Fasting is an amazing way to grow closer to God, but sometimes fasting seems hard and even impossible amid our busy schedules. By using some simple tips and tricks, Christians can fast even amidst the busyness.
What are tips for Christians fasting while at work? While fasting at work, use your free time wisely to focus on God instead of what you are fasting. Try to eliminate distractions by playing worship music or having a list of prayer requests or scripture to read during breaks.
Fasting is an amazing spiritual discipline, it helps us deny what our bodies want to focus on God. The only issue is a lot of us still live a normal life and cannot take time off everyday life for a fast.
Thankfully, God wants to be a part of our day and walk with us through the mundane and exciting. Even though focusing on God and reading his word at work may be unconventional or difficult to accomplish, He wants us to make apart of our everyday life. We can focus on God by eliminating distractions. You may even decide to spend time during lunch praying for others or reading Scripture.
1. Decide and Plan Your Fast Before Starting
Before you start your fast you may want to consider what is going on in your life for the next couple of weeks/days during your fast. It may be hard for you to decide to fast while a work potluck is happening or during the holidays.
2. Focus on God
Focusing on God while at work may take some extra effort, but it can be done. Starting the day focused on God and carrying it over to work will help with consistency throughout the day. When lunch gatherings occur, it leaves a perfect opportunity to stay behind and focus on God.
Focusing and spending time with God can happen in multiple ways, it can happen by reading and meditating on God’s word, worship music, or prayer. Take the breaks you have throughout the day to focus on God instead of browsing social media or spending time on the internet. Before you come to work, come prepared with a schedule so you know exactly when you plan to miss out on activities at work and focus on God and when you join others.
3. Use Hunger to Prompt Prayer
Whether you are fasting from food, or are fasting something like social media or sweets there will be moments where you will want to grab a bite or glance at social media, but, instead turn this desire into prayer. These prayers can be quick but still meaningful, perfect for a work setting, and a diversion for your desires.
4. Avoid Being Around What You are Fasting
Distractions can be the biggest hindrance to your fast. Even when we give up something like food or social media, we can get distracted by other items and it can defeat our fast. If you avoid social media to stay focused on God, getting involved in gossip while at work would also take your attention off, God. This would not help you fast.
Lunch breaks are a great time to avoid the temptation of food while also taking a longer break to read scripture and meditate on what you are reading or to pray.
It will be much harder to avoid food if you hang out with everyone eating lunch. Similarly, it will be hard to avoid social media while with others using social media. Spending more time focused solely on God will help keep your mind off what you may want.
5. Keep Your Fast Between You and God
In the Bible, Jesus tells us not to make a big deal out of fasting or seek attention.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:17, 18
This can be very hard while working as your change of habits may make your co-workers wonder why you are skipping meals and acting quieter.
You may be reluctant at first to share what you are doing or why you are doing it but fasting can lead to amazing opportunities of sharing and praying for others.
Avoid announcing your fast as a way to gain attention, instead, if you need to share, use it as an avenue to share the gospel.
6. Use Fasting at Work as a Chance to Pray for Co-Workers
Let’s say that a group of co-workers is ordering food and offer you some. When you say no they may assume it is because of money or a diet or they may ask why. This leads to a chance to not only talk about your fast but the reason begins your fast and the God you have a relationship with.
While some may not want to hear about the gospel many non-Christians are ok with being prayed for. Since you will be spending a lot of time in prayer during your fast you can ask your co-workers what they need prayer for and can even spend your lunch hour while they eat to pray for them.
7. Invite God Into Your Everyday Life
When we work unless it is in a Christian environment, we are forced to think about other things. This is not always bad, we can express our desire for God to be a part of our everyday life by working and inviting God.
Many times we as Christians can do a very good job at setting aside time to focus on God, but we can stumble when it comes to letting Christ into our everyday life.
God wants to be a part of your life. When you include God in your everyday activities, mundane or exciting God will work in amazing ways. When we are focused on God throughout the day we will see the fruits of being invested in his word. We will become more Christ-like.
8. Find Time for Quiet Time While at Work
No matter how busy the day may be, when you set your priorities, you can get a lot accomplished. It is easy to look at a workday and count all 9-5 as busy, instead, we can look and see opportunities of free moments that happen during breaks, lunch, or while commuting.
Breaks throughout the day may be short but are long enough to fit a scripture reading in or a moment for prayer. Many small moments add up and can make a big difference.
On way to set aside time for prayer and scripture is while commuting. Commuting looks different for each person, some drive, others walk, and some take public transportation. While it might be hard to read scripture while driving or walking, worship music is a great alternative to help you focus on God and the road. You could also find an audio version of the Bible and listen to Scripture that way.
Fasting not only improves your spiritual life for a day week or month, but a fast is the start of a lifestyle. If you practice good habits throughout your fast it will be easy to carry over to your everyday life, and from there create a more Christ-centered lifestyle.
We can be very thankful that God wants to be involved in our life, he wants us to invite him in all aspects of our life 24/7 and when we do we will see the fruits of a close relationship with God.
God will use our time of fasting in amazing ways, he will work in our lives, and the lives of those around us. He will bring the right people in our lives who need to hear about God. Even though it is not easy to give up something our body wants fasting helps create a lifestyle of worship to God.