I am Done...or am I?

Well this is it. The 40 day fast is complete today at about 8 pm. I find myself a little sad, I have really enjoyed my time with God during these last forty days. It has been intense prayer at times, with scripture easing my feelings, and it has been some hard hitting passages convicting me into a more focused spirituality. Whatever, it has been good for me to do this.

I forgot to mention it earlier that during the 40 I was also reading "Presence Centered Youth Ministry". which really could have been called Presence Centered Life. The book took me back to some very early if not first century practices of the first church. This coupled with the forty days really sent me over the edge spiritually speaking. I wholeheartedly recommend you at least trying a prolonged fast, it has been a HUGE blessing in my life.

So lets break it down; I have roughly estimated lost 45 lbs. I have been able to start the habit of writing in a journal, been able to slow down my bible reading pace to a more digestible speed, and have been ready willing and able to share my experience with others...and so far that has birthed at least 4 people interested in getting off the pew and ignite their spiritual life.

See if this is for you, pray to Lord to guide you and prepare you for what He has is store for you to do............THEN DO IT!

One final thought; starting next week I will fast for one day every week, in the spring....I will hit another 40. It has been that good of a thing for me.

Five Left! The Countdown Begins.

Can I start off by saying...WOW, God is truly amazing and can do some really terrific things in our lives if we just let Him. I can't believe that I have gone 35 days without any food at all, just juice and water. I am stunned about how great I feel and what I can actually do in this state. I find myself to be a bit sad with only 5 days left. My Discipleship partner and I have decided that we will most likely break the fast with some form of Mexican food.

I will tell you this from what we have learned doing these 40 days...I will be fasting on a regular basis and will be instituting it once a week from now on. I have found to be more focused on God things. And as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ....I believe I must set the example and do all I can to be focused on things above and not below.

Day 30

Well it has been right at a month now with only water and juice and all of their variants. The Lord continues to prove faithful. I am looking at only 10 tens left and I feel great. My sleep is great, my energry is great, and my walk is great. I have been able to slowly read through 1st and 2nd Peter, and I have just started the book of Isaiah. I have journaled consistently for the first time in my life. It has been filled with prayer concerns for others as well as some personal things. Some scripture that particulary hits home and a running record of how I have been feeling.

Like I said during my first post, I really can't tell you how much weight I have lost. I can tell you I am on the last notch on my belts and I have been able to hit that part of your closet that we all know we have that has been relegated to "I'll be able to get this stuff back on, there no way I am giving this to Good will" place.

During these last 30 days I have had an increased desire to explore some old spiritual habits that might have gotten a bad rap in the past or for some reason have been deemed Roman Catholic and "we should never do that in the Christian Church" kind of disciplines. But more on this later, as for now I am strong. Please test the Lord to see you too should try and fast.

The Other Half

Day 25. I am Rick's accountability partner. This is a awesome journey. I want sure what to expect from this fast. Just knew that I wanted to have a change in my life. I wanted to show god that I want to make a commitment to him like never before!! Focus on god? Check. I spend much more time in the now. I’ve read Acts, Romans, Proverbs, I Corinthians. Starving Jesus and Red letters. My prayer list has grown and see myself in "other minded" mode. My life is ever changing and can’t wait to see where the next 15 days will take me.

Hungry? Gotta love the juice!

God Bless,

John A. Walker

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15 to Go!

As I have said in my last post I would be checking in to let you know how the fast is going. Short and sweet....I feel fine. It is so amazing to experience the Lord carrying me along as He has done for 25 days now. Again Scripture seems to jump off the page and I can't wait till the next time I sit and read the Word. I find myself thinking about what will I read next, all the time.
The prayer list I have started is ever expanding. I seem to be letting nothing back, laying it all before the Lord every time I talk with Him in my prayer time. This has been an amazing journey so far, I can't wait to see what the next 15 will hold.

Hungry? I don't even know what that is anymore.

Looking forward<><

XX

Give you a little background on my personal fast; I challenged my discipleship partner the week of August 14th (for those of you who care my 42nd) he did not know how to field the challenge, except to go home and do some internet research on the subject of fasting. Since then he has read Starving Jesus and has blown up in a big way with his walk with Christ.

He comes back to me in two days and say, "let's do it". Our last meal was dinner on August 15th. Now for me I wanted it to be a more spiritual thing so I did not weigh myself at the beginning. Since our last meal we have only had 100% fruit juice and water. Both my d-partner and I have had to ween ourselves off of caffeine as well. So as of writing this post I am down to 16 fl.oz a day of Diet Coke.

Physical Changes: Have I lost weight....sure I have I guesstimate around 30lbs. or so and am probably going to end up with losing about 50lbs. altogether. I am sleeping better at night. I have more energy. I still practice Martial Arts every Monday and Thursday. I have not missed any work. I have realized I don't have much stamina now. So I do need to mix in some rest time. Just sit down and take a breather now and then. During these first twenty as I have lost the weight it seems my wallet has gotten fatter (no doubt cause I am not going out to lunch with the staff on a daily basis) more on this latter.

Spiritual Changes: I can't even begin to tell you all of the changes that have taken place spiritually in my life since I have started doing this. Since August 15th I have also been reading the Bible/journaling twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night (also from Starving Jesus). I have broken up the passage into smaller chunks 1-2 verses. The passages are jumping off the page. It seems every passage has something for me now, it is amazing. My prayers are more focused. I am praying throughout the day now, I am relaying on God to meet my needs, instead of Subway. Since I am not eating I have all this extra money laying around, I decided to financially support the Strip Church. This is new work started by Fireproof ministries to reach the Las Vegas strip.

I will post again on day 25, 30, 35, 40, to let you in on how it is going and how my discipleship partner and I break the fast.

Keeping stroung!