Christian Testimony: 40 Days Fasting — Week 1
By: Minister Denise N. Fyffe
The Lord is doing a new thing; well, new for me anyway. Let me establish this: no matter what anybody thinks, God is not a little, old, miserable man in heaven. He is not sitting, waiting for you to mess up and He is definitely not rigid in all things. God is flexible to our current situation and needs and meets us where we are at, to bring us to where He abides.
If you live in constant sin, He might put people in your path to influence you and impress upon your conscience. Then He might get someone to talk to you about your problem. Then the urge to go to church may come, and then the urge to repent. God does different things to change our course toward His will.
I Have Started a 40-Day Fast
Oy vey, the thought alone scares the Jesus out of me; well not really. I never thought that I would be doing one of these anytime soon, especially not before 50. But here I am. This fasting process does not have my strength behind it; it has Yahweh’s, because I would have quit long ago from the headaches I usually get when I do not eat or skip a meal.
So Far, It Is Day 4 and I Am Fine
God has modified my fast, however, to meet my faith where it is at. I do not yet believe that I can do full-day food fasting without eating food, but He has tricked my mind into doing it. Each day, I only have something to eat at lunch time, and I drink water to hydrate. It is a very hot summer here in the Caribbean. Then I do not eat again until lunch time the following day. Looking at it, I realized I was going about 24 hours between meals.
This Fast Feels Manageable
I am not getting the headaches and my mind is not consumed or focused on food. I feel easy, disinterested and engaged to follow through to completion. At that time I believed this season was helping me build confidence in fasting step by step.
If you have followed my blog, you know where I am coming from. I had previously dealt with diabetes, so I had done BBM fasts, social media fasts, no juice or soda fasting, TV or Internet-show fasting, and half-day food fasting.
At the moment, I am also on a summer-long no-shows fast. As a reward, I have gotten more than a dozen new book ideas, and at least two have been published.
Remember, God meets you where you are and helps you to grow.
Fasting is about sacrifice for God. Constant prayer and worship are part of this time as well. Because I am a writer, I am also tapped into Him for the novel that I am writing during this period. There is no doubt in my mind that this is all God, because I have never written a novel like this before.
God is good and faithful to His servants and children. If you have fears about fasting, bring them to Him. Seek His direction, use wisdom and do not ignore responsibilities for your health.
Continue the Testimony
Read Week 4 — enduring the challenge and Week 6 — completing the fast.
101 Prayers for Today
Keep prayer at the center of consecration with Scripture-rooted prayers for strength, wisdom, peace and purpose.
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About the writer:
Minister Denise N. Fyffe is the founder and minister of Revealing the Christian Life Ministry, a Christian author and teacher whose work includes prayer, fasting, spiritual warfare, discipleship and practical Christian living.