Fasting: The Benefits of a long fast. Both Physical and Spiritual

 

Many books have been written about fasting. In this book, I’ve decided to share with you, my personal testimony of my fasting.

 

Gee, where does a guy start? Actually, what would be my purpose in telling anybody this stuff?

 

 My first fast, which was a 28 day juice only fast, was a journey into the realm of fasting. Since I hadn't been able to ever fast even one day from food… and God knows I tried many of those, this was, to me, a breakthrough into the discipline needed for fasting.

 

I had been thinking of the spiritual benefits of fasting. Say, like a 21 day fast… but even when I would decide to fast, let's say for a few days.. yah, how about a three day fast. Well, immediately the hunger would start! Wow, I'd get hungry as soon as I committed to fasting and need a sandwich or something.

 

A Christian woman I know, stopped at our house one day and told me of a meeting taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It just seemed to perk my interest a little, but then she informed me that it was a women’s meeting. Also, she said that she thought I should attend the meeting. Well, at that time, I’m already in trouble with the wife for my being going with women. The truth is, I had so many sisters that it was comfortable for me to be around women and find things to talk about. You just sort of learn that when you have 7 sisters.

 

Anyway, I asked her what the meeting was all about and the location and time. She said it was sponsored by Gwen Shaw and was called Handmaiden’s of the Lord Camp meeting. As the days passed, it got more into my mind and heart that I should at least stop by the meeting on one of the days.

 

The day I attended, a Saturday, seemed like any normal Saturday. A quiet day, mid summer,  when I was off from work. At that time, I was helping a friend build a house. It was during that time that I had been thinking of fasting, but just couldn’t seem to carry out my plans to do it. Like I said, just think about fasting, and suddenly I was hungry!

 

The preaching that day was from the Book of Ruth, and was some of the best preaching of Christ I had ever heard! How that woman became so gifted with the insight was amazing to me. It was alive and always Christ centered, revealing His position as our Redeemer and Savior. How I Loved listening to it!  And was sad as she began to close, but yet I was thinking that she will give an alter call for those attending who did not yet know Christ and Him Crucified!….. But…. Suddenly, as she was walking before the crowd, she stopped, the spoke to us. “The Holy Spirit has changed my heart this moment,” she said, “I had planned to give an alter call for those who don’t yet know Christ Jesus, but the Holy Spirit as said that many of you don’t have the “power to fast”, and that I’m to give an alter call for those of you in this place who want that “Power from God to fast and pray.”

I tell you the truth, it’s like she was reading inside my heart those moments and telling me just what I was pondering!  There were about 300 women attending that meeting, and I think that every single one of them went forward for her to pray with them. There were only two men attending that meeting, including myself, and I was the only man to go forward to the alter call.

 

As she prayer for the woman, nearly all of them were slain in the Spirit! I mean, when she anointed them with a little oil, they fell to the floor as though dead. I had seen that phenomena  before, and had experienced it myself many times,  but was thinking in my heart that I just didn’t want to fall at God’s feet, but rather wanted to know how the anointing to fast worked. So, I kept my eyes open and watched her as she prayed for the others, and soon she came to me.

 

She dabbed her finger on that little bottle of oil, then made a sign of the cross on my forehead as she said, “Fast, long fasts. Fast until you get everything that GOD has for you!” and she left, praying for someone else. There was incredible presence of God there in those moments, but I kept my focus, on my belly, thinking, “The Kingdom of God is in your belly.” A statement that Jesus  himself had made.

 

Suddenly, from within my belly, I could feel the power of God, that precious anointing, begin to flow out of me, out of my belly and up my body to my head, then down over my entire body. What a wonderful feeling it gave me, as though God ‘s presence itself was inside my body.

 

Well, I worshiped God for a while, then went home. At supper time, I still wasn’t hungry, but yet I ate, because it was that time of day when you usually eat the evening meal. And the same thing happened the next morning, at breakfast. I ate at the regular time. By late afternoon, I went to town to do something, and stopped at the local hamburger place to get a hamburger and fries. Yet, driving home, and eating, I felt like I had already eaten a full meal. In fact, I felt so full, I didn’t want the hamburger and finally just threw it away. I just felt full, and realized that something was happening to me.

 

I remember even talking to the Lord, saying, “wow Lord, it’s like you already gave me my meal and now I’m full. I realize now you really are urging me to fast, so from this moment, I’ll fast. But yet Lord, since I don’t know anything about it, I’ll still drink juices so I don’t damage my body.”

 

As the days went by, and we worked on building that house, I became slightly weaker, and a little slower in my movements. Then my sister Jean invited me to travel with them to Texas and Colorado for a two week trip. Of course, I said yes, and away we went. I told her that I could do some of the cooking, and had a wonderful time of fellowship. On returning, I still had to do work on that house, but soon, by the 28th day of the fast, I was mixing water with the juice to make it weaker. It was just too strong to drink the juice mixed like it came from the bottle plant.

 

But as the 28th day neared, I felt bad for the man that had hired me to build his house. I was getting weaker, and could not really put in a full day. So I decided to end the fast at that time.  Over the next week, I slowly began to eat some solid food. First though, I began to drink the juice full strength, then just a little meat or solid food. All in all, I took nearly three weeks to return to eating like I had been before the fasting.

 

Later, I would learn the value in those days, the pattern of slowly returning to full eating was just as important as the days of fasting, lest you damage your stomach and bowels!

 

About the spiritual significance, hmmmm that first fast, about the only thing I was thinking about, was from the Book of Isaiah 58:5-7            Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?  vs6       Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

vs7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

 

 

to loose the bands of wickedness…   Those words had leapt out of the scripture as I was reading it. In my thinking, those bands of wickedness is what keeps us from accomplishing the things that the Lord planned for our lives and that if those bands of wickedness were broken in our lives, then we should be able to accomplish the Will of the Lord in our lives that God will be Glorified!

 

So for those 28 days, that’s what I thought will be happening in my life and I didn’t worry about it or try to make anything special happen. Just let those bands break Jesus, that’s all I’m asking or thinking about.

 

 

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My second fast, was a 40 day, water only, fast, climaxing in a mission trip at the end of the days of the fast. Thinking back on the fast that did some body cleansing, detoxification, and made me aware of the anointing that is available to us to fast, I began to ponder if indeed, I should endeavor to do a 40 day fast. And of course, I couldn’t seem to get away from the Word of the Lord to me from Gwen Shaw, “Long fast brother, fast until you get everything God has planned for you!”

 

So it’s sticking in the back of my mind daily, like a hound dog on the scent of his prey. Then, one night during my bible school class, Pastor/Prophetess Judy began to teach on the healing ministries of those men alive and dead, who had gone before us. As she taught about the healing power and gifting, she mentioned several of those men whom I’ve heard preach and seen active in healing the sick. She recalled how these men had gotten into their greater anointing at the end of long fasting.. Oral Roberts received his at the end of a 40 day fast, T.L. Osborn, at the end of a long period of fasting, climaxed with a 40 day fast, and many others. As she spoke of those men of renown, I began to weep, the Spirit of the Lord was all over me, convicting me of the call of God on my life and His urging me towards fasting.

 

By the end of that three hour class on healing the sick, I was thoroughly convicted that I should pursue that calling to fast. Because I already knew about the anointing to fast, and how it works, I began to plan out the necessary steps of accomplishing at least one 40 day fast for my life.

 

The next day, I proclaimed my fast. It was in December, nearly Christmas time, 1985. I prayed, setting my heart and mind to accomplish this fast and to reach the 40th day. In the preparation of the fast, I drank only juices for seven days, then entered the fast.  Depending entirely on the Spirit of God to sustain me, and to nurture me in my faith, I also was determined that  since fasting meant “to close the mouth”, that I would do as little talking as possible. Thus I stopped all the phone calls I usually made, and just spent my days reading my bible and doing homework for bible school.  My reasoning for drinking only juices those pre-fast 7 days, was because I knew that the first 4-5 days would be the days needed to break the habit of eating, that we strongly maintain in our modern eating patterns. Once you rule the body, and free it from the habits, then there is only the addictions to food that will prevail in the first two weeks of the fast.

 

Freedom from food addictions comes in stages. The most remarkable are the green vegetables and meats. Wow, if you only know what it’ like to battle the addictions of red meat or green pea’s… but in case you’re wondering how I dealt with it, I’ll explain it so perhaps you will be able to be successful too.

 

When your body is going through the addiction breaking process, it will send pictures to your mind of that particular vegetable or meat. I would have nice pictures of plates of fresh green peas, or green beans in my mind. And I would start thinking of the day when I was going to be ending the fast. “That’s the first thing I’m going to eat,” I would think. “A nice big plate of fresh green peas!”

 

Num 33:55-56            But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.(KJV)

 

 

My Third fast: the one that nearly killed me. Or felt like it.. And caused some physical problems and an operation that fixed my body.. Well, it wasn’t the fasting that nearly killed me, it was what I was drinking! Or rather what I was NOT drinking. On this fast, I started as the others and it went quite well for nearly 4 weeks. Then, something began to feel wrong. By day 33, I felt as though I was in a real battle for life, and couldn’t pinpoint what was really wrong. People were looking at me when I went to church, and asking if everything was okey. Well, of course, I just assumed they were concerned cause I was loosing so much weight, like a pound a day.

 

On day 35, I drove to the Air Force Reserve Base near my home, and put my name down to catch a C130 plane to California. While waiting, some man came in the room who had eaten some Brats or some kind of strong sausage. The smell nauseated me to the max. Soon, my stomach was turning, and I began to feel faint. I began to think that something was wrong, and I shouldn’t take the flight so I went to the lady who was in charge and started to tell her to take me off the roster, that I was not going to fly that day. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor, and some man was telling me to just lay still, that an ambulance had been called.

 

I explained to him that I was ok, but they wouldn’t let me up. Soon, the ambulance guys came and checked me out, and took me to a hospital. In the Emergency room, a nurse came to talk to me, then a doctor, and I explained about my fast. They took some tests, the normal things I suppose, and the doctor left. Soon, the nurse came back and offered me some crackers and orange juice. I explained to her I was fasting, thinking maybe I should just rebuke satan and tell him to get behind me. Then, she looked at me with a serious manner, and asked if the fast was for spiritual significance, and I explained that it was. With a stern, absolute, tone, she said, “Sir, something has gone very wrong with your fast, and now, I command you in Jesus Name, to break the fast and eat this food and drink this juice!”

 

SOOOO, there we are, two people of faith looking at each other…. And I realize the medical truth. As I ate the crackers and drank the juice, she explained the facts to me. I was drinking Distilled water this fast. In the past, I always drank regular tap water or bottled spring water. Distilled water has no electrolytes in it, which your body needs. Since I had gone 35 days already without the electrolytes, my body had begun to “eat itself”. That’s why the strange taste in my mouth these past several days. It’s the taste of the body absorbing it’s own muscles!

 

They gave me a bag os electrolytes straight into my veins, on a slow drip. Maybe it took 1 hour to get into my body. Then, wow, what energy I had, how great I felt. Like a new man again, full of so much energy.

 

I went home, disheartened about not making it to the 40th day. Pondering about what had nearly happened, and thinking how the body works, a mystery, and yet a wonder of creation. I didn’t eat anymore, but I knew that what I had eaten would begin to work in my stomach, waking it from it’s sleep! There’s gonna be a battle tomorrow I remember thinking, knowing that in a few days, all those fingers in your stomach that absorb food would be awake and shouting to be fed!

 

Early in the morning, I began my day in prayer and thanksgiving to the Lord for the Life he’s given to me. Then I decided I should go to the grocery store and find some juices to begin breaking the fast with juices the first few days before any solids. At the store, I thought about Gatorade, a new product in those days, and it was advertised that all the athletes used it for energy. So, without reading it, as I had left my glasses at home, I bought it and went home. There, I proceeded to drink a glass of the juice. That was a BIG mistake. Gatorade has loads of fructose syrup in it. And my stomach was NOT prepared for the load of sugar I was giving it. Of course, it went straight through me, waking up my bowels as well, and soon it was exploding out of me.

 

Now, I’ve had hemorroids for many years, severe ones, and when that bowel movement came, it was with force. So, I wound up back in the hospital in extreme pain. I didn’t know before, but I also had those problems inside as well, and they erupted. So there’s a double quadrant    Hemorrhoidectomy or whatever they call being rebuilt in that place. Anyway, it’s a very expensive operation. But it was successful. Well, that’s easy for me to say now, having gone through it and having your system working better than it had in years. But even during that time of recovery, I had an experience with an angel of mercy. Let me tell you about this.

 

After four days in the hospital, and then given two suppositories to make you have a bowel movement, which my body did NOT want to do, I was sent home. The doctor told me I would have slight discomfort and I was thinking that someone should kick him where it hurts and then tell him, “don’t worry doc, it’s just a slight discomfort.”  That’s the frame of mind I was in going home. And, of course, they had me eat full meals there for those three days of recovery, to make sure my system was full! And they wouldn’t let me leave until I had a bowel movement.. GRRRR that hurt!

 

The next day, of course, there’s that same need, and I was instructed to do it in the bath tub…so I had some painful moments.. Very painful. On returning to my bedroom, the pain was so severe I could hardly walk. It was like all the strength was taken from my legs. I knelt by my desk, holding to it while the pain seared through me. In desperation, I cried out to the Holy Spirit, seeking his help. In a gentle voice, He spoke to me, asking me if I remember the scriptures of when the angels came to Jesus after his 40 days in the wilderness, and how they ministered to him.

 

Well, I had just read that passages of scripture that morning in my daily reading so I told him that I remember it very clear. Matt 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.(KJV) Then, He spoke to me, “Remi, say this to your angel, “Angel of mine, I charge you in the name of Jesus to minister to my body!” So I spoke out loud to my angel exactly what I had been instructed to say. Suddenly, a presence was behind me. Someone was in the room, just behind me! Hands came upon my shoulders, firm and gentle. All the pain and trauma from the operation was drawn out of my body! Glory to GOD, what a relief I felt! Then that presence was gone… and I was alone in the room. I stood up, moving my body to test what had just happened. Sure, there was some soreness from the operation, but it was just some discomfort that would go away as I healed completely, but all that severe pain was totally gone. WOW, talk about being Touched By An Angel!!!!!

 

Over the next week, the healing became complete and my body functions normal now. My study time in the Word of God was enhanced by that episode with my angel, as I realized that we know so little of their duties to us. They are here to be servants to us, the heirs of salvation!