christ-focus. It is not going to kill you to turn off the TV and radio, and stop buying the newspaper. The world will continue happily along without your presence. Of the many times I have broken a fast, I can usually root it back to allowing myself some form of earthly distraction.
Even a short fast has many different stages. Fasting speeds up emotional states to the point where one moment you will have a sense of closeness to God with a feeling of well-being and the next moment the bottom falls out and you feel empty and cold.
Remember, a tug-of-war is going on in the soul between the flesh that is being inflicted, and the spirit that is being strengthened.
You are the most vulnerable when you’re feeling deprived. That is the time when you must be aware of the temptation to find an escape. Let God be your entertainment. Turn to Him when you feel deprived.
Look for your Bible, not the converter!
Take A Phone Break
Clear your schedule. Take a break from the phone. No interruptions! This is a period of time to minister to Christ and your own spiritual need for deeper intimacy with Him. Whatever ministry you are involved with it can survive without you. If it falls apart without you, God’s not running it.
Withdraw from people’s lives for a time of intimacy with God. Jesus did it often. He would wander the desolate hills and valleys, the no-man’s land of Israel. It must have been hard to leave those who were sick and emotionally shipwrecked, those searching for some meaning and purpose, but he left them repeatedly. If Christ needed to refresh His spirit, then even more so do you.
Many have found escape by submerging in ministry. They leave themselves behind by focusing on the needs of others. They draw people like a magnet with kindness and compassion. However, what seems to be selfless devotion is just a search for identity and purpose, a desperate attempt to prove value. Men and women rise to large ministries, teaching millions of people, through television and radio, yet have never quieted themselves enough to meet their own inner terror. If only they knew that in that quietness, they would find the smiling face of their God. A God who does not condemn, reject or criticize, but accepts, embraces and loves us as we are.
Dear friend, during your fast, find your peace. Pause your soul. Deal aggressively with every thought of rejection, loneliness and self-contempt. Tell yourself that you are fully accepted by God and that you need nothing more. Christ’s blood paid for your acceptance. Are you trying to give more than that?
Enter the solitude of loneliness. No ministry or throngs of people, only God. A place of inner reflection to realign the heart. When you emerge from the desert, your ministry will take on a depth which will profoundly touch the lives of those whom you serve.
Next Fasting Tip: Avoid Needless Temptation