My 40-day fast - initial response

Early in August of this year, the Lord led me to do a 40-day fast.  It would be the Daniel Fast.  For those of you not familiar with the Daniel Fast, it is based on the diet that Daniel ate in the book of Daniel, chapter 10.  

Now the Lord led me on Daniel Fasts in the past, but they were always for 21 days, the length of time that Daniel fasted. 

So when He very clearly spoke to my heart that I was to fast for 40 days this time, I was surprised.  My first reaction was not good.  I actually got upset.  I am ashamed to admit this.  I wish I would have been eager to obey.  But instead, my mind went straight to what I would have to give up.  I was thinking how deprived I would be.  And for 40 whole days!  I was not happy about it, to say the least.  I had been through this before, so I knew the suffering involved in fasting.  And even though the Lord provides grace and enables me to endure the fast, I still don't like it at first!

I think part of my response was due to how previous fasts had gone.  In the past, I always thought the Lord was asking me to fast for something - for a desired result, provision, or outcome.  At one time, I thought I was fasting for a new home, as we needed a place to live.  The new home did not happen.

Each time, I was wrong.  I didn't "get" what I thought He was having me fast for.

The Lord 's intent for my fasts has always been to draw me closer to Himself.  That was the wonderful part.  So you think I would have focused on that instead!

But instead of looking forward to a deeper intimacy with Jesus, all I could think of was what I had to give up!  No coffee!  Dear Lord!

The Daniel Fast is basically the vegan diet.  Now millions of people all over the world live out this diet as a way of life and they may be perfectly content and even healthy.

But I love food!  I love to cook.  I love to eat.  And I especially love my coffee every morning!

So it was going to be a sacrifice.

I already knew I would obey the Lord.  He knew my response before I did.  He knew I would hem and haw at first.  But He also knew that I would say yes to Him after my little fit.

Remember, we can always say "no" to God, as disrespectful as that is.  He has blessed us all with free will.

But He is worthy to be obeyed.  And He never tells us to do anything that He does not enable us to do.  And He always has blessings in mind for us.  Obedience always brings His blessings.

So as much as my flesh went kicking and screaming, I obeyed.  My attitude improved, too.  I was to start the fast the next day.

It involved extra food shopping, as some of the food I was going to be eating I didn't usually buy, like brown rice pasta (whole grains are allowed) and no salt/no sugar peanut butter, to name just a couple.

Then, I went to my iMac and started typing my prayer list!  I expected the Lord to move mountains for me in response to my obedience, and the prayer requests came fast and furious as I typed.  Maybe the Lord would finally answer that prayer - the one I'd been praying for more than five years.  I left no stone unturned!  If I was going to do this thing, I wanted to see some tangible results!

I have more to share with you about this fasting journey.  Today, I simply share with you my initial reaction and first steps.

Stay tuned because I will be sharing with you lessons learned, what God revealed to me during the fast, how my behavior/desires changed, and more!