- Amy Carr Reardon Have you ever fasted for spiritual purposes? What did it do for you?
- Alicia Nichole Adams I have decided that being overweight and unhealthy were not pleasing God and that I was not treating his temple with care and love. So to restart my eating habits I fasted for a day and just prayed. Now I am trying to exercise more and eat more healthy. 60 calorie, sugar free pudding snacks are my chocolate fix. They taste great and I don't feel guilty about having a cup once in a while.
I can already feel my body saying thank you and I feel closer to God by keeping his temple healthy and energized. - Emily Ward Yes! When I was in Revolution Hawaii, we'd fast every Friday, which was also the day when we kept the prayer room full for 24 hours, taking shifts of a few hours. It was a great reminder that:
1) man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Yes, our tummies were growling, but we were spending 2 hours in prayer, and that SHOULD be enough haha
and. . .
2) there are people all over the world who don't have three big meals plus snacks in one day, and I could use this reminder to pray for brothers and sisters who were in that situation. Isaiah 58 - all of it, but especially v. 6-8
I also have occasionally fasted since then, usually on days I want to set apart for prayer. Healing, a big decision, etc. It helps me stay focused. I never realize how much time, effort, and money I spend on food until I decide to fast. - Rachel Pruitt I did a 30-hour famine with the Cumberland, MD corps cadets. It was a fund raiser to raise awareness for the thousands of children who go hungry every day. During this event God really made me stop and think about all that I am priveleged to have in the United States, and He opened my eyes to a whole world of friends that I should bring to Him in prayer.
- DrKenyon Sivels I fast once a week (at least )for my generation. It gives me more passion to see Christ working in my peers
- Kyle Reardon I've fasted several times, however I found that I've often fasted not for the wrong reasons, but with the wrong intentions. I've often felt that if I fasted about a certain situation, then the problem would just go away. I often went into it with the attitude that I was doing something for God, and he owed me for it. "God, I'm not eating today. Now can you get me a job?"
Now not all of my fasting has been so selfish. I've since realized that fasting, for me, is a fantastic way for me to stay focused on what I need to pray about, not necessarily what I want fixed or answered.
But I find the biggest challenge while fasting, and something that makes it very gratifying, is not looking discouraged or dour while I'm doing it, or whatever that verse reads. I find when I maintain a good attitude while fasting instead of moping around about how hungry I am, I understand the it much more as a spiritual discipline than a sort of favor I'm so gracious to do for God. - Amber Lynn Ohl On one occasion, the Savior cast a devil out from a child and used this experience to teach His disciples about the power of prayer and fasting. His disciples asked Him, “Why could not we cast him out?” Jesus answered: “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Found in Matthew 17:14–21.)
This account teaches that prayer and fasting can give added strength to those giving and receiving blessings. The account can also be applied to your personal efforts to live the gospel. If you have a weakness or sin that you have struggled to overcome, you may need to fast and pray in order to receive the help or forgiveness you desire. Like the demon that Christ cast out, your difficulty may be the kind that will go out only through prayer and fasting.
You can fast for many purposes. Fasting is one way of worshiping God and expressing gratitude to Him. You can fast as you ask Heavenly Father to bless the sick or afflicted. Fasting may help you and those you love receive personal revelation and become converted to the truth. Through fasting you can gain strength to resist temptation. You can fast as you strive to humble yourself before God and exercise faith in Jesus Christ. You may fast to receive guidance in sharing the gospel. Fasting may accompany righteous sorrow or mourning.
When I fast I use this time to pray more in deepth for what has been happening that week and the coming week, for the sick, family and much more. When I fast I feel closer to my Heavenly Father! - Lynn S. Lopez I am currently fasting because the Holy Spirit has convicted my heart that I needed to. I have replaced other substances that I used in my past life (BC), to fill a void, with food. Romans 12:1 and 1 Corinthians 6:19 both tell me I am turning to food and mistreating Gods temple that He has made me a steward of. I am fasting to break the bondage that food holds over me. I believe that by the power of the Holy Spirit through fasting and prayer this bond can and will be broken.
Rather than continue to turn to food in times of stress, discouragement, boredom, jubilence, happiness, celebration...Oh that would be for all occasions, I choose to turn to my Lord. There must be a purpose for food to be eaten for me and that is to live and serve God. I no longer desire to live to eat, but eat with a purpose in glorifying God and service to Him.
Fasting is this sense is to cleanse this body and break a bondage I have come under through the power of the Holy Spirit! - David J. Tooley I have attempted fasts over the years and always failed because of a couple of different reasons. 1) I fasted for something I wanted or wanted done rather than listing and waiting for the Spirit's promptings. And 2) I failed because I thought fasting was as simple as not eating. I didn't prepare my mind, my heart or my body for the fast. I would always have to stop because of bad headaches.
This past year after studying God's Word and seeking His face on some issues I was prompted to fast. I checked out every Christian and medical book on fasting I could find at the library. I read up and prepared myself both physically and spiritually for the fast. I fasted for seven days without any headaches. In truth, I didn't suffer hunger pains that much at all until the sixth evening when I overheard an IHOP ad on the TV in the other room. I finished the fast out knowing where my first meal would be consumed.
Commissioner Sue E. Swanson has challenged THQ employees to fast and pray for revival in our Army. So every Monday several of us gather in the prayer room for a time of fasting and prayer. I love it.
So how do I benefit from this experience? Every time I fast and pray I am reminded that I am fully reliant on God. Without Him I can find no sustenance. I'm much more aware that I have far more "stuff" than I need and far less of Him than I need. There's much more than I can write here. Suffice it to say, fasting is now a regular discipline for me. - Stacy Antonovich I was asked by my corps officer several years ago to spend the day fasting as we would finish a Bible Study series with an evening in prayer at the corps. I didn't have the right mindset going into it and became sick. Because of this, I didn't think I would ever be able to spend a full day fasting.
In recent months, someone very close to me spent a week fasting on my behalf. When I learned that this person was doing that, I had a difficult time understanding why. I was asked, "If God asked you to do it for me, would you?" I answered yes, but inside I remembered my past experience and knew I wouldn't be able to. A few weeks later the situation came up, and I knew clearly from God that it was in fact my turn to stand in the gap for this person. I didn't know how it would work, but I knew I had to do it. I honestly did not think I would make it a day.
That week was incredible for me. I have never been able to spend as much time in prayer as I did that week. God was able to show me that is was not about me, but following His will and plan and for that situation, it was to use me to stand in the gap in constant prayer for that person. I didn't experience any illness and was so filled by Him that it was something I really enjoyed and was fulfilling for me as God worked in the situation and improved it just as I was praying for it.
My lesson learned is that when it is God directed, fasting is very fulfilling for me and gives me a clear time to take the focus off of me and place it where it needs to be.
Cadet
Stacy Antonovich - Holly Dawn Needham During my second year in training, I started to fast a couple times a month. During meal times, I would spend that time in prayer, meditation, and bible reading. I didn't fast for any particular thing or situation, but simply would take the time for extra prayer and bible reading. Those were incredible times spent with God.
I've recently felt God leading me to start doing one days fasts again, so I can simply spend that extra time with Him. - Joey Arnold Oatmeal .
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFL1FwmFE3M: You can either click on the preceding link to listen to the following comment (for you lazy people out there, haha) or you can just read that same comment as follows:
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FAST BLAST: MAKING IT LAST
By Joey Arnold
Why would fasting blast. Why make it last. The younger I was, the more I'd object to this.
I couldn't even bare a fast from Sim City, which was a very hot Super Nintendo video game back around 1996 when I was just an eleven year old tadpole. Mother would fast me from Sim City because I was getting too old for the good old spankings that us homeschoolers would deserve almost weekly. Me and Crystal were almost just laughing (instead of crying) when she went off to beat us (but no animals were harmed in this). That is why she started taking things from us, to discipline us (because she loves us, and it hurts them more than it hurts us).
But only like a second ago have I came to the conclusion that Mother was actually fasting us from things which were close to food or even idols. I use to throw temper tantrums. It might have well been a beating (not to be confused with actual abuse) because I was so upset. The video games were like girls to me. They completed me.
I could no less live without video games than a fat man could live without ice cream and donuts and TVs with couch potatoes.
FAST FAT PAT: WHO DAT: WHY DO DAT
Not only was I against video game fasting and actual food fasting, but I was also a pure junkfoodaholic. I'm typing this on Blake Webb's computer and I'm telling him "Of course junkfoodaholic is a word. I just added it to the dictionary."
Because Mother was a nutritionist (still is). Therefore, when Father came home with junk food, us four siblings would magically turn into the Teenage Mutant Mighty Morphine Ninja Junkfoodaholic Monsters and gobble up the food as fast as possible because once the junk in the trunk was gone then it was gone man. And as the song goes, there is no turning back from that. You take what you can and run for the hills with that.
So we did the very opposite of fasting.
BUT FAST BLASTING WILL STILL BE LASTING
Ladies and gentlemen, however, you may just hate me for saying this right now in this very long and very redundant run-on sentence (which I eat like fat people eats cake), but I am not exactly no more no longer in absolute volcano anger against the concept of life renewing everlasting long lasting oh over joy lasting blasting rapping casting lasting everlasting super duper so nice blasting Happy Hanukkah Blasting Lasting Fasting.
Oh Emily Ward (not to be confused with Montgomery Ward), I have once heard about Revolution Hawaii before through this boy who wore glasses and eats oatmeal.
He use to fast on Saturdays for possibly up to only eight hours during Silence & Solitude if that counts at all.
The first RevHI team (starring Emily Ward) were fasting every Friday (I think) alongside of the 24-hour prayer thing in the spanking brand new super duper RevHI Prayer Room (ask RevHI about that) which is very complementary to fasting of course.
Next year's team just didn't have it in them but I really hope I had nothing to do with such a decline like that (we were still pretty good in other things still). But then again, I was still not much of a fan of fasting even during Revolution Hawaii (I mean, that boy with glasses was not much of a fan).
But I have fasted for around thirty hours strait but only for probably four different times in my life. At first, you feel like you're going to die. But after you start getting into it then you start feeling that master cleanse feeling (not to be confused with the Master Cleanse). At first you feel like you are hurting and abusing your body (not to be confused with spanking and living life without Sim City) but then you start seeing rainbows grow out of your head for doing such a thing. It really feels like you're draining energy from your soul, and that's true in the short run of things. But in the long run, you're truly adding horse power to your own engine. The older I get, the more I think about fasting. Ask Rob Noland about fasting. There are fruit fasting. Water fasting. The list goes on. At first, you feel sick. But it truly does miracles. But I was really always against fasting. I might still be against fasting actually if you were only fasting to earn your way into Heaven.
Fasting is a blast. It is basically a type of Sabbath (ask Revolution Hawaii about that one). It is also basically like Silence & Solitude (again, ask Revolution Hawaii about that one, too).
BUT DO YOU FAST FOR SPIRITUAL PURPOSES
Even when that little boy with glasses and oatmeal was still on that Revolution Hawaii team, he still had objections to actually fast for spiritual purposes because "There has to be other ways in doing that."
You know, I actually was going to fast from TV and Ice Cream and stuff for a week and then comment up on here. I was waiting forever to comment up on here, dear Amy Reardon. I cannot believe I waited a whole entire week. Man, I basically fasted from the internet. That's good. But never mind that. I was waiting because I was trying to come up with something big to say on here so people can be like "Wow, look at what Joey Arnold wrote." But never mind that, too.
But in conclusion I would still like to say that maybe I do fast for spiritual purposes just maybe sometimes. Seriously, in all seriousness, I care more about fasting now than ever before. And physical aspect to fasting should very much be integrated and aligned with the spiritual aspects to our continual growth in the Lord, our fellowship, our prayer life, our time spent with God in reflection, in working out our things before God.
In other words, I think I do fast for spiritual purposes, as clearing out our bodies of physical toxins and in clearing out our minds then also from the sinful spiritual toxins likewise.
Joey Arnold
Moore Street Corps: Portland, OR USA
2010.02.25: Thu: 1700 PM PST
Thursday, February 25, 2010
fasting for april YS
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