I’m not much of a “fasting” kind of a guy. I like food……a lot. The one time I did decide to go without food (fast) for an extended period of time, it was quite rough.
The First Few Days
The purpose for me was to have extended time to seek God through prayer, worship and as the logic went when I wanted to eat (and that was almost ALL THE TIME the first day or so) I would simply call out to God; “As much as I want and need food, I want and need you more”.
The first few days I prayed that prayer it was duty, grit and pure determination. I was miserable and I’m pretty sure God didn’t have that in mind when he talked about fasting in the Bible.
The Transformation
What happened over the next few days however was unique and radical. As I would get the hunger pangs (which dramatically began to wane on the middle of day two) is that as I prayed the same prayer; “God I want you more than food”, I actually began to believe, experience and began to be changed by that prayer.
Sometimes when you have misplaced appetites the only way to change it is to beg God, “Change this in me, O God”.
Have you ever wondered if your misplaced appetites (addiction to drugs, alcohol, food, sex, entertainment, pleasure, etc.) is simply a misplaced desire for God? G. K. Chesterton one time (famously) said; “The man who knocks on the door of a brothel is unconsciously looking for God”.
We are a “God-starved” culture seeking after “god substitutes” everywhere we turn but we will never find what we’re looking for apart from the person of God himself. CS Lewis brilliantly captured this “God-shaped hole” when he said;
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
I have found that those who have the strongest tendencies and propensities toward addiction also are positioned to have the strongest passions and openness to God once they identify, repent and turn away from all the “Counterfeit gods” that only deliver death.
In prayer we re-root our truest identities (sons and daughters of the most high God), we renew our spirits with His Spirit, we re-claim the victory we have in Christ and we allow God the right to redeem the deepest pains and create in us an appetite for Him and Him alone!
About the Author: Ryan received his BS in Bible and Theology and a minor in counseling from Multnomah University. He has pastored students, families and is passionate about Christ-centered recovery and healing.
He’s been married to his beautiful wife Michelle for 13 years and they enjoy raising four crazy, unique and special kids together. Ryan is the teaching pastor at Vast Church in Sisters, OR and is currently working on his Masters in Theology at Western Seminary in Portland, OR
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Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on February 22, 2016
Published on AddictionHope.com