Fasting during Lent has a much deeper meaning than simply giving up dessert or snacks, an evangelist told Fox News Digital.
“When we fast, we’re practicing an ancient discipline designed by God to draw us near to Him through surrender,” John Heerema, CEO of Biglife, told Fox News Digital. Heerema lives in Atlanta.
Biglife is a ministry dedicated to “reaching lost souls by shining Christ’s light into the world’s darkest places,” its website indicates, and has a presence in over 160 countries.
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In scripture, fasting is done for many reasons: for mourning, as an act of seeking wisdom and guidance, and for empowerment in the face of temptation, said Heerema.
“When we look at fasting in scripture, two common themes emerge,” he said.
The first theme is that “disciplined fasting means practicing humility before God,” said Heerema.
“As Jesus says, fasting is meant to be private because His focus was on the eternal mindset of fasting to unite ourselves to the Father through the act of surrender, not the admiration and sympathy that the scribes and Pharisees chased after.”
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Fasting, Heerema said, “teaches us to let go of inward selfishness and rely solely on upward providence.”
And “by allowing God to sustain our needs, we’re experiencing the freedom [that] Christ describes in Matthew,” he said.
“By allowing God to sustain our needs, we’re experiencing the freedom Christ describes in Matthew.”
The second theme, Heerema told Fox News Digital, is that the act of fasting invokes the Holy Spirit.
This is seen in both the Old and New Testaments.
“When Daniel committed himself to fasting, an angel of the Lord appeared to him to empower him. When the apostles committed themselves to fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke to the group and launched Paul’s and Barnabas’ mission.”
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