Question: I learned fasting is to Humble, Afflict, Mourn, and Sanctify. When we fast, what are we mourning?
Short Answer: What are we mourning when we fast?
When we fast, we might mourn a situation or circumstance that caused us to run to God — example: in 2 Samuel 1:12 they mourned, wept, and fasted because Saul and Jonathan had fallen by the sword and were dead. We also might mourn bad news and seek God with prayer and fasting about the serious need, as Nehemiah did when he heard the state of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 1:3-4) or as the Jews did when they heard the Jews were going to be destroyed (Est. 3:13; 4:1-3)
Fasting also can be connected to turning to God and getting right so we might mourn the spiritual condition we are in — Joel 2:12-13 is a great example. God told them to “turn ye [even] to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God…” Remember, repentance is connected to (and often fueled by) sorrow, specifically godly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:10).
So we are sorrowful (mourning) about where we are and how we let God down, so as we turn to Him fasting can be a part of getting rid of what was and getting back to where we should be.
