If I said that this is the best book on the topic of fasting I have ever read it would not be implying an injustice to the author with my follow up line of – actually it is the only book on this topic I have ever read! In fact the sheer rarity of Christian writing on this subject automatically qualifies the few books that do address this topic as – special. The introduction starts with the author’s own experience of how difficult he found it to obtain anything on this subject when enquiring in a big city Christian bookshop. He did apparently manage to find other writings on this eventually as he makes reference to one or two in this book.
Anyway, even if I had seen other books of this nature I’m sure that I would still be very happy to recommend this one. It has considerably and very helpfully informed me of much on this issue. Not only from a standpoint of ‘why’ Christians should fast but also ‘how’. It is an extremely sensible combination of simple Bible exposition and practical/medical advice, which we cannot afford to ignore. The cover of the edition I have states that it is “A spiritual and practical guide to fasting.” The author states clearly that he is indebted to medical professionals for help on the physical elements involved.
‘God’s Chosen Fast’ covers all the various types of fast – i.e. all food, food and water, partial fasts, personal and public, long and short fasts etc. All of these are drawn from the many examples we have in Scripture. Some interesting patterns seem to emerge as the book unfolds the different occasions that led to the different variations of seeking God with fasting.
There is absolutely no question in Scripture as to whether we should fast. This book clearly points out that Jesus’ references to this subject were ‘When’ not ‘if’. That is, Jesus said, “When you pray.” “When you give alms.” “When you fast.” Seeing that this topic is both deeply spiritual and necessarily practical a book such as this is very valuable to us.
See this book at Amazon.co.uk See this book at Amazon.com
