Today is Mountain Lake’s first “Fast & Furious Tuesday, a day dedicated to prayer. and fasting as a family at Mountain Lake.
Why are we doing this?
Scripture regards several instances where God calls his people to cooperate in a fast. Just as God prompted them, we believe we are responding to the Holy Spirit’s prompting now. We know God desires our church to move deeper in our intimacy and in our relationship with Him.
Click here to read one of my previous blog posts for a “why behind the what” when it comes to fasting.
But here, I want to simply take the MYSTERY out of fasting by posting the "dummies guide" to fasting, because I KNOW this is not something MOST of us do all the time!
Thanks to my friends at 12STone Church for some of these:
The idea behind fasting is to simply take our focus off of our physical wants, needs, and desires in order to better focus on our spiritual wants, needs, and desires. It is an intentional way for us to worship God and proclaim our need for Him. Though there are several relevant variations of fasting practiced in our current culture, we are inviting you to participate in a fast where we abstain from food in order to have heightened awareness of our craving for God.
(Please note, if you have any type of eating disorder, do not attempt to fast. If you have any kind of medical condition, please talk to your doctor before participating in this fast.)
Directions for ONE DAY Fasting
(Abstain from solid food for approx. 24 hours)
Choose one of these 3:
A ‘water only’ fast. (drinking only water for the day).
A water plus juice fast for the day.
Some will choose to drink water plus whatever they can get in a blender and through a straw for the day.
Choose one of these noting that ‘water’ (hydrating) is critical in all three. Also, please know that we are not prescribing the choice in liquid. It is entirely up to you, noting that there is no “wrong” or “right” juice or liquid to drink on your fast.
A Sidebar to the Family Cook (often Mom with kids)
All this sounds pretty spiritual if you don’t have kids in the house, if you don’t have to cook and see/smell food and you don’t have to nourish others! Some suggestions offered from moms in similar places:
Prepare meals ahead of time and freeze them, so less cooking needs to be done.
Pray while you’re preparing food for the kids. (and juice for yourself)
For the day of the fast, cut back on social activities for yourself/kids, and plan to have the slower/down time!
Get up early the day of the fast to have quality prayer time, you could also set up a quiet time with the kids off in a ‘special room’ to get some quiet moments to pray the day.
Other Thoughts:
While you are on your fast, consider having a partner to encourage you throughout the day. When meal times come around it can be hard to avoid temptation alone! In addition, be careful not to compare your fasting experience with someone else’s or elevate one kind of fast over another. If you haven’t done so before, try writing in a prayer journal and record your thoughts about your experience. While doing this pay attention to the Holy Spirit, as He often speaks to us in times when our minds and hearts are solely focused on Him. And finally, RELAX! There is no pressure in fasting. You can’t make anything amazing or ‘super spiritual’ happen while fasting! You might very well make it through your 24 hour fast without hearing anything specific from God. That is okay! The expectation is to SEEK God, letting Him know that nothing physical in your life is more important than knowing His love.
Here are some other practical tips and ideas about today's fast. My advice is mainly for those of you that are new to this spiritual practice:
- Biblical passage to read on the subject: Job 23:12; Matthew 6; Luke 4:1-2; Joel 2:1-12; 2 Chronicles 7:14-15; 2 Chronicles 20; Psalm 121
- Make sure you replace food time with spiritual time. If fasting is not combined with prayer and God's Word, we're just dieting! Let's not kid ourselves! What's your plan to pray and listen to God today?
- Decide in advance of today what you want to pray for, and focus on, in your times alone with God.
- Drink lots of water.
- If you're a caffeine-a-holic, you may actually need a SMALL AMOUNT caffeine in the morning to fend off the world's GREATEST headache.
- A small amount of juice at meal times can give you some much needed strength.
- Find someone who's on the journey with us today and schedule a time to meet or chat on the phone. Share with each other what God is teaching you today. End your time together with prayer.
- MAKE SURE you get a notebook or journal and WRITE DOWN anything you sense God may be saying to you. If God speaks to you, it MIGHT be something you want to write down!
Let me know how it's going!



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