Having lived in New Orleans for a decade, this time of year always holds a special place in the life of our family. The different parades, the various throws, the colorful beads, your favorite kind of King Cake … they all come together to express a culture that really can’t be fully understood unless you experience Mardi Gras for yourself. As the expression states, “Everywhere else, it’s just Tuesday!”
Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday (Mardi– Tuesday, Gras– fat) and serves as the day when many people eat and indulge in meat and fatty foods before observing the ritual and fasting of the Lenten season starting with Ash Wednesday and culminating with Easter Sunday. Of the spiritual disciplines, we are probably least informed regarding fasting. We are often surprised to discover that it’s discussed in Scripture as much as baptism. As we continue to make prayer a priority, pursuing God-Sized things as individuals and a faith family, I would offer that we also look to understanding and implementing this biblical practice into our lives.
One article does not provide nearly enough space to adequately discuss such an important topic. That said, we need to start somewhere, so allow me to provide a few insights as we begin exploring what the Holy Spirit and God’s Word have for us on this topic. Simply put, Christian fasting is when a believer intentionally abstains from food for spiritual reasons. Now, sometimes, for medical reasons, people cannot engage in a fast from food, but instead substitute something else. Either way, the main focus should be on biblical
teaching and purposes that are God-centered. The discipline of abstaining should be for spiritual purposes.
In his book, Spiritual Disciplines, Donald Whitney (Praying the Bible) dedicates an entire chapter to our understanding of this discipline. In the days and weeks to come, we’ll engage more deeply, but allow me to leave you with a few passages in Scripture to look up when you have the opportunity:
Matthew 6:16 – 18 Here, Jesus is talking about a private fast.
Acts 13:1 – 3 Here, Luke is telling us about a corporate fast, where the church is acting together. We see this type of fast play out in Joel 2:15 -16 as well.
There’s so much more for us to understand, but as the saying goes, How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best closing to a discussion on fasting, but you get the point!