Saturday, September 19, 2009

Spiritual Fasting?


A friend of mine is finishing a 40 day fast this upcoming week. Yes, 40 days with absolutely NO food - only juice and water. He says he feels amazing, has tons of energy, but most importantly - feels closer to God than ever. I want this.

I've considered fasting for years, but never really done it long term. I've done a day here and there, but that's about it. (what can I say, I love to eat, and I am weak!)

But I've felt the need to get closer to God, to just let myself be totally dependent on Him, to give it ALL to Him - and I haven't been doing very well with that in some areas. I've been praying about this for some time now, and what I keep hearing is - I really need to lay down some things at His alter and give them over to Him once and for all. You know how sometimes we say we've "given it over to God", but then we - in our silliness - soon think we need to take back control over the situation... ~shaking head~ As if we can even think of doing the work that only He can??

Questions:
Have you fasted?
For how long?
Any advise for someone thinking of attempting a longer-term fast?
What are your general thoughts on fasting?

1 comments:

Joan said...

I've never fasted at all. My daughter has done a 36 hour fast. I think a short fast is fine but I question how healthy a long fast is. I feel God wants us to take good care of our bodies - something most of us don't do in our day to day routines.