What Does Fasting Do In The Spiritual Realm

Fasting humiliates our natural inclination to rely on nature and compels us to live from the spiritual. God's voice becomes more audible as a result. Fasting is an excellent technique to obtain insight before making a major decision.

When I read Scripture during a fast, the Word has a lot more power, urgency, and clarity to it. It's as if a veil has been lifted, allowing me to view the intricacies of Scripture with greater clarity than before. As I mentioned in part two of this series, I am constantly learning new things “feed” on the Scriptures (Matthew 4:4) and receive true nourishment from it. I learn to prefer the Living Food to the world's dead food (have you ever noticed that everything you eat is a dead carcass?). (How macabre!).

Fasting makes it simpler to see where and how God is at work. When we practice a spiritual lifestyle, it becomes more natural to live, move, and perceive in the spiritual sphere. Our fleshly nature has been tamed and is no longer a force to be reckoned with “Our spiritual sense is “clouded.”

I've probably only fasted for about 10% of my life, yet I've probably received over 80% of my visions and direct communications from God during or as a result of a fast. I don't want to instill excessive expectations of supernatural occurrences, but there's no denying that fasting increases spiritual sensitivity and obedience. Anyone who has fasted for a long period of time for the Lord will tell you the same thing.

How long should you fast for spiritual?

Fasting duration is also determined by personal inclination and ability. Fasting for long periods of time is not possible for certain people due to health issues. Others may fast for several days at a time. Remember, the purpose of fasting is to strengthen your relationship with God. It is not a question of how many days or how long one can fast. Fasting is a very personal experience with the Lord. As a result, there's no need to compare how long you've been fasting to how long others have been fasting.

Before you start fasting, I urge that you pray and ask the Lord how long you should fast for. If you're new to fasting, I recommend beginning with one meal or one day. You can continue for extended lengths of time after you are more conscious of and familiar with the topic. You may decide after the first day that you want to continue for a longer period of time. Keep track of how your body feels if this is the case. You may feel lightheaded and weak if your body isn't used to fasting. Once your body has become accustomed to fasting, you will be able to fast for extended periods of time without experiencing these symptoms.

The length of your fast is also determined by what you're fasting from. You should not fast for longer than two or three days if you are fasting both food and drink. Furthermore, if you are only fasting from food, you can fast for extended periods of time. Some people will abstain from eating and drinking, but will sip juice to stay energized.

Types of Fasting

Abstaining from social media, entertainment, sex, sweet meals, or a variety of other things is another type of fasting. You can fast for substantially longer lengths of time if you choose to fast from the following items. This is due to the fact that these fasts have no negative impact on your health. In fact, they may help you live a healthier life. Fasting from these foods for prolonged lengths of time is something I suggest.

If you're married, make sure you have an agreement on sex abstinence with your partner. “Do not deprive each other except by mutual permission and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer,” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:5. Then get back together so Satan can't tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

What are the spiritual benefits of prayer and fasting?

Fasting's Importance in Your Spiritual Life In Mark 9:14-29, Jesus says that in order to be “in the zone” with him and be able to cast devils out of our life and stay steadfast in our faith, we must be constantly praying and fasting.

What prayer and fasting can do?

Fasting and prayer might help you re-establish or improve your relationship with God. Fasting helps many long-time Christians rediscover their “first love” for God anew. Fasting is a way of humbling oneself before God (Psalm 35:13; Ezra 8:21). Fasting and prayer can assist us in better hearing God.

What can you not do while fasting?

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins on Monday, April 12, and most of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims will follow it in some way, despite a global pandemic.

Which means there's a strong possibility you'll run across someone — a friend, coworker, neighbor, or your child's teacher — who will be celebrating, fasting, and participating in a variety of other holy-month-specific activities.

But what precisely is Ramadan? What exactly is the point of fasting? Is there anything particular you should do or say during Ramadan when you're with Muslim friends and acquaintances?

Don't worry, we've thought of everything: Here are the most basic Ramadan answers to some of the most basic queries.

What is Ramadan actually about?

For Muslims, Ramadan is the holiest month of the year; the Prophet Mohammed is supposed to have remarked, “When the month of Ramadan begins, the gates of heaven open, the gates of hell close, and the demons are chained.”

On a night known as “The Night of Power,” Muslims believe God revealed the first words of the Quran, Islam's sacred text, to Mohammed during this month (or Laylat al-Qadr in Arabic).

Muslims fast every day from sunrise to sunset throughout the month of Ramadan. It's supposed to be a period of spiritual discipline, with greater prayer, increased compassion and giving, and serious study of the Quran.

But, if that makes it sound overly serious and tedious, it isn't. It's a time for joy and celebration, to be shared with loved ones. Eid al-Fitr, or the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast, is a large three-day celebration at the end of Ramadan.

It's similar to the Muslim version of Christmas in that it's a religious holiday during which everyone gathers for large meals with family and friends, exchanges gifts, and generally enjoys themselves.

Of course, given the constraints on travel and the need to keep social distance and avoid large, indoor gatherings, the Covid-19 outbreak has made many of the more social components of Ramadan a lot more difficult to accomplish safely. However, Muslim community leaders are aware of this and have issued thorough instructions on how to spend a happy and successful Ramadan while being secure.

How does fasting work?

Fasting during Ramadan is one of Islam's five pillars — or obligations — alongside religious testimony, prayer, charity giving, and pilgrimage to Mecca. Every year, all Muslims are obligated to participate, with exceptions for those who are ill, pregnant or breastfeeding, menstruation, or traveling, as well as young children and the elderly.

Fasting serves several spiritual and social purposes: it reminds you of your human frailty and reliance on God for sustenance, it shows you what it's like to be hungry and thirsty so you feel compassion for (and a responsibility to help) the poor and needy, and it reduces life's distractions so you can focus more clearly on your relationship with God.

From sunrise to sunset, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in any sexual activity. This includes taking prescription drugs (even if you swallow a pill dry, without drinking any water). Gum chewing is also forbidden (though I didn't realize this until halfway through my first Ramadan after converting – oops).

If you do any of those things, your fast for the day is “invalidated,” and you must start over the next day. You can either fast later in the year (all at once or a day here and there) or offer a meal to a needy person for each day you missed to make up for the days you didn't fast.

During the month, Muslims are also expected to avoid bad thoughts and feelings like as jealously and rage, as well as minor offenses such as swearing, whining, and gossiping. Some people may choose to refrain from or limit activities like as listening to music or watching television in favor of listening to Quran recitations.

What is a typical day like during Ramadan?

Muslims fast during Ramadan, rising early to eat the first meal of the day, which must continue until sunset. This entails consuming a lot of high-protein foods and drinking as much water as possible until morning, when you are not allowed to eat or drink anything.

The morning prayer is said first thing in the morning. Because it's still early in the morning, many people go back to sleep for a while before getting ready for the day (I certainly do).

Muslims are not supposed to skip work, school, or any other daily obligations merely because they are fasting. Businesses and schools in many Muslim nations, on the other hand, may limit or close their hours during the day. Muslims, for the most part, go about their everyday lives as we would, despite not being able to eat or drink anything for the entire day.

We break the day's fast with a light meal — really more of a snack — called an iftar (meaning “breakfast”) before conducting the evening prayer when the evening call to prayer is finally made (or when the alarm on your phone's Muslim prayer app goes off). Many people also go to the mosque in the evening for the evening prayer, which is followed by a special Ramadan prayer.

This is frequently followed by a larger supper later in the evening, which is often eaten with family and friends throughout the month in each other's homes. Then it's time to go to bed for a few hours before waking up and starting all over again.

(Note: There are valid reasons for breaking your fast with a little snack before completing evening prayer and then eating a larger meal later.) Muslim prayers necessitate a lot of movement, such as bending over, prostrating on the ground, and standing up. It's a formula for disaster to do all that physical exercise on a full stomach after not eating for 15 hours. Just take my word for it.)

Despite the difficulty of fasting for a month, most Muslims (like myself) look forward to Ramadan and are disappointed when it ends. There's something unique about knowing that tens of millions of other Muslims throughout the world are going through the same hunger pangs, parched mouth, and dizzy spells you are, and that we're all in this together.

So do you lose weight during Ramadan?

Some of you might be thinking to yourself, “Wow, that sounds like a fantastic approach to shed pounds! I'm going to give it a shot!” Ramadan, on the other hand, is infamous for causing weight gain. That's because eating substantial meals early in the morning and late at night, followed by a period of low activity bordering on lethargy, can mess with your metabolism.

However, if you're careful, you can avoid gaining weight and even drop a few pounds. According to a meta-analysis of scientific studies on the impact of Ramadan fasting on body weight, “Eight of the alterations that occurred during Ramadan were minor and were mostly reversed after Ramadan, returning to pre-Ramadan condition. Ramadan provides an opportunity to reduce weight, but permanent weight loss requires systematic and persistent lifestyle changes.”

So, just as with any other extreme diet plan, you may drop a few pounds, but you're unlikely to achieve big, long-term results unless you adopt “structured and persistent lifestyle alterations.”

Why do the dates of Ramadan change every year?

Muslims use a lunar calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon, and has 12 months that total up to around 354 days. That's 11 days less than the conventional Gregorian calendar's 365 days. As a result, the Islamic lunar calendar moves backward 11 days every year in comparison to the Gregorian calendar.

As a result, the starting day of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, moves backward by approximately 11 days every year.

This has a significant impact on how individuals observe Ramadan year after year. It's much easier to fast during Ramadan in the winter because the days are shorter, so you don't have to fast as long, plus it's colder outside, so not being able to drink water all day isn't as bad because you're not sweating as much.

When Ramadan falls during the summer, though, fasting might be difficult. Summer temperatures in several Muslim nations in the Middle East and Africa can reach levels often reserved for the lowest depths of hell.

Fasting can extend up to 20 hours or more in the summer in several Northern European nations including Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (where Muslims do exist). (And the sun never sets in the summer in a few areas above the Arctic Circle.) Muslims can either fast with the closest Muslim country or with Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in these instances, according to Muslim religious authorities.)

Okay, but why is there always confusion every year about exactly what day Ramadan starts on?

There's a reason that “Ramadan start date” is one of the most frequently googled terms each year. This is due to the fact that Muslims all across the world are unsure when Ramadan will begin. If you Google it, you'll see that Google's answer includes a disclaimer that says “Dates may vary”:

That has something to do with the moon, as well as differences in science, history, and tradition, as well as some geopolitical rivalry.

The new moon marks the start of each new month in the Islamic calendar. The month of Ramadan thus begins on the new moon. Isn't it simple enough?

If it's been a while since you took astronomy in high school, here's a refresher on how the moon phases look:

Because astronomical calculations were not as precise in Mohammed's day, in sixth-century Arabia, people relied on what they could see with the naked eye.

Because the new moon isn't particularly visible in the night sky (as you can see above), Muslims have traditionally waited until the small sliver of crescent moon became visible before beginning to fast. There's also a proverb that you shouldn't start fasting until you see the crescent, which is credited to the Prophet Mohammed. (Some people believe this is why the crescent is the Islamic sign, but the crescent has been used as a symbol long before Islam.)

However, because of things like clouds or the difficulty of observing the moon in some regions, this method was a little clumsy, as different groups began their fasts on different days, even within the same country. Each neighborhood, village, or even mosque within the village may send its own person out to search for the crescent, with competing groups disputing whether the other person spotted it.

We no longer need to wait for someone to notice a little crescent in the sky since we have precise scientific equations that tell us exactly when the new moon begins. (In fact, “the requirement to establish the precise appearance of the hilalwas one of the inducements for Muslim academics to study astronomy,” according to the Oxford Dictionary of Islam.)

So, the issue has been resolved! Except that some Muslim scholars feel we should still wait until the small crescent moon is visible in the night sky, as Mohammed instructed, and as we've always done.

Others believe that Islam has a long history of reason, knowledge, and science, and that if Mohammed were alive today, he would prefer more exact scientific calculations to sending the mosque's best vision outdoors to look at the night sky.

To add to the hilarity, others say that the entire globe should simply obey Saudi Arabia's official moon-sighting laws, as the birthplace of Islam and the home of its holiest shrines.

But not everyone thinks that's such a good idea, particularly rival countries like Pakistan and Iran, who object to Saudi Arabia being treated as the ultimate authority on all matters relating to Islam.

As a result, Muslims all across the world get to enjoy the lovely madness of “moon-sighting fights” every year. It's such a common characteristic of Ramadan that it's become a meme:

Are there differences between how Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims observe Ramadan?

No, for the most part. During Ramadan, both Sunni and Shia Muslims fast. Sunnis break their daily fast at sunset, when the sun is no longer visible on the horizon (although there is still light in the sky), whilst Shia wait until the redness of the setting sun has entirely faded and the sky has become fully dark.

Sunnis do not observe an additional holiday during the month of Ramadan, which Shia do. Shia Muslims celebrate the martyrdom of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law who was both the venerated fourth caliph of Sunni Islam and the first “valid” imam (leader) of Shia Islam, on three days — the 19th, 20th, and 21st days of Ramadan.

Following Mohammed's death, severe civil warfare ensued over who should rule the Muslim community in his place. Ali was slain. While Ali was worshipping at a mosque in Kufa, Iraq, on the 19th day of Ramadan, an assassin from a group of rebels hostile to his leadership fatally attacked him with a poisoned sword. Ali passed away just two days later.

Ali is regarded as a pivotal figure in Shia Islam. His mausoleum in adjacent Najaf, Iraq, is Shia Islam's third holiest place, with millions of Shia pilgrims visiting each year. Despite the fact that Sunnis regard Ali as one of the four “rightly guided” caliphs who governed following Mohammed's death, they do not remember his death or visit his tomb.

What can I do to be respectful of my Muslim friends during Ramadan?

Even if you are not a Muslim, eating and drinking in public during the month of Ramadan is illegal in some Muslim nations.

Of course, this is not the case in the United States, where we have religious freedom (as well as religious freedom). And most American Muslims, like myself, do not expect non-Muslims to adjust their behavior dramatically to meet our religious fast during Ramadan.

Friends and coworkers have opted to fast with me out of solidarity (or simply because it seems “fun”), which I appreciated, but it's not something I expect people to do. (Plus, they usually only survive three days before deciding that solidarity is overrated and that being thirsty for 15 hours isn't even close to being “fun.”)

All of this being said, there are some things you can do, and other things you shouldn't do, to make life a little easier for friends or coworkers who are fasting for Ramadan. If you work in an office with someone who is fasting, consider eating your luscious cheeseburger in the break room rather than at your desk, where your poor, suffering Muslim coworkers will have to smell it and salivate (if they even have enough moisture left in their bodies to salivate at that point).

Try not to give them a nibble or a sip of what you're eating, because it's often difficult for us to remember that we're fasting, and it's all too simple to accept and eat that Lay's potato chip you just offered us. But it's fine if you do. We won't be upset or enraged (unless you're doing it on purpose, in which case, what's wrong with you?).

If you want to invite your Muslim friends to a dinner party, attempt to schedule it after sunset so they can eat. We don't drink or eat pork as Muslims, but we don't mind being around it. (We are not afraid of or allergic to pork, contrary to popular assumption; we just don't consume it.) We're not vampires, and pork isn't garlic.) However, please let us know if something contains alcohol or pork so we don't ingest it by accident.

You might simply say, “Pleasant Ramadan!” or “Happy Eid!” to your Muslim friends or acquaintances to wish them a happy Ramadan or Eid al-Fitr. That isn't in any way offensive. “Ramadan/Eid kareem” (which means “have a generous Ramadan/Eid”) or “Ramadan/Eid mubarak” (which means “have a good Ramadan/Eid”) are the customary greetings if you want to show them you made an effort to understand more about their religion.

Even something as easy as memorizing one of those terms and speaking it to your Muslim friends with a grin will go a long way toward making them feel at ease.

How do you spiritually fast?

A spiritual fast is a deliberate decision to refrain from eating modern foods. This has the advantage of aiding in the removal of toxins from your body. But it's not only about staying away from contaminants. Spiritual fasting has advantages since it helps us become more conscious of our connections. We do this to enhance and deepen our spirituality.

Our interactions are intertwined with our environment, bodies, and souls, as Hildegard believed. As a result, when observing a spiritual fast, you should consider all aspects of your life. To that end, we've included some of Hildegard's advice to assist you on your journey. Here are a few pointers to help you have a good spiritual fast:

The spiritual fasting regimen advocated by Hildegard of Bingen is deemed “gentle.” It only allows a few things, mostly soup and a few fruits and vegetables. Depending on your preferences, you can taper off as you continue through the program or not.

How do I prepare myself for a spiritual fast?

I don't want to go without saying that fasting with someone is wonderful, but you don't have to do it. Fasting in seclusion with the father is truly commanded in Matthew 6:18. We are not to boast about our fasting or wear a mournful expression to make others feel sorry for us. So, if you're fasting with a group or just one other person, keep it hidden and only think of God.

Decide what Type of Fast you Want to Do

The various sorts of fasts have been explored previously. To summarize, there is a;

• Material Fasting entails avoiding material possessions or activities such as television, social media, and habits.
• A supernatural fast is one that can only be observed when under God's supernatural presence. Consider Moses, who went without sustenance for 40 days and nights.

When it comes to choosing a type of fast, there is no right or wrong answer. If you're new to fasting, I recommend starting modest. Cut out a meal and then fast for the rest of the day the next time. Then progress to three days, then a week. You must begin small and work your way up to strengthen your spiritual muscles.

However, the correct response boils down to one thing. What are you being led to do by the Holy Spirit? When people fasted in the Bible, the number of days they fasted wasn't the most significant factor. They concentrated on the reason for their actions and did what they believed God wanted them to do. So, what are your intentions and what do you feel compelled to do? That is what you should do.

Plan your Meals

For obvious reasons, you can skip this section if you're undertaking a complete or ordinary fast. However, if you're undertaking a partial fast, meal planning is critical to staying on track. Until I went on a fast without a plan, I didn't think it was that significant. You will be hungry and most likely experience little discomfort while fasting. There's nothing worse than getting to mealtime and realizing you don't have anything to eat since you can't just grab something as you normally would. That's a recipe for a hangry person.

Make a meal plan and a grocery list at least a few days before your fast. Get your meals ready ahead of time and out of the way. Fasting is all about focusing your attention on God. So don't let last-minute grocery shopping and dinner preparation consume all of your time. It will simply frustrate you and take you out of the mental condition you were in before to starting the fast.

How do you fast for God?

So, now that you know what fasting is and why it's important, where do you start? Twenty various recommendations are provided here to assist you get started fasting and stay motivated.

Identify The Purpose

The first step in fasting for any Christian is to figure out why you're fasting. Do you want to empty your stomach through fasting? Do you want to improve your connection with God? Are you fasting to show your support for the poor? It's crucial to understand why you're fasting. It establishes a context for your experience.

Commit to a Time Period

The second stage in fasting is deciding on a certain time period and committing to it. When you're a newbie, it's not a good idea to go for a long period of time without eating or drinking anything.

Try to work out what is realistic, and keep your commitment fresh in your mind.

Find Your Weaknesses

Try to predict your weaknesses, or the times when you will feel the worst or most tempted to eat, before the fast begins. Pray for God to provide you with the strength you require when you require it, and He will.

Tell only a Few People

According to Acts 16, when a believer in Christ fasts in secret, he or she will be blessed. You should just tell two or three people that you're fasting. It doesn't matter if it's a spouse, a sibling, or a friend. They may also serve as a partner in terms of accountability.