My first fasting experience

A couple of weeks ago I dove into my first ever fast. And friends, it was so good! Growing up I didn’t know much about fasting and I had never done one. During university I met a friend who shared with me what fasting looked like for her and how powerful it could be. I was interested but didn’t end up fasting at the time. Now fast-forward five years and I have just done my first fast. I love how God works; he sowed the seed of fasting back then at uni but it was only recently that he began putting it on my heart to do a fast. I have been watching church services online and this one particular church shares their news and notices; in the notices they talk about their fasting group. I never took much conscious notice of this, but God was speaking to me. After about 6 weeks of seeing this notice, the topic of fasting was fixed on my mind. God then used a YouTube video of someone sharing their experience of fasting and my family bible study group to help me make a decision.

After seeing and hearing about fasting, I had to look into how I could fast and why God was putting it on my heart. I did a bible plan about fasting on the YouVersion app (linked below) which encouraged me that I didn’t have to only give up food. My health at the moment doesn’t allow for much flexibility with my diet, so I was really excited to know I could give up something else. This led to me really sitting and thinking about what in my life I could give up. Now, I could have given up one food like cookies or something, but I realised that giving that up wouldn’t have impacted my faith much. I then tried to think about what God wanted out of this fast. In my life I was spending too much time on YouTube, Netflix and Prime. I felt God asking was asking me to give him more time and less time to mindless activities like streaming shows. So, I set about to give up all streaming for one week. I made a plan to cut out all streaming and to add in more prayer, more bible study and more time just being with God. I also made a prayer list for my time of fasting, which was really helpful and focusing. I did watch TV but this was only when it was with my whole family and not by myself.

I can truly say it was the best experience. It may not have been always easy but it was worth it. I learnt more about myself, how I fill the void with mindless shows and how I have wasted precious time with God. It showed me that we don't always want to spend time with God but we should, and when we push past that 'I don't feel like it' that is where the good stuff is! I think moving forward it will be a challenge to find a good balance of streaming shows and actually spending a lot of time with God; but I will do my best to not go back to how much time I was streaming shows. In this week I felt closer to God, I felt more connected with him and I also could see how much time I could be spending with God, but I was wasting it on pointless activities. Now, faith is not based on feelings at all but this exercise of sacrifice, of leaning into God's calling and his direction helped me to grow and see God more. I think it so worthwhile, whether you want to be closer to God, you need to re-shift priorities like me or you want answered prayer... fasting is an amazing thing between you and God and it does work.

I made a note each day of how I was feeling and what I was thinking and I wanted to share it here:

Day 1) I decided to start this fast tonight after Bible study. I was feeling convicted to really read, learn, pray and yearn after God. I am committed to doing this!

Day 2) It was actually easier than I thought, and I was finding myself feeling happier already. However, Satan was NOT happy, and he tried to shake me by a conversation with someone. It makes me feel like giving up, but I held fast.

Day 3) It was hard at times; I have become accustom to thinking I need that time to relax. But I realised that time with family watching something was actually nice and bonding but when I watch things alone it doesn’t do anything, and it serves no one. (I watched TV when my family had group time, but I did not choose the programme or watch TV alone).

Day 4) I am loving it; I feel more connected. I am finding myself super into worship again. I am also loving the new podcasts I am finding too. There are so many ways to spend time with God, it is awesome!

Day 5) It was harder today; I totally view Netflix time as rest and time for me to be introverted. This time is helping me learn more about myself and see how I need to spend more time with God and in real rest – not watching stuff. I can see much more clearly and sleep better when I am not so invested in TV or YouTube. God has more space to be with me because I have let him in.

Day 6) I am enjoying this a lot; I am looking forward to being able to catch up on YouTube, but I feel very much that I should reduce how much time I spend on it permanently.

Day 7) This fast has really helped; I feel much closer to God and reignited. I can see how many ways you can spend time with God and that I can implement them into my schedule. I am hoping to keep up with spending more time with God.

This fast although short; was really impactful. It showed me just how much I need more of God in my life. It helped me to see how many different ways you can spend time with God. This fast enabled me to think more, pray more, be still more. Taking away all that visual and audio input of things helped me to see clearer and feel clearer (not everything we watch is inherently bad but it does take up space in our minds that could be better filled with God's words). I felt so much closer to God. This fast has opened my eyes to how powerful fasts are; and I will be doing them again in the future for sure!

I wanted to share this to encourage you with three things: 1) Try out fasting if it is something you have been debating! 2) Think about how much time you spend on pointless tasks like Netflix 3) Listen and look out for different ways that God may be talking to you, in your life.

If you want to know more about my experience check out my YouTube video about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vLwuyno32w&t=7s The link to the bible plan I did about fasting can be found here: http://bible.com/r/3Ff

Getting closer to God is always worth it friends. Give a minute to think about how you could get closer to God… You won’t regret it!

Faithfully, Becky