Josh McDonald has an interesting testimony about fasting. He fasted for 5 days last week. He said that he realized that fasting allows him to say no to the flesh, and clears out a lot of the stuff that hinders him from hearing from God. That’s it in brief. Fast, clear out the crap, and listen.
Today in prayer and fasting, four of us were on the floor, face down. Posture can be very important in prayer. Especially in fasting, there is an element of contrition, a seeking humility (the root meaning of which is dirt. Thus, get close to the ground!), an admission of sin. But that may not be where everyone else was, in being face down. It’s where I stay in fasting.
A few years back, I began to engage the discipline of silence. I know, I know, none of you (Meg) believe that. Of course, I had to subvert it! I was in the sanctuary at Dunaway, being quiet. But I so wanted to read Psalms, and I like to read them out loud from the RSV. I finally broke down and read them. And an amazing thing happened. I realized I was actually deep into the discipline of silence in spite of the sound of my voice. The point of silence is not being quiet, just like the point of fasting is not abstaining from food. The point is to becoming open to hear from God. And in reading the Word, I cleared space to hear from Him.
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