Day 212: 8/1/11 - Study about Fasting for Ramadan

Day 212: 8/1/11
New Thing: Study about Fasting for Ramadan

Inspiration: Ramadan
Cost: $5
Time: Several Hours                           
Bottom Line: Inspired.

Reflection:  Today is the first day of the Islamic season of Ramadan. Here is the Wikipedia description:

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 to 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God. Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic: الله‎, trans: Allah) and to offer more prayer than usual. Compared to the solar calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon; thus, a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year in 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.

As a Christian, I normally reserve my fasting time to Lent (which you can read about in my blog archives). To be honest, however, I have a really hard time fasting and normally just fast from certain foods--not all foods in general like I did this past Lent. When ever I have tried to give up food in the past, I get so tied up in the hunger and bodily discomfort of it that I normally give up after the first day.

So, when I saw that it was Ramadan, I decided to do something that I have not really taken the time to do in years: learn about different kinds of fast, how to do them, and how to be very intentional about how to pray though a fasting time. I spent hours doing research today including reading the Bible, seminary notes, different books on spiritual practices, how other religions and denominations view it (Did you know that the Orthodox believe it is a special privilege to fast?) and the entirety of a book by an Evangelical Pastor of a mega church (something I haven't ventured to try since I was a teen and may not try again for a long time). It is called Fasting by Jentezen Franklin. I'm not saying that I am recommending it, necessarily, but it was eye opening to read it as a different kind of Biblical interpretation of fasting.

One thing that I kept coming back in all of the sources I read was how important it is for Christians to regularly fast as a way of being fully present in God--mind, soul, and especially body. It helps us connect to the poor in their hunger, it connects us to all those in Scripture who have fasted (including important figures like Moses, David, Peter, Paul, and of course Jesus himself), it reminds us of our own frailty and dependency on God, and can be time of clarification for the soul as you focus on prayer.

After all that, it should probably not surprise you that I have decided to start a summer fast. As you may remember from Lenten posts, I do not actually feel very comfortable about making a fast public based on Matthew 6:1-18, but part of this experiment is being open and honest about my present moment. After praying I have decided that they type of fast that I will try will be two fold: from 8/2-8/6, I will not eat from 7am-7pm. On the 6th, we will be celebrating the Feast of the Transfiguration. At that point, I will switch to what is known as a "Daniel Fast" in some circles until 8/21. As Daniel began his captivity in Babylon, he and his three companions refused to eat the choice meats and sweets from the king's table, asking instead to have only vegetables. He did this again in the Book of Daniel chapter 10. So, a "Daniel Fast" is one that has no sugar, no alcohol, no bread, and no meat. I am adding different prayer times to my day as well, and would love to add anyone to my fasting prayer list who might like to be prayed for during these 20 days. I would also invite any prayer during this time.