Fasting and hope

Fasting has often been viewed as a prayer megaphone. Pastor Phil Kniss acknowledged that he grew up with this perspective, that somehow fasting will boost the power of our prayers. Pastor Phil suggested that fasting is often a natural response to a grievous, sacred moment. It is not a manipulative tool but a response to a serious situation. In Isaiah 58, Israel complains that their fasting has not produced the results they wanted. They refuse to see that they needed to change and work to bring about justice instead of injustice. What are the grievous spiritual events happening around us today? Have we considered fasting about these events? Could we allow ourselves to enter into God's grief over these events? We enter into fasting because we have hope for the feast to come. The church calendar is built with times of fasting (Advent and Lent) in anticipation of times of feasting (Christmas and Easter). Fasting is preparation for deeper engagement.