learning about fasting01:50 Jan 10 2009
Times Read: 589
Fasting
Notes taken out of 7 steps to successful fasting and prayer by bill bright
Objective setting
Why are you fasting ? is it for healing? Problem solving? and ask the holy spirit for guidance to clarify enabling you to pray more specifically and strategically.
Used 2chronicles 7:14 as a reference to this. I used message bible.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (The Message)
12-18 GOD appeared to Solomon that very night and said, "I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on I'm alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I've chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I'll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I'm giving to you, namely, 'You can count on always having a descendant on Israel's throne.'
Making a commitment
Pray about what fast you should do. Based off of scripture Matthew 6:16-18 and 9:14,15
Matthew 6:16-18 (The Message)
16-18"When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well.
Matthew 9:14
Kingdom Come
14A little later John's followers approached, asking, "Why is it that we and the Pharisees rigorously discipline body and spirit by fasting, but your followers don't?"
Matthew 9:15
15Jesus told them, "When you're celebrating a wedding, you don't skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but not now. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!"
How long do you fast for?
What type of fasting ?
What physical and social activities will you restrict?
How much time each day do you devote to god and pray?
Spiritually prepping yourself
This is prayer of repentance of sins , unconfessed sins which hinder your growth
Ask god to show you the sins that are unconfessed and make a list..
Confess all sins to the holy spirit and accept god’s forgiveness
1 John 1:8-10 (The Message)
8-10If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
Seek forgiveness from all that have offended you and you have offended them
Mark 11:22-25 (The Message)
22-25Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, 'Go jump in the lake'—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it's as good as done. That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."
Make restitution as the holy spirit leads you
Ask god to fill you with the holy spirit according to his command
Ephesians 5:18-20 (The Message)
18-20Don't drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:13-15 (The Message)
The Reality, Not the Illusion
13-15My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours.
Surrender your life fully to jesus as your lord and savoir
Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)
Place Your Life Before God
1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Meditate on attributes of god
Psalm 48:9-10 (The Message)
9-10 We pondered your love-in-action, God,
waiting in your temple:
Your name, God, evokes a train
of Hallelujahs wherever
It is spoken, near and far;
your arms are heaped with goodness-in-action.
Psalm 103:1-18 (The Message)
Psalm 103
A David Psalm
1-2 O my soul, bless GOD. From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless GOD,
don't forget a single blessing!
3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you're always young in his presence.
6-18 God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he's rich in love.
He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we're made of mud.
Men and women don't live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God's love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.
Begin with prayer and fasting by expecting
Hebrews 11:5-6 (The Message)
5-6By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
Do not underestimate spiritual opposition. Satan sometimes intensives the natural battle between body and spirit.
Galatians 5:16-17 (The Message)
16-18My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?
Physically prepare yourself
Do not rush into the fast
Prepare your body, eat smaller meals. Avoid high fat and sugary things.
Eat raw fruits and veggies before full blown fasting
While you are fasting
Avoid drugs if possible ask dr
Limit your activity
Exercise moderately
Rest as much as possible
Prepare yourself for crankiness, mental discomforts, and impatience
Expect body discomforts dizziness with drawls from caffeine can cause headaches
First two to three days are the hardest when you feel hunger pangs drink more water.
Put self on schedule
Morning begin to praise and worship
Read and meditate on gods word
Invite the holy spirit to work in you
Invite god to use you ask him to show you how to influence your world
Pray for vision for your life and empowerment to do his will
Noon
Return to gods prayer
Talk a short walk
Evening
Get alone for unhurried seeking his face
Avoid tv it may dampen the mood
5-8 am drink juices apple or grapefruit
1030am noon veggie juice
230400pm herb tea with a drop of honey avoid black tea
6pm-830pm soup
Breaking your fast
Gradually eat again slowly
Grapefruit first day
Salad the second day
Baked or boiled potatoe with butter third day
Fourth day steamed veggies
Expect results
Sincerely humble yourself to god and consistently focus on his word
John 14:21 (The Message)
21"The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that's who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him."
COMMENTS
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