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Christian Fasting
Testimonies
Christian Fasting Juice fasting to Draw Closer to God by Keith Boswell “I lost 5 lb during the fast . . . but the best part of it though, is that my relationship with God deepened.” I'm a missionary in the Middle East and all my adult life, I've tried to fast. I would water fast, usually for a day, but once for five days. Honestly, I found the experience too painful to get anything out of it. Two years ago, a missionary colleague of mine had a deeply fulfilling 10 day fasting experience. I longed for that kind of communion with God. I discovered the Freedomyou site and decided to do a juice fast. But first I asked God for confirmation that I should do this, and He gave that to me. I went into the fast with only one purpose, to draw closer to God. Though juice fasting isn't as painful, I did experience hunger which drove me to rely on God. He rewarded me in ways I didn't expect. One of the strangest things that happened is that I quit biting my fingernails. I had this habit since I was 10 years old and tried to quit many times. Something else that happened is that I lost my desire for unhealthy food. It's like the fast broke my addiction to sweets and processed foods. I came out of it craving a bowl of fruit, in fact after the fast, I became a vegetarian! The last benefit is that I lost weight. I wasn't heavy, but as I got older (I'm now 46), I had gained some extra weigh. I lost 5 lb during the fast and then continued to lose weight after it since my stomach felt smaller, so I didn't want to eat as much. I also ate better foods. The best part of it though, is that my relationship with God deepened and since that fast, I have had a better relationship with Him. That fast was a turning point in my spiritual life. I'm writing this now because I'm on day 6 of a juice fast. This time has been like the first. I tried it two other times, but did it with the wrong motivation. It makes all the difference to get spiritually and mentally prepared before you start a fast.
By Koni “As the fast progressed an amazing thing began to happen. I began to feel, yes feel God’s presence again for the first time in years, soothing and healing.” Once, as a child I heard the call of the Lord and enrolled in bible college in my mid teens. But after my first year E. P. B. C. I became enamored by a handsome young man, and dropped out of bible college to chase after a romantic dream that led me far away from God. The dream ended in a broken marriage, a lovely five year old daughter killed by a careless driver and a car accident which killed my brother on my birthday. Hurting, alone and far from God, who had once been my source of strength, I felt hopeless. The climax was 1991, at the end of my endurance, crying from a wasted life and what might have been, I attempted to drive my car off a harbor. I just wanted the pain to end. What happened in my moment of desperation was almost indescribable. There was a distant voice telling me suicide was not the answer. I found myself in a shipping plaza at 2 A.M. with no recollection of driving there. I started praying for the first time in years. "God, oh God" I cried. "It's you isn't it?" I heard no more even though I begged him to communicate further. I remembered hearing that one can get closer to God through fasting and prayer. I now longed to hear that voice and feel that presence again. The longing to hear God was greater than anything I have ever felt for a man. Taking an apartment across the street from the shopping plaza I began ten day water fast. Locked in the apartment without phone, TV or friends, I prayed and sought God night and day. As the fast progressed an amazing thing began to happen. For the first time in years I started to feel, yes feel God’s presence again, soothing and healing. And then again that distant voice, but closer this time, calling me back to vision and purpose. I knew he wanted me back in ministry. I was still wanted by God. I was still useful. "Work with the oppressed and downtrodden." "But" I argued "You have the wrong person! I am all that myself. How can I help others? Besides I'm dirty." I was putting away things in the new apartment and had just picked up a frying pan cover in years of blackened burned grease. It was a pan I had all through the years of a broken marriage. The spirit said, "Look at the pan in your hand. See how black and filthy it is? If you can clean up that pan I can clean you up to do my work." Under the sink was half an SOS pad left by the previous occupant. Skeptically, I gave it a few passes over the bottom of the blackened pan. To my amazement the chard grease gave way revealing shinny newness, just as it was twenty years earlier. The astonishment turned to joy as the cleansing began happening not only to the pot but within me. I could feel it as clearly as a fresh breeze on my face. I knew God had done the impossible as I scoured my old frying pan into newness again. I began to dance, laughing, singing, tears of joy streamed from my eyes. I was now convinced that, in Christ I was as worthy as anyone to do whatever task He had in store. Throughout the rest of the fast, I continued to feel incredibly close to God, penning poetry and song, obtaining instruction from the beautiful soft voice which remained always near. When the fast was over I was ready, and started His work.
Christian Fasting by Becky Vance “As each day went by my past became further away and the pain, guilt and shame had gone away completely.” About three years ago I was talking with some friends from church that had just finished a 40 day fast and I was very impressed and curious as to how it was done. They gave me a copy of a book called" The Fasting Feast." I looked through it and was inspired but didn't have the deep convictions needed to begin one. In May of 2006, I had moved to a point of in my life of rebellion against God and my own value system. I met a man that was not a Christian and fell knee deep into trouble. I began drinking like a fish and finally became pregnant. There was so much guilt and shame that I stopped going to church. Along with what I already felt about myself I didn't want to be accused of being a hypocrite. By December I was in such a depressive state and I just couldn't snap out of it. I had a miscarriage in August that almost took my life, and by December I was knee deep in debt from hospital bills that I had no way of paying. Being a single mother of three children on top of everything else really took its toll. I have always been considered a very strong person. I even gave birth to my children at home with no drugs. Things were so bad that I figured it wouldn't hurt to try fasting. I set my mind on three days, but by the third day I decided to go seven days. By the seventh day I was feeling so good that I decided that I would go as long as I could. By the second week I had received a letter in the mail that my hospital bill had been written off. ($6655.00) As each day went by my past became further away and the pain, guilt and shame had gone away completely. There were so many good things happening and so many prayers being answered that I never wanted to eat again. I felt like I was with God and on a completely different plain. I had more patience then I have ever had with my children, was happier then I have ever been in my entire life and I had a clear conscience before God and man. By the time I was through with the fast I had gone 25 days and lost 24 much needed pounds. Today I am on my ninth day of a fast I have been meaning to start for the last year. Finally I have started and set a 40 day goal. I have learned how to listen to my body. By the end of this fast I will have a new outlook on my life that has gone stale because of selfishness. There is no greater satisfaction then when giving up the will to the Lords. I hope that this testimony will touch at least one soul. The most important thing I have learned is that God never gave up on me like, even though I was convinced He had. By surrendering to him through fasting He was able to show me how much love He has for me because I was quiet enough to listen.
Christian Fasting Healed and Changed On The Inside by Caralee “Four days after the crisis, I awoke bursting with mental and physical energy. I felt alert, clean, and thin.” I was open to fasting because I was at my wit’s end with a sinus problem as well as a candida infection. I had a rash on my face with redness and burning. My first fast was three days and I felt better, but afterward lost control and ate everything in sight. The good feeling received from fasting disappeared and the mucus effect returned in full force. A week later I started to fast with greater determination, fasting five days and eating sensibly for seven. On the fourth set of five-day fasts something happened. I had an intense pain in my head with hot and cold flashes and fluid in my ears. Mucus was draining from my sinuses. My tongue was white and my skin pale. My reactions slowed and I felt drugged. Luckily, this only lasted for a day, as the feeling subsided on the second day. Four days after the crisis, I awoke bursting with mental and physical energy. I felt alert, clean, and thin. I could breathe clearly through my nose. My facial rash had cleared. At this stage of the fasting, some of my friends became concerned because of how thin I looked, but to me I felt healthy. Besides, fasting had cleared up my agonizing symptoms. Stupidly, I ate some flour products and sinuses clogged within a day; a frightening reminder of how these foods affected me. I had never seen the effect so clearly. Fasting had given me a clear indication of what I shouldn't eat. A week later I was at a party with my friends and watched their life style; all surface, void of meaning, gossipy, and pettiness. I thought, what am I doing with my life? I'm not happy. I was crying, felt angry, hurt and scared. It was all wrong. I thought it was okay just being the same as them, but now I understood that it was toxic to who I really am. Something is pulling me; I can't stop it. I am being pulled whether I like it or not. My body has been transformed on the inside through fasting. I want pure things and am no longer satisfied with what my life once was. Send your testimonies to ron@freedomyou.com
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detoxification, healing, colon