A week has not even gone by and boy does it seem like I have been doing this fast for much longer than six days. One of my children commented on the way home from a friend’s football game that it seemed like this fast was going on forever. He began to recite the first meal he was going to have however, his sisters quickly shut him down. For some reason listing all of the “choice” food that is being forfeited during this fast is not something that a fellow faster wants to hear…go figure.
In Romans 12:1 it states, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service.” Two words stand out to me in this familiar verse—sacrifice and reasonable. Our 21 day Daniel fast is our way of being a living sacrifice. Yes, it has only been six day; yes, you get tired more easily; yes, you get hungry; yes, you are getting tired of fruit and nuts; yes, I can hardly keep my eyes open from lack of energy…all of these things pale however as we step back and remember that we are “sacrificing” because we care enough to do what ever it takes.
Reasonable…all of this great sacrifice that we are putting ourselves through, the immense hardship and trouble, only reaches the level of reasonable? Does the Lord not understand how difficult this is at times? Does He not understand the adversity I’m putting myself through to do a 21 day fast? All this personal sacrifice and the only word of encouragement that I get is reasonable!? Now that seems like a let down…if you look with the eyes of your flesh. Reasonable says to me that this is well within your ability, well within the norm of what God calls us to do. If He feels this is reasonable then I need to quit my complaining, pick up my little cross and start walking.
I pray that the Lord will give you His strength and continued resolve as you march on in this fast. Look for and expect God to do great things. Know that I am praying for you all.
PD
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Have You Failed to Fast?
As I come to the end of the third day of our Daniel fast I am still hungry, or better said, I get hungry faster. I had a large salad for lunch made for me by my lovely wife. It was so large that I couldn’t finish it…needless to say, about 30 minutes later I was feeling hunger pangs again. On one hand these pangs of hunger are annoying, but on the other we must not forget that there is a spiritual focus to what we are about here. During a dialogue with another participant in the Daniel fast this very point was made. He mentioned that with his family there seemed to be more concern and time put into making sure they ate the right foods than making sure they were praying.
I would like to encourage you to remember that the fast is not about the food we are or aren’t eating; it is about us praying and seeking the Lord on behalf of our nation. If we only fast and fail to pray, we really have failed to fast.
On a lighter note…one of the little boys that is participating in the fast with his family showed today that he had a firm understanding of the Daniel fast while at kindergarten. His teacher was reviewing the schedule for the day and mentioned that they were going to have sweet bread for snack, to which the young boy replied, “No sweets, no wine.” (Daniel 10:3)
PD
I would like to encourage you to remember that the fast is not about the food we are or aren’t eating; it is about us praying and seeking the Lord on behalf of our nation. If we only fast and fail to pray, we really have failed to fast.
On a lighter note…one of the little boys that is participating in the fast with his family showed today that he had a firm understanding of the Daniel fast while at kindergarten. His teacher was reviewing the schedule for the day and mentioned that they were going to have sweet bread for snack, to which the young boy replied, “No sweets, no wine.” (Daniel 10:3)
PD
Thursday, October 16, 2008
More Water!
As I have chatted with several people today regarding their fasting and how things were progressing I thought that I might give a practical suggestion.
When you begin your fast, and particularly a fruit and vegetable fast, your body begins to go through a “spring cleaning” as Jentezen Franklin puts it. Fasting is something we do that has a spiritual purpose but there are other side effects that your physical body experiences as well. If you have younger children these “side effects” might be more noticeable to the rest of the family as well. You might also experience a headache for a period of time. These are all things that happen when your body begins to detox and the impurities begin to leave your system, they have nothing to do with the devil or any other spiritual power that is trying to make your fasting more difficult. It is just the way God designed your body to work.
On a practical note: DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER. The more water you can drink the better…as it will help to flush the impurities out of your system…quite literally. In the books that I have read many authors suggest that you drink distilled water.
I will leave you with a verse from the book of Job, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12)
May God see our hearts as we pray and fast that His spirit would move in our country once again.
PD
When you begin your fast, and particularly a fruit and vegetable fast, your body begins to go through a “spring cleaning” as Jentezen Franklin puts it. Fasting is something we do that has a spiritual purpose but there are other side effects that your physical body experiences as well. If you have younger children these “side effects” might be more noticeable to the rest of the family as well. You might also experience a headache for a period of time. These are all things that happen when your body begins to detox and the impurities begin to leave your system, they have nothing to do with the devil or any other spiritual power that is trying to make your fasting more difficult. It is just the way God designed your body to work.
On a practical note: DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER. The more water you can drink the better…as it will help to flush the impurities out of your system…quite literally. In the books that I have read many authors suggest that you drink distilled water.
I will leave you with a verse from the book of Job, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12)
May God see our hearts as we pray and fast that His spirit would move in our country once again.
PD
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
A Fast Start
We are off to a fast start in a slow kind of way. I will confess from the beginning that I did have a small cup of coffee this morning. The coffee was more out of the greater need to avoid a caffeine withdrawal headache that causes me to have to turn my head sideways just to see straight…not pleasant. My commitment is to be off coffee in a day or two.
As you begin your fast I do want to encourage you with the thoughts from 2 Corinthians 9:6,7 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” NIV Verse 7 really speaks to the crux of how we should approach this 21 day fast for our country. Each of you should decide in your heart what you are going to do. If you are folding your arms, stiffing your back, and placing your foot on the floor in a firm manner…hmm, I would say that you have some reluctance issues and maybe you should reconsider doing the fast. I am not saying that you will be jumping up and down to eat dried fruit and nuts for breakfast, but a willing heart goes a long way to enduring the hunger pains and abstaining from “choice” foods. So pray, submit your heart, put the coffee cup down, and say “Lord with your help and by your grace I will do this so that you might show your mercy upon our country.”
Some of you might be wondering exactly what you can and can’t eat while on a Daniel fast. I confess that I am not an expert in this area but would encourage you to check out these links to help you gain some understanding. Daniel Fast – This page is a blog set up by a Christian woman just to offer information about the Daniel Fast. Vegetarian Recipes – This is the Recipe Zaar web page which appears to have a lot of great recipe ideas for feeding the family.
One additional thought. If you cannot limit yourself to the Daniel fast list of foods then I would encourage you to do what you can. It might even be just eliminating the junk foods from your diet. Again, you should decide what you can do in your heart, then do it with a cheerful attitude and let’s see what our God will do.
PD
As you begin your fast I do want to encourage you with the thoughts from 2 Corinthians 9:6,7 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” NIV Verse 7 really speaks to the crux of how we should approach this 21 day fast for our country. Each of you should decide in your heart what you are going to do. If you are folding your arms, stiffing your back, and placing your foot on the floor in a firm manner…hmm, I would say that you have some reluctance issues and maybe you should reconsider doing the fast. I am not saying that you will be jumping up and down to eat dried fruit and nuts for breakfast, but a willing heart goes a long way to enduring the hunger pains and abstaining from “choice” foods. So pray, submit your heart, put the coffee cup down, and say “Lord with your help and by your grace I will do this so that you might show your mercy upon our country.”
Some of you might be wondering exactly what you can and can’t eat while on a Daniel fast. I confess that I am not an expert in this area but would encourage you to check out these links to help you gain some understanding. Daniel Fast – This page is a blog set up by a Christian woman just to offer information about the Daniel Fast. Vegetarian Recipes – This is the Recipe Zaar web page which appears to have a lot of great recipe ideas for feeding the family.
One additional thought. If you cannot limit yourself to the Daniel fast list of foods then I would encourage you to do what you can. It might even be just eliminating the junk foods from your diet. Again, you should decide what you can do in your heart, then do it with a cheerful attitude and let’s see what our God will do.
PD
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Will I Make it?
Today is the last day for sugar, meat, and the all important life sustaining pick-me-up black liquid refreshment we, OK...I, have come to love - COFFEE!!!
Tomorrow we start the 21 day Daniel fast. During the next three weeks all of the pleasure foods and drinks will be eliminated from our diet so that we might join together to pray for our country, our economy, and the upcoming elections.
No one that I know loves to fast, but everyone loves to have God answer prayer. Our fasting is simple our human way of showing our Heavenly Father that we are taking this 21 days more seriously, we are denying ourselves something that we want so that God might note our actions and take a special note to the prayers we are lifting before Him.
I pray that as you embark on this journey that the Lord will make himself even more real to you and that we would see amazing things happen because we have humbled ourselves and prayed.
PD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)