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Fasting Retreat Article Contents The idea of a manmade sanctuary for the exclusive purpose of solitude, fasting, and prayer is not new. It goes as far back as the 300’s AD with the birth of the monastery. Before monasteries, those seeking solitude were inexorably drawn into desolate empty places. The desert sun served as a tangible catharsis on the backs of seekers desperate to connect with their God. Jesus, Elijah and Moses are well known for their retreats alone into the desert fasting, coming face to face with Yahweh, spiritual foes and the limits of their own mortality. During the hard bumps that life can deal out everyone has romanticized the idea of retreating away from society. Maybe it has nothing to do with hardship. It may be that you have been focused on such a busy lifestyle that when you weren’t looking you turned into all the things you once hated. We humans are not created to function in a constant state of hectic busyness. The seeker within cries for some time to untangle from strangling co-dependent relationships and a legion of addictions that all crowd out the spiritual person deep within. Hectic lives have physical side-effects too. Fast food, lack of exercise and a constant state of stress take its gradual toll. Often people come to a fasting retreat as a last resort, toxic, sick and obese. Fasting retreats are not only a place of healing and detoxification but a period of time to step back and take stock, making long overdo health changes that will affect the future for the better. The desire for withdrawing begins with a sense of inner detachment, disconnection with creativity, you and God, and finally detachment with the world around. Disconnection results in mindlessly performing robotic tasks, all the while the seeker within calls for nourishment. Ignore that call and the outcome will be a lost identity resulting in a profound sense of meaninglessness and depression, physically manifested in sickness and disease.
Why
Fasting Retreats? Never equate stillness with inactivity. During stillness some of the most important things happen. Not only is eight hours of sleep necessary for health, there must also be times of awaking meditation and mental stillness. These are the times when you get in touch with who you are and what you are becoming. We do this by entering into fellowship with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit houses our true identity, and when we become disconnected to Him, we become disconnected to our true self. This is an unhealthy and defenseless place to be. Think of personal identity as your spiritual immune system, warding off destructive outside influences. Loss of Identity will inevitably lead to melding into the sociological herd and serious compromise of individuality. Our homes should be a quiet place we come to after a hard day's work where we can recharge spiritually and find intimacy with God. A haven away from the pervasive society we are forced to live in. But this is rarely so. Home represents a whole collection of distractions, the flicker and drone of TV, computer and radio, shelves stuffed with junk food, and too often the turmoil of dysfunctional relationships. The familiarity of our four walls reinforces stale patterns of living that we long to be free of. It is no surprise that Freedomyou has received many e-mails asking for a safe place to temporally remove them from a home environment that is fraught with temptation and failure, not to mention the sight and smell of food. And many of you are willing to pay. Over the last 14 years, Freedomyou has opened its doors to fasting retreats with some good results. People came and fasted while being saturated in spiritual teaching and teaching on health and nutrition. They soaked, cried, detoxified, shared and shined. One little problem, they had to go home. They would go home and binge, cry and crash, questioning whether their freedom was more about location than inner strength. It quickly became apparent that the test of real success is the exercise of self-determination in the middle of your own world, not a temporary reprieve away from the push and shove. In other words, bloom where you’re planted. That's real power. Holy Spirit Power. And after all, it's what you really long for. So we are going to offer you a doable alternative that may not feel as good as retreating away, but will be more effective in overcoming the stuff you deal with every day. A fasting retreat in your own home, one you can visit anytime you need to heal and spend intimate time with God. A place that will have a spiritual impact on your whole family. I can tell you, no demonic force will like you fasting in your own home. You will be effectively making your home an inhospitable place for spiritual principalities that have set up camp in your marriage, kitchen, kids, TV, computer, etc. The following are all the practical tools you are going to need to build your own fasting retreat. So let’s get started.
Fasting Retreat Tools Fasting To Freedom This book is a faster's manual, walking you through everything you will need to know, from how to prepare for a fast to how to end it, and everything in between. We recommend reading the Steps To Freedom Series while fasting, saturating yourself with information on nutrition, physical and spiritual health. Journal This is so important. God is going to be revealing things to you and you need to be writing them down for two reasons. First, we retain something better through writing it down. Second, after the fast is over and you enter your busy life, it is very helpful to reread the truth discovered during the fast. The Bible is constantly talking about, "forget not." The carnal and spiritual mind is like oil and water. They do not mix. In the fasting state we are unusually receptive to the Spirit. He will take that opportunity to reveal nuggets of truth more precious than gold. Write them down! Buy a journal just for this fast, they are about $10. Juicer A juicer is invaluable not only during the fast, but to maintain health throughout your life. Freedomyou has put together three juicer packages, all include our Four Book Special in e-book format. We have taken a lot of time and thought in the juicers we promote. Our Top Pick Juicers Strainer Even though our juicers produce less pulp, we still recommend straining your juice. This will help with eliminating hunger pangs. As you are staining scrape the strainer with a spoon, allowing the juice to flow through better. Cost, about $8. Steel Thermos This is especially useful for work. You can make the juice in the morning before work. I fill two thermoses, one with fruit juice and the other with vegetable juice. A steel thermos is a little more expensive but the juice stays fresher longer. Cost, about $25 each. Enema Kit You can buy these at your local drug stores. Buy the reusable ones. Cost, about $10. Here is more information: Colon Cleansing Essential Oil You will find good oil like fax seed oil, at your local health store. Oil containing a balance of the omega 3 and 6 fatty acids is best. One tablespoon a day will suffice. Cost, about $12. Here is more information: Fats and Oils Personal Support You may not have a lot of support at home and for many that will be a fasting breaker. Freedomyou has a Fasting Bulletin Board filled with loving people who are fasting and encouraging one another. We highly recommend you join. Freedomyou Bulletin Board Even if you buy our best juicer, the total cost will be about $380, hundreds of dollars less than one week at a fasting retreat. You say, But I don't know if I can do this on my own. Well, here are some less tangible but no less important tools for your success.
Set
Worthy Goals How to know what goals to set is all about asking yourself the right questions. The very fact that you are reading this article means there is something within seeking for change. Ask yourself, how did you get here? What is it your heart is seeking? Don't worry about being wise or deep, just write down simple reasons why you are here. If you have tried it all and are desperate to lose weight then a great goal is to control your eating. If you are here because you feel far from God, then your goal is to establish a new lifestyle that maintains intimacy with God. Write them down, keep them short, one sentence each, and try to only have one to five goals, no more, that way the fast stays focused and clear. Keep your goals personal between you and God. There is good reason for this which will become more obvious as you continue.
Prepare the Home Your spouse may need to take up the slack, doing a little extra so you can have time alone. Don't feel bad, this will not hurt them at all, in fact it will be healthy. Remember, this may be about breaking some co-dependency. For some of you, doing something this independent will not be easy, especially if you are not feeling the warmth of their approval. Here is something for free; co-dependency is not love, just another form of self-centeredness. Create a sacred space. This includes both a time and place. The place may be a small, seldom used room, the time, maybe after supper or some other free space. This is your time. Do not let anything rob you of it. Your family will take that space only as seriously as you do. There will always be some pressing something that will come up. Well, this is the time to exercise discipline, we can all use a little more of that, and less busyness.
Clear the Calendar We have become such a soft society but you can do this. Just think, you have all these wonderful tools at your fingertips, more than the many that have gone before you. You do not have to walk to the nearest desert; the Spirit of God can deal with you right in your own home. Besides, many people feel as if their hearts have become spiritual deserts. If you decide to have a fasting retreat in your own home, get ready for the rivers of living water.
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