How to Do a Financial Fast

Hello Friends,

I want to share with you an article I got from a Mentor and Friend, Bob Lotich, on Financial Fasting and how to do it.

I am going to be doing a financial fast for myself in January and I encourage you to consider joining me!

Hope you enjoy reading it, Share it widely to your loved ones and friends.

Best regards,

Mercy

The Bible talks about fasting in both the New and Old Testaments.

We read about Nehemiah fasting and praying for the children of Israel because they were in a time of trouble.

ü  Daniel fasted and prayed for three weeks drawing nearer to God.

ü  David fasted and prayed in a time of personal repentance.

ü  Paul and Barnabas fasted and prayed before presenting leaders in the church.

There’s a close relationship between fasting and praying because fasting is a time for you to draw nearer to God. Spending time with God in prayer allows us to hear from him and discern things that may be troubling us.

Jesus spent 40 days in the desert fasting and praying before going into ministry because he knew that it was important.

How much more should we follow his example and fast the things that demand so much of our attention?

What’s a Financial Fast?

The Bible doesn’t limit fasting only to food and drinks. Anything that can be given up temporarily so that we can focus our full attention on God can be viewed as a fast.

Paul references how a husband and wife might abstain from being together for a time so they can devote themselves to prayer. So while the Bible doesn’t have a section devoted to a ‘Financial Fast,’ I think the principles can be applied to our finances.

There isn’t a lot of specific material to guide Christians in a financial fast, which is why I wanted to cover it here. Financial fasting isn’t meant to be easy or unintentional – it involves denying yourself so that you can refocus your reliance on Christ.

How to Fast with Your Finances

In holding to the principles of fasting that we see in the Bible, I think we can fast financially by practicing the following:

1. Identify Necessities and Luxuries.

If you already have created a budget, this may be a little easier for you to do. Take some time to really focus your expenses on the things that you have to pay for – items like your house payment, term life insurance, food, etc. If you can go without it (be honest with yourself – eating out, iTunes music, going to the movies, etc) list it as a luxury and do your best to go without purchasing it during your financial fast.

The financial fast is not meant to keep you from enjoying the things you already own. It’s a practice in contentment and reliance on God to be our provider.

2. Resist the Temptation to Purchase Luxuries.

This is the difficult part of the financial fast. It’s so easy to justify small (and sometimes large) purchases for convenience sake or because we feel that we deserve it. Yes, I’m talking about the afternoon trip to the vending machine, the morning Starbucks, and other conveniences that we might be accustomed to.

The point of a financial fast is to help us to use our money with purpose and to avoid irrational purchases that only inflate our standard of living. It’s challenging and you will notice the sacrifices – which is the point of the financial fast.

3. Focus on Contentment, Thankfulness, and Giving.

While you’re making these financial sacrifices, take a moment to reflect on all that God has blessed you with and learn to be content with what you have. Don’t be tempted to complain about what you can’t buy during the financial fast. Instead, be thankful for all the things you do have.

You may start to see a few extra dollars because of the drop in your spending habits. This is a great thing and should be used as a way to cultivate a spirit of giving. Use the extra funds to bless a ministry in your church, help a friend in need, provide for a family that needs support, or any way that you feel God leading you to give.

4. Grow in Prayer

Throughout your financial fast, prayer should be at the cornerstone of all your decisions. Yes, as Christians we should engage with God as much as possible – but fasting should involve a focused time of prayer to seek God’s will and His direction in your life.

If there was one verse to guide your financial fast, I think it would be this:

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV

A financial fast is your declaration of freedom from the love of money and acknowledgment of your dependence on God.

Whether you practice a financial fast for three days or three weeks, I think it can help you grow spiritually and further your desire to give freely.

Have you ever considered a financial fast?

credit: https://christianpf.com/financial-fasting/

How to plan your Budget Biblically

Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough. (Proverbs 21:5 TEV) 

A budget is simply a plan. It's telling your money where you want it to go, rather than wondering where it went. And the problem many of us have today is that we don't know where our money is going because we don't have a budget. 

But if you want to get out of debt, you have to nip it in the budget. Do you remember Barney Fife, from The Andy Griffith Show? He used to say, “Nip it, nip it, nip it in the bud.” We need to nip it in the budget. 

Notice today’s verse says, “Plan carefully.” That means budgeting; a budget is simply planned spending. Planning carefully means you say, “This is what we're going to spend next year and next month,” and by doing that, the Bible says, “You will have plenty.” It's a promise of God.  

On the other hand, as today's verse says, “[I]f you act too quickly, you will never have enough.” This refers to what advertisers, marketers and retailers call impulse buying. You know what impulse buying is? Have you ever gone into a store without planning to buy something, but you bought it on an impulse? You didn't think about the purchase; it was totally emotion-based. You saw it, you wanted it, and you bought it. 

And if you act too quickly, impulse buying plus no budget equals financial disaster. Have you ever bought something without thinking and later regretted it? Most of us have! And that's why you've got to have a plan.

When you make purchases this week, ask yourself if what you are buying is something you really need. Ask, “Is this an impulse buy?” 

Impulse Buying with No Budget Equals Financial Disaster is written by Rick Warren as a Daily Devotional. He is the author of the New York Times Best Seller The Purpose Driven Life. His book, The Purpose Driven Church, was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century.

I reposted it because I know it will help us as Christians and believers to learn how to plan our budget based on Biblical Principles. Enjoy reading this and share with a friend.