Thoughts about Fasting

This week The Crossing is doing a 7 day fast for The Code of the Samurai. We are praying about what God specifically wants to do with our church. This is Day 4 for me of liquids only. I am currently enjoying (sarcasm) a fruit smoothie (again). So if this blog post seems a little bit rambly & nonsensical, you know why.

When we first started this fast on Sunday, Jason & I had decided to do liquid fast through Wednesday, then start a Daniel Fast of fruits, veggies, seeds & nuts on Thursday. On Tuesday I was SOOOO wishing I could EAT something. Just to chew on something & not drink it through a straw would have been amazing. Then yesterday in Staff Meeting, God talked to me through Pastor Eric, and I felt like He was strongly telling me to keep doing liquids the whole week through because He still had things to tell me. And I also had the thought that if God was already beginning to tell me stuff while I was doing the liquid thing, why would I want to back out & not keep listening? So, I texted Jason & told him I was only doing liquids the whole week through. I almost laughed out loud when he texted back, "Really? Me too."

Then this morning, I woke up & read my Bible. After reading just one chapter, I wrote a 3 page outline for a whole talk I can give at Crossing Recovery. What God was telling me was incredible.

Here's some other random thoughts I had on the drive to work this morning:

• Make a list of specific prayers when you fast. If you are trying to ask God everything you've ever wanted to ask Him in a one week period of time, you aren't going to get any clarity at all. Focus on one or two things to pray about at a time. If God talks to you about those things & gives you understanding about them, pray about something else. But don't pray 5 bajillion things & be all over the place with your prayers.
  
• Read your Bible. Read your Bible. Read your Bible. That is the way God speaks most clearly! Jesus spent 40 days in the desert with NO food & NO water (smoothie fast not so bad now, is it?)! When Satan tempted Him, He used Scripture to overcome it. Excuse my French, but what in the hell (or what from hell) makes you think you can fast & overcome temptation without reading your Bible? If Jesus can't do it, neither can you.

Rambling Sidenote: I woke up at 1 o'clock in the morning last night with the worst heartburn ever. It's from not having any solids in my stomach to absorb the liquid. My immediate thought is that I really COULD switch to Daniel Fast if I wanted to. I could go down to the kitchen & find something "legal" to eat. It WAS after midnight after all. Those thoughts come from the enemy & I had to shout them down with the truth of scripture & prayer.

• And one more: Fasting alone sucks. Fasting with other people rules. That's all.