Spiritual Fasting
🌱STEP 1: Set Your Objective
Why are you fasting? Is it for spiritual renewal, for guidance, for healing, for the resolution of problems, for special grace to handle a difficult situation? Set your intentions and objectives for your prayer fast. This will enable you to pray more specifically and strategically.
🌱 STEP 2:
Make Your Commitment
Pray about the kind of fast you should undertake.
Before you fast, decide the following up front:
•How long will you fast—one meal, one day, a week, several weeks?
•The type of fast God wants you to undertake (such as water only, or water and juices, or a strictly juice) (I’m doing water only, and one hearty juice for lunch)
•What physical or social activities you will restrict.
•How much time each day you will devote to prayer and meditation.
Making these commitments ahead of time will help you sustain your fast when physical temptations and life’s pressures tempt you to abandon it.
🌱 STEP 3: Prepare Yourself Spiritually
•be intentional about surrendering all of your good,bad , and ugly thoughts,feelings,judgements, heartache, and worries.
•Meditate on the attributes of God, love, sovereignty, power, wisdom, faithfulness, grace, and compassion.
Really settle into his presence, and Let him in to love you. 🙏🏼♥️
•Begin your time of fasting and prayer with an expectant heart.
• I encourage you to take this time to search podcasts, or healing music. Try slowing down all aspects in your sensory field. Candles, incense, longer baths. Nourish yourself, do the little extra you would do if caring for your sick child.
Motivational speakers on YouTube or Netflix .
Limited tv is a good idea. But if you must , make it CLEAN. No drama, politics, or violence.
Less stimulating is key.
•Do not underestimate spiritual opposition. Negativity/Fear/Triggers can sometimes intensify the natural battle between body and spirit. In other words , just be very mindful of your thoughts. Use intention segments to break up your day, to keep focus. For instance when leaving work, regroup and set intention for going home.
🌟 🕊 My personal prayer is:
Dear God ..please continue to heal, protect, and strengthen me. Break me open God and everything that is not of you, clear it out. And the things I have inside of me that I’m unaware are there, bring them to light god so that I can feel , heal and release what no longer serves me. When people look at me God, let them see you. When they hear me, let them hear you. God let me be a vessel for healing and love in this world and for my child. I am thankful for how far I’ve come, where I am, and what I’m to become. Thank you for loving me,when I couldn’t love myself. Thank you for holding me when I’ve given myself to wreckless hands. Give me Grace to navigate everything and everyone I meet. Let me be a blessing to a heart that needs your love. Amen.
🌱STEP 4: Prepare Yourself Physically
Physical preparation makes the drastic change in your eating routine a little easier so that you can turn your full attention to God in prayer.
•Do not rush into your fast.
•Prepare your body. Eat smaller meals before starting a fast. Avoid high-fat and sugary foods.
✅While You Fast
Your time of fasting and prayer has come. You are abstaining from all solid food. Here are some helpful suggestions :
•Limit your activity.
•Exercise only moderately. Walk one mile each day if convenient and comfortable.
•Rest as much as your schedule will permit.
•Prepare yourself for temporary mental discomforts, such as impatience, crankiness, and anxiety.
•Expect some physical discomforts, especially on the second day. You may have fleeting hunger pains, dizziness, or the “blahs.” Withdrawal from caffeine and sugar may cause headaches. Physical annoyances may also include weakness, tiredness, or sleeplessness.
🎯🎯 The first two or three days are usually the hardest. As you continue to fast, you will likely experience a sense of well-being both physically and spiritually. However, should you feel hunger pains, increase your liquid intake💯💯💯
🌱STEP 5: Put Yourself on a Schedule
For maximum spiritual benefit, set aside ample time to be alone with the Lord. Listen to His lead. The more time you spend with Him, the more meaningful your fast will be.
Sample of what your day should look like:
•5 a.m. - 8 a.m.
•Fruit juices, preferably freshly squeezed or blended and diluted in 50 percent distilled water if the fruit is acid. Apple, pear, grapefruit, papaya, watermelon, or other fruit juices are generally preferred.
•10:30 a.m. - noon
•Fresh vegetable juice made from lettuce, celery, and carrots in three equal parts.
•2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.
•Herb tea with a drop of honey. Avoid black tea or any tea with caffeine including coffee😑😂
•6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
•Broth made from boiling potatoes, celery, and carrots with no salt. After boiling about half an hour, pour the water into a container and drink it.
🍴🍎 Personally , my fast will be mostly water, except for one hearty juice at noon...and herbal tea/no caffeine- in the morning, afternoon, and at bed.
🔺🔺☕️ Green tea has powerful antioxidant properties. Drink hot or make yourself a sugarless iced tea, infuse it with mint and lemon if you’d like.
🔺🔺☕️ Ginger tea is well known for its ability to soothe an upset stomach, but drinking it can also help increase satiety. Ginger also has the added benefit of supporting your digestion and immune system. So you can be less hungry and stay healthier too.
🔺🔺☕️ Chamomile tea has natural sleep-promoting effects. It can be drunk throughout the afternoon and evening as a caffeine-free alternative to regular tea, ensuring an even more restful night.