Preview

Fasting and Solitude

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
785 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fasting and Solitude
Fasting and Solitude
Fasting and Solitude are both spiritual disciplines that help us to be more like Christ. Fasting has to deal with one abstaining from nourishment. Next, biblical fasting is associated with solemn periods of prayer. The more solemnly we appeal to prayer in addition to fasting, the profound the consequences we will meet. Fasting in the body makes us proficient to stand against the temptations of the flesh. Solitude is a fundamental discipline of self-denial. In which one avoids interacting with other individuals for a few hours or days in order to be in solitude with God and be discovered by him. For solitude to be efficient, it needs to be totally silent. The following paragraph will go into the purpose of fasting and solitude in one’s life. In addition, as it pertains in my life will examine the experiences of fasting and solitude. I have discovered that numerous individuals in the congregation have at no time been instructed about fasting and solitude. As a consequence, they do not comprehend why fasting, solitude are significant, that which the Bible instructs about fasting, or how to fast. Too many believe, fasting sounds like drudgery or rather a variety of spiritual endeavors. To others, fasting appears very hard. I have found that fasting is one of the predominant directions of getting closer to God (Fasting for the soul, n.d.). Spiritual fasting is an excellent form of cleansing the soul, including drawing closer to God. I have found to get away from the hardships of modern life; I turn towards solitude and fasting in line to construct my life more meaningful. Fasting, combined with solitude with prayer is significant in ones search for God. The central purpose of fasting is to control the enjoyments of the body. Fasting involves weakening the body, in that the spirit can be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Deresiewicz Summary

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    He then presents the reader with his claim that because we live with such close connections with people from around the world, we are losing our sense of solitude. He alludes to the past like Puritanism and Henry David Thoreau to support his idea that solitude has always been around. It is easy to spot that Deresiewicz is using allusions to relate solitude with great thinkers or eras of mankind. He moderately says to the reader that these great thinkers or eras are great because of solitude. He says that solitude is a religious value as well as a tool to achieve greater self-knowledge.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book consists of ten chapters, with the first nine chapters discuss the nine prayer disciplines identified through the life of some well-known spiritual leaders. The last chapter gives the reader an opportunity to analyze and conduct an introspection to their prayer life based on the nine prayer disciplines.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Solitude was one of the main disciplines Jesus engaged in throughout His ministry (Luke 5:16. NIV) The sole purpose is to commune with God alone and get rid of things in life that cloud your sight and hinder you from hearing God. It is in this place of close communion with God, the soul opens wide to listen and receive . It is achieved by eliminating anything that can distract you from focusing on God including people. Because I am now aware of this discipline of solitude, it has become a prominent discipline in my life.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Life Of Herluin Analysis

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “He observed the same austerity in food and drink in old as he had in his youth except that, under pressure from the whole congregation of brethren, except on obligatory fast days he ate twice a day. He acquiesced in this not through a concern for reviving his exhausted body, but because when taking food he could be in the company of those eating, for whose benefit he presided over the house. He preserved with his work until nightfall, and often into the night; rest and leisure were banished from his life. Neither his age, now exceeding the number of years of which it is said in the Psalm: “And beyond them labour and sorrow,” nor the violent illness by which his body was often racked kept him from his necessary duties. He treated his monks in every respect with paternal affection, ruling them with firm discipline but loving them with utmost devotion. If he found any of the brethren slothful or forgetful of his observance or his studies, or dozing in church, he held him to be utterly detestable; he always used to say: “What use is a man…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Quotes For Into The Wild

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Reveals how deep inside, individuals are the most satisfied when maintaining a good balance between solitude and…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Discipleship Theories

    • 2816 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” A healthy church understands that the crucial form of worship is living for God 24/7.…

    • 2816 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The study of God's chesed has invoked in me feelings of comfort, reassurance, and tranquility. Learning about God's commitment to humanity has brought me to the realization that I will never be alone. No matter how far I stray from the path of righteousness, God will always be at the end of the pathway to welcome me with open arms and forgive me from my mistakes. The Lord knows that I cannot be perfect. So if there ever arises an instance where I cannot fulfill what God has asked of me, I know that He will show mercy on…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Work and play in solitude:“I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.”…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Search of the Spiritual

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Father Thomas Keating, the abbot of St. Joseph’s Abbey, couldn’t help noticing the attraction that the exotic religious practices of the East held for many young Roman Catholics (Adler 1). He was a Trappist monk, so meditation was second nature, but he kept thinking there must be a precedent within the church for making such simple but powerful spiritual techniques available to laypeople. His Trappist brother Father William Meninger found it one day in 1974, in a dusty copy of a 14th century guide to contemplative meditation, “The Cloud of Unknowing” (Adler, 1). The two monks began teaching a form of Christian meditation that grew into the worldwide phenomenon known as centering prayer. Twice a day for twenty minutes, practitioners find a quiet place to sit with their eyes closed and surrender their minds to God (Adler, 1). In more than a dozen books and in speeches and retreats that have attracted tens of thousands, Keating has spread the word to a world of “hungry people, looking for a deeper relationship with God” (Adler, 1). There are many factors of religion that tie in to the article In Search of the Spiritual including socializing agents and culture, manifest and latent functions, and the profane and sacred.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lesser Jihad

    • 3046 Words
    • 13 Pages

    keep one 's base instincts at bay, and to remain devoted to God and to keep the faith of…

    • 3046 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Today in class we spoke of Lent and read a bible verse from Isaiah, it spoke of not fasting as just a motion that you are doing but to truly be spiritually immersed in it. I can truly say that I am not partaking in this service just as a means to fulfill a requirement but because I feeling a calling to help. There are many young males that don’t have the opportunity converse with an older male in college that can help them on a righteous path to success. Likewise there are many young ladies that don’t know what a gentleman is and I believe that through our actions the will see the proper way that they should be treated. Hopefully they will be able to take this experience along with them and share what they have learned. This is what God has called us to do spread his message and part of that action is spreading love and that is what we are trying to…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Humans are social creatures by design, but that does not mean that they do not desire alone time now and then. However, such a claim generates the question of why? Why does solitude seem to matter so much? The question may be answered through either sesquipedalian scientific reports or through observers of human nature, also known as authors. One such author would be Kate Chopin, who expresses through The Awakening and “Story of an Hour” that isolation or separation from society offers a glimpse of true freedom. That in of itself would be due to the feeling of independence from others, while also leading to better development within the growth of the person.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Spiritual Disciplines

    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Donald Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life explores eleven different spiritual disciplines that should be active in the believers’ life. The spiritual disciplines bring about spiritual growth that flow from disciplines that are both private and corporate.[1] The ultimate goal of engaging in and practicing spiritual disciplines is to draw the individual closer to God. The eleven disciplines that Whitney outlines in this book are: Bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning. In all of this practicing, the main objective is that one begins to practice the disciplines outlined in this book to promote their own spiritual growth. Even though the list that Whitney puts forth in this book is not a comprehensive list, simply incorporating the disciplines listed in this book will put one on the path to growth.…

    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Employment discrimination law was set up to protect employees from discriminations based on race, religion, sex, age, etc. A growing body of law also seeks to prevent employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, marital and/or family status. The main body of employment discrimination laws consists of federal and state statutes. There are several federal employment discrimination laws. Some of them are well-known, while others not so much. The Equal Pay Act of 1963, protect people from being paid at a lesser rate based on sex, race, ethnicity, etc. There can also be other factors for not being paid equally. These factors can include: prior wages, the person’s training, their value to the company, etc.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Spiritual Baptist Mourning

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To the Spiritual Baptist, mourning is held in high regard. This ritual is considered an important aspect of communicating with God, developing the soul, strengthening the spirit and achieving spiritual knowledge, wisdom and understanding while receiving spiritual gifts (Peza, 1999, 64). The spiritual gifts include positions within the church such as spiritual mother, father or leader, pointer of souls, prover, captain or teacher, and others (Peza, 1999, 64). It is characterized by fasting, meditating, entering into spiritual travels, and refraining one’s self of the freedom to move about, to speak, to eat, drink, bathe or any other comforts, and the acceptance of the naked earth for a bed, and a stone for pillow (Peza, 1999, 73). During the mourning period, the pilgrim receives spiritual instructions through visions and dreams. It lasts from Sunday to Sunday and usually takes place in a special mourner room on the church compound (Laitinen, 2002, 113).…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays