The Fundamentals of Fasting XI

 There’s a difference between glamorous and effective. Most things that are effective aren’t necessarily glamorous because their purpose isn’t to stand out, draw attention, or make it about themselves. Effective things are function-driven, and as long as they perform the function for which they were tailored, then they’ve attained their purpose, and that’s all they’ll ever want to achieve.

If you want to drop a few pounds, go on a forty-five-minute walk every morning for the next month without changing what you eat, and you’ll still manage to drop those few pounds. If you want to accelerate weight loss, cut out sugar and processed foods, and you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish within a matter of weeks. Glamorous? No. Effective? Yes.

The problem is that this generation would rather have easy than effective, so they’re scarfing down pills meant for diabetics without knowing what the long-term side effects will be to shed the pounds they could have shed with just a sliver of sweat and dedication.

There are no shortcuts or magic pills when it comes to spiritual maturity. There aren’t any classes or courses you can buy that will catapult you to the top. Some things take time, consistency, and dedication, and growing in God is one of those things.

It is said that with age comes wisdom, and for the most part, it’s true, although I’ve seen my fair share of gray-haired folks act like teenagers to last me a lifetime. It is also true that the more you grow in God, the more time you spend with Him, and the more you do those things that aren’t necessarily glamorous but effective, you will automatically revert to asking Him for clarity, guidance, wisdom, and strength.

2 Chronicles 20:2-3, “Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.”

A man with less spiritual maturity would have acted differently than Jehoshaphat. An army was coming to make war; they were great in number, so much so that Jehoshaphat feared them. When he is afraid, man’s first impulse is either flight or fight. Either you turn tail and run, surrender, or try to hammer out some agreement that will see you survive, or you stand your ground, fight, and take it to the enemy to the best of your ability until you run out of steam.

Jehoshaphat did neither. He didn’t prepare for war, nor did he prepare to surrender. He set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

It’s worth noting that God was not his last resort. God was not the last person Jehoshaphat ran to after all his allies abandoned him or after he’d lost the first skirmish. When he heard his enemies were coming to make war, Jehoshaphat made a beeline for God, seeking Him and declaring a fast.

If you don’t know how it played out, spoiler alert: Judah didn’t even have to fight the battle. God fought it on their behalf, and all Judah did was plunder the wealth of their enemies once God had dealt with them.

If Jehoshaphat had gone off to war without entreating God’s favor, waiting for direction, or heeding His counsel, do you think the story would have ended in like fashion? Jehoshaphat was a seasoned warrior. He was not a man to scare easily, but when he heard of all who had amassed against him, he feared. The antidote to fear, whether fear of what is or what is to come, is seeking the Lord and declaring a fast. Not glamorous, but effective. It is not because I say it is but because the Bible proves it is.

What would have likely been a day of mourning, with countless dead, turned into a day of rejoicing as the people saw the power of their God. It wasn’t affirmations that did it; it wasn’t mantras, slogans, intonations, or catchphrases; it was seeking God with fasting and prayer.

Throw a rock in any direction, and you’re bound to hit someone who says that they are God’s friend. What no one seems to query is whether God feels likewise. It’s easy to claim to know someone, but for a relationship to be real, the acquaintance must be reciprocal. Otherwise, it’s just delusion.

You can’t claim to be someone’s friend if you’ve never met them. You can’t claim to love someone if you never want to spend any time with them. You can’t claim to be spiritually mature when you fail to do anything that leads to spiritual maturity.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve gone from telling ourselves that we can be anything we want to be if we work hard, apply ourselves, and never give up to telling ourselves we can be anything we want to be simply if we declare it to be so. Never you mind if someone was called to the office they claim, they’ve claimed it; therefore, you must validate their claim because that’s how things work nowadays. They may work like that with the world, but they’ll never work that way with God. It’s God who gets to call you His friend. He is the one who makes that assessment.

You can’t make an omelet without eggs, you can’t cut a tree without an axe, and you can’t be a man or woman of God without fasting and prayer as constant companions throughout your time on earth. Men have tried other avenues, whether because they deemed it too difficult or not glamorous enough, and failed miserably. Do the simple thing that works rather than the elaborate thing that fails, and you’ll save yourself an ocean of heartache.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.