Fasting Isn't For The Spiritually Elite. It's For The Hurting

I have had interest in pursuing fasting as a spiritual discipline ever since reading Richard J Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth , 3rd ed. (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988). and having met a friend of mine in the Coptic Orthodox (Oriental Orthodox) tradition. It isn’t a topic that comes up much in my theological circles; fasting is largely associated with the feast days of Anglicanism and the RCC and EO. When I first read Foster, I was a budding Calvinist and did not understand Foster’s Quaker background. While I can’t recommend the underlying theology, he had some practical tips that were, at the very least, useful.

That being said, this article by Kakish at TGC is by far a better resource for fasting. I hope to do much research into the subject but this at least provides a good starting point.

Fasting is a situationally birthed, psychosomatically sensed, prompt from the soul to seek direction, correction, or comfort from God through prayer-soaked abstention, as we await the return of our King. David Kakish

This page also has some useful information for the curious:

https://carm.org/what-is-fasting

This is of course somewhat different from the popular quote of Andrew Murray’s:

Prayer is putting a hand on the mercy set. Fasting is putting both hands on the mercy seat.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/fasting-not-spiritually-elite-hurting/