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Hello
Everyone!! There was so much that went
on these past two weeks I have no idea what to write a blog about. Two weeks ago was extremely intense and this
past week was great, but not as intense. Two weeks ago our whole team participated in a “25 Hour” fast for the
whole week. For the team fast, they ate
breakfast Monday morning, then nothing until lunch on Tuesday, then nothing
until dinner on Wednesday, then they ate nothing on Thursday, Friday they ate
breakfast, and Saturday we all “broke” the fast with brunch. I say “they” because after a lot of prayer
and consideration, God called me to do a complete fast that started Sunday
after dinner and lasted until Friday morning at breakfast.
I
wasn’t really sure what the point of my fast was yet. The whole goal of the team fast was to be
praying over our three outreach sites and asking where God wants each of us to
go in January. Every minute of the week that
we were fasting people were praying. Our
leaders set up a prayer room and everyone signed up to pray for an hour at a
time at various times throughout the day and night. I have been doing that since I found out
about the trip so it felt kind of empty for me to fast 
over because I already
knew where God wanted me. So I sought
guidance from the Lord and He told me that I really needed to focus on
self-control and that was the reason He called me to do a WHOLE fast for those
days. After realizing the goal and
purpose to my fast, I really dug into the word looking for scripture about
fasting and self-control. I read over
Isaiah 58 every single day during the fast to remind me what I was doing and
why I was doing it. Every time one verse
constantly stuck out in my mind and that was Isaiah 58:11 “The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your
frame. You will be like a well-watered
garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” This verse is all the assurance I need to wholly trust in my
Lord to provide for my every need especially when I am fasting in order to seek
His will in my life.
This
was the first fast I have ever done and it was the most remarkable
experience. I learned so much about the
art of fasting and that it should be a part of my spiritual life just like
prayer and worship are. With the gaining
of this knowledge and my desire to become closer and closer to my Father, He
asked me to commit to fasting one day a week for the next two years, so I am. I am excited to see what great things I will
discover through this experience and how it will draw me nearer to my
Papa. Also the weekly fast will remind
me of the lessons that God taught me through this longer fast. “Everyone who competes in the games goes
into strict training. They get do it to
get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last
forever.” (1 Corinthians 9:25) I
will live a self-controlled life so that I may obtain that crown that God has
waiting for me when I get to heaven.
Fasting
is a hard discipline to practice on a regular basis, but Jesus calls us to do
so (“But when you fast…” Matthew 6:17) in his sermon on the mount. He didn’t say “if you fast”, but Christ said
“when” expecting fasting to be a regular part of our walk with him. It is important to be able to give up things
that we tend to overindulge in so that we can take extra time to seek guidance
from our Father. Please take the time to
pray about fasting and what part it plays in your spiritual life.
“…But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve
one another in love.” — Galatians 5:13
