On 7th February, 2016, our senior pastor, announced that the Church as a whole would be going into a 21-Day Prayer and Fast initiative starting 6th March and ending on 26th March, Resurrection Sunday. He then took us through a 4 week sermon series to prepare us for it. He must have been very convincing coz 6 out of the 9 of us decided to take up the challenge to see what God is saying to us!
We did not pressure the children to do it. They listened to the sermon series and were reminded weekly that the fast would start on 6th March. There was no pressure from anyone at all. But I guess it helped that the youths in the youth group were talking about it and sharing what they were going to fast from. So the week before the start, I asked the older 4 and Henson if they would be fasting and if yes, which meal or meals they would be fasting from. This was for a practical reason – I had to go grocery shopping!
Who’s fasting what?
So they came back to me – 2 would fast from lunch, 3 would fast from breakfast and 1 from social media. Well, we survived! There were days when we were super hungry but we made it!
This was not my first fast but this was my longest fast! It is, however, the first time for most of the children. I am so proud that they took up the challenge and stuck to it. Well done, guys!!!
My experience with the different types of fast
My previously longest fast was a 10 day water fast back in 2014, did together with Henson. That was hard!!! This time round, I chose to fast from breakfast for a very practical reason – I wanted to keep up with the exercise regime that Esther and I had started. Yeah, a totally unspiritual reason but a reason, nonetheless! We had started our daily walk-jog regime (I will blog about this in another post) in January and I had gained some traction which I did not want to give up. Besides, fasting from lunch will not accord me more time to pray or spend time in God’s word since lunch time is always crazier than breakfast time. So included in the breakfast fast was a fast from….caffeine!!!
Fasting from food is something I had never thought I could do since I was either pregnant or nursing for the longest time. Fasting from stuff felt strange to me since the Bible never spoke of fasting from stuff. But I guess it is better to give up something than not. So I am not discrediting those who are not fasting from food. But after weaning our last child, I had no more excuses. Except for that very drastic water fast, my fasts were usually from a food group, usually meat or sweets, never fasting from an entire meal. So this was a first time fasting from an entire meal and for 3 weeks!
Having gone through the various types of fasts, I have discovered that unlike other people who felt less and less hungry as the fast days went by, I got hungrier and hungrier! Lol! I guess my body really needs food! And coffee? No matter how many times I fast from it, I always go back to it!
What about you?
Have you ever fasted? Not just from food, but anything that you feel the Lord telling you to let go of? Like…Coffee? 😛 Would you try at least fasting from a type of food if you can’t fast from a meal? It is not just a good physical exercise to give your body a break from constantly having to digest food but it is a beautiful spiritual exercise that really does bring one closer to God. It is not to change God’s mind or emotionally blackmail Him to answer your prayers but to just draw closer to Him. Fasting is not just skipping a meal, one must also spend time in His presence, either reading His word or praying. If you have fasted before, perhaps you would like to share your experience?
*I had entered into the fast with 2 specific questions in mind. And He graciously answered me, almost from Day 1 for one of the issues. The answer to the other issue was both reassuring and depressing and that is all I will say about it.
Like what you have read? Get updates on blog posts, announcements and special events by subscribing HERE.