Fasting

When I think of fasting I think of letting go of food for a scheduled amount of hours. Christians do this mostly to get closer to God; it is a type of worship or prayer.I never thought that fasting could be more than just a food fast. In fact there are many types of different fasts. They can range from fasting from a cell phone to fasting from anything and everything that takes your focus off of the Lord. Fasting is made to take your attention away from yourself and the distracting things around you, as a result, full meditation with God.

Fasting is a form of prayer because when most people fast they fast because they are looking for an answer and a longing that God would answer prayer since they are offering something as a sacrifice to Him so that through Him we can be filled and nourished. When people fast they say that they feel a closeness to God,I believe that is because during this moment you are ignoring sin and surrendering yourself fully to Him all your attention that was once on yourself should now be on Him, as you trust Him to provide for you as you are in a moment of weakness. The bible tells us “For your trouble is that your sin has cut you off from God” but maybe through fasting we become full of Him and not necessarily cut off in a short moment?  

Many different things may lead a person to fast. And some might say that they got nothing out of it. That is because there heart is not right or maybe that there focus was not on God but instead on the thought that they are lacking the very thing they are fasting from. But If there happens to be an impact on someone, maybe an answered prayer;I believe there was an impact because that person had faith and focus.If you have an open mind and an opened heart to God, He will have all of Him open to you too.

Fasting

Fasting, in my opinion, is a very beneficial and life giving thing to do in our spiritual lives. It brings us closer to God and removes any distractions we have from getting closer to Him. But, in order to effectively do this, we must have the right posture of heart. We must go into fasting with a willing heart and intentions to sacrifice one certain thing in our lives and fill it up with spending time with God.

Also, many people think that fasting has to be cutting out a meal or anything having to do with food. But this is not necessarily true. Fasting can involve cutting out anything that takes the place of God. For example, my electronics are a huge time waster and distraction for me. Whenever I am in an awkward situation or have spare time (and a lot of the time when I actually am supposed to be doing something else), I revert to using my phone, watching YouTube, or watching TV. But that is precious time that can be spent in fellowship with the Lord. It can be used as a decompression and re-focusing time to spend with God. It helps us to stay "in reality" and keep our minds focused on God. Also, God will show us incredible things and even show us His will during that time sacrificed and dedicated to God. When we are completely focused and in-tune with God, we can hear His calling and the things He deeply desires to share with us. What joy we can find when we encounter and fellowship with our loving God!

                                   Spiritual Disciplines

                              It is important to discipline ourselves in such a way that we spend time getting closer to the Lord. Examples of this are fasting, prayer, Bible reading, and verse memorization.

Hebrews 12:11

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

           Through this type of discipline we can grow to be closer to the Lord and mature through Him. I feel it is important, before delving into these disciplines, to ask the Lord for perseverance through such things. On our own it is not possible to discipline ourselves in such a way, however with the Lord all things can be done and beyond.

Matthew 19:26

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

God bless you!!! :)

Prayer

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”

-Martin Luther

            Throughout this study on prayer I have tried to deepen my relationship with God. However, it has been so difficult to comprehend the beauty that, if I pray with complete faith, God will answer me. “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24. This is one of the verses that I continually have found comfort and assurance in. Even after being a Christian and going to church for over sixteen years, I still can’t fathom how much God cares for me. Even with seven billion people in the world, He hears my prayers. Over the past couple of months I’ve really started to take this into consideration and it has made me want to pray more. I’m finally starting to develop the relationship with God that I so desire because I am starting to comprehend the power of prayer. Without prayer our faith is dead. I don’t ever want my faith to die out. 

The only question is this: How do we start? How do we begin to better our prayer lives? This took a lot of time for me to figure out. In fact I’m still figuring it out. For the longest time I had no idea where to start. I always wanted that closeness with God but I always felt held back and confused. The key is to surrender. There is no set in stone way as to how to pray. Let the Holy Spirit guide you and lead you in what to pray for. 

Marriage

Marriage is such a beautiful thing between two people who are in love and want to last forever with each other. Marriage can also be a sad and hard thing. There are a lot of divorces in this world and separation between two people who once fell in love with each other.  Marriage should last forever; there are ups and downs, and you should always try to work it out. Praying about your marriage and praying for the relationship you are in with your husband is always amazing too.