Day 10: Fasting Part 2 - The Inedible Variety

Yesterday, I talked a little about fasting as it is defined, abstaining from food or water for a period of time. Today I'm going to talk about fasting from other things.
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One of my very first experiences with fasting came my freshman year in college in my bible study group. We read through a book called A Call to Die by David Nasser. In the book, it gave us a forty day challenge to fast from something while we read through the book. We each picked something different. Among some of our choices were Facebook and instant messenger, I remember that much. My choice was cable television.

I had no idea at the time that this was going to be a challenging thing to do. If I had been wiser or more determined, I may have chosen video games instead since that was my real priority. However, I figured abstaining from television for forty days was going to be challenging enough. It ended up being a lot tougher than I originally thought. For one thing, I had to compromise a bit. I didn't realize at first that just because I chose to not watch TV, that I would still be around it and exposed to it quite often. With a roommate that watched TV, and restaurants and events with TVs on everywhere, I just had to ensure that I was actively making efforts to not watch instead of being legalistic and avoiding every place that had a TV on (which would've been a lot of places!).

Eventually, I just got used to not watching. I wouldn't turn it on when I got back to my room, and I found other things to do. It wasn't till the end of those forty days that I realized what had happened. Television had simply lost its place as a priority. It no longer was exciting or interesting or even just something to do if I had spare time. By being away from it for forty days, I had somehow subconsciously come to the conclusion that it actually wasn't as great as I was making it, it was just a habit.

Now obviously your mileage will vary, but I've had a lot of amazing realizations about my life when I take forty days to reprioritize with a fast. Such a fast can be used to break strongholds of importance that have taken the place of God in our lives. And the free time you get from giving up something can be spent for other things. If you have a hard time remembering to read the Bible or finding time to do so, maybe that time could be used for that, for example.

The key to the fast is remembering its purpose. If I take forty days and remove myself from one thing only to replace it with something else which is not God-related then I have accomplished very little.

So let's say that you want to give this whole "4D Days" thing a shot and want to try a forty day fast from something inedible (no doctor's consultation required!). How do you figure out what might be a good pick? Try the following:

1. Pray. Ask God that he will show you what is an obstacle to his relationship with you.
2. Imagine what you can't live without for forty days. Now think again. Can you really not live without it?
   
3. Ask yourself, "What am I spending a lot of time doing that isn't really nescessary?"
4. Find an accountability partner who would be willing to make a suggestion and perhaps keep you accountable if it will be a difficult thing for you.

And remember, it doesn't nescessarily have to be extreme. The point is to refocus. Even if it means just giving up ten minutes in bed in the morning to spend reading the Bible or praying, it can make a difference. Even starting with just a few days (nothing magic about forty!) can open the door to new breakthroughs.
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Tomorrow I'll talk a bit about money. Feel free to go back to Day 8's post, read my question, and make a comment on the subject. I might use your comment in the post.