My Fasting Testimony

 -Pastor Bob Klecan

Fasting is one of my fondest memories of my days as a very young Christian.  While I have continued to fast up until the present day, I am sorry to say that I have not given fasting the place it deserves as a spiritual discipline, a means of growing closer to our Heavenly Father.  And I have not shared the benefit of fasting congregation-wide, for which I am sorry.  Now the Lord has blown the doors wide open!  Well, here’s my story. 

First of all, I accepted Jesus in the midst of a three-day fast during Holy Week 1984.  I was 19 and seeking the meaning of life, and was reading through the Gospel of Matthew.  When I came to the place where Jesus talked about fasting (6:16-18) I decided that I should fast if I was seeking spiritual truth.  I was pleased to know that Christianity affirmed fasting, because I was already positively inclined toward the practice due to my dabblings in Hinduism.  As we talked about last Sunday, those who fast should not feel spiritually superior to those who don’t.  Least of all me…I started fasting because of Hinduism!  J  Anyway, during the second day of fasting, in the evening, I read for the first time “Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).  I prayed “That’s it!  Jesus, be with me always!”  Not exactly the four spiritual laws, but the Lord hears the heart.  I fasted through Saturday and then feasted some on Easter. 

My original church had a weekly evangelistic service, much like a mini-Billy Graham crusade every Thursday night.  Because of this I started fasting every Thursday until after this service.  During the day this reminded me to pray, because I have always been prone to notice when my stomach is empty.  I couldn’t escape the reminder.  It also intensified my prayers because feeling this physical discomfort, especially when I was doing hard physical work (landscaping), caused me to be much more intent on seeking my Father.  Instead of eating during lunch hour I would spend this time praying and reading.  I was less prone to distraction and more prone to keep priorities straight during a day of fasting.

When I arrived at the service during this day of fasting I remained in a state of heightened prayer intensity for the entire time.  At the end I would usually counsel somebody at the altar and pray with them to accept Christ.  I was always sharp and ready for ministry because of the focused intensity fasting helped me experience all day along. 

Then came a really cool weekly tradition: there was a Taco Bell just down the road, and after the service my friends and I would go and eat.  I was usually not the only one fasting, so it was like a party!  And sometimes we would be accompanied by those we counseled at the altar!  Believe me, a burrito supreme in that atmosphere is like a gourmet feast!  It was a Thursday habit of fasting and prayer and ministry ending in feasting!  What could be better! 

Those are great memories.  And now it’s time to make new memories of experiencing God through fasting!  Can’t wait.