JOIN USIt is a universally acknowledged fact that a component in all the major religions today is fasting while praying.
Several proponents in almost every religion have testified to the extreme sense of spirituality one feels should one fast sincerely and earnestly as one prays to an Almighty God. It gives one a firm resolve and immense spiritual satisfaction, which praying alone will not give. Indeed, it complements and supplements prayer to the highest degree.
Be it Islam, Hinduism or Christianity, all religions have deduced that there is a very viable connection between fasting and feeling good spiritually. Muslims are known to fast in the month of Ramzan; Hindus fast on specific auspicious days, while Christians fast on the 40 days of Lent prior to Easter Sunday.
All religions vouch that this session of fasting gives one a spiritual purity, as it is felt that if one sacrifices or gives up a need that one cherishes, God will be immensely satiated by this sacrifice and may confer blessings or even a miracle that the persons desires.
For some people, giving up drinking alcoholic drinks is a sacrifice, for some it may be giving up excessive sleeping, for some it may be giving up excessive talking, but by and large, the one need which almost all people feel is essential and pleasurable is eating and therefore giving it up temporarily for God is one of the greatest sacrifices one can make, and one which will please God immensely.
Indeed, fasting while praying could bring about a breakthrough in one’s life, but who doesn’t require that? For some, it could be getting a good job, finding a life partner, having the gift of children, getting cured from an incurable disease, clearing a loan, buying a house or car….the needs of a person in this intensely materialistic world are many.
However, fasting is by itself futile if it is not accompanied by sessions of deep and sincere praying. Fasting should not denigrate into a bribe to God or a trick to secure God’s blessings. It should instead be accompanied by bouts of earnest contemplation, prayer and meditation. Indeed, though atheists may throw water at these claims as they refute and challenge it, it is undeniable that those who fast sincerely feel spiritually obligated to a higher power and feel no indecisiveness about it.
One should not use fasting as a means of “showing off” that one is spiritually superior. Nor should one be very vocal about it, denigrating it almost to a publicity gimmick.
Instead, one should discern that it is a very private and personal matter between God and you, and therefore, one should desist from making it a tall claim.
In effect, fasting is considered a tonic for the mind and soul, plus a very viable and tangible benefit to the body, health-wise.
So, one should make a resolve that during auspicious times as per one’s religion, one should fast, as if one does that, one is pleasing God by one’s ultimate sacrifice and denial.