(spiritual) Devotion #5

Hi, Everyone.
I've decided to post these devotions on my profile blog. That way, if you miss one or just want to reread them, you'll be able to find them easily.
Today's devotional topic may be new to some, controversial to others, and "old hat" to some. However you feel about the topic, I believe that God will use something in this devotion to speak to you. I look forward to hearing from you.
The following is from my personal journal dated April 13, 2007.

     Today God spoke to me about fasting. I have fasted before...a day, several days, 11 days.
     It was at the end of the 11-day fast that God told me, in answer to my prayer about how to get this weight off, "There is a way." That was NOT what I wanted to hear. I wanted to know the way! I was not a happy Christian camper! Finally, I surrendered. "Okay, Lord," I said, "there is a way. Show me the way."
     Several weeks later, as I was taking a bath, the Lord popped a reference into my mind. I love when He does that! I kept repeating over and over, so I wouldn't forget, "Isaiah 35:8, Isaiah 35:8."
     When I got dressed, I went for my Bible and looked up Isaiah 35:8, which says, "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness..." That's when I knew "The Way is holiness." Even though I wasn't sure exactly how that would relate to weight loss, I just knew in my spirit that it was the key. Now, with this journey, with the Lord teaching me, I know it will all become clear.
     I've read about fasting in the Bible and in other books. I know its benefits, both physicially and spiritually. I know about the different fasts that are written about in the Bible. I know that when I fast, I should not draw attention to myself. I know, also, that I must couple fasting and prayer, for maximum benefit.
     The Lord led me to Isaiah 58:6, "Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke?" I've read that verse before, I've thought of it in relation to fasting and prayer, but always as in the breaking of bondage in other people. Today, however, God showed me that fasting once a week will help my bondage to food be broken, my yoke of self-loathing loosed, and true freedom realized. When that hit me in my spirit, for the first time in a LONG time, I can honestly say that I feel hope springing up within me, and it feels SO WONDERFUL! I am overwhelmed with gratitude to my Father, the Giver of all good gifts, for this gift of hope.
     I was reminded of Daniel, so I went to the Book of Daniel and looked for passages about when he fasted. I found Daniel 9:3-5, "So I [Daniel] gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, 'Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and loving kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.'"
     Those verses in Daniel 9:3-5 show me that when I fast, I must incorporate prayer, fasting, and confessing of sin. It is an overall heart attitude of seeking the Lord earnestly. I will be able to fast in a way that pleases God ONLY if I crave Him and His Word.
     The Lord told me that when I am tempted to eat at a time when I am not truly hungry, I can open His Word, feast on Him, and He has promised to fill me up and give me a way out of that temptation.
     Today I had lunch with my friends, Connie and Debra. It was my day to eat 1/2 of what I would normally eat, and it was so wonderful and freeing to eat 1/2, be satisfied with that 1/2, and take the other 1/2 home. When Debra talked about her instantaneous deliverance from addiction to cigarettes, I wanted to say that God has delivered me from addiction to food, but I was afraid that it was just "my" thought, not from God, that the motivation would be to draw attention to myself, and that if I said it, it wouldn't be true or it would "jinx" this whole thing.
     I went to God in prayer over that. He showed me that Satan was behind all those thoughts, and He reminded me to "take every thought captive to the mind of Christ." I talked to the Lord about what I will do, what I will say, when people start to notice that I'm losing weight. It came to me so clearly, that I will say (and mean it), "By the mercy of God, for the glory of God." If I write a book someday, that is what the title will be.

Today, ask the Lord if He would have you incorporate fasting in your life. If so, ask Him what kind of fast would be good for you. (One of the hardest and most rewarding fast times for me was a one-week fast from all technology. After the first antsy day, I was able to get quiet before the Father. But that's another story.)

Blessings,
Mary