Can I get your thoughts on fasting???
I haven't been on the thread for a while...but it's great to know it's still here and going strong.
I have a few questions for some annonymous christian strangers!
Sorry if this gets long winded or rambling, I've been trying to sort out my thoughts on the subject.
I'm a born again christian and I attend a fundamental conservative Baptist church.
I had never heard any teaching about fasting (although I surely had read the word in the Bible before) in my whole life (through 2 prior baptist churches and a wesleyan christian college).
Now, within the last year or so my pastor has mentioned fasting maybe five times during sermons. The first time it piqued my interest and now it's turning into something I think I want to attempt.
Currently in Sunday school we're reading a book about spiritual disciplines and fasting is one of the disciplines discussed.
Basically what I'm gathering is:
1. Jesus expected or assumed we would continue to fast after he had ascended into Heaven (Matthew 6:16). It was voluntary and not to be coerced.
2. Fasting was done in the Bible to worship God, to pray for needs, to stregthen our prayer life, to seek guidance, to express grief, to humble oneself, and more...
3. Fasting in the Bible always had to do with food. Either abstaining from food altogether, only drinking water, only eating vegetables and water,
So here are some questions/issues I have that I would be uncomfortable discussing in Sunday School...(that's where anonymous christians come in handy).
1. I've tried this week to fast. I was just going to go one full day without breakfast, lunch or dinner). That morning, I was so hungry I got weak and had to sit down. All I could think about all day was food. I couldn't focus on my work or on God which I know is the point of the fast. I broke fast by lunchtime.
2. After breaking fast, I felt this extreme amount of guilt!! Like I let God down. I don't make promises to God in prayer like, "If you work this situation out for me then I'll go to church every Sunday." But I feel like my failing on a fast is like promising God something and then not keeping up with your word. I woke up that morning intending to fast. God knew that (we'd discussed it
) I had planned to spend my lunchtime in my classroom praying and seeking his guidance on an issue I've been dealing with for over a year.
3. So what about failed fasts? I havent' seen anyone cover that issue in books. What if you try and can't do it? I've got so much guilt! Conviction I can understand, but I feel so
guilty about not picking God over food. I'm scared to try this fasting again, because I don't want to make a commitment I can't keep.
I feel like such a wimp. I continue to ask the Lord for guidance and wisdom on this fasting issue...
Any opinions are appreciated. Have you tried fasting before? Did you think about food all day long? What do you think about substituting other things besides food in a fast, like TV? Have you ever failed at fasting? Did you feel guilty?
Joy
Prayers for whatever you are facing today. Remember God goes with you!
... 
) Substitute reading the Bible, and I think you'll have a greater "success". 
God had been laying it on his heart to give up the sermon that was prepared and give his testimony of how he came to Christ and how his life has been changed. Well, he was being stubborn and was going to go ahead with his sermon...until he couldn't remember what scripture he was going to use...and then couldn't even remember what he was going to preach! Soooo...he stopped and said he didn't know why, but he knew somebody there needed to hear it. Turns out that a young boy decided to come to youth group and church last night for the first time (his neighbors had been asking him prior and he just kept refusing). The boy spent quite a while talking with dh last night and shared a LOT of hurts that he has gone through already at the young age of 11. 
