May 1, 2024

It took me quite a bit of practice to’master’ the principles of fasting and prayer. I had heard many stories about how people had the most wonderful time with God during fasting, and I wanted to experience that too! The first time I fasted, I sacrificed my social media and television. That went well, but I couldn’t say that I saw God’s presence or breakthroughs. I read up on fasting and prayer, and also discovered that true Biblical fasting means depriving yourself of food. In our modern world, we have put our own spin on it by also adding social media fasting. But let’s be honest, during the time that Jesus physically walked the earth, He did not have a Facebook account that He deactivated for forty days. LOL /*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 30-04-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} Fasting is a command of Jesus I also learned that fasting and praying was not an option but an assignment. Jesus assumes in Matthew 6:16, that we simply do that. He does not say here ‘if perhaps you are fasting’, but He clearly says ‘when you fast’, so He assumes that every Christian will do this. I really wanted to fast, but I just couldn’t do it. One time I lasted three days, but I didn’t pray, so it was more like a hunger strike. Then I gave up because of a headache. Another time it worked for five days, but again I didn’t take the extra time to seek God, and eventually I fell for the lie that it wouldn’t do anything and I gave up, and the only thing I experienced was frustration.  I didn’t understand it, but I was determined to try again. The following times I ‘failed’ because of attacks from the enemy, for which I was completely unprepared. The auxiliaries arrived! This had to be different! At the end of 2023, I saw a call from a large ministry here in the Netherlands, Frontrunners. They went to fast for twenty-one days in early January, and anyone who wanted to participate could join via a Whatsapp-group. I wouldn’t let myself be told that twice! Twenty-one days had been a goal for me all along, and I really liked the principle of giving the first twenty-one days of the new year to God. I registered and also received forms with some explanations and tools. This helped me enormously as extra support. In the end, almost seven hundred people joined the group, so that was very encouraging! Every day, the ministry posted a beautiful Bible verse or reflection. It helped me a lot to kind of know not to do it alone. I thought it was a little bit scary not to eat anything for twenty-one days, so I asked God for advice. After this I got on my heart to eat one meal a day, and that was dinner, after six p.m. Those meals were very frugal. I would only eat some vegetables and a lean piece of meat or fish. I didn’t take anything else during the day, just water, lemonade or tea. Not only that, but I had also prepared well in advance. I prayed, asked and thanked God for His guidance and His strength. Something I had not done before. Previously I stepped into it with both legs at the same time on my own judgment, and without first offering it up in prayer. But, this time I did things differently, and it worked! For the first time, I lasted twenty-one days! Halleluja! Cheese! The scheming seducer I have had a few slip-ups where I couldn’t control myself and had a few slices of cheese or a rice waffle. The enemy immediately accused me, and tried to get me to give up now that I had made a slip. But, I had mercy on myself. Said: “sorry Lord, this was a shame, I’ll just move on.” And then I just picked it up again.  The enemy wants us to fall and give up, but even though we may fall, you just get back up and keep going (Proverbs 24:15). God sees your heart, and He also knows that we are not perfect. He is already very pleased that we want to respond to his order. God is with you I did not notice much in terms of God’s presence or breakthroughs during the first eight days. Now that’s really not necessary; I’ve learned that too. I waited in the void for lightning bolts, landslides or angels from heaven, what a bummer. LOL Although with God everything is possible, the intention must be above all because we want to come humbly before God, and God will always respond to this. This does not necessarily have to be immediately during your fasting. Breakthroughs or answers can also come later. It is also not about whether we ‘feel’ God’s presence, He is with us anyway. I had missed the point the other times with that. Fasting also a great way to learn to crucify our flesh. Be prepared for the fight of your life against your flesh. It can be challenging quite a bit at first. You have always been at the service of your flesh, when it shouted, “Feed me!!!” you immediately jumped up to feed it. And now suddenly you demand that it listen to you.  So if you don’t respond now, it will scream louder and louder, and before the first day is over, it will probably scream out, “Help!! Feed me, I’m dying!!” The next day, it will scream even louder, “Feed me; I’m dying a slow death.” It will use all possible weapons to convince you of its impending death. But once you get to day three, you will notice that it is finally going to shut up LOL. This is what it means to die to your flesh; this will make you spiritually stronger, and your connection to God will become much more sensitive. Back to my twenty-one-day