The Physical and Spiritual of Fasting

 
 

When you honor and worship God by presenting your body as a living sacrifice through fasting, you too will know His assignments for your life. ~Jentezen Franklin, Fasting

There is so much written about the physical and spiritual components of fasting that I find it impossible to fit it all into a single post. Nor, am I an expert. So today, I want to share a couple of links to give you more information about the physical and spiritual part of fasting.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO FAST, read these.

Campus Crusade:

How to Prepare Yourself Spiritually and Physically

What Physical Effects to Expect

Quick Tips by Jentezen Franklin

Tomorrow stop in for a a Fasting guide prepared by Rosheeda. Ro and I, will be leading us through next week's fast. 

It's almost time.

Just imagine in a weeks time the answers to our questions we might have, the miracles, to close sweetness of dwelling with the Most High. 

Just imagine. Be blessed, Lynn

Preparing for a Fast

 
 

Some of our preparations for our week of fasting January 2-8 have already begun. We have talked about the kinds of fasts and I pray you have sensed what God is asking of you. We have written out our goals and praises to pray with next week. But, what more is there to do to prepare for a fast.

Today I want to share a story with you from the word of God. It's about emptying…

Jesus Questioned About Fasting Mark 20: 18-22

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them.

20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.

22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

In his book, Fasting, Jentezen Franklin, says, “Fasting is what prepares you for a new anointing. God can’t put that kind of wine in old skins. If you want new wine, new miracles, new closeness, new intimacy with Him, then it’s time to call a fast and shed that old skin for the new.”

It’s about emptying….

I don’t think I have understood this passage before now. Have you heard the saying, “If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got.”

Well, duh!

It’s time to do something different, something God speaks of a great deal throughout His Word. It’s time to cast of the old wineskins, do something new, and then EXPECT, the new anointing. The miracles, the closeness, to expect Jesus to show up and astound us.

So prepare for this fasting. Reach for your Bible in the morning: Read this passage in Mark, then Read Isaiah 58.

Also read: How to Make Your Spiritual Experience the Best It Can Be. by Campus Crusade.

Today I have a question. Do you believe that fasting is offering our body as a living sacrifice?

Be blessed, Lynn

Fasting: Opening the Door to a Deeper, More Intimate, More Powerful Relationship with God By Jentezen Franklin

 

What is Your Top Ten for 2011

 
 

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Fasting prepares you for a fresh anointing. ~ Jentezen Franklin

Let's do some serious things for God in 2011? Let's crash through our walls of Jericho and bring the surrender of those strongholds.

Let us also bring before the Lord our priorities, hopes and dreams as we know them today. Through this process we will bring into clear focus those areas in our life that we are seeking God's hand, His wisdom and His power.

Top Ten for 2011 (PDF)

The form above is a simple list to get our mind, heart and prayers circling around the new year. I am asking you to consider several areas in your life, bring them to God in prayer, ask for his wisdom and provision over these areas and to lead you to their completion.

For example on my list I have written:

• Deepen my prayer life through fasting.
• Speak to audiences at least 10 times in 2011.
• My husband's Holy Spirit conversion.
• Seek God's next assignment for my writing.
• Work harder than I ever have to get our message, Winning Him Without Words, into the hands of those who need the hope of Christ in their marriage.

Okay, these are a few of my hopes, dreams, goals.

Then I'm going to write down my praises and thanksgiving for the answers to prayer I have received. A least 10.

Now I am going to bring my list every day throughout our fasting to the Lord. Asking Him to confirm or remove any of these. To supply His wisdom as to how I am to follow Him toward these goals. To ask Him for accountability.

Dineen and I want to be your partner in this with you throughout 2011. We have prayed about how to be your accountability partner to acheiving your Top Ten. If you want someone to pray over your hopes and dreams. Someone to share your joy in answered prayer. Someone to check on your progress and to see you though the next 12 months, then consider us.

Make a copy of your completed Top Ten of 2011 and then mail it to me.

Lynn Donovan

43952 Barletta St.

Temecula, CA 92592

We plan to follow up with you several times throughout the year. Okay, start dreaming. God gave us dreams and they are for His purposes and glory.

Right now, share with me one of Your Top 10 for 2011 in the comments. Don't be shy. I will be taking your top Ten with me in my prayer time this week and next. So, don't worry if it's right or wrong or that someone will judge you. You write your one Top Ten down and let Jesus see it proclaimed publically. Be blessed and I can't wait to dream with you, Lynn

See you tomorrow for Fasting Preperation. Be Blessed, Lynn

A Snickers Bar..... or God

 
 

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Are you willing to forgo a Snicker's bar in the afternoon to over come a recurring sin in your life?

-----

So what is fasting? It's the humbling of ourselves to draw closer to God.

Fasting must be coupled with prayer and reading of God's word. This three cord approach is what releases God's supernatural power into our life. Without all three, fasting is just dieting.

Fasting is NOT:

• A tool for weightloss.
• An attempt to arm twist God into our way of thinking.
• Advisable for those with medical conditions that are complicated from fasting.

True fasting is giving of our basic human nature completely over to the Lord. To allow Him to fill us up spiritually as we empty physically.

There are many ways to fast. You can fast from television. Or give up one meal a day. Or like, Daniel, fast certain foods. The Biblical fasts include fasting from food for one, three, ten, 21, and 40 day fasts.

In his book, Fasting, Jentezen Franklin, describes the types of fasts:

• Absolute Fast: Food and water fast. For only a limited time and under medical consultation.
• Normal Fast: No food, clear liquids, lots of water, 1 gal purified the first day, broth and juice when necessary.
• Partial Fast: The Daniel fast was vegatables and water.

If you have never fasted before, I would suggest trying out a one day fast. Forgo food from dawn to dusk. After sunset you join the family for a modest evening meal. This was the first kind of fast I participated in. It was amazing. This was the type of fasting I did during our annual fast last January.

This year I hear the Lord calling all of us that are able, to fast from food for seven days. I have prayed about how and what to pray for and the Lord is so good. He has given, Rosheeda, who will lead our fast next week, and me some general topics which to pray through.

Why do this corporately? We all are living in some difficult and challenging circumstances. When we pray and FAST together we bring down the power of God. We will also bring God into our planning for 2011.

So tomorrow we will cover the Top Ten of 2011 and what that is and looks like and why you want to be part of it.

Okay today, if you are feeling that excitement build, leave "I'm In" in the comments again. Also share any experiences you have had during a time of fasting. Your experiences can help others to be ready.

Additionally, I discovered some excellent information about the details of fasting on the Campus Crusade website. Take a look:

Why You Should Fast 

How to Fast Safely

How Long and What Type of Fast

Stop in Tomorrow for the Top Ten 2011

Be blessed, Lynn

Are You Going to Dream Big in 2011?

 
 

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Do you really believe God? Do you read this passage and think this promise is for somebody else?That God really doesn’t care about what you desire deep in your heart?

I’m here to tell you that we can believe this simple passage with full confidence.

Now read further:

Psalm 37:5-9 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

What do you want in 2011?

Do you have big dreams or are you looking to move out of survival mode?

Would you like to know what God wants for you in the year ahead? I know that's what I want.

What is the key to this passage? Look at the first sentence. Delight.

Delight in the Lord!

Definition: *To take great pleasure or joy. *To give great pleasure or joy.

So HOW do we delight in the Lord?

Well it really is quite simple. It's through our worship, prayers and fasting.

On January 2nd, we will join together as a community of believers here at Spiritually Unequal Marriage. We will fast together, pray together, worship together. Our only purpose is to seek to delight in the Lord. But I’m certain if you dare to walk this week with Jesus you will not only find delight, but you will also find:

• Your spirit becomes uncluttered by the things of this world and amazingly sensitive to the things of God when you fast.
• Fasting brings one into a deeper, more intimate and powerful relationship with the Lord.
• Addictions will be broken.
• Marriages will be redeemed.
• Salvation and redemption of lives of our husbands, children will be set in motion.
• Ministries will be raised.

You will hear from the Lord in such a way it will astound you.

So start today to ask the Lord about your first week in January. Ask Him about your 2011. Ask Him what kind of fast and how long to fast. Ask Him. He is beyond ecstatic that you would seek Him through prayer and FASTING. He has been waiting a long time to give you so much that only comes through the humbling intimacy of a fast.

Now, don’t panic if you think you can’t fast. There are different ways to fast and you can see a list here on our site tomorrow. Do any of you know the different Biblical fasts? Add them in the comments.

If you just read this post and you feel anxious, excited, scared and your heart is beating faster, I think God is tapping you on the shoulder. If I can do this…. So can you.

Wednesday we are going to also talk about how to seek God’s will for your 2011? Do you want to do His perfect will in your life. Are you tired of making the mistakes? Let’s do this together. The Top Ten Exercise is a small mentoring effort that Dineen and I are working up right now to help you through to see God’s will fulfilled in your life in 2011. We can’t wait to share it with you on Wednesday.

Monday – Pray ask God about fasting.

Tuesday – Ask God what kind of fast and how long to fast.

Wednesday – Top Ten Mentoring Exercise for 2011

Thursday – Fasting preparation.

Friday – How to fast. The physical part of fasting. The spiritual part of fasting.

Saturday – The fasting guide will be ready for you to use daily.

Sunday – Leaning into God and the start of our seven day fast.

If you are excited, if you want more of the Lord in 2011. Sign up now. Leave a comment, “I’m in.” God sees your commitment and He will prepare for the blessings and discovery ahead.

BIG hugs with tons of enthusiasm, Lynn

There Once Was a Man Who Didn't Believe in God

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays, like Christmas. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.

One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused.

"That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left, and he stayed home.

A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet.

When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.

The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.

The geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. He went into the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up, and made a breadcrumbs trail leading to the barn, but they still didn't catch on.

Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.

"Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human.

"If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.

Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn - and one by one the other geese followed it to safety!

He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind:

"If only I were a goose, then I could save them!"

Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"

Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese - blind, lost, and perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized!

As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come.

Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer:

"Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"

~Author Unknown

 

Your Teen and Christmas

It's pouring rain outside. 

I sit at my computer peeking at Facebook and see a post from my friend Pam Farrell.

The video starts. I call to my teen daughter, "Caitie, you are going to want to see this."

She strolls into my office.

I move over in my chair, she joins me. 

We watch.

We smile.

We awwww.

We "get" it.

 

 

Merry Christmas from the Donovan Clan

I Need to Hear Linus

Do you need a little Christmas?

Need a little Linus?

Visit me at Laced With Grace.

 

 

 

I'm Thankful

It’s two days until Christmas:

I’m thankful our house is clean.

I’m thankful that we had just enough to provide for Christmas.

I’m thankful that we had a tiny bit more to help a few others.

I’m thankful for my Christmas baby, my son Brad, age 28. He shares his birthday with Jesus.

I’m thankful for my husband. He is my hero.

I’m thankful for my teen daughter.

I’m thankful for my little Peanut who is still annoyed with me for tying a Christmas kerchief around his neck.

I’m thankful for everyone who has stopped in here to read and shared a part of themselves with Dineen and me.

I’m thankful for the grace and gift God has given that Dineen and I have a message arriving in February, that is from our heart and covered in prayer, our book Winning Him Without Words.

I’m thankful for Jesus.

I’m thankful and my mind boggles to conceive God would come as a man to save a messed up and needful me.

I'm Thankful! Be blessed, This Season, Lynn

Visit Iris for more Thankful Thursday.

 

(If you are wanting to start 2011 with a close walk with the Lord, to discover God's will and understand His calling on your life in the next year, join us the first week of January for the Top 10 Exercise and a week of fasting. Read more here on Monday, December 27)

Let Us Adore Him

I was on a road trip over the weekend and listened to Third Day's Christmas Offerings (had to use headphones because hubby doesn't care for my music). I know we hear this one song a lot this time of year but maybe it was just time for me to hear it in a new way. Here are the words:

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful
By: John F. Wade

Oh, come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him
Born the king of angels:
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

Highest, most holy,
Light of light eternal,
Born of a virgin,
A mortal he comes;
Son of the Father
Now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God
In the highest:
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

I guess I've always listened to most Christmas songs in terms of the Baby Jesus, but hearing the line "oh come let is adore him" spoke to me this time about the man/God who is our Savior. I felt a call in my spirit to adore my Savior.

If that's the one gift I can give Jesus, then I give it gladly. And not just at Christmas. I want to adore Jesus all year long.

Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Have a wonderful Christmas, my friends!
Praying and believing,
Dineen