Why Fast?

Author: Andrew Comiskey
October 09, 2017
We begin our 40-days of prayer and fasting this Wednesday the 11th; we seek together to become good news for persons vulnerable to the false LGBT+ ‘map’ as they make sense of who they are. Only Jesus through His members can clarify true identity. We pray and fast to become better clarifiers.

Why fast? Simply put, we fast in order to pray more effectively. St. Peter urges us ‘to be clear minded and self-controlled so you can pray’ (1P 4:7). Fasting involves letting go of things that distract us from uniting with Jesus in faith and praying according to the Spirit of the Father and Son.

Any act of self-denial—those particular ‘feeding’ habits that delight and dull us—is meaningful to the degree that we pray in its stead. In other words, we put off in order to take up.

Fasting is usually associated with food: what we need to live and sadly, what we use to feel good amid boredom and hardship. We can attach to many such things: food, yes, but also alcohol, television, sports, surfing the Internet, various expressions of social media, gaming, shopping—nothing wrong with any of the above but all wrong when they encroach on the One thing. Intimacy with Jesus is the antidote to the anxiety we experience from a chaotic world and the guilt we incur for our addictive, prayer-less response to it.

(Pick up the classic on this subject, Addiction and Grace, by Dr. Gerald May.)

So fasting can apply to any habit we choose to forego for a set period in order to seek Jesus and His purposes. Instead of grasping for the beer, donut, game, iPhone, etc. we open our hearts in quiet to Jesus. We unite our ache with the One who aches for us.

Out of intimacy comes authority. We pray hard for beloved persons under the delusion that they can create ‘selves’ apart from Jesus. We do battle for brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers who are being lulled into false freedoms. Jesus said to friends who questioned Him as to why they couldn’t make a demonized boy whole: ‘This kind can only come out by prayer and fasting’ (MK 9:29).

I am not implying that moral vulnerabilities are demons. But I am declaring that the LGBT+ ‘map’ for finding a ‘self’ is utterly demonic, a stronghold of thought that has deluded the minds of bright, powerful people who are now teaching others so in Jesus’ name (Father James Martin, etc.). Through prayer and fasting, we as Christ’s members need to wake up and declare the truth prayerfully over lost loved ones, and over the whole Church.

We must become messengers of Jesus’ clarity in this hour. Shatter demonic intimidation. Exude glorious light for persons who will perish without it.

I urge you to identify and set aside one questionable habit for 40-days and pray in its place using this devotional guide. We look forward to praying with you.

‘Those who oppose the Lord’s servant (s)he must gently instruct in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, so that they may come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap who has taken them captive to do his will’ (2T 2: 25, 26).

Join us for the ‘Becoming Good News for the Gender Challenged’ fast from Oct. 11th-Nov. 19th.
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