The Focused Fast (Training Course)

Many times when people consider the idea of struggles in fasting, they only think of the temptations that they might endure. So, let us first approach this aspect of struggles. The book of James tells us, “Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed” (James 1: 14). The Bible also says, “All that is in the world are the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1st John 2: 15-17). There are also three basic realms of life: the spiritual realm, the physical realm, and the psychological realm (or realm of the soul) (1st The. 5: 23). Now, there are temptations that touch our lives in each of these three realms. For example: consider the temptations of Jesus recorded in both Matthew 4 and Luke 4. First, He was tempted to use His creative power to provide food for Himself through the lusts of His flesh for food (Matt. 4: 3-4; Luke 4: 3-4); hence a physical temptation. Second, He was tempted to commit idolatry through the lusts of His eyes for power on earth (fame) and material wealth (fortune) (Matt. 4: 8-10; Luke 4: 5-8); hence a spiritual temptation. Third, He was tempted to commit suicide through the pride of life (Matt. 4: 5-7; Luke 4: 9-12). After all He was “God manifest in the flesh” (1st Tim. 3: 16) and that makes Him immortal, right? This was a psychological temptation. Therefore, He “was in all points (realms) tempted like as we are” (Heb. 4: 15). IDENTIFYING THE SOURCE When a person has a struggle while fasting, the source may be located in one of these three areas of their life. The first area to inspect is the physical body. If you cannot fast but for a short period of time without feeling dizzy, faint, or some other physical symptom, you probably should get a medical check up. If this check up reveals a medical condition that prevents you from going on a total fast, then consider one of the partial fast previously listed in this text. If your check up reveals that you are physically fit, then more than likely your struggle will be found in the spiritual realm. Perhaps some form of oppression, depression, or the like could be hindering you during your attempt to fast. Although most struggles would fall into either the physical or spiritual realms, there is one more area that you may search out and that is the psychological realm. Very seldom though will a psychological problem not be directly related to either a physical or a spiritual source problem. In most cases a psychological problem will disappear once the physical or spiritual source problem is resolved. Although there is only one area of the psychological make up where this may not be so, and that is when it is a problem with the human will, which can only be effectively dealt with through old fashioned repentance. In such a case one will require the help of a man of God. To help you understand this more fully, let me explain. In Genesis 2: 7, we see how that God “formed (the physical body of) man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath (or spirit) of life” (1st Co. 6: 20). This next statement is somewhat revealing. “And man became a living soul.” If you look at this verse mathematically, you come up with this equation: flesh (created in the image of God) plus spirit (created in the likeness of God) equals soul (Gen. 1: 26); giving us the conclusion that the soul of man is the total composite being of man that actually includes both flesh and spirit. You may also conclude that your body gives you access to the physical realm; your spirit gives you access to the spiritual realm; while your soul is actually who you are containing your mind, heart, and will. Since both the flesh and the spirit are access ways, it is safe to assume that if the flesh is equipped with five senses then our spirit is also equipped with counterpart senses (1st The. 5: 23; Heb. 5: 14). THE SPIRITUAL SENSES 1) Your spiritual eyes gives you the ability to perceive things beyond the natural realm; the ability to visualize through the eyes of doubt (John 20: 25), the eyes of lust (Gen. 6: 5) or the eyes of faith (Eph. 1: 18). When we close our eyes, we all have the ability to imagine ourselves doing something we enjoy. We usually can imagine the experience in vivid detail through a series of pictures that we create and run through our mind. Some have called this our mind’s eye, but actually it is the eye of our spirit that is relating these scenes to our mind. This is where we develop the scenes of our doubt, lust, or even the working of our faith. 2) Your spiritual sense of smell (or your conscience) is your ability to discern between good and evil, right and wrong, the true and the false (Heb. 5: 14). Have you ever walked into a kitchen and smelled the aroma of something cooking and knew exactly what it was? Through our physical sense of smell we have learned how to tell the difference between the odors of foods, perfumes, flowers, etc... . And yes, I did say, “learned”, for although we were physically born with this ability to smell, we did not have sufficient information to discern one smell from another. And although, when we are born again, we are born with this ability to discern through our conscience, we cannot effectively discern between good and evil until we have received sufficient information. That is the reason we should spend time in intensive Bible study to ground ourselves in Truth, thereby giving us a foundation from which we can make this distinction.