you need it to “be okay”.

If we think about the things that keep us from spending time seeking God, the fickle distractions of the world we naturally seek will probably come to mind (Ja 4:4-5). For example, we often spend more time on social media than we do in prayer. We spend more time on Netflix than we do on the Word of God. The problem is that these things we seek after can become idols in our lives; that is, they become things we go to for well-being instead of God.

However, once something becomes an idol, you are now in bondage to that thing for your peace—you need it to “be okay”. Consider 1 Corinthians 6:12 which says, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

We know the world offers avenues of satisfaction, but its satisfactions are fleeting because they are not built upon God’s ways. We cannot go to the world and then try to receive satisfaction from God. James 4:4 says, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

Fasting helps us identify which things outside of the Lord have a degree of control over us.