Yesterday I fasted from food for 30 hours with the majority of my team here in Nicaragua. Miriam, the woman we helped build the house for in Guatemala, prophesied over us on our last night in Panajachel and said we all needed to fast from food and feed on Scripture to prepare for the hard spiritual battle we were about to fight during the coming months on the Race. She said that we needed to discipline ourselves more because we would be coming against a lot of evil soon. Well, when someone gives you a prophesy that involves fasting to fight the forces of evil, you fast. Our team encouraged the other team (Pneuma) to fast as well so they did the fast with us. Alana said every time she would fast in previous months/years, she would read the Word and do worship during the times she would usually be eating.
I decided to follow that so at 6:30AM I woke up, but instead of having a nice cup of coffee, I went down to the rancho, read the Bible in a hammock and spent time with God. I had my iPod playing my favorite worship tunes and read every passage on fasting I could find (there are a lot). After the people who ate were done with breakfast we read our daily devotional “Jesus Calling” and the passage for yesterday completely applied to what I was seeking God’s direction on. I felt like God was yet again, speaking loud and clear to me, instead of me barely making out what He had to say.
I realized something during the fast, though. It’s not that God doesn’t always speak as clearly and as loudly as He does when I fast or when I’m intentionally seeking Him, it’s that we’re so consumed with other idols and distractions such as food, technology, events and friends that we learn to completely tune Him out. That revelation absolutely breaks my heart. The Bible says in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 8, “He humbled you, causing you to hunger to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” When we’re weaker, we need God more and He delights on our dependence of Him. When we’re humbled, we have so much more reverence for God and trust His strength and peace more than usual.
I love food. A lot. I love food a lot. In America, we eat whatever we want, whenever we want. Many different people groups don’t even care about the taste or flavor of the food their eating, but they only eat because they need the nutrients to keep them healthy. Food is not an indulgence at all, but a daily requirement for getting you through the day. I have made food such an idol in my life, and have given it too much power. I mean, I know I’m American, and we’re all like that, but that doesn’t mean it’s the way God intended us to live our lives. Instead of feeding my flesh, I feed my Spirit and I was able to tune in to the Presence of the Lord so much easier when I took away the idol of food. I also believe that when I gave Him that part of my day, he blessed me with knowledge, peace and joy yesterday.
A little later on the Race I want to challenge myself to do a three-day fast and then a one-week fast. If 30 hours without food brought me this much spiritual maturity and joy I can’t imagine what phenomenal things the Lord will reveal to me when I fast three days/a week without food. The day before the fast I was worrying A LOT. Worrying about the future, worrying about people, worrying about my plans. Worrying, worrying, worrying…it’s all I ever do sometimes. But God reminded me of His faithfulness yesterday through this passage. I hope it brings you as much peace as it brought me during my fast:
Luke 12:22-26, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable are you than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
I challenge you, friends and family, to fast. See what the Lord reveals to you…
Me (left), Rachel (middle), and Alana (right) worshiping at sunset during the fast.
