3 Part Fast

Today is Wednesday February 17^th 2010, otherwise know as Ash Wednesday. Today is the day that millions of people all over the work participate in a fast during Lent until Easter on Sunday April 4^th. This year I will be participating in a 3 part fast. I have been praying about a month now, and am feeling pretty confident that this is the fast that God wants me to do this year.

What is a fast? Fasting is where you give something up. But you can’t just give up anything. You need to give up something that you do or use every day, some people give up certain foods, some people may give up gossip. The key is to give something up that you can’t replace with something else. Lets say for example that you give up chocolate. Every time that you crave chocolate, instead of going for the first Hershey bar that you can get your paws on, you change your mindset and pray, ultimately becoming closer to God. So every time you want what you gave up, you think about God, and pray to God in Jesus name, and you become closer to God. That is fasting.

But before I tell you what I am fasting, I would like to tell you what I am hoping to accomplish from this 46 day 3 part fast. I am hoping to become closer to God, and learn to listen to him better, being able to discern if what I am hearing is coming form God or from the Devil. I want to be able to think about God more throughout the day, as well as talk about him more to others. And if it is Gods will I would love by the end of this 45 days to be given the gift of praying in tongues, or praying in the Spirit. Basically I just want to live a more godly life.

For the entire season of Lent part 1 of my 3 part fast, I am giving up caffeine, this includes, coffee, pop, and chocolate. I drink coffee every morning, and diet Pepsi every afternoon, and I am usually eating chocolate throughout the day. I gave these things up for a week about 2 weeks ago, to do a preliminary run, and lets just say that it did not go well. I followed through, and didn’t do caffeine for a week, but the results were disappointing. I quickly realized that giving up just caffeine wasn’t enough.

Part 2 of my 3 part fast will take place the last 21 days of Lent, Sunday March 14^th through Easter. In this phase I will be doing the Daniel Fast. What is the Daniel Fast? I can only eat fruits, vegetables, and nuts, and I can only drink water. My daily diet consists of zero vegetables, 70% carbs, and usually an apple for good measure. Oh, and I drink about a half gallon of milk a day. This is going to be hard, but very much needed. On top of this, I will be ready a 21 day devotion called the Secret of Silence by Bob Kilpatrick. It is a 21 day journey that teaches you how to listen to God when he talks, and requires a lot of prayer.

Part 3 will by far be the most difficult for me. This will take place the last 7 days of lent between Sunday March 28^th and Easter. I am giving up technology. What exactly does this mean? I will be turning off my iPhone and my computer for the whole week. No internet, now Facebook or Twitter, no blogs or podcasts.

So that is what the next 45 days are looking like for me. I have been preparing myself through prayer. It will not be easy, but that is the point. I am really excited to see how God will work in my life over the next 45 days. I will keep you all updated on my progress through hopefully lots of blogs, with the exception of course of the last week.