What I've learned lately...there are so many things. I wouldn't even being to be able to describe them right now in full explanation because of the fullness that Jesus has spoken to me. When I began this fast I was praying for wisdom in my next steps of ministry and how to get there. He has blessed me with a lot of talents that I can use in healing (painting, writing, speaking, singing, etc.), but I was at a stand still and unable to hear clearly from God to learn my next steps. Fasting can help you hear The Lord like nothing else can, it's amazing. In my case, my eating habits were so out of control that it was physically and spiritually bogging me down. When you take something like food out of your life, you literally have to slow yourself down which welcomes the Holy Spirit.
Someone told me the other day that if you don't use your talents they will be taken away. This was told to me after I felt that I needed to start painting on a full-time basis. I had to think about this for a while. Does that mean that your talents get rusty without much use? Does that mean that The Lord will actually take them away? I think both in some ways, but regardless it stopped and made me think. My long term goal with is getting more short term by the day is to have a studio and start painting and selling my work. I believe that Jesus wants to impart a gift of healing and life to all of my paintings that people may be touched when they are around it. However, it is difficult to trust Him to put so much time into this ministry without a steady income. HERE COMES AN IMPORTANT LESSON: We need to trust The Lord that He will provide for us if He has called us to do something. That means, no more pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, Careen. This is a hard lesson for me because I'm so used to doing everything on my own. It's an act of humility and sacrifice, but I believe He will honor us when we exhibit these behaviors.
So, all that being said, I will continue to work towards my first goal of painting witch will grow my ministry as a whole. This brings me to my second goal and possibly just as important as the first. HERE COMES THE SECOND IMPORTANT LESSON: We need to treat our bodies (His TEMPLE) with the care and regard that would only be fit for a King! We were called to serve God wholly with our spirit, mind, and body. As Christians, I believe we understand that we need to honor God with our spirit and our mind, but tend to leave out the body. Over the last month and a half he has spoken to me a lot about what this means. First, let's determine the difference between food and food-like products that we put into our bodies. Food, in Careen Uehling's definition either came from the ground or had a mother. It is natural and whole. Food can be plant products, grains, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, beans, meat, and milk/dairy products produced from the animal or plant without altering the food before consumption. In contrast, food-like products are scientifically engineered non-food substances or any of the above products that have been altered from it's natural state and genetically modified to increase flavor, smell, and addiction such as refined sugar, bleached flour, high fructose corn syrup, MSG (if you dare, look at all of the hidden names of this poison), fake cheese, etc. Therefore, I believe that we all need to live by a new standard if we want good health. It is so important to eat whole foods. When we put anything else in us, it clouds our mind and our spirit from hearing Him. When we don't hear from Him we cannot fully do the things that we have been called to do, thus not reaching the full potential of what he has for us.
The freedom that I've received from this addiction is unmistakable joy! I pray that anyone who is struggling with this addiction would find hope, too. I would encourage you to start with a ten day juice fast and seek Him, and I promise you that you will hear from God. We've become to comfortable with the status quo of being sick and depending on modern health care to cure us when a lot of the cure is sitting in a healthy diet waiting to be embraced.
As I said earlier, God has blessed me with so many things in this fast that it would be hard for me to share it over a blog post. So, I will just limit to what I have shared. In conclusion, fasting is a practice that takes discipline and care. It's not something I would undergo for this long of a period unless you are under medical supervision and have specifically been told to do from The Lord to do so. I hope all of my readers have enjoyed my blogs, and have gleaned some understanding of His love for us and some practical steps to hear His voice.
Blessings,
Careen
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
8/29/13: My definition of joy is...
The last week or two I have been pondering what joy means in definition and what it looks like on a person. Does joy mean you have a smile on your face? Is it fleeting or sustaining? Here one day and gone the next or is permanent? Is it an emotion or a standard? I felt prompted to dig into this because I believe that we need an increased understanding of not only where our joy comes from, but where not to look.
Miriam-Webster Defines JOY as:
1. a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight.
b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion: gaiety.
2. A state of happiness or felicity: bliss.
3. A source or cause of delight.
Searching through the Bible, on the other hand, I have found numerous occasions where we can find "joy". As I continue to ponder what joy actually means, it is still hard for me to grasp the true definition. I have written down a few scriptures to look at:
Romans 12:22 says, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
James 1:2 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds."
Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."
Looking at these three scriptures, the first thing that jumps out at me is the CHOICE involved in being joyful. It is an action, a verb. It's an act of worship. When talking to my clients, I often ask them what they think the difference between joy and happiness is. The answer is always that they are synonymous. I would argue differently, that happiness is a product of joy. Happiness is an ice cream cone on a hot day or getting off of work early. These things do not last. Since joyfulness is a fruit of the spirit, an action, it is also sustaining. It's a glow that radiates from the core of a persons being and cancels darkness, and can only come from the Lord. It's loving and being loved. During hard times of death and loss there can be joy because it ONLY comes from the Lord; without Him there is only death. With joy, death has no sting.
Looking to anything but the Lord for joy will not only cause disappointment, but can cause strife. I look at people in relationships where they look to their partner to fill the void that only God can fill. This is not only selfish, but unrealistic. We are all broken and through our own strength cannot heal another. Jesus wants to be the one to speak identity to people because He is the one who created us in His image. To me, this means that there should be absolutely no self-esteem problems in the church. We were fearfully and wonderfully made. Praise God!
While some look to others to fill the void where joy should fit, others have been so wounded that they self medicate by filling that void with food, alcohol, fiction (such as trashy romance or evolution), work, school, being a martyr, etc. This may be a temporary fix, but after the hangover, the end of the book, achieving a goal, what is next? We need Jesus to be that joy, that light. He is the answer.
Wherever we are at in life, whether it's double depression, hopelessness, anxiety, business, or carelessness, He is always the answer to joy. If we just ask He will give us the answer and the steps to take to find joy.
Jesus,
I pray that if there is anyone reading this with hopelessness and a loss of direction that You would intervene right now as they are reading and rekindle the flame that they once had. Show us what true joy looks like and how to find it again through reading Your word and prayer.
Amen
Blessings!
Careen
Miriam-Webster Defines JOY as:
1. a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight.
b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion: gaiety.
2. A state of happiness or felicity: bliss.
3. A source or cause of delight.
Searching through the Bible, on the other hand, I have found numerous occasions where we can find "joy". As I continue to ponder what joy actually means, it is still hard for me to grasp the true definition. I have written down a few scriptures to look at:
Romans 12:22 says, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
James 1:2 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds."
Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."
Looking at these three scriptures, the first thing that jumps out at me is the CHOICE involved in being joyful. It is an action, a verb. It's an act of worship. When talking to my clients, I often ask them what they think the difference between joy and happiness is. The answer is always that they are synonymous. I would argue differently, that happiness is a product of joy. Happiness is an ice cream cone on a hot day or getting off of work early. These things do not last. Since joyfulness is a fruit of the spirit, an action, it is also sustaining. It's a glow that radiates from the core of a persons being and cancels darkness, and can only come from the Lord. It's loving and being loved. During hard times of death and loss there can be joy because it ONLY comes from the Lord; without Him there is only death. With joy, death has no sting.
Looking to anything but the Lord for joy will not only cause disappointment, but can cause strife. I look at people in relationships where they look to their partner to fill the void that only God can fill. This is not only selfish, but unrealistic. We are all broken and through our own strength cannot heal another. Jesus wants to be the one to speak identity to people because He is the one who created us in His image. To me, this means that there should be absolutely no self-esteem problems in the church. We were fearfully and wonderfully made. Praise God!
While some look to others to fill the void where joy should fit, others have been so wounded that they self medicate by filling that void with food, alcohol, fiction (such as trashy romance or evolution), work, school, being a martyr, etc. This may be a temporary fix, but after the hangover, the end of the book, achieving a goal, what is next? We need Jesus to be that joy, that light. He is the answer.
Wherever we are at in life, whether it's double depression, hopelessness, anxiety, business, or carelessness, He is always the answer to joy. If we just ask He will give us the answer and the steps to take to find joy.
Jesus,
I pray that if there is anyone reading this with hopelessness and a loss of direction that You would intervene right now as they are reading and rekindle the flame that they once had. Show us what true joy looks like and how to find it again through reading Your word and prayer.
Amen
Blessings!
Careen
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
8/20/2013: Straight-up Old Testament style
Well, folks, it is day 20 of my fast. Half way! I haven't written in a while, but the Lord has been working through something with me that is so deep and personal to me that it's taken a while for me to work through casting down some idols that I have put before Him and to understand the depth of the importance of what I'm about to write today. Before I begin I will recapture the physical aspect of my fast and then conclude with the spiritual. After the two week mark the fast has become very routine. I still get hungry, but my hunger doesn't control me as it normally would. Dying to the flesh is a sacrifice, it's difficult, but it's attainable. Sometimes I still have to go to a restaurant with people and smell their steak while I sit and wait patiently (patience is not my strong suit), and pout inside while they eat. But as with the practice of anything else, it gets easier. I'm looking forward to mid September when I get to reintroduce myself to solid foods again, which is a nice segway to what He has done in my life spiritually.
When I first began this fast I was out of control. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Portion and nutrition was completely void in my diet and I was miserable. Food had become a coping mechanism and an idol. I still cringe at the thought of food becoming my idol. I had gained over 20 lbs in a year and was not treating my body with the care that it needs and deserves to sustain good health. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it says, "Do you not know that your body isa temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with our body." This speaks to me on a multitude of levels, and this tells me that if I am going to do His will then I should be taking care of my body that would be fit for the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. When I was about 20 years old the Lord had spoke to me and promised me good health. He said that He would bless me. What I didn't heed at that time is that I have to pull my end of the bargain by taking good care of my body. What does that look like?
Well, let me start by saying this. I am an all or nothing kind of gal. I'm either full throttle or parked. That is my hard wiring, and God made me that way for a purpose. I can't just have one hot tamale candy and be happy. I have to have the full box. I can't just have one bowl of ice cream per week and be satisfied. It's an addiction. An idol I have placed before God. Before when I felt myself getting out of control, I would "pull myself up by my bootstrapts" instead of take my struggles to the Lord. I would tell myself, "Okay, this is day one of my diet" and by the time I got home that day I had already crashed it. An idol is always a strategy of the enemy and he will always make you feel shame so you hide from God. Please hear me: God has mercy. He will help you pull through anything!
All this being said, I feel that I am to make a covenant to God, a declaration of my commitment to Him to cast down my idol and put him first. My covenant is this: I am committing to bless Him through taking care of my body by eating nutritious, whole foods that were designed by Him. As Jillian Michaels says, "If it doesn't come from the ground or a mother, don't eat it." No yeast, no refined sugar, no bleached flour, corn syrup, or cultured dairy. Does that mean I can never have a piece of candy again? YES! But he is worth it to me.
Jesus,
You are so precious to me. I don't want to have any idols to stand in my way of doing Your will. I repent of putting food before You, and for letting it be my comfort and support. Thank you for revealing to me one more thing that has been standing in my way from reaching you. Please continue to teach my Your ways, Your thoughts, and Your will. Please be my everything and help me stand tall and strong.
Amen
I'm so excited to have shared this with the world. Like other testimonies and commitments, they need to be shared. I want to be held accountable and encouraged, as well as it is by dearest hope that anyone will be blessed through this blog. Blessings to you all!
Careen
When I first began this fast I was out of control. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Portion and nutrition was completely void in my diet and I was miserable. Food had become a coping mechanism and an idol. I still cringe at the thought of food becoming my idol. I had gained over 20 lbs in a year and was not treating my body with the care that it needs and deserves to sustain good health. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it says, "Do you not know that your body isa temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with our body." This speaks to me on a multitude of levels, and this tells me that if I am going to do His will then I should be taking care of my body that would be fit for the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. When I was about 20 years old the Lord had spoke to me and promised me good health. He said that He would bless me. What I didn't heed at that time is that I have to pull my end of the bargain by taking good care of my body. What does that look like?
Well, let me start by saying this. I am an all or nothing kind of gal. I'm either full throttle or parked. That is my hard wiring, and God made me that way for a purpose. I can't just have one hot tamale candy and be happy. I have to have the full box. I can't just have one bowl of ice cream per week and be satisfied. It's an addiction. An idol I have placed before God. Before when I felt myself getting out of control, I would "pull myself up by my bootstrapts" instead of take my struggles to the Lord. I would tell myself, "Okay, this is day one of my diet" and by the time I got home that day I had already crashed it. An idol is always a strategy of the enemy and he will always make you feel shame so you hide from God. Please hear me: God has mercy. He will help you pull through anything!
All this being said, I feel that I am to make a covenant to God, a declaration of my commitment to Him to cast down my idol and put him first. My covenant is this: I am committing to bless Him through taking care of my body by eating nutritious, whole foods that were designed by Him. As Jillian Michaels says, "If it doesn't come from the ground or a mother, don't eat it." No yeast, no refined sugar, no bleached flour, corn syrup, or cultured dairy. Does that mean I can never have a piece of candy again? YES! But he is worth it to me.
Jesus,
You are so precious to me. I don't want to have any idols to stand in my way of doing Your will. I repent of putting food before You, and for letting it be my comfort and support. Thank you for revealing to me one more thing that has been standing in my way from reaching you. Please continue to teach my Your ways, Your thoughts, and Your will. Please be my everything and help me stand tall and strong.
Amen
I'm so excited to have shared this with the world. Like other testimonies and commitments, they need to be shared. I want to be held accountable and encouraged, as well as it is by dearest hope that anyone will be blessed through this blog. Blessings to you all!
Careen
Sunday, August 11, 2013
6/11/13
Day 11: It's been a while since I've posted avoid redundancies. I'm still delighted to have this pleasure to write to you all about my physical progress as well as some of the spiritual progresses. I say some because it is hard to explain some of the things that God is doing in my life on a day to day basis. Sometimes I don't even know what it is, and other times it is so huge that I can't even comprehend what he is doing until it slowly comes into fruition bits at a time. Then there are things that are deep in a lady's heart that just do not need to be revealed. Right now, though, my precious Savior is teaching me that fasting is so much more than I could ever know. It's a practice that has become "Westernized" and has very little to coming under the Lord to listen what he has to say, and more about seeking a result. What I mean by this is that we tend to say to God, "I'm in need of _____, and I'm going to fast until You give it to me." In the bible times it was intended to be a time of grieving and saying, "God, please teach me what you have for me, I'm in need of Your direction. I will listen to Your instruction." In fasting there are usually results during or at the end, but we need to learn that isn't what is important. It's focusing on God.
The other thing I need reminded of is that fasting is not about me. It was perfectly said when St. Augustine said in The Usefulness of Fasting, "Because it is sometime necessary to check the delight of the flesh in respect to licit pleasures in order to keep it from yielding to illicit joys." He is right! We will ourselves up with so much other stuff that we do not give God full authority over our lives.
I just want to take this time to repent of that to Him right now:
Father, I repent for not giving You the full portion of what is Yours. Please take the authority back from my hands and guide my ways. I don't want to form to the pattern of this world. I want what You have for me.
Amen
Shifting gears, here, I'll conclude with how I am doing physically. Usually when I wake up I'm pretty energetic, and usually not very hungry. But occasionally throughout the day I will get really hungry and will need some juice to curb it. The emptiness never really goes away, but then I remember who my provider is. My digestive system is no longer is use and my body is using the fat storage to give itself energy. Can I just take a second to say how amazing our bodies are!? Perfectly created by a God who loves us! Evolution? I think not.
My whole purpose in this blog is to encourage someone that needs encouragement. If I'm able to bless one person then I'm successful.
Love you guys!
The other thing I need reminded of is that fasting is not about me. It was perfectly said when St. Augustine said in The Usefulness of Fasting, "Because it is sometime necessary to check the delight of the flesh in respect to licit pleasures in order to keep it from yielding to illicit joys." He is right! We will ourselves up with so much other stuff that we do not give God full authority over our lives.
I just want to take this time to repent of that to Him right now:
Father, I repent for not giving You the full portion of what is Yours. Please take the authority back from my hands and guide my ways. I don't want to form to the pattern of this world. I want what You have for me.
Amen
Shifting gears, here, I'll conclude with how I am doing physically. Usually when I wake up I'm pretty energetic, and usually not very hungry. But occasionally throughout the day I will get really hungry and will need some juice to curb it. The emptiness never really goes away, but then I remember who my provider is. My digestive system is no longer is use and my body is using the fat storage to give itself energy. Can I just take a second to say how amazing our bodies are!? Perfectly created by a God who loves us! Evolution? I think not.
My whole purpose in this blog is to encourage someone that needs encouragement. If I'm able to bless one person then I'm successful.
Love you guys!
Monday, August 5, 2013
8/5/13
Day 5: I never realized the height of the physical benefits of a fast until my recent research. When your body takes an extended break from food it goes into cleansing mode. Usually our bodies are busy digesting food, but without that extra work during fasting it is able to clean house by removing built up toxins, healing old wounds and building new cells. The detoxification affects our colon, liver, kidneys, lungs, skin on a large scale when we fast.
I felt good waking up this morning. I woke up to go to a one on one bible study with a dear friend, and had no problem waking as I'm normally dragging myself to get out of bed. My day went well until the late afternoon when I crashed with my last client. My kidneys were in pain and I could feel the detoxification happening. It was a pretty powerful sensation.
I continue to thank God for the opportunity to give to him in a different way than I normally do.
Psalm 28:7: "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." During this fast, I asked Jesus to start revealing to me issues that I am to deal with. Things are rising to the surface that are testing my strength. I can only rely on Him to deal with things that are out of my control.
Jesus,
I pray for your grace and support for me to follow through with the things that are coming to surface. Help me understand things unknown, and give me direction to follow Your will.
Amen.
I felt good waking up this morning. I woke up to go to a one on one bible study with a dear friend, and had no problem waking as I'm normally dragging myself to get out of bed. My day went well until the late afternoon when I crashed with my last client. My kidneys were in pain and I could feel the detoxification happening. It was a pretty powerful sensation.
I continue to thank God for the opportunity to give to him in a different way than I normally do.
Psalm 28:7: "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." During this fast, I asked Jesus to start revealing to me issues that I am to deal with. Things are rising to the surface that are testing my strength. I can only rely on Him to deal with things that are out of my control.
Jesus,
I pray for your grace and support for me to follow through with the things that are coming to surface. Help me understand things unknown, and give me direction to follow Your will.
Amen.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
8/4/13
Day 4: This is the fourth day of my juice fast. Already I am feeling less hungry than the first three days of this journey. My strength is still low, but I find that I am able to do more walking and I am faster than I was yesterday. I have not resented this time for even one minute because of the time that I have been able to spend in prayer. I have been able to slow down so I can spend time in fellowship with the Lord that I would never make time for otherwise. I'm exceedingly grateful for this experience.
One thing that I have been thinking about today is how amazing it is how much food we don't need to survive. I have overindulged for a good part of my life ad have never realized what a negative thing that can be. Having been put in such a vulnerable state, I must rely on Jesus, and it reminds me of the power of prayer. In the Lord's prayer it says, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE." When Jesus taught us how to pray this prayer He was telling us that we must not discount the power of prayer. We, in fact, have the power to bring Heaven to Earth!!! How awesome is that!? So, as I fast, I not only have the opportunity to pray, but I have the opportunity to bring Heaven to Earth through His power, but I need to ASK to RECEIVE the full potential of what he has for me because it is through understanding that we may fully operate in the will of God.
It's hard to know what all to say, but any comments are welcome. Be Blessed!
Careen
One thing that I have been thinking about today is how amazing it is how much food we don't need to survive. I have overindulged for a good part of my life ad have never realized what a negative thing that can be. Having been put in such a vulnerable state, I must rely on Jesus, and it reminds me of the power of prayer. In the Lord's prayer it says, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE." When Jesus taught us how to pray this prayer He was telling us that we must not discount the power of prayer. We, in fact, have the power to bring Heaven to Earth!!! How awesome is that!? So, as I fast, I not only have the opportunity to pray, but I have the opportunity to bring Heaven to Earth through His power, but I need to ASK to RECEIVE the full potential of what he has for me because it is through understanding that we may fully operate in the will of God.
It's hard to know what all to say, but any comments are welcome. Be Blessed!
Careen
Saturday, August 3, 2013
8/3/13
After some arguing with God for about 2 or 3 months I finally gave in. He had been prompting me to do a fast. On August 1st I said, "Okay, God! I will go on a 2-week fast!" At this point I had not told anyone about his fast, mostly just hoping it would go away. Then about noon on Thursday I decided to call my mom and tell her that I needed some prayer and support while I do this fast. She suggested I call my pastor's wife to get further prayer support there. I called Randy about my two week fast, she prayed for me over the phone and then I felt a lot better, but I knew in my heart I was still not listening to God completely. After work that day I got home and started researching fasting on the internet. I read about this man, and quite a few others, that did a 40 day fast. That word just kept ringing in my ears like a loud alarm. 40! 40! 40! 40! 40! Then I finally buckled to my compromise. God had told me to do a 40 day fast and I compromised with 14 days. One thing I've learned in life is that you can compromise with God if you want to live in the fullness that he has for you.
Why fasting? In the last 10 years I have fasted intermittently for a day hear and there and even up to three days. I've also participated in a 10 day cleansing every once in a while, but never for this long of a time. There are many benefits of fasting in the short term and the long term. Some fast for a meal, or 1 day, 3 days, 2 weeks, 40 days, etc. In fact, we fast every night whether we realize it or not when we sleep. While sleeping our bodies go into "fasting mode" where in it releases toxins that we have acquired during the day. Some fast to kickstart weight loss, or to just "hit the reset button" on their entire system to feel better and have more energy. However, fasting is much more than a physical thing. It's a spiritual thing. It slows us down so we can hear from our Father, whom we are too often so busy we don't understand all that he has for us. It's an act of humility that we take, saying, "Father, I will sacrifice my wants and let YOU meet all of my needs. Please let me grow closer to you." We not only fast for ourselves, but on behalf of our loved ones, our community, our country, the world.
Since I was a child I have been called into ministry, but have varied from that path multiple times due to selfish desires and distractions. Recently, however, I have been working at a counseling agency where I work closely with people to help them grow. This has been a crucial step in my growth and understanding of people and their need of a relationship with God. I know I have been put here for a purpose, but there is always something more. God wants us to push forward to the next thing he has fore us. When we get uncomfortable it becomes dangerous. So, all that being said, I have committed these 40 days to understand God's will for my life and to pray for those I love.
Jesus,
I pray that You speak to me in these next days that I would hear Your voice. I pray that You would bring me closer to you. Let me learn about You and cherish You in a deeper way. I want to fall deeper in love with You. Please give me new insight to the next step in my life. Do Your will with my loved ones, Father, that you will bless them with a deeper relationship with You and the things that you have prepared for them.
Amen.
Day 3: Physically I am tired and do not have a lot of energy, I count it a blessing that I get to spend these days with my Father and that I have the health to complete this journey. I'm confident that He will give me ears to hear his word and that He will work with me in a mighty way during the next few days. Nothing is impossible to us when we walk in the Spirit. For he says in Romans 8:37, "No, in all these things we are MORE than conquerors through him who loved us." Jesus, please give me the strength to learn from you today. Whatever it is you have for me, my ears are open.
Why fasting? In the last 10 years I have fasted intermittently for a day hear and there and even up to three days. I've also participated in a 10 day cleansing every once in a while, but never for this long of a time. There are many benefits of fasting in the short term and the long term. Some fast for a meal, or 1 day, 3 days, 2 weeks, 40 days, etc. In fact, we fast every night whether we realize it or not when we sleep. While sleeping our bodies go into "fasting mode" where in it releases toxins that we have acquired during the day. Some fast to kickstart weight loss, or to just "hit the reset button" on their entire system to feel better and have more energy. However, fasting is much more than a physical thing. It's a spiritual thing. It slows us down so we can hear from our Father, whom we are too often so busy we don't understand all that he has for us. It's an act of humility that we take, saying, "Father, I will sacrifice my wants and let YOU meet all of my needs. Please let me grow closer to you." We not only fast for ourselves, but on behalf of our loved ones, our community, our country, the world.
Since I was a child I have been called into ministry, but have varied from that path multiple times due to selfish desires and distractions. Recently, however, I have been working at a counseling agency where I work closely with people to help them grow. This has been a crucial step in my growth and understanding of people and their need of a relationship with God. I know I have been put here for a purpose, but there is always something more. God wants us to push forward to the next thing he has fore us. When we get uncomfortable it becomes dangerous. So, all that being said, I have committed these 40 days to understand God's will for my life and to pray for those I love.
Jesus,
I pray that You speak to me in these next days that I would hear Your voice. I pray that You would bring me closer to you. Let me learn about You and cherish You in a deeper way. I want to fall deeper in love with You. Please give me new insight to the next step in my life. Do Your will with my loved ones, Father, that you will bless them with a deeper relationship with You and the things that you have prepared for them.
Amen.
Day 3: Physically I am tired and do not have a lot of energy, I count it a blessing that I get to spend these days with my Father and that I have the health to complete this journey. I'm confident that He will give me ears to hear his word and that He will work with me in a mighty way during the next few days. Nothing is impossible to us when we walk in the Spirit. For he says in Romans 8:37, "No, in all these things we are MORE than conquerors through him who loved us." Jesus, please give me the strength to learn from you today. Whatever it is you have for me, my ears are open.
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