Fasting for getting prayers answered? HUH

[AtroposHeart]

Okay, I made some dark and white chocolate marble fudge for a friend's birthday and while I was eating a piece an elderly lady came up to the table and asked what I had brought

and I replied "Some fudge"

and she said "Oh, I love chocolate fudge." So I offer her a piece, but she refused saying that she was fasting. At first I thought it might be for a health reason then she said that she gave up chocolate in hopes that God would answer her prayer(I didn't ask what the prayer was because it was none of my business). She mentioned she gave it up because she didn't drink or smoke. She also said that she hoped that God would answer her prayer by Christmas. so she could have some fudge.

I have never heard of this. I know about lent and some catholic traditions(And I know for a fact that this lady was not catholic) in which you fast, but I've never heard of anyone fasting in hopes of a prayer being answered. I would like to point out that the lady is very nice and while very religious, is not fundie.

Has anyone else ever heard of this? or can at least it explain it to me.

[Witsec7]

Yea the liken it to biblical characters fasting. Its a pretty prevalent topic on 7xsunday. (Which is fading fast btw, urban exodus is gone, the pearl/anast family are rapidly sinking).

[snarkbillie]

In my fundie past we would go without food/water to devote ourselves to fervent prayer hoping God would listen more. I don't think giving up chocolate works. I also don't know that going without food/water really works either, but in my mainstream Christian thing I think it could be beneficial aside from the superstitious in more of a "meditative"/focus way. I don't think people should fast for very long and I don't think it makes God "listen more". I'm starting to talk myself out of ever fasting again because reading my own post as I type it...wow, crazy. Sorry. Hope I helped.

OH my MIL is big on what my husband calls "chain letter religion" and she "fasts" for the first 30 days of the year to "bring Jesus and His Angels" to her house. I have found no biblical or traditional backing for that so I asked her what it's about and she forwarded me an email with animated angels and puppies and glitter text. HOLY SHIT. Like literally, it was holy shit.

I'm rambling.

[Alecto]

It's not unusual, especially for older Christians, fundie or not. My great grandmother would do this, and actually made herself sick doing it when they thought my grandmother might die.

[MarsGirl]

I'm UU. We had a whole service about fasting once. It's supposed to be a kind of meditative experience. I think a lot of people use it for that, outside of Christianity.

[Austin]

Well, I for one hope God answers her prayer by Christmas because the old lady should be able to have some fudge, ffs!

[snarkbillie]

I would be tempted to give her some and tell her that God said she had the night off.

[Kaylee]

The Bible does mention prayer and fasting together a lot, both in the Old and New Testament, so it is biblical to fast while praying for a specific need. Still, fasting is not a guarantee that you'll get the answer you want, and shouldn't be thought of that way. Also, Jesus said you weren't supposed to make a big deal about fasting and, ideally, should just live like normal and not go around telling people you are fasting or dropping hints about it so they pity you or think you are all super-spiritual (Matthew 16:16-18).

Googling the scripture reference, I came up with this page - http://www.dianedew.com/fasting.htm - It's accurate as far as the scriptures and comments on fasting, but I didn't look through the whole site, so there might be crazy on the other pages there.

So yeah, prayer and fasting are both biblical, and are done in some pretty mainstream churches, but there are a lot of types of fasts and weird ideas around it that do sometimes attract the crazies. Either way, telling random people that you are fasting sort of misses the point, and goes against Jesus' teaching on it.

[liltwinstar]

We used to fast in the hopes that it would make us better people. The idea being that you're not getting comfort/consolation from food, so you'd get it from God through prayer. So, for lent, advent, and a bunch of other days, we didn't eat meat, dairy products, oil, or alchol. Basically, it was a strict vegan diet in stingy portions. And sometimes we weren't allowed to eat/drink at all (those were only for up to a day, though). In theory, you pray instead of eat, and you donate money to the poor (supposedly saved from all the meat you're not buying/eating).

All the fasting did was was make me a raging bitch when I was going through it, and it gave me an eating disorder I fight to this day. It didn't make me a better person.

[Conuly]

The real problem here is that its not enough for her to fast, she has to tell you about it. The polite thing to say would've been a simple "No thank you" instead of making a BIG THING about how pious you are. (And yes, taking five minutes to talk about your fast, unless you're with a group of people fasting or are asked, is doing that.)

[ADoyle90815]

Fasting is actually pretty common, and it's not just Christians who fast as Muslims have Ramadan where they fast during the day for an entire month. I'm sure there are other non-Christian religions that also do some type of fasting as well. Usually with fasting, the money that would have been spent on skipped meals is donated to the poor. Another thing is that pregnant women and others who can't fast for health reasons are usually exempt from participating in the fast.

[MamaJunebug]

The real problem here is that its not enough for her to fast, she has to tell you about it. The polite thing to say would've been a simple "No thank you" instead of making a BIG THING about how pious you are. (And yes, taking five minutes to talk about your fast, unless you're with a group of people fasting or are asked, is doing that.)

Yes, a la Michelle Duggar and her entire, wide public reaciton to Juby's miscarraige, the focus is so often LOOK AT ME.

If the old lady on the other hand was close to the baker and wanted to confide in the baker her hopes of answered prayers, then I think it's ok.

If people fast out of devotion, to turn their minds to other things than food, to thank God for all their blessings by foregoing food and donating the money they'd have used at the grocery store to charities, I'm all for it.

If they fast thinking they'll get special dispensations from God, meh! and a very negative 'meh' at that.

[VodouDoll]

My Catholic parents fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but it just means they don't eat between meals. I don't think I've ever heard of a Christian doing a for real fast where they don't eat at all. Interesting.

[EllieCee]

I've heard of fasting to repent, but I've never heard of fasting for god to answer prayers.

To me, it just sounds like she's trying hard to show how "holy" she is by giving up something to god. As a previous poster said, a "no thank you" would've sufficed.

[finleeport]

In the Greek Orthodox Church, we fast for 40 days until Christmas from meat mostly, however there are some exceptions; for example I could have dairy products and chocolate because of my medication. Some Orthodox Christians do strict fasting and others not so strict until nearing Christmas. We eat whatever we want after Communion.

Personally, Lent and Fasting is good for because I really need to lose some weight.

[Jessica]

The LDS church does this too. My dad fasted once a week for my husband when he was deployed. I have a friend whose family fasted when one of the daughters had to go to the hospital for some illness.

[MonkeyMomma]

Apropros to this thread, I just came across this website:

www.untilabortionends.com

The premise is that these people will give up things they really, really like (like chocolate, ice cream, or french fries) until abortion becomes illegal in the US. To paraphrase Jay Smooth, that's not a movement, that's a diet.

[StarrieEyedKat]

I had a friend who was 18 and did the fasting thing to "feel closer to God." She and her friend fasted for either 1 or 2 months and they would only consume liquids - milk, broth, etc. It really worried me and we kind of went our separate ways not too long after, for various reasons.

[Deleted07]

Some of the Bate's kids fasted and prayed for Kelly to have another baby after the miscarriage...

[maybeizfundie]

So yeah, prayer and fasting are both biblical, and are done in some pretty mainstream churches, but there are a lot of types of fasts and weird ideas around it that do sometimes attract the crazies. Either way, telling random people that you are fasting sort of misses the point, and goes against Jesus' teaching on it.

This.