I am on a complete fast for 21 days which started July 23rd and will continue until August 13th. Once a year I encourage the church to fast to some extent. Some fast a meal a day or week. Some fast specific foods or drinks. I expect for everyone to fast something. During those times I speak about it from the pulpit and individually encourage people to participate and not give up.
I challenge people to fast because fasting for me is a form of intense prayer. There are times in which I must fast simply because I cannot find the answers I need any other way. The church doesn’t pray enough. We don’t seek Him intensely enough. So fasting as a church is a way to break the barriers to presence of God. We all need to pursue the Lord with all our heart and soul and strength.
This year I have fasted in various ways over 50 days so far. I am in the midst of a 21 day total fast and that will push me close to 70 days. Earlier in the year I participated in a Daniel fast-no meat or sweet foods or drinks. These are fairly easy, except for the loss of sweet tea and soft drinks. The Daniel fasts have been effective for me in my spiritual walk with God. My first long fast was in 1998 when I was teaching among Chinese believers. I felt overwhelmed by the task and needed a fresh anointing from the Spirit. In that fast I allowed two soft drinks a day, until the soft drinks began to make me sick then I substituted some warm chicken broth. The goal was to keep my intake under 300 calories. God did so many great things immediately following that fast. Miracles and healing, salvations and baptisms were all a regular occurrence.
As time passed God would lead me into other fasts to maintain what I had received the first time. I believe He is doing that again. When I fast personally I usually don’t talk about it. First I don’t want to boast about being on a 21 day fast then only be able to fast 3 days. Secondly I don’t talk about it because people may think that I am being spiritually proud. I am not expecting a medal for anyone. I fast because God has taught me its effectiveness and because he does call me in these times of intensely seeking his presence.
God has urged me to write about my fast this time. I did not want to because there is such a great possibility of failure. I do not want to have to admit that I could not do what God had asked me to do. Yet I believe it is important for others to know what happens during a 21 day total fast. So I will be posting some of my thoughts from time to time over the next two weeks. My thought come from a humble heart, a heart that is yearning for the presence of the Almighty and the work that He wants to do in me and through me.
Jesus only fasted one time in his life. His 40 day fast as recorded in the gospels. This was his part of his transition from carpenter to prophet. John baptized him in the Jordan River and then the Spirit led him into the wilderness for a time of fasting and testing. I understand that Jesus needed to separate himself from this world and to begin to minister in the power of the Spirit. The fast was the answer. He only had to do it once. I am not like Jesus as I have to return again and again to the practice in order to restore what this world steals from me. Oh to be like Jesus.
