At the end of Malawi I fasted for one day, asking the Lord for some peace and clarity in some things. While He gave me that peace and clarity that day, He also left me with a challenge. He asked me to be praying about a one week fast so that I could hear more from Him. So I wasn’t really sure what that looked like or when that would happen but I knew it was something I needed to do. I’ve never fasted for more than a day before so at first I was like WHAAAT?! Jesus, are You sure you know who You’re talking to right now? But I knew it was what the Lord wanted for me and while I was feeling nervous about it I was also excited because I knew God wanted to talk to me about some things but my mind had been so distracted with other things it was really hard for me to hear from the Him and just sit with Him.
I was praying about this fast for a while, asking the Lord to prepare me and asking Him even when this fast would be. And about a month went by and I still didn’t have an answer as to when He wanted me to do this fast. But as soon as I got to Zimbabwe God told me, you’re going to do this fast during your third week here. So I said, alright Jesus, let’s do this!
God asked me to fast food for a week so that I could spend my time indulging in the Father rather than in food because, let’s be honest, Collins really loves food y’all and sometimes I just eat when I’m stressed instead of taking things to the Father and that needs to not be a thing. So He’s asked me to give up food so that my body can be fed by the Holy Spirit rather than by earthly and fleshly desires.
So as I was continuing to prepare myself for this, fasting from food for one week, God said, “Hey Coll, why don’t you give up makeup too?” I was like, okay, we’re adding things to this fast, it’s not going to be just food. God asked me to fast makeup because He wanted me to learn more about how He sees me rather than others. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with wearing makeup but when you get caught up with your flesh and what other people think of you, that’s where it can become an issue. But the Father wanted to remind me of the beauty and security that I can find in my Heavenly Father.
At this point of my fasting prep, God has asked me to fast from food and makeup… It wasn’t until the day before my fast that I realized He was asking me to give up wifi as well. At first, I wasn’t sure if that was something the Lord was asking me to do or if it was just me thinking hmmmm what else can I add to this fast? But then He showed me that it was definitely something that He was asking me to do. I realized that I sometimes take things to my family back home before I take them to the Father and that’s not healthy. While I am forever grateful for my family and their support, I need to really work on seeking the Father first in all things! I love my family so much and God has really blessed me with such a wonderful godly family and I am forever grateful that I have them to turn to. But God asks us to seek Him first, not our family, not our friends, not anything else. SEEK HIM FIRST! So by giving up wifi I literally had nowhere else to turn, it was just me and Jesus for a week!
Throughout my fast I was asking the Lord to grow me more in faith and trust in Him. I was asking that He would help me to focus and that He would give me strength and energy during the week and He just continued to blow my mind each day!
On Tuesday, the Lord told me that this fast should bring me joy and happiness and at first I was like ummmmm Abba, this is going to be so hard! But one thing I’ve been asking Him to grow me in is my trust in Him so that kind of turned around and slapped me in the face. Like, Collins why are you doubting your Heavenly Father, and that’s when I decided I needed to let all of my worries and struggles GO! Just let them go and hand them over to the Father and fully trust in Him. And He’s still working on me with that. I asked Him to give me the strength and wisdom to trust in Him with all things! My heart knows that He’s got me in His arms but my spirit is at war with my flesh. Each day I was asking God to just SHUT THAT DOWN! He kind of chuckled at me and said, my daughter, look at this fast as a Father Daughter Dance with me. Trust in me to guide your steps, enjoy this time in My arms, laugh, just have fun with Me! So basically I just started to cry when He said that to me because it just became so clear to me then what He wanted for me this week. I’m so grateful that He asked me to do this fast and spend this time with Him!
I was also asking the Lord to teach me how to focus more so this week I was talking with Him through writing in my journal and I’ve written 30 pages in the past 5 days, that’s like more than I have written on the entire race! So He revealed to me that I can stay focused in my conversations with Him if I just write to Him. So that’s such a blessing!
Asking the Lord for strength and energy was something I did daily, all throughout the day. Every morning I would wake up and I felt exhausted but as soon as I took it to the Father and asked Him for strength, He filled me right up! Everyday He gave me energy and joy to conquer the day! I had a bad headache one day and I just took it to the Lord and that instant He took it away from me and even gave me a solid hour of rest! First of all, naps on the race are not a thing, and HE HEALED MY HEADACHE ON THE SPOT AND GAVE ME REST!
I’ve asked the Lord to grow my faith and trust in Him this week so that I can fully rely on Him. And just the fact that He healed my headache like that, with me simply asking Him, I see that He is strengthening me in my walk, my faith, and trust. God has been so so good to me! While parts of this fast may have been tough, God provided for me the whole time. Each day He gave me strength and energy! He literally carried me through each day! Just like a Father holds his daughter and carries her though a Father Daughter Dance, my Heavenly Father carried me.
