Do you fast?
No, not are you fast. It's not about speed.
Do you fast?
Do you give up something (usually food) in order to better focus on God? Could you do it for 390 days? Well, one person did and I learned something amazing recently about this person's experience.
Most people associate fasting with Lent. Lent is an ancient practice of fasting for 40 days prior to Easter. Fasting is a spiritual practice of giving up something (usually food) in order to commit to increased time of prayer and spiritual activity. Jesus fasted and spoke about fasting being essential for some spiritual work (Mark 9:29 has a reference to prayer and fasting, but it is not in all manuscript copies).
Fasting is a historical, biblical and contemporary practice. It is popular these days for dieting systems and bodybuilders in competition, but that's not the focus of this post. This post is about something I learned about a specific fast in the Bible.
Ezekiel was asked by God to fast from normal food and regular activity and eat a specific type of bread and water. He was to do this in a specific pattern at set times. He was asked to do this for 390 days. Ezekiel was a prophet to Israel and this fasting activity was about a prophetic judgement on the nation of Israel. A warning of their lack of faith.
Here's what I learned recently from a friend of mine, Marty. He told me that scientists have discovered that Ezekiel's bread recipe forms a specific protein chain that provides a level of sustenance and nurture that allowed Ezekiel to eat this bread and survive his fast for 390 days! That's pretty amazing. Food For Life is a company that makes Ezekiel bread using the recipe as found in Ezekiel 4:9. Their website says that this protein is 84.3% as efficient as the protein found in milk and eggs. I think that's incredible!
Have you ever fasted? What did you fast from, and for how long? How did it go?
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