The Adventure Begins – Shades of Grace | Natalie Nichols- Shades of Grace | Natalie Nichols
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Jan 5th 20 Posted by Natalie Nichols in Fasting

The Adventure Begins

The Adventure Begins

The adventure begins! Today is the first day of Pursuit 21! We’re about to experience God in a powerful way as we give Him the first of our year through prayer and fasting.

If you’re on this twenty-one day journey of pursuing Jesus through fasting and prayer, you’ve set yourself up to experience Him in a new, fresh way. These three weeks are going to rock your world for months and years to come!

Fasting is a principle that God intended for us to enjoy. It’s not a punishment; it’s a privilege!


By making fasting a way of life, you will get closer to God and grow in your spiritual walk like never before.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

There is no better way to launch the new year, or this new decade, than with a Biblical fast. Just as beginning our day with prayer sets the course for the rest of the day and affects anything that might happen, so beginning the year with a fast affects our inner relationship with God and sets the course for the rest of the year.

If This is Your First Time Fasting

If this is your first time fasting, you may be concerned about surviving it. Don’t worry about how you’re going to keep your fast. As you commit by faith to pursue God through fasting, and as you spend time with Him in prayer each day, He will supply the strength you need. He will give you the grace required every moment of your fast.

And second, be assured of this: God is going to bless your season of fasting and prayer. He promises to fill those who hunger and thirst for Him! (Matthew 5:6) He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

What To Expect

The first few days may be physically challenging as your appetite and body adjust. If so, hang in there! You’ll get through it! And you’ll quickly discover that what you gain spiritually makes the sacrifice more than worth it!

Besides, the struggle is accomplishing something good—it’s showing you what bottom-line desires have been controlling you!

So be encouraged… and remember, fasting often becomes much easier after the first few days.

Experiencing God in Prayer

Fasting is a continual prayer. It’s body-talk expressing your heart hunger to God.

When I’m fasting, every time my stomach growls or I want to stress-eat, I tell God, “I want You more!” That little phrase, as simple as it is, is is a prayer. So all day long as we fast, we are experiencing God in prayer.

More important than our talking to God, as we fast He is continually talking to us. And because we’re silencing our appetites and other voices through fasting, we’re able to hear Him more clearly!

So in summary:

  1. You’re launching this new year and the new decade the best way you possibly could—with the privilege of fasting. God fills those who hunger for Him!
  2. Don’t be surprised by the challenge the first few days. Persevere and know that your bottom line desires are being revealed.
  3. Don’t worry if you feel too bad the first few days to pray intensely. Fasting is a continual prayer; it’s body-talk expressing your heart hunger to God.
  4. Brace yourself, you’re about to experience the indescribable reward of fasting!

Fasting is a blast!! It is! And it has many rewards! In the fasting articles to come you’ll discover the Biblical reasons why this is so!

As we begin, I want to help you get off to a good start. So below are a few helpful tips and reminders.

Prepare In Order to Be Successful and Reap the Reward

How you prepare for the fast affects the success of it. I encourage you to take a few moments to read the following articles and prayerfully consider the items listed.

Properly preparing not only helps you keep your fast successfully, it lays the groundwork for what you want God to accomplish through your fast.

1. Write It Down: What a Difference a Piece of Paper Makes

As you begin your fast, it will be helpful if you write these four things down. Doing so will help you focus your prayers and be successful in keeping your fast.

2. How Should I Prepare for a Fast?

This article lists six steps to preparing for a fast. These include Approaching Your Fast with a Positive Attitude of Faith … Determining Your Motives … Determine Your Objective … and more.

3. Are You Ready to Begin Your Fast?

It’s important that you prepare your spirit and prepare your body as you launch your fast. This article gives the specific steps involved in preparing each.

4. Five Essential Questions as You Begin

As we begin, it’s vital that we approach our fast with the right heart—with the right motives and the right leading. Otherwise all the effort could be wasted! If we don’t begin by letting the Spirit examine our heart, our fast might originate with and be conducted by the flesh … and the flesh profits nothing! (John 6:63)

Arthur Wallis shares five questions to ask yourself as you begin your fast.

5. Set Your Mind

It’s important that you set your mind regarding a few key aspects of your fast. Your mind is the battlefield on which the fight of this fast is won or lost. So it’s important that you make a few vital determinations in advance—determinations that will prepare you and equip you to win the battle. Make up your mind and be determined about these seven things.

Helpful Information

I hope you feel at home on the Shades of Grace website for the next 21 days (and beyond).  Please feel free to post comments, ask questions, submit further prayer requests and share updates about your fasting experiences and answered prayers.

Since this website is your Pursuit 21 home, I would like to take a moment to give you a tour and make sure you know where to find the pages and links you may need.

Subscription

During Pursuit 21, I will be sharing new articles and highlighting the wealth of content in the fasting archives. You might also like to subscribe to receive blog posts via email.

Fasting Contract

It is important that you make a list of your causes for fasting (feel free to utilize the Pursuit 21 Contract). Keep it with you throughout the day as you fast. In the first few days, as your body adjusts to the fast, you may not feel like praying. You may feel lousy. That’s when you pull out your list of reasons for fasting and lay it before the Lord. This is your hit list! Keep it handy and pray over it frequently.

Twitter and Facebook 

Throughout the day each day, I will be posting on social media inspiring quotes and scriptures pertaining to prayer and fasting—as well as links to some of the articles from the fasting archives. You might like to join me there on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Your Fasting Testimony

Please feel free to share your fasting testimony with us at any point in the fast.

Anything God does is testimony-worthy! Although dramatic accounts are wonderful, they’re not the only kind that demonstrate God’s goodness and faithfulness. Anything God does in your life—large or small—is worth telling others about and expressing praise and thanks to God!

During your fast, you may hear God voice more clearly… or sense His presence more strongly … or gain increased hunger to be with Him in prayer. … You may be convicted of sins and areas of compromise, prompting you to stop sinning. … Or God may give you timely encouragement and direction through scripture. … You may experience His sustaining power—enabling you to persevere and keep your fast. … You may learn what bottom line desires have been controlling you. … Or, though answers to prayer and fasting often come after the fast, God may give you a miraculous answer before the three weeks are even over.

Whatever God does, take a moment to share your story. Your comments will encourage us greatly—and they will put God’s goodness and faithfulness on display to others!

Your testimony may also also encourage someone to enter a Christian fast and take their prayer to a higher level!

If You Have An Illness

Fasting with an illness can be challenging, but not impossible. There are healthy, safe ways one can fast, even with an illness. Having had a chronic illness my entire adult life, I’ve experienced first hand the ways one can safely fast with an illness.

If you have any health issues, I highly recommend that you read Fasting With an Illness: Safe Ways to Fast.

Let the Adventure Begin!

It’s finally here! Let’s let go of bottom line desires, abstain from anything that hinders prayer, seek God’s face, worship Him, dive into His word, listen to His voice—and experience Him in amazing ways the next twenty-one days!

Questions:

  • Is this your first time fasting?
  • How are you feeling about your fast? Are you worried you’ll fail? Or are you expecting God to give you the grace to keep your fast?
  • Are you excited about your fast? Perhaps like me, you’re not looking forward to the adjustment period here in the beginning. But are you looking forward to the spiritual benefits—the ways you’ll get to experience God during these three weeks of seeking Him?
  • Have you given careful prayer and consideration to your preparation? 
  • Will you be alert and attentive to what God does during your fast? To ways that He changes you internally and draws you closer to Himself? Will you share what God has done in your life during this season?

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES

HELPFUL LINKS

 


 

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, Shades of Grace will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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