fasting — Blog — Ariel Rainey

Biblical Fasting (part two)

There is a trend in today’s modern Church to “fast” things that aren’t food (social media, Netflix, coffee, novels, chocolate--lots of stuff).

Biblically, fasting was always about going without food. It is much harder, and we should understand that’s WHY it’s harder--because we’d all rather give up Netflix than actual food. This point is convicting for me, too! As I worked on this study, I realized I find it much easier to choose for myself what I’m *willing* to give up instead of doing it God’s way.

if Netflix or Facebook is “essential” to your life, to the point where you need to fast it, there’s a problem. If God reveals to you that entertainment or social media is getting in the way of your relationship with Him, then that is an IDOL. And you can’t fast an idol.

MissionsAriel RaineyJanuary 22, 2021fasting, spiritual disciplines, carry-ons

A Biblical Perspective of Fasting

I just got back to Spain from my annual trip to the United States. One of the things I particularly love about the holidays is being able to eat all the goodies that come with Christmas, especially the Maryland things that I don’t get to eat here in Spain. Since I am from the coast, I got to eat a lot of seafood, and I enjoyed every bit of it!

But then I returned to Spain, where our church had a week of prayer and fasting. It coincided with a huge snowstorm (in a city where it doesn’t snow!) so fasting was a good option with all the empty grocery stores!

Many churches do a special emphasis on prayer and fasting in January, but why exactly? Where do we get this habit of doing prayer and fasting at the beginning of the year? What is the point of fasting, other than to lose weight after eating so much in the holiday season?

MissionsAriel RaineyJanuary 21, 2021fasting

Overstuffed

This week I traveled from Maryland to Madrid returning from my annual Christmas pilgrimage. And my trips back to Spain generally have one thing in common: too much luggage.

I typically spend the last two days of my trip trying to pack it all in and incessantly weighing the bags to make sure that I can get them on the plane without paying astronomical fees. And then, there’s the reshuffling from back to bag and inevitably all of the things that are really heavy end up in my carry-on. My wheelie bag carries all the books, a huge bag of brown sugar, my technological devices, and more. And when that gets overflowed, the backpack gets filled next. More books, more snacks, more technology.

But that means that for the next 16 hours I’m carrying that load on my literal back as well as pulling it behind me, straining my arm muscles in an effort to drag with me all the things that I believe to be “necessities.”