What might motivate a person to abstain from food for a time for spiritual reasons?
Try the following exercise. As you read each of the following passages in the OT, ask yourself, “What sort of motives can I discern at work that moved the person (people) depicted in this text to fast?” Then from the following list of words that appear in ALL CAPS, pick the word(s) that best describe(s) those motivations. If you can’t find an ALL CAPS word that describes what you see, create your own word and description and use it.
CARE: to enable your generosity to others
CRY: to implore God for protection or deliverance from danger
DIRECTION: to seek guidance/revelation from the Lord
DISCIPLINE: to develop self-control
GRIEF: to mourn a loss
HUMILITY: to humble oneself before God; to seek/demonstrate submissiveness
INSIGHT: to reveal & bring to light the things that control you
INTENSITY: coupled with prayer so as to solidify & strengthen one’s prayer
MEMORY: to build in a physical reminder of your constant need of God
REPENTANCE: to express sorrow for sin & to return to God
RESET: to break one’s slavery to habits, routines or ruts in life
RESISTANCE: to overcome temptation & dedicate yourself to ministry to God
WORSHIP: to express your love & adoration of God; to fear/respect the Lord
Exodus 34:27-28; Deut. 9:9-10 / Deuteronomy 9:17-19 / Judges 20:19-28 (26) / 1 Samuel 7:2b-6 / 1 Samuel 31:11-13; 1 Chronicles 10:12 / 2 Samuel 1:1-12 / 2 Samuel 12:15-23 / 1 Kings 21:1-16 (9,12) / 1 Kings 21:17-29 (27) / 2 Chronicles 20:1-4 / Ezra 8:21-23 / Nehemiah 1:1-11 (4) / Nehemiah 9:1-3 / Esther 4:1-3 / Esther 4:15-16 / Esther 9:29-32 / Psalm 35:11-16 (13) / Psalm 69:6-12 (10) / Psalm 109:21-25 (24) / Isaiah 58 / Daniel 9:1-19 (3) / Joel 1:13-14 / Joel 2:12-17 / Jonah 3:1-10 (5,7) / Zechariah 7:1-10 / Zechariah 8:14-19
Now that you’ve worked through all of the texts and have selected the words describing the motives you’ve discerned, look your resulting work over and note which motives appeared most frequently and which ones didn’t show up at all. Do find any of the results surprising? Do you see any patterns? What does this tell you about fasting as described in the OT? What motives might you bring to the table if you were to consider fasting before God?
