My Experience Fasting...

Exactly three weeks ago my Church announced a 21 day fast we were all invited to partake in. My decision was a no brainer - I  NEEDED this. I found myself walking down the very familiar road of a Christian that does the usual “going to Church” and “spreading love/positivity”, but felt somewhere deep inside a desire for a cleanse of some sort. I’m glad to report I completed my fast with some life lessons learnt along the way. I hope this post is useful to you and even plants the idea of attempting to fast!

PHYSICAL CLEANSE

I like to think I live a relatively care-free life. I strive to do what I want when I want… but where do I draw the line with this? Something that really jumped out to me during this fasting season was my over consumption of food! For this fast I survived on water alone until the evening (around 6 p.m.) where I would break my fast with a hearty meal. During the day I found myself able to go to work, attend meetings and complete various tasks with very little (physical) energy stored. This was quite a surprising revelation, as I often relied on “the need for energy” as my excuse for hourly snacking.

My use of negative words and exposure to conversation/music with profane language became very apparent to me. I had no idea the words “f**k”, “sh*t” and “b**ch” were such regulars in my vocabulary. Every time I swore I felt really bad inside, the words were literally flying out at a velocity I could not control! They say acknowledgement of an issue is the first step to making a change. I’m hoping with time I can truly address this compulsion and eventually stop swearing.

SPIRITUAL CLEANSE

Ultimately (for me) fasting is a spiritual offertory to God. During the fast, it's very important to stay engaged with God through prayer, listening to Gospel music, reading the Bible, etc. I must admit I didn't always commit as I should have, but it was a very beautiful journey to deny my flesh of its desires, in order to feed/grow my spirit. During this time I had the opportunity to reflect about the good and bad aspects of my past. It was very interesting to receive some revelations about certain situations.

EMOTIONAL CLEANSE

Fasting was also a great opportunity to explore my mind, especially concerning positivity. Whenever I felt down or upset, I felt really sensitive about allowing this to happen. I now realise how much of a spiritual battle it can be to cleave to the light and not pay attention/fall prey to dark thoughts. I feel I have a better understanding of our calling to be vessels of God’s light - being the positive energy for our friends/loved ones and those in our sphere of influence.

Overall, I’m very grateful for this fasting experience. Though I’ve completed this fast, it still feels weird to eat breakfast! I feel I have a much better understanding of the lifestyle I’m called to live. Above all, it was an opportunity to be intimate with Our Father. I really do encourage fasting for all. I believe something as simple as a 1-3 day fast could work wonders!

Stay Blessed

Jen Noir xx