Why Fast?

iiiiiFasting was practiced in the Old Testament in preparation for a holy event. As such, from the early
iiiiiCenturies of the Christian Church, special periods of fasting have been prescribed in preparation for holy
iiiiidays (ex. Easter / Christmas). In the New Testament, Christ told His disciples that they could combat
iiiiithe powers of darkness only through prayer and fasting. The Lord declared the necessity of fasting by
iiiiisaying, "When you fast," not "If you fast." For those who embrace the whole message of Holy Scripture,
iiiiiit is obvious that fasting is an indispensable weapon to be used in the battle against the forces of evil.
iiiiiThus, fasting is a valuable vehicle to help God's people in the journey to eternal life that is made possible
iiiiiby the life giving Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

iiiiiOrthodox fasting is easily misunderstood as "justification through works," which is not what the
iiiiiOrthodox Church holds true as a prescription for salvation. Salvation is a gift from God, which we cannot
iiiiiourselves do anything to make ourselves worthy of. What we can do, however, is attempt to remove all
iiiiithe obstacles that stand in our way, so that we can receive God's grace of free will and a ready spirit.

iiiiiSatan has many means at his disposal to keep us from moving closer in our relationship with God, and
iiiiiour passions for worldly things is one of them. Fasting is about controlling those passions: eating good
iiiiifood, and plenty of it, is generally one of the most pleasurable things that we do as human beings.
iiiiiFasting is therefore merely a practical exercise in abstinence from something that we enjoy so much
iiiiithat it keeps us from the balanced spiritual life that God intended for us.

iiiiiOftentimes, it is not until fasting is attempted that one realizes just how strong a hold our worldly
iiiiipassions have over us. The Devil's greatest victory in modern times is that people have stopped believing
iiiiiin his existence. With that, ignorance of what binds us to what is evil, or not godly, has increased, and
iiiiithe effort put into combating it decreased.

iiiiiFurthermore, as fasting is really quite hard work, it focuses our attention on God instead of ourselves
iiiiiand allows us an opportunity to think about something else than our own desires, but it does not buy us
iiiiia place in the Kingdom of God. It's an opportunity to think very concretely about something but
iiiiiourselves and thus a gift to be savored.

iiiiiThus, fasting is an outward sign of repentance. Fasting is meant to aid us in our effort to overcome
iiiiitemptations and to discipline ourselves to replace our self-will and personal desires with doing things
iiiiithat are in harmony with God's will. This exercise of control is to extend to our thoughts, our words, and
iiiiiactions. In our pursuit to return to that divine image that we were all created in, the Church asks us to
iiiiifocus on the person of our Savior and to embrace His words with like action. Of Christ's many recorded
iiiiidirectives, those which extol the necessity of prayer and fasting for the curing of bodily and spiritual
iiiiiinfirmities cannot be ignored (see Matthew 17:21).