21-Day Fast - Lessons Learned

Lesson Learned: More God, Less Me

There are many reasons people may choose to fast. Some may fast to lose weight. Others fast for religious traditional reasons at certain times of the year. What I have learned from fasting this year is fasting is to humble oneself before God; to completely surrender in faith and trust to God. In humbling oneself, we are asking God to take over and we are asking God to draw nearer to us. We are asking God to change us. God does not change for us when we fast because God is the same now as He was in the beginning, as He always will be. When we fast, we are changing ourselves in order for Him to work through us and in us. We are seeking our true selves through God. We are saying "Yes" to Him and saying, "More of you Lord and less of me."

If you choose to fast, you can take comfort in knowing that a fast is anything you wish to refrain from for a certain amount of time. You can take a fast of food which is the most common or you can do other fasts...you can fast from television, you can fast from sex, you can fast from smoking, you can fast from anything that you wish the Lord to speak to you about during your fast so that you can receive your breakthrough. It is important to pray while you fast, because like said, it is a surrender...and refraining from anything for any proportionate length of time takes patience and most importantly prayer.

Fasting brings you closer to God, it allows you to remove yourself from what it is that you are fasting from so that God can remove blockages from your life and work miracles for you. Have faith and trust that God wants to work wonderful things for you. He loves you. I have learned this over my previous fast: More God, Less Me.

Sincerely, Drisana (Angelica Carmouche of KBWA)

21-Day Fast Blog Journal: Cravings

Cravings

Lord God in Heaven, I used to crave for physical things, more clothes than I need, more time than I need, more food, more of everything. All these physical cravings consumed my thoughts, my lifestyle, my everyday when I should have been craving more of you. I knew you were always there Lord, at my side and at my back, but I should have been looking for you at my front to guide me. I lost sight of what I was supposed to be doing. I was walking without a plan; had too many clothes, too little time and money management and too much food consumption. I had only to rely on you for a plan instead of relying only on me.

Over consumption of anything will lead to a loss of something with whatever I do. Spending too much leads to debt, not managing money and time wisely leads to waste. Allowing food to consume me has led to unhealthy body and an unhealthy spirit life. I don't want my spirit to starve Lord, so I rely on you so that I can resist the temptations and redirect my cravings onto you Lord. Jesus, Lord you were tempted so I know I am not alone. Temptation does not have to come in the form of food; it can be in any form, and produce all kinds of unhealthy cravings. Lead me not into temptation guide me towards your spirit of truth.

Today I sustain a deep craving Lord God; a craving for your spirit and truth. I wish to be consumed by the spiritual cravings of truth and life, not of darkness and death. The life of the righteous is in your hands. Lead me to the cross where I lay my burden down. God be with me. Amen.

Contributed by (KBWA Member Angelica Carmouche) Drisana - http://askdrisana.blogspot.com/

21-Day Fast Blog Journal

Search for a Deeper Meaning

Sometimes when I write or think, I have rambling thoughts and everything comes out jumbled and confused. It is like I am typing on the keyboard and every second or third key that I hit sticks and I have to hit it several times and it ends up like ttttttttttthis. Does life seem like this to you sometimes? That is when I realize that I have to take deep breaths, quiet the noise in my mind and in my heart, and ask God for peace. I have learned over this past week how to truly allow God to take over, to hand over my problems, fears and concerns to God, not to pick those problems back up and try and tell Him what to do with them. In the past couple of weeks of fasting and prayer, I have found a portion of inner peace that has allowed me to truly surrender to God and not fear the future unknown.

Lord God, my life is in your hands. To you I give total surrender and hand over all my worries, fears, doubts, insecurities. I will not pick these problems back up and tell you what to do with them. I will let go, as it well should be with total faith in my surrender to you Lord. Keep guiding me Lord, and draw me closer to you so that I may have strength in the journey.

Amen

Drisana -

Day 5 of a 21-Day Fast

I am grateful to God that I started today out with a prayer. "Lord God, just be with me Jesus." I had no idea how much strength I would gather from those few words in a prayer. I can't express that enough because I have said those words many times today. "Lord God, just be with me Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There is nothing like the name of Jesus."

Oh, it was tough today, really rough. The devil was working all kinds of tricks on my mind and in my heart. But you know it wouldn't be God if the devil wasn't trying to work on me. My birthday is coming up, and a friend of mine wants to take me to lunch. I asked him if he would mind waiting until after 5:00pm and then told him why. "It is a fast from sun up to sun down," I told him. Well, he told me it was just foolishness that he would have to "plan his life around events," and he wasn't going to do it. So I told him "never mind." God, God, God, oh well - something must be coming to revelation that day on my 35th birthday. I will wait and pray on it. The Lord knows I am being true to my commitment.

Keep me in your prayers, this is as I have said a commitment to God and I am dedicated to keeping my word. It has for sure been a conditioning of mind, body and spirit.

Be still and have faith in the Lord whose strength I hold near to my heart.

Drisana - http://askdrisana.blogspot.com/

Angelica's Fast - Day #3

Day 3 has been both a challenge, and an answer to prayer. I honestly did not expect a call to my heart such as this when the Lord spoke to me. Some challenges have been on my heart. With challenges, we feel troubled, and with those troubles I went to the Lord in prayer asking for guidance. I received an answer to this prayer as quickly as my mind thought the request. I was told not only to keep blogging, but I was told to write the past troubles that I had gone through out.

Being an imperfect person, I have been through many different things. My own self-inflicted trials and tribulations to name a few, and have not always actively sought God in my life. Of course I always believed in God, I always believed that Jesus Christ died for me and my sins. Yet I did not fully know what that meant, and in my ignorance, I lived my life for myself not fully having surrendered my life over to God. I believed in God, and yet I lived as if He did not exist. I only went to Him if I saw there was no other way not fully realizing that He is the way.

Lord, I do not wish to live my life as if you were a sidebar to my question mark. I wish to live my life in complete surrender to you God. I wish to live my life in total trust in your truth and your word. God in giving myself over to you, I have complete faith that you will redeem me in what has been lost and I will be found in the protective Glory of your Grace and your Heavenly Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord God, for your mercy, thank you Lord God for all that you have done for me. That my sins have been forgiven by the sacrifice you made with your son Jesus. Thank you Lord God. In your Heavenly name I pray.

Amen

by Drisana - http://askdrisana.blogspot.com/

Fasting Day #2

Day 2 of my 21-day fast has reached midday, and I have not had a single craving for food. I am leaning more on spiritual hunger and a thirst for more of what God has in store for me. Life gets in the way of a lot of things. I have found that when I am not thinking of breaking for lunch or what to snack on next, I am conversing more and more with God.

This challenge is just that - a challenge to discipline myself through prayer and devotion, knowing that the Lord will take care of all things that come my way. This fast, like any other challenge in life, is just one way to show that God has the reign no matter what we may think we are in control of. It is like my Grandmother used to tell me, the best way to make the Lord laugh is to tell him your plans. God has a positive plan for all our lives. I believe that more now than I have ever believed anything in my life. We make what we think are mistakes but God takes our "mistakes" and turns them for His Glory.

Lord, your ways, make known to me. Teach me your paths, guide me in your truths and teach me. For you are my God, my Savior, for you I wait all the day. Psalms 25:4-5

Drisana - I can do all things through the God that strengthens me.

(Angelica D. Carmouche) http://askdrisana.blogspot.com/