It has been 48 hours now. Although the morning was rough, I felt better in the evening. I feel like someone has tied a rope around my stomach and pulled it tight. It seems to be too crammed together to feel hunger the way hunger normally feels. I'm still know I'm hungry, but in a different way. It is he kind that you know if ate you would feel energized, but not the kind where your intestines are crying out for something to process. Speaking of that, I'm beginning to feel my digestive system begin to turn off, but not completely. I expect that to happen tomorrow.
Spiritually speaking, I'm growing. I haven't had angels come down and minister to me today, but I have had some beneficial experiences. I find the most comforting thing to do while fasting is to praise God in worship. It helps me forget about my stomach, which is overcome by a sense of God's presence in a way that gives me strength to go on. Moreover, I've been fighting myself with strength I didn't even know I had.
One thing I've been learning is that fasting is not about learning to never desire pleasurable things again but about temporarily setting aside what I want to seek and focus on God. I may still desire pleasant things, but God will give me the strength to want what he wants more than what I desire and to temporarily not satisfy those desires for the glory of God.
Jan 4, 2011
Jan 3, 2011
The three-days fast: Day 1
It has officially been 24 hours now. I've done this kind of fast before, but it feels a little bit different this time. I don't have the headache tonight I usually feel (which is normal during fasting), but I didn't study as intensely or as long as usual either. Honestly, I'm not really that hungry right now. I don't have that wrenching feeling in the pit of my abdomen, but it is still a difficult thing to visit the kitchen. I go there for water, but other foods are in view. I think I am going to hide them when I finish this post.
I've been reading a book from Reslife's Word Shop entitled Fasting by Jentezen Franklin. I can tell Pastor Duane read it before preaching his sermon on fasting, because some of the points in his sermon are also found in the book. However, the book offers more in depth insights into the benefits and taxes to one's body, mind, and spirit.
The book recommends drinking a gallon of water throughout the first three days of fasting. Not only will you feel full, Franklin says, but you will also flush out toxins from the body that have accumulated. I measured my glass and, according to my estimate, I will need to be drinking fifteen of them per day. I only made it to six and half. Yes, drinking a lot of water is good, but I hate that feeling of chilling cold water in winter which awakens my stomach when I drink it. The first five glasses quenched my thirst, but I would rather drink no more after that and close off my stomach than frequently remind it of how empty it is.
Even though fasting can be unpleasant, I believe the benefits are worth it. As I draw close to God, fighting my body as I do, he shows me things I didn't see before---things I would not have known on my own. My motivations are becoming more clear. Why do I do what I do? This is helping me better understand what I should do with my life. It is a painful process, but I believe the benefits are worth it.
I've been reading a book from Reslife's Word Shop entitled Fasting by Jentezen Franklin. I can tell Pastor Duane read it before preaching his sermon on fasting, because some of the points in his sermon are also found in the book. However, the book offers more in depth insights into the benefits and taxes to one's body, mind, and spirit.
The book recommends drinking a gallon of water throughout the first three days of fasting. Not only will you feel full, Franklin says, but you will also flush out toxins from the body that have accumulated. I measured my glass and, according to my estimate, I will need to be drinking fifteen of them per day. I only made it to six and half. Yes, drinking a lot of water is good, but I hate that feeling of chilling cold water in winter which awakens my stomach when I drink it. The first five glasses quenched my thirst, but I would rather drink no more after that and close off my stomach than frequently remind it of how empty it is.
Even though fasting can be unpleasant, I believe the benefits are worth it. As I draw close to God, fighting my body as I do, he shows me things I didn't see before---things I would not have known on my own. My motivations are becoming more clear. Why do I do what I do? This is helping me better understand what I should do with my life. It is a painful process, but I believe the benefits are worth it.
Jan 2, 2011
Day 2
Two things stand out to me about Day Two. The first is really strange. I feel extremely full while eating my vegetables, but it wears off quickly. The second thing I've noticed is a result of the first. The Daniel fast is beginning to feel like the half fast it is and not a diet because I am usually slightly hungry. I was especially hungry at work today as I worked this particularly physical job. It was not a painful, wrenching hunger, but I still heard my stomach grumble this morning. As I waited for lunch-hour, time passed by as sluggishly as I felt. On the positive side, a sweet sense of satisfaction came over me when I sat down to eat, knowing I had resisted till then. It's a pleasant thing to battle King Stomach and win. But tomorrow, the real test begins.
Jan 1, 2011
Day 1
Today I began the Daniel fast. As I said earlier, I will begin the three-day fast on Monday or Tuesday, but today and tomorrow I will Daniel fast (as I'm working). I've decided to try taking out all breads and see how it goes. All is fine so far.
After work I ate some veggie soup. To be honest, I had about three bowls. I told myself I was doing it to prevent getting too hungry. Afterward, it began to eat away at me. I'm supposed to be denying hunger, not preventing it. New tactic: eat one serving, two tops. This normal portion will make me feel hunger later on.
Normally, I have a nighttime snack. As I was reading a book on Christian living a couple of hours ago, I began to feel this ever so slight desire for a snack creep in on me. No. I know I am allowed to have snacks, but personally, I want to avoid them. Especially if they're the kind to undermine what I'm trying to do. There it was again. Eat chocolate. Eat an apple. Eat anything other than the vegetables you have been eating all day long. No. I will find a new source of food---spiritual nourishment from God.
As I sat there controlling my appetite, I was feeding spirit. The Christian book I was reading helped me put some disjointed ideas together and come to some conclusions about things I've been really thinking about. I'm discovering who I am in Christ, that I am not whatever career path I choose; I belong to Christ. He is in me. This is something I really wanted to get out of this fast. I look forward to seeing more clearly who I am in Christ.
After work I ate some veggie soup. To be honest, I had about three bowls. I told myself I was doing it to prevent getting too hungry. Afterward, it began to eat away at me. I'm supposed to be denying hunger, not preventing it. New tactic: eat one serving, two tops. This normal portion will make me feel hunger later on.
Normally, I have a nighttime snack. As I was reading a book on Christian living a couple of hours ago, I began to feel this ever so slight desire for a snack creep in on me. No. I know I am allowed to have snacks, but personally, I want to avoid them. Especially if they're the kind to undermine what I'm trying to do. There it was again. Eat chocolate. Eat an apple. Eat anything other than the vegetables you have been eating all day long. No. I will find a new source of food---spiritual nourishment from God.
As I sat there controlling my appetite, I was feeding spirit. The Christian book I was reading helped me put some disjointed ideas together and come to some conclusions about things I've been really thinking about. I'm discovering who I am in Christ, that I am not whatever career path I choose; I belong to Christ. He is in me. This is something I really wanted to get out of this fast. I look forward to seeing more clearly who I am in Christ.
Dec 31, 2010
The Plan
When Pastor Duane Vander Klok first suggested this fast, my first reaction was to let everyone else do it. I'm very busy, and besides, fasting is not pleasant. I began to warm up to it over this past week as I've come to understand what this fast would be like. As Pastor Duane has said, the first three days of January the church will fast completely and only drink water. After that, the remaining eighteen days will be for the Daniel fast, in which participants eat only fruits, vegetables, and water. The way I understand it, each person's fast will vary depending on how much each one wants to gain from it. I have never fasted for more than a day a time, so for me this seems intense. I intend to start out with a less strict version of it by fasting for three days and then going vegan for the rest of the way. I'll eat bread (as it's plant based), but what I'm really going to miss is dairy products. I figure, going vegan will allow me to concentrate throughout the week because some food will give the energy to think with. I work a very physical job, so I'm going to start my three days fast on Monday or Tuesday. This game plan should ensure that I make it through to day twenty-one.
As for being busy, I now understand that I am to pray when I get hungry, not all day. I will still have time to do other things in these three weeks. These things helped me be open to the idea, but the next question was: what does one gain from fasting like this?
There are a lot of reasons to fast. Pastor Duane's most recent sermon on fasting gave a handful of them. You can listen to it by going to Reslife's website under media and looking for the sermon on Sun, Dec 19th AM.
* Fasting disconnects you from the world and connects you to God
* If you need direction from God
* If you want to know who you are in Christ
* If you want to reconnect with God because you feel spiritually dry
* If you need a breakthrough
* If you have family members who do not know Jesus
There are other reasons to fast, but this is a short list of them. Although I like all of them, I'm especially looking forward to the first four. Life has pulled at my attention so strongly that I really need to just draw back for a little while and just listen. In doing so, I hope to come out spiritually recharged, focused, and ready to love the world with God's love.
As for being busy, I now understand that I am to pray when I get hungry, not all day. I will still have time to do other things in these three weeks. These things helped me be open to the idea, but the next question was: what does one gain from fasting like this?
There are a lot of reasons to fast. Pastor Duane's most recent sermon on fasting gave a handful of them. You can listen to it by going to Reslife's website under media and looking for the sermon on Sun, Dec 19th AM.
* Fasting disconnects you from the world and connects you to God
* If you need direction from God
* If you want to know who you are in Christ
* If you want to reconnect with God because you feel spiritually dry
* If you need a breakthrough
* If you have family members who do not know Jesus
There are other reasons to fast, but this is a short list of them. Although I like all of them, I'm especially looking forward to the first four. Life has pulled at my attention so strongly that I really need to just draw back for a little while and just listen. In doing so, I hope to come out spiritually recharged, focused, and ready to love the world with God's love.
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