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Question
Does LSCC have an official position on the practice of fasting and is it a necessary component of a Christian's life?

Answer
I would not say that fasting is an essential part of Christianity, but it is an important part. The word essential indicates that is required or mandatory. Fasting is not commanded as a spiritual practice but it is an important spiritual discipline.

Fasting has many spiritual benefits. Let me list a few:

Fasting helps us wean ourselves from the world and the things of the world. The world can dull our heart and our hunger for God (Matthew 13:15).
Fasting helps us develop discipline over our appetites as we deny ourselves the comforts of this world. I have found that fasting helps me grow a fresh hunger for God as I pursue Him while I fast. Job said, "I have treasured the words of you mouth more than my necessary food (Job 2:23:12).
Fasting helps us in prayer to humble our soul before the Lord (Psalm 35:13, Ezra 8:21).
Fasting reminds us how dependent we are as creatures on daily food and how dependent we need to be on the word of God. As Jesus said, "Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

It is not such much the outward practice of fasting that is valuable but what fasting does to us on the inside. When that happens we take on a form of godliness but deny its power - 2 Tim 3:5.

There are different kinds of fasts. There is the normal fast which simply means abstaining from food but not water. This could be for a meal, for a full day or for many days. Jesus participated in this normal fast in the wilderness for forty days (Matthew 4). An absolute fast would mean the abstaining from both food and drink. This is seen in Ezra's life as He fasted concerning the disobedience of the Israelites (Ezra 10:6). There is the partial fast (Daniel 10:21-3). This is a restriction of specific foods or items (I fast from e-mail on Mondays for example or when I skip a meal on a particular day so that I can focus my attention on the things of the Lord).

Jesus was asked why his disciples did not fast. He responded by telling them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast" (Matthew 9:14-15). One of the wonderful benefits of fasting is to put our eyes and our heart on Jesus so that we experience Him until He comes again.

Here is a suggestion: Start a partial fast for deepening a personal hunger and thirst for God by reading and meditating on what Jesus means in Matthews 5:3-16.

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