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TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED CHALLENGE 7/1 THRU 12/30, 2013
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fasting
Topic Started: Dec 10 2005, 12:56 PM (96 Views)
carolr3639
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Heaven Bound
:hint: This is the 3rd time I tried to post this question. Wonder if something is not working right now. I notice that when I started fastging 25 years ago that my weight problem got worse. I think fasting is a good thing but I wonder if it is good for weight loss. What do you think? In Christ, Carol
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ed-gracetoday
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Elder
I am adamant AGAINST for weight loss! I am adamant FOR spiritual purposes! This promises to get hot so I'll let others comment before I prejudice or scare others away. Fasting for weight loss will wreak havoc with weight and metabolism. Unfortunately, Christian ministries are promoting fasting and "different fastings" for the wrong reasons.
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LookingUp
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God's Grace Witness
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I have been fasting every eighth day. I do the fasting as per Isaiah 58. I spend time in prayer and meditation; I give the money I would have spent on food to missions; I beg God for more personal holiness and to show me the areas where I need to mature, to forgive others and to make amends for my shortcomings. While my body is cleansing itself; I try to cleanse myself emotionally, mentally and spiritually, too.

I have found fasting to loose weight doesn't work for me even though I totally enjoy the physical high of long fasts and/or medically supervised fasts. I have found the eighth day or weekly fast to be helpful to dieting because it keeps my stomach shrunk so I feel satisfied with less food and it helps me learn to be satisfied in my Lord. (which is my current primary goal).

LookingUp
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ed-gracetoday
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Elder
Sounds good to me. I know that everyone has opinions. When I fast there is no juice, wine, bullion or coffee. It is water. There is where I differentiate with other fasters. It is all what we define fast as.
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monkey143
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Deacon
I agree with everyone here, in that there are right reasons and wrong reasons but the methods are open to interpretation. I fast every now and again - not always from food - for spiritual reasons, and God always blesses me with a bonus of a little weight loss. I think if you do it too often without regularity you can mess up your metabolism (but if you're on a schedule as Debbie is, your body will learn this as normal and won't get thrown each time you do).

I have an excellent book on fasting (Fasting for Spiritual Discipline by Towns) and he takes you through the different types of fasts (water, liquid, other things, rotation, cleanse) as well as the kinds of fasts (Daniel - the protest a specific wordly event, Ezekiel, Disciple, John the Baptist - longer and avoiding certain things for perhaps life, Esther - to petition for revival, etc.) I believe fasting is giving anything that's not sinful up for a specific time with a heart for God, to focus on Him, others, and personal spiritual growth instead of that item. I think it is a good thing.
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LookingUp
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I agree with your interpretation that we can fast things. I know people who have given up large quantities of television to "fast" that time to prayer or good works. I knew a lady who would sometimes fast a new dress she'd planned for to give to the poor. Lots of way we can fast.

When I fast, I water only fast - bottled water. Although when I was medically fasted, it was on fresh, homemade juices four times daily with one, small, solid and wholesome meal a week. I am considering adding fresh juice fasting one day a week because it's a good way to get raw vitamins, enzymes and nutrition in my body - I think of that more as a health benefit for my physical issues; however, I could do that as to the Lord, eh?

I have a couple dozen books on fasting from secular, Natural Hygiene, and Christian perspective. I just reread my favorite Christian book on fasting, "A Hunger for God" by John Piper. I recently discovered you can read it online for free at http://www.desiringgod.org/library/onlineb..._index.html#hfg

(Please remove that link if it's not okay to post links. I couldn't find the board rules and/or posting guidelines.)

LookingUp
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ed-gracetoday
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Elder
Links of interest are welcomed!
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