Of all the spiritual disciplines found in Scripture, fasting might be the most obscure and possibly the least practiced in the Western Church. However, it may be the foundational spiritual practice for growing in other spiritual disciplines like prayer, Scripture study, service, and giving.
 
In our culture, particularly during Lent, we see people fasting from social media or from various unhealthy vices. Someone might say that they are “giving up” soft drinks or fast food. Biblically speaking, fasting was abstaining from food for a period of time, which would lead to corresponding hunger pains.
 
Physical hunger for food is a tangible, measurable experience that points to other hungers we have as humans: hunger to be in relationship with one another, hunger to know God and to be known by him.
 
Our physical hunger also reveals the frivolous things that we consume and we let consume us. It demonstrates how unsatisfactory these things truly are. Hunger also confronts us with our mortality, humanity, vulnerability, and our dependence on something outside of ourselves. It exposes the perverted cravings that we have: hunger to be seen and glorified by men, hunger to be elevated in status by manipulating and suppressing others. Hunger shows us how we abuse good gifts from God by failing to enjoy them in moderation and in their proper context.
 
Fasting purges us of the appetite for these things, like a detox. If you eat the same unhealthy things everyday, not only will you form a habit, but your body will adapt itself to process those foods. When you introduce a variation to the habit, your body has forgotten how to digest the healthy foods and the good stuff will be both unpalatable and indigestible. Fasting, abstaining from the unhealthy stuff, helps reset and restore our spiritual appetites and our spiritual digestive system.
 
Fasting reveals what we really need as well as how much and how often we need it. It teaches us what we ought to say “yes” to in order to be truly satisfied.
If we can say “no” to food and endure through the pain and suffering of hunger, then we can say “no” elsewhere. When we say “no” to being filled with pride, we can be satisfied in being a son or daughter of God. When we fill ourselves with God’s word, hiding it in our hearts, we can say “no” to sinful temptations. When we say “no” to trying to earn grace by building our moral resume we can say “yes” to resting in Christ sufficient atonement.

Ultimately, fasting reminds us that we do not live on bread alone. We can fill ourselves with all manner of physical indulgences. And many of these things are good, meant for our delight and enjoyment. However, they are not an end in and of themselves but a means to an end…to glorify God and enjoy him forever. When we delight in God our appetites will grow to know him and to be satisfied in him. We will begin to hunger and thirst for righteousness and we will be filled. We will trust in the daily provision from our Father, provision for today and tomorrow. We will store up for ourselves treasure in heaven that will not fade like breakfast before lunch.
 
Saying “no” to food is just the start.

​As your teen is discovering who they are as a person, and growing as an individual, they will naturally begin to have a personal, individual faith. This means that the easy, Children’s Church, answers are probably no longer good enough. With concerns over teens “leaving the church” or “abandoning the faith” once they graduate high school being greater than ever, what you do as a parent now could make all of the difference in the years to come. Below are the 3 biggest challenges to leading and guiding your teen as they begin to own their spiritual journey.


  1) You feel inadequate- If we did a survey (and many have been done) of Christian parents asking them if they felt knowledgeable or equipped to lead their children spiritually, the majority of them would say "no." Many Christian parents believe that they can’t answer the hard questions that teenagers may ask about Christianity or the Bible because they don’t know themselves. It is okay to not know and to let your teen know that you don’t know. The two worst things you can do are: 1) to answer firmly with a wrong or unintentionally misleading answer and 2) to rely completely on someone else to answer it for them. So instead, go to Scripture together. Or go to a pastor or trusted spiritual leader together. Both of you will discover the answer and you will have invested priceless time into your teen’s spiritual growth. Your actions will communicate that their spiritual growth and faith is important to you


  2)  You feel like a hypocrite- What you say you believe and what you want your teens to believe doesn’t match up with your life. As the authority figure that “suppresses” your teen’s individuality, everything you say and do is scrutinized. And “do as I say do and not as I do” is no longer acceptable (not that it ever really was a good idea). So how will you win the right to speak into your teen’s spiritual life? By examining in Scripture what God says about the Christian’s struggles against sin and the flesh. Your teen may hold you to a higher standard with a smaller margin of error than Scripture actually does. Humbly and graciously remind them that God is working in you and through you to make you holy…but you aren’t there yet. This doesn’t mean that you are content in your current shortcomings. But your imperfections aren’t what make you a hypocrite. Failure to acknowledge your shortcomings and striving to grow in holiness does.


   3) You are settled on your beliefs, why can’t they just accept them too?-  This may be the most dangerous of the challenges presented. This communicates to your teen that once they become adults their spiritual journey ends; that they have grown and discovered all that they will about their faith once they turn 18 or graduate college. Additionally, it models an unwillingness to engage in the hard questions that make us uncomfortable and makes their concerns seem minuscule or invalid. Instead, invite them to journey with you. They aren’t going to typically invite you into theirs so ask them to come along with you. Show them the journey that led you to your beliefs. This will help them to know that their spiritual growth is important to you and that you understand and value their questions.


Remember this: faith is a journey and a no point in this life will any of us have fully arrived. The Bible never models this for us nor does it expect and demand this of us. Some of us are further along in the journey, and that experience has brought more maturity, but we all are still growing. Be intentional to journey with your teen despite your own insecurities or the challenges you might face. Allow them space on the path to explore what’s around them. But commit to being a faithful, invested companion with them as they get to where they are headed.