Confessions of a Former Food Addict

How is it that I’ve eaten half a bag of kettle-cooked BBQ potato chips, and I only came to get a cup of water?  That helpless feeling you experience every time food calls is crippling your resolve to lose weight.  Maybe fasting can help with that!  Those are not entirely secret but also not fully disclosed meals in the car when you are alone; yeah, maybe fasting can help with that.  You know what the doctor said about your blood pressure being too high and your numbers landing you in the “off the chart” category?  You already know what I’m going to say.  Fasting might be the lifeline you need!

I know your curiosity is piqued, yet you’re also afraid to give up your food.  You need food, all the food! Meanwhile, having so much of it has landed you in a peculiar place.   Now you can’t go without it, according to your doctor.

So what’s a soul to do?

It’s obvious I’m no M.D.  Never in bazillion years would I tell you to go against your doctor’s orders.  Listen to your doctor, please!  The point of taking this battle with food addiction to the spiritual level of fasting is so that you actually get closer to absolute food freedom.

By Wikipedia’s definition:

Fasting is the willful refrainment from eating and drinking. In a physiological context, fasting may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal.

If fasting is simply refraining from food, why make a big deal out of it? Can’t we sleep through the night without eating, then dream “skinny dreams” and achieve food freedom that way?  If it were that simple, we’d all be fit as a fiddle and able to manage our cheeseburgers more effectively.

I’m not talking about the type of fasting where you don’t eat for periods of time to burn more fat.
As a matter of fact, the type of fast I’m referring to has nothing to do with trying to burn fat, lose weight quickly or achieve a calorie deficit. Instead, these types of fasts are ALL about the food.  That type of fast puts the focus on what we want and what we are willing to do to get it through food manipulation.

I’m proposing a God-centered, Holy Spirit seeking, humble yourself before the Lord, fast.

The Bible is full of examples of individuals and nations fasting for various reasons.  I would love to share all of the motives and stories behind why people fasted in the Bible, but we would be here all day, and nobody has time for that today!

So allow me to give you the cliff notes version that supports the “WHY” behind fasting.

Fasting is one way to humble ourselves and go before the Lord to confess our sins.  We see this in the book of Nehemiah chapter 9:

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the people of Israel were assembled with fasting. In sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. ² And the Israelites^[a] separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

Listen, we all sin! But, it’s important to note that when we commit evil against a perfect God, we can put a stop to feeding our flesh long enough to come up for air and cry out for forgiveness.

This is how we shift the focus from food to God!

In II Samuel 12, David fasted for the life of his son, born from adultery.

Jesus was also questioned about fasting in Mark 2:18, Matthew 9:14, and Luke 5:33. So if you want to do a more comprehensive study on fasting in scripture, google what the Bible says about fasting. It will be worth the time investment.

Here’s what I believe:

That helpless, stuck feeling we experience as addicts is rooted in the spirit and the flesh. And maybe, just maybe, we need to fast and pray our way out of it! (And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:29)

Being high on food can make it hard to hear God. Fasting is a way to subdue the flesh and amplify the spirit.

If whole nations fasted and prayed for forgiveness when they entered into sin, then maybe we should too.

Jesus fasted to resist the Devil. (Matthew 4) So why are we out in these streets fighting Devils with the latest low-carb diet trend? If Satan is constantly tripping you up, you may need a weapon stronger than string cheese to wound him in the spiritual realm!

The Right Way to Fast  

Yes- there is a right way to fast, or else you’re just playing with hunger.

Fasting is ALL about God and his holiness. It’s about admitting you need His forgiveness and help.

Fasting is also a time to listen to the Lord.  Set aside time to pray, then BE QUIET. I’ll admit, it feels weird to sit quietly and listen for something, anything from God.  The practice of being silent before God saved my life and set me free! It’s also what Jesus practiced throughout his entire ministry.

Fasting is so much more than giving up food.  Fasting is a sacrifice of your will for God’s.  Food may not be your thing. If giving up food feels like nothing or you cannot fast for varied reasons, then offer up sex, media, etc.  The point is to lay down your flesh and exalt God through worship.

I’m convinced this is how the chains of addiction are broken, and Jesus sets the captives free.  What do you have to lose?

I’ll gladly answer that!  A life-stealing addiction, that’s what!

Isaiah 58

True and False Fasting

58 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
³ ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,^[a]
and oppress all your workers.
⁴ Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[b] go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
¹² And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in…

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