The “in order to” Problem

What is fasting? Try defining it, and I'll make a suggestion. Go ahead — in your mind define it.

Here's my suggestion: If, in defining fasting, we are tempted to define fasting as something we do "in order to" get something, I suggest we need to look again at the deepest wells of the Christian fasting tradition: the Bible. In Fasting: The Ancient Practices I suggest that in the Christian tradition we somehow got sidetracked.

Instead of seeing fasting as a discipline we use "in order to" get answers to prayers, "in order to" become more attuned to God, or "in order to" become more spiritual, the Bible's focus is on fasting as a response to life's sacred, grievous moments. …