The Spiritual Benefits of Fasting - Day 6
Welcome to day 6 of the 21-day fast. Congratulations! You are more than a quarter of the way through.
Today's Topic
The Spiritual Benefits of Fasting
Today we will discuss the spiritual benefit of fasting. Fasting food can be difficult, and you may be asking yourself, after 6 days of fasting, “Why am I doing this?” or “How will fasting benefit me?” After a few days of denying yourself those go-to comfort foods and daily routines of morning coffee or afternoon snacks, you can begin to lose your motivation and inspiration for fasting. Remember your why! What is the underlying reason for your fast? Is it a specific person, or situation? Is it to grow your personal relationship with God? Is it for healing or breakthrough?
At almost a week into your fast, whether it’s a full fast, Daniel Fast, or partial fast, it’s easy to get distracted and discouraged if you don’t see the results you’ve been praying for. Don’t give up now! Lean into this commitment and your rewards will be great! There are spiritual benefits to fasting that you may have not even considered.
Increase
If I could sum it up in one word, it would be “increase.” God wants to bring increase into all areas of your physical and spiritual life. It begins with an increase in intimacy with Him. There is no greater benefit to fasting than getting closer to God. When we fast, all of the things in our life we put before God are revealed. This gives us the opportunity to clean out the “stuff” keeping us from a closer, more meaningful walk with The Lord.
Often, fasting will reveal to us what I like to call placeholders. These are like substitutes for the real thing. It may be in the form of a habit, addiction, material possession or even a person who we gravitate towards for a sense of peace or pleasure in place of the true peace and satisfaction only God can provide. These placeholders give us a false reliance on our flesh, and can even lead to self-destructive behavior.
For instance, I recently felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to fast sugar for thirty days. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew it was something The Lord was leading me to do. Within two weeks, a long-time pain in my knee disappeared. Within 30 days, an arthritic pain in my knuckles was 90% gone. For months I had been praying for God to heal these problems. And He did! But my healing came in a way that showed me a behavior I needed to change.
Time and time again, people have shared stories similar to this. During their fast, they felt God leading them to do unusual things, call someone they had not spoken to in years, ask for a raise, make an unplanned stop, only to realize it was part of God’s plan to provide answers to their prayers! As we fast, we become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and more open to hear and see God at work around us.
As your intimacy with God increases, doors begin to open for physical increase as well. Increase in health and healing, strategies to increase finances, pathways to increase your joy, and so much more. God desires to increase you in both the physical and the spiritual realms of your life.
What about you?
Are you beginning to see God at work around you or through you during this fast? Have you already seen answers to specific prayers, or is God doing some unexpected things? Sign in to respond below.
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