Prayer & Fasting

The church that my family and I attend just finished doing a church-wide, 21-day prayer and fasting event. The pastor kicked it off with a sermon regarding what prayer and fasting is all about, and then each Sunday throughout the 21-day journey there was a sermon relating to prayer and fasting in one way or another. I’m not sure how many of us all actually participated, but it was definitely a moving experience for many.

Prayer and fasting tend to go hand in hand don’t they? When one fasts, it means they’re giving up something. Usually that something is food, and usually it’s a complete meal. Beyond that, it’s usually more than just a meal. And where does prayer come in? Well, when one is fasting, they take the time they used to do “X” to pray! Spending time with God is vital to any believer, and when we give up something essential such as food to come before Him who supplies all things, BIG things can happen!

So did I participate? I did! I didn’t actually skip out on a meal, although at some point I would really like to go that route. However, I fasted from social media (some of you may find that a little foolish seeing as it’s my form of promotion and building me/my work up). I didn’t care though. I found myself getting to the point of being on my phone WAY too much, and I didn’t want that to be first in my life. I firmly believe that God would honor that, and still make me as successful as I’m supposed to be with less time doing all my promoting, etc.

I also fasted from chocolate, not completely, but hear me out on this. I love chocolate! I eat chocolate! A LOT OF CHOCLATE! After lunch EVERYDAY I would eat chocolate. I’m not saying chocolate is the worst thing in the world, but let’s be honest here, my habits were horrible. So I vowed to limit my chocolate. I only wanted to eat chocolate maybe a couple times at most a week instead of each and every day.

How did I do? Let’s see here. This fast started in the early/middle of January and just ended. I had a vacation in there too, which usually vacations can be rough for me when it comes to being lazy, eating horribly and spending too much time with my phone. HOWEVER, I’m proud to say I left my social media encounters to once a day (which was my goal) AND my chocolate consumption has significantly decreased. Yippee!! Hopefully that doesn’t put any workers out of a job!

But, more importantly, I found myself being more intentional about praying to God. Ever since having kids I’ve allowed my prayer life to go downhill, and it’s about time I talk with God again the way I used to – and even more so! He loves talking with His children!

Like I said before, I’m not sure who all participated, but I do know that I’m sure lives have changed during this prayer and fasting event. I’m certain people have broken free from bad habits, and I’m sure that many have become closer to God the way a relationship with Him is intended. I’m thankful our church did this!

I encourage you all to perhaps fast from something. I know people think fasting means not eating a whole day or a few days or whatever. But you can fast from other things. Whatever might be putting you on a road you don’t want to be on may be something you can try fasting from. But don’t just give it up for a short time to just get back to it. I encourage you to pray during the fast, and then stick with what is right when it’s over. What I’m saying is, if you are a heavy drinker and want to fast from alcohol for a week, don’t just fast and then go back to the way things were. Perhaps stick with the fast, or at least drink less. In my case, I’m sticking with less chocolate and less phone time. Whatever it is for you, go for it! (Unless of course you actually fasted from food – you can’t just not eat food again, lol).

Prayer and fasting changes people. I’m grateful our church encouraged and challenged people to do this. Next time I might do the whole skipping food for a day or longer thing. We’ll see.

Thanks for reading!