Building Spiritual Resilience Through Fasting
It’s not uncommon to set health goals for our bodies every January. We start new workout routines, cut back on sugar, or pick up a hobby that helps us relax. Those goals are important and worth while striving for, but we’re not just bodies and minds. We’re spiritual beings, made for a relationship with God. So why not set a spiritual goal: To build spiritual resiliance through fasting.
Let’s be clear, it’s easy to let the care of our souls fall to the bottom of the list. We pour everything into our schedules, our health, our work, and we leave our spiritual life running in the background. A lot of what we struggle with traces back to that neglect.
So for the next month, why not try something different? Let’s flip that order and start with spiritual health first, building a resilience that might just build up the other areas of life. Here’s a few guiding principles as you get started:
1. Jesus Made Room for Fasting
Fasting can feel like something from another era, like a discipline for monks in old paintings. But Jesus took it seriously.
In Luke 5:33-35 (ESV), when people asked Him about fasting, He said the days would come when the bridegroom is taken away, and then His followers would fast. That’s us. Jesus has ascended, and the church is still waiting for Him to return, so fasting still has a place in how we wait well.
2. Persistent Prayer Changes Us
In Luke 18:1-8 (ESV), Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow who keeps showing up to an unjust judge until he finally gives her what she’s asking for. If a judge who doesn’t care about justice can be worn down by persistence, how much more will our Father, who actually loves us, respond to the prayers we keep bringing Him?
Fasting has a way of sharpening that persistence. When your body feels hungry, it becomes a built-in reminder to keep praying.
3. Fast Without Pride
Jesus also warned about a trap hiding inside fasting. In Luke 18:9-14 (ESV), He tells a story about a Pharisee who brags about his fasting and tithing, standing next to a tax collector who can only ask God for mercy.
God isn’t impressed by our religious performance. He’s drawn to humility. If fasting turns into something we do to feel superior, we’ve missed the whole point.
Building Spiritual Resilience Through Fasting Together
You don’t have to go through this journey alone. Do it with your spouse, family, community group or friends. And you don’t have to do a complete fast to take part. Some of you might fast from food. Some will fast from social media or a streaming service.
What matters is finding a rhythm that points your attention back to God.
As a first step right now, grab a journal or a notes app, whatever works for you, and write down what you’re asking God for in this season. Then keep the conversation going throughout your fast, taking note of what He’s showing you along the way.
Building spiritual resilience through fasting isn’t about proving anything to God. It’s about making room for Him in the middle of an ordinary week.
Join the Conversation; Share Your Thoughts
- What’s been your experience with fasting, and how has it shaped your prayer life?
- What gets in the way when you try to build spiritual disciplines like this into your week?
- How can we support each other through these twenty one days?
