How do Christians exercise self-control in the abstinence of food during fasting?
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First, and foremost, fasting is a wonderful discipline which teaches you to subject your flesh to the desires of your heart. It is an exercise in which you will struggle. The truth is is, our flesh may have been sacrificed (Rom 12:1) and crucified (Gal 2:20), but it is still with us! (Rom 7).
As an exercise, it is primarily an exercise in willpower. It is the conscious decision, for a set period of time, to force your body to do what your mind and spirit know is best. In way, it is much as Douglas Adams described flying -
Flying is the art of attempting to hit the ground and missing!
In the case of fasting, it means that every time you are tempted to eat during the prescribed period, you take that thought captive (2 Cor 10:5), consciously decide to not act on the impulse, and instead turn to God. Fasting for more than a few hours means repeating this a lot. In the same way that jumping jacks and pushups are hard work, so too is fasting!
For a more thorough treatment of the topic, the classic book on the subject is Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. He'll give many more practical applications of how to do this. (What to eat, what you'll your experience, how to deal with the hunger pains, etc...)
As one example (and I forget if this Foster or someone else), your first 24-hour fast should be from lunch of day one, skip dinner, sleep (when you'll be most hungry), and skip breakfast. Eat a light lunch. Also, be sure to drink lots and lots of water during the day.
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