HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND POWERFUL FAST, PART V

Breaking your fast:

Take it from experience, don't go to Skippers for the all-you-can-eat buffet or greasy fast-food!

• Understand that while you fast, your intestines and stomach shrink. It is important to not stuff your face. Introducing solid food right away can cause a serious stomach ache or worse.


• Break a fast with vegetables, either steamed or raw. Eat lightly. Stop before you feel full.


• Even a 3-day fast requires reasonable precautions. It is wise to start with a little soup - something thin and nourishing such as vegetable broth made from onion, celery, potatoes, and carrots - and fresh fruits.


• In terms of resuming exercise, start slowly.

Fasting is a tremendous weapon and a source of power to every believer. God not only delivered Jehosaphat and many others due to fasting and prayer but annihilated their enemy and prospered His people.
In the book of Joel the Lord said, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions…(Joel 2:28-29). God was going to pour out revival – afterward. He was revealing His will for His people-afterward. After what? After a fast. His promise to them was to pour out revival and blessings on the land.

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND POWERFUL, PART IV

Nutrition:

• Continue to take daily vitamins.


• If you are beginning a juice fast, avoid juices with high-acid content, (ex. orange or tomato juice).


• The best juices are fresh carrot, grape, celery, apple, cabbage, or beet. "green drinks" made from green leafy vegetables because they are excellent "de-toxifiers."


• Fruit juices are "cleansers" and are best taken in the morning.


• I suggest not taking products containing protein or fat, such as milk or soy-based drinks. These products will restart the digestion cycle and you will again feel hunger pangs.

How to make your experience the best it can be:

• Prayer and fasting must always go together.


• Arrange special time each day with God. Satan will do everything he can to pull you away from this time.


• Do not become so caught up in praying for yourself and others that you forget about simply reverencing and praising God. True spiritual fasting focuses on God.


• Do not be disappointed if you do not have a “mountaintop experience”. Many people who have successfully completed extended fasts tell of feeling a nearness to God that they have never felt before, but others have sought His face with no report of outward results. Be assured, God honors our commitment to pray and fast.


• Your motive in fasting must be to glorify God, not to have an emotional experience, and not to attain personal happiness. With that, He will bless your time in a very special way

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND POWERFUL FAST, PART III

How to manage your schedule while fasting:

2-fold reason for schedule adjustments…1st is physical. Throughout the fast, you may feel somewhat weaker than normal. During the first few days, you may feel tired and irritable.

• You may want to lighten your workload and exercise routine.


• If you engage in strenuous physical labor, you may wish to fast only one or more days of the week, limiting yourself to partial fasting. You may look to the weekends for fasting.


• In the morning you may feel like you are on top of the world, but by evening you may be wrestling with the flesh-sorely tempted to raid the refrigerator and counting how many more days are left in your fast. To counteract temptations like these, take extra time with to spend with God. Step outside for a walk and talk to the Lord as you go. In the process, keep on sipping water or juice all day.


• Fasting is not just denying yourself food. It is exchanging the needs of the physical body for those of the 2nd reason for adjusting, spiritual. If you dissipate energy on numerous errands or busy-work to the neglect of spending time with God, you will starve both physically and spiritually.

What to tell friends, co-workers and loved ones:

• “I have other plans for lunch today.”


• Christians should be satisfied when you answer that you are fasting today.


• Don’t try to keep it a secret…allow your Christian friends to support you and pray for you during the fast.


• If friends and family express concern for your health, ease their fears by telling them that you will stop fasting the moment you feel you are harming your body or if the Lord leads you to end your fast.


• There is usually no reason for telling strangers or casual acquaintances that you are fasting. If you do, they may subject you to a lot of questions that you may not want to answer.

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND POWERFUL FAST, PART II

How to fast safely:

God never did the extraordinary with people that did the usual. We are responsible to take our relationship with Jesus further. WE must stir ourselves up in the Lord, as David did and fast and pray.

Fasting is about the condition of the heart, not the number of days…start slowly. Fast for one meal a day, one day a week, one week a month, a partial fast or even a Daniel fast (Refraining from foods one might otherwise enjoy. Daniel refrained from the King's delicacies, ate vegetables and drank water).

Fasting is about denying yourself of something you would usually do in order to focus purposely on the Lord. Some people should not do a dietary fast, it just does not work because of medical reasons, pregnancy, lactating, etc. Everyone certainly can give up TV, Internet, Books, hobbies, ect. for a certain time period; something that means something to you. A chosen fast is just that: giving up something in your life to create a void that you fill by spending time with God.

In any fast, the believer should pray and discern which things they will and will not partake of.

How to prepare yourself spiritually:

• Examine your heart and detect any unconfessed sin. Ps.66:16-20 tells us God requires His people to repent of their sins before He will hear their prayers.


• Confess any obvious and less obvious sins. Some less obvious sins may be: selfishness, unwillingness to share your faith, not spending enough time in the word and in prayer, poor relationship with your spouse, pastor, etc.


• Develop a daily habit of heart-examination and continue throughout your fast.


• Make a list of clarity you are seeking or goals for your fast.

How to prepare yourself physically:

• Speak to a doctor, if necessary.


• You will find it helpful to begin by eating smaller meals before you abstain altogether (this will trigger your mind, stomach and appetite that less food is acceptable). Resist the urge to have that “last big feast” before the fast.


• Prepare your body by cutting out sugars and caffeine the day or two before. This will help avoid headaches.


• Drink lots of water

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND POWERFUL FAST

Today marks Day 3 in our 21 Day For Breaking Free Fast.

Fasting has been somewhat of a lost art but beautifully important in the life of a believer. If you are interested in more information on fasting, a favorite source of mine is Dr. Bill Bright. He was an amazing man of wisdom in this area.

This post begins a five-part series entitled, "How to Have a Successful and Powerful Fast." In the next few days of our fast, I will post nuggets in these key areas:
Fasting Preparations

The power of the fast
How to manage your schedule while fasting as well as what to tell your friends, co-workers and loved ones
Nutrition
How to break or finish your fast in a healthy way!

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND POWERFUL FAST PART V

Breaking your fast:

Take it from experience, don't go to Skippers for the all-you-can-eat buffet or greasy fast-food!

• Understand that while you fast, your intestines and stomach shrink. It is important to not stuff your face. Introducing solid food right away can cause a serious stomach ache or worse.


• Break a fast with vegetables, either steamed or raw. Eat lightly. Stop before you feel full.


• Even a 3-day fast requires reasonable precautions. It is wise to start with a little soup - something thin and nourishing such as vegetable broth made from onion, celery, potatoes, and carrots - and fresh fruits.


• In terms of resuming exercise, start slowly.

Fasting is a tremendous weapon and a source of power to every believer. God not only delivered Jehosaphat and many others due to fasting and prayer but annihilated their enemy and prospered His people.

In the book of Joel the Lord said, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions…(Joel 2:28-29). God was going to pour out revival – afterward. He was revealing His will for His people-afterward. After what? After a fast. His promise to them was to pour out revival and blessings on the land.

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND POWERFUL FAST PART IV

Nutrition:

• Continue to take daily vitamins.


• If you are beginning a juice fast, avoid juices with high-acid content, (ex. orange or tomato juice).


• The best juices are fresh carrot, grape, celery, apple, cabbage, or beet. "green drinks" made from green leafy vegetables because they are excellent "de-toxifiers."


• Fruit juices are "cleansers" and are best taken in the morning.


• I suggest not taking products containing protein or fat, such as milk or soy-based drinks. These products will restart the digestion cycle and you will again feel hunger pangs.

How to make your experience the best it can be:

• Prayer and fasting must always go together.


• Arrange special time each day with God. Satan will do everything he can to pull you away from this time.


• Do not become so caught up in praying for yourself and others that you forget about simply reverencing and praising God. True spiritual fasting focuses on God.


• Do not be disappointed if you do not have a “mountaintop experience”. Many people who have successfully completed extended fasts tell of feeling a nearness to God that they have never felt before, but others have sought His face with no report of outward results. Be assured, God honors our commitment to pray and fast.


• Your motive in fasting must be to glorify God, not to have an emotional experience, and not to attain personal happiness. With that, He will bless your time in a very special way.

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND POWERFUL FAST PART III

How to manage your schedule while fasting:

2-fold reason for schedule adjustments…1st is physical. Throughout the fast, you may feel somewhat weaker than normal. During the first few days, you may feel tired and irritable.

• You may want to lighten your workload and exercise routine.


• If you engage in strenuous physical labor, you may wish to fast only one or more days of the week, limiting yourself to partial fasting. You may look to the weekends for fasting.


• In the morning you may feel like you are on top of the world, but by evening you may be wrestling with the flesh-sorely tempted to raid the refrigerator and counting how many more days are left in your fast. To counteract temptations like these, take extra time with to spend with God. Step outside for a walk and talk to the Lord as you go. In the process, keep on sipping water or juice all day.


• Fasting is not just denying yourself food. It is exchanging the needs of the physical body for those of the 2nd reason for adjusting, spiritual. If you dissipate energy on numerous errands or busy-work to the neglect of spending time with God, you will starve both physically and spiritually.

What to tell friends, co-workers and loved ones:

• “I have other plans for lunch today.”


• Christians should be satisfied when you answer that you are fasting today.


• Don’t try to keep it a secret…allow your Christian friends to support you and pray for you during the fast.


• If friends and family express concern for your health, ease their fears by telling them that you will stop fasting the moment you feel you are harming your body or if the Lord leads you to end your fast.


• There is usually no reason for telling strangers or casual acquaintances that you are fasting. If you do, they may subject you to a lot of questions that you may not want to answer.