Easter Marathon. Fasting

Jesus said about fasting:

"Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; that you appear not to men to fast, but to your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly"  (Matthew 6: 16-18).

If you are fasting, you do not get pleasure and energy from food. You control what  to put into your mouth and turn your heart to the Creator. Fasting is a crying out to God, the same as prayer, but the whole body participates in this prayer. Fasting and prayer are intimate things between you and God. 

Sometimes you reach such a mental and physical strain that you can no longer move. Something upsets you so much that you can't talk about it calmly, but only with tears and screams - and that is a true cause for fasting. People around should not know about your mental stress, because this cry is not to them. That pride and ambition, which will appear in your soul when people will know about your fasting, will fill the soul so much that your original crying to the Creator will melt down ... so there will be only the external non-consumption of food.

Therefore, you need to have a constant concentration of your mind and understanding of:  what I am doing now, whom am I facing in my prayers and fasting, and for what result?

Fasting requires a sacrament: “you appear not to men to fast, but to your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly". It is so crucial, that the hidden man of your heart seeks consolation and wants to be satisfied only with the presence of the Holy Spirit in the secret room of the heart. Fasting requires an unresolved problem that torments a hidden person in your heart. The necessary sacrament is the spiritual state of encounter with the divine reality, with God Himself. This is a real holiday! Triumph. Therefore, it is impossible to show your fasting to people, only your diet. (What nonsense is - to flaunt what you eat, drink, cook, dress, take pictures ... and expect human approval, acceptance, approval, praise, interest!).

You need to express your thoughts to God! He doesn't care about your diet. It is important to Him what the hidden person of your heart is feeling. That hidden person is not visible to people around you. That hidden person in your heart has so many wounds because of all external things, emotions and words. Unfortunately, the external hurts the internal, but does not heal it. No external conditions, things, actions cure the heart. Only the Holy Spirit heals the heart.

Let's try to fast not for external relief or tradition, but for internal purification. Let's try to talk to Jesus about things that are important to our heart. Let's try to think about our wounds and ask Jesus Christ for healing.