Asking for a Friend

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

It's very seldom that I willingly go without for the sake of someone else.

As a mom, I have my moments (many) where my kids take center stage. If I'm out shopping (being all socially distant and masked up) it's not unusual for me to see something they might like and buy it for them. It might mean that I don't have the newest clothes or the cutest shoes but those are choices I've made. And though I don't have those things, I don't feel like I am going without.

So when a group of friends mentioned the idea of fasting, I felt a little in over my head. Now don't get me wrong, I have fasted before. I generally participate in the Daniel Fast at the beginning of each year with my church. So the concept is not new. But this time, it was quite different. First, unlike my prior fasts this one was a fast from all food; not just the "bad" ones that we know we should eliminate from our diets anyway (i.e. pizza, cookies, cho-co-late). Second, I would be fasting on behalf of someone else - a friend from said group who had a specific prayer request. More than the lack of food, that changed the dynamic completely.

There's something that happens when you come before God on behalf of someone else. In the past I have prayed for others with a sincere heart, knowing that God would hear and answer my prayers. Because, relationship. But this time I was yielding one of my most basic needs to the Lord; offering it up as a sacrifice in exchange for... a closer relationship with him. This specific prayer request was my launching pad to a deeper level of intimacy.

Honestly that day-long fast (from sun up to sun down) was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It stretched me because it taught me to not rely on the physical or the mental. But the spiritual. The morning started great. Skipping breakfast? No. Big. Deal. But reality and the hunger pangs settled in around mid-morning and they were my constant nemesis all day. Each time my mind wavered I fell back on two things: Re-direction and prayer.

Yes. Re-direction. That thing parents do with their toddlers when they want something they can't have and the parent gets them to focus on something else. Work was a great re-director. But so was worship music and water. Prayer was another source of strength. It allowed me to speak honestly to God about where I was at that moment but also shift my focus to something more important. Because I was fasting on behalf of someone else I felt a deeper sense of purpose and connection to something bigger than myself. And that connection pushed me to do something I've never done.

It was a humbling experience to lay a request before God and know that he hears and sees all. And though I may be struggling with earthly desires he sees through to the heart of the matter.