Why I Fast Every Fall Season
When is the most common time of the year to fast? Undoubtedly, January is the month that churches and individuals talk about fasting. The New Year is time for a fresh start: spiritually, physically, and mentally.
I’ve fasted in January for many years now, and certainly plan to continue, and I’ve also made it a habit to fast in August.
Fasting is a powerful and transformative spiritual discipline, why restrict those blessings and benefits to only one time a year? We need to diligently seek the Lord all year long.
We all get busy, and it can be challenging to find a convenient time to fast, but establishing regular checkpoints throughout the year to fast, pray, and seek the Lord for alignment can charge up our spiritual rhythm.
Here are a few reasons why fasting in the months of August, September, or October can help create a fresh Fall start for your spiritual life.
Fasting During a Change in Season
Whether you have school-age children or not, many rhythms of our society revolve around the academic school year. As the calendar flips to August, it signals that summer vacations are wrapping up and it’s time for a fresh change.
Students go back to school, fall sports ramp up, and before you know it . . . pumpkins and Christmas decor line the entrance to every store.
You may live somewhere like I do (in Texas) where the weather doesn’t necessarily reflect the calendar season change. You may be sipping a pumpkin spice latte in shorts, but we all still crave that change in season.
Summer months are the perfect time to be outdoors, sleep in later, and be a little lazy. Rest and vacation are oh so good for the soul! But eventually, it’s time to evaluate priorities, shake up the routine, and pick up the pace again.
Before things get too busy, and the calendar is over scheduled, take a timeout to fast and pray for what God has for you and your family for the new Fall season.
The Bible has a lot to say about seasons, which God established in creation, and the fact that God will do a new thing. In order to recognize a change in season and when a new thing is coming, we need to have eyes to see and ears to hear.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isa 43:19)
“He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” (Dan 2:21)
“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” (Hab 2:1)
Reflect and Recalibrate
If you fast in the fall, at this point you’re on the downhill slide towards the next year. Which should not discourage you from taking a fresh look at how the year is progressing and what you have left to do.
If you’re fasting in October, then you have just the last quarter of the year to go, and that’s plenty of time to be intentional and focus on mission.
Looking back on the goals and plans you set in January, take an inventory:
What were my goals and expectations at the beginning of the year?
Have I met any of these already? Which are remaining?
Do some of these goals no longer serve me, and do I need to let go of them and move on?
Do some of these goals need to be adjusted so I can realistically meet them by the end of the year?
Do I need to set some new goals and expectations as I go into the Fall?
The expectations we hold on January 1st for the coming year can morph drastically by the time we get to August. (Remember that year 2020, nobody knew what was coming?)
We may have a year that brings us unexpected illness, death, or job loss. It could be that we adopt a pet, become pregnant, or need to move.
Although the unexpected can be disconcerting, frustrating, and even stressful, remember that nothing catches God by surprise. He may have a new direction for us, or He can supply us the strength and insight to move forward. (Read about Fasting for Clarity in Transition.)
There’s a time to be persistent and press on towards your goals, even when the going gets tough. Nobody every achieved anything significant without effort and discomfort - please remember that.
But we also need to recognize if some of our goals were misguided or unrealistic, maybe we had some dreams in January that were more about what we wanted to do than what God is calling us to do.
The best way to know whether we should continue marching forward, pause to rest, or choose an alternate route is to seek the Lord for His guidance.
The Greatest Commandment
What do you love about fall? So many things come to mind! Cooler temperatures, cozy sweaters, football, and the holidays to look forward to . . . but with that in mind, it’s important that we don’t get so busy with our schedules and planning that we run out ahead of God.
As the year comes to a close, it’s tempting to fall into the mental trap of: I just have to get through all the ________ (holiday cooking, shopping, parties, events, etc.) then I’ll focus on my physical and spiritual health in January.
You can’t afford to wait until January!
Whether it’s making healthy food choices, planning activities that refresh your soul, or setting aside time to spend with the Lord each day, you can’t wait until you’re burnt to a crisp to focus on the most important things in life!
Fasting reminds us to pause, it compels us to bring God into the small daily details. We can’t fall for the illusion that God is for church stuff on Sunday, and all the other logistical details of our lives are up to us to take care of throughout the week.
Bring God into every detail!
So as you consider the remainder of the year, both what you have planned and what you would like to plan, seek the Lord for the big things and the little things.
The Lord was very clear on the Greatest Commandment, allow it to be a filter in all your planning and prayers:
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”” (Mark 12:29).
Do you have a story or perspective on fasting during the Fall season? Please consider sharing your fasting story!
