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The intention of these kingdom fasts is to build solidarity among those who are fasting as they remind their bodies (flesh) that their spirits are in charge – and that both body and spirit are to be under the Lordship of Jesus. The hunger or difficulty of going without a good thing serves us to long for the most rewarding and best of all things and all persons – Jesus Himself.

I’m an incredibly competitive person.

When I was growing up, Monopoly had to be outlawed in our house because I cheated my little brother so egregiously.

True story.

As I have gotten older, I have simply stopped playing most of the time. Computer games are too time-consuming, large group games come around less often, and board games tend to bring out that old sneakiness I never seem to have gotten rid of.

Which makes it all the more unusual that I was recently talking with my dad about picking up an old computer game we all played as a family when I was young. I was right in the middle of researching how I could buy a copy and download it to my computer, when it struck me:

The Live Dead fast for May is games.

If I start this now, I’m going to have to give it up in a week.

I did not expect this to be a fast that affected me much. I meal-planned through January’s meat and dairy fast, napped through February’s caffeine fast, used self-control through March’s shopping fast, agonized through April’s music fast. Even now with my reinvigorated interest, this doesn’t seem that hard. I don’t have to break any old habits. I just have to put off creating a new one.

Focus In

That drew me to what the point of all this is. It isn’t just to teach me to give things up. It’s to refocus my attention on Jesus. While all this fasting this year has been kind of difficult and had an impact on my self-discipline, I’m not sure it has really drawn me closer to God’s heart.

The fasting shouldn’t just be about what I am giving up.

It should be about what I am adding.

This month I want to focus on listening that much better to what God is saying.

Apply It

Practically speaking for you, that could mean turning Family Game Night into Family Prayer Night or Family Encouragement Night. Maybe instead of starting your Youth Service off with an icebreaker game, you can encourage your students to take an extra 5-10 minutes to honestly ask a friend what’s going on and how they can pray for them. Or perhaps instead of playing Candy Crush on your phone while you wait at the doctor’s office, you can ask the person next to you how their day is going.

The value tied to this fast is Team. So while I may not have a lot of regrets about not playing games this month, I want to spend energy learning how to better serve the other missionaries on my team.

Instead of investing in distraction at the end of a busy day, I want to sit at God’s feet and ask what He has to say.

I’m sure that computer game will still be for sale in a month.

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