Why usually fasting is the way to make GOD happy?

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   Siddharth Mohanposted 10 years ago

   Why usually fasting is the way to make GOD happy?
   
   i'm an atheist but I respect all the cultures I love to observe new rituals.But one thing that always bothers me is that in most of the religions WHY IS FASTING A WAY TO MAKE GOD HAPPY ?? I mean if u believe in god then why would DEITIES be pleased TO SEE HIS/HER FOLLOWERS HUNGRY or THIRSTY . . and sometimes this fasting can last for days. Doesn't this give a sadist touch to the concept of GOD ??
   
   

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   christiananrkistposted 10 years ago

   Fasting alone doesnt make God happy. It's a persons trust in him that goes along with it that makes God happy. the purpose of fasting is to show and demonstrate that your trust in God.
   
   Matthew 6:16-18
   “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

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   Dan Barfieldposted 10 years ago

   Hi there - this is an interesting question. The tradition of fasting falls in with all the other forms of religious abstinence eg from sex, drinking alcohol etc.
   
   This is an ascetic tradition that stems from the belief in soul/body separation, the soul being the pure good bit, the body being the dirty worldly bit. Ascetics seek to deny the body in order to elevate the higher self. In this way fasting is not so much an act done to gain the favour of God, rather it is a way of exerting the will of the higher self over the flesh thereby bringing one's true self into closer alignment with the nature of the divine. The ascetic would state that when we feed the body's desires we are weighed down by them and consumed with earthly things - when we turn away from the body we are free from desires that distract us from understanding and interacting with the true nature of reality and God.

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4. 0

   Deborah Sextonposted 10 years ago

   Fasting is not to make God happy, it is to deny the flesh to cause a person to be more spiritual. Fasting should always be with prayer

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      lone77starposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Good one, Deborah. Being more spiritual is all about being humble (denying ego, the source of separateness and selfishness).

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5. 72

   lone77starposted 10 years ago

   Sadist? Not at all.
   
   Fasting is all about humility. That's why Jesus condemned the Pharisees who looked pained by their fasting. They were wearing their pain on their sleeves -- and that's pure ego, the opposite of humility.
   
   Your question indicates a lack of understanding of the purpose of spirituality and religion. But that's not unusual. Most believers don't really understand, either.
   
   God created us in His image and likeness, and He is not Homo sapiens.
   
   Awakening our spiritual nature is why these human bodies were created to begin with. Without them, sleeping spirit cannot work out their salvation. Try doing calculus in your dreams, and you will understand the difficulty.

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