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Daniel Fast – Day 12: Prayer Walk

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I went on my very first prayer walk around the downtown section of the City of Staunton.  At first, I debate on doing it, because of the temperature being in the low to mid-teens.  Since the purpose of my fast is spiritual, I decided to brave the temperature and do the walk.  I parked my car at the library and began to walk towards downtown.  At first, it was cold but after a few minutes I warmed up.  The walk was amazing as I would continue to pray to the Lord for his wisdom and insight to what he wanted me and my congregation to do to make a Kingdom impact on the community.

As I walked I only made three stops.  My first stop was on the steps of the courthouse to pray for God’s justice, mercy, and grace through the judicial system.  My second stop was on top of the Stonewall Jackson parking garage.  It was a great site to pray as it was quiet, windy, and I can overlook a good part of the city.  It seemed like a long time I was up there, by myself, praying over the city.  The final stop was at an abandoned restaurant.  Since 2015, I have felt an impulse to investigate the property.  I have a prayer for the building every time I walked by it, but this time there was purpose on the possibilities on what this site could be.

I then made my journey back to my vehicle.  It was on that journey that I ran into a homeless person.  The guy’s clothes were in tatters, he was very timid, and when he asked for money, he just simply asked if I had any change to spare.  I went and gave him a few bucks, which his reply was very shocked.  He kept trying to give me back the amount, but I told him, no, to take it and maybe get something warm to drink at the few shops around.  When I made it back to my vehicle, I checked the time and was out for almost an hour and a half.  I believe that the more consistent I am in my prayer walk, the more clarity from the Lord, I will receive.

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Daniel Fast – Day 8: First Week Reflections

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Today is one week into my fast.  As I reflect on the fast so far, here are some of the things I have noticed.

Physically:

  • Lost weight
  • more energy
  • more alert
  • less patient
  • less impulsive with snacking
  • slower eating

Spiritually:

  • heighten spiritual awareness
  • increase the intensity of prayer
  • more spontaneous in prayer
  • better at discerning situations

Out of all of the things from my fast thus far, I am surprised at having more energy and more spontaneity in prayer.  With prayer, I would usually pray when a request comes through email, or at certain times (morning, afternoon, evening).  During the fasting period, I would have images of people or situations come to my mind, and instantly drop what I was doing and prayed about it.  Not a quick prayer, but one with conviction and intensity.

Having an increase of energy was very surprising to me, mainly because there is a market for having energy via energy drinks, soda pop, coffee, or any other caffeinated beverage.  There were some days where I would need to lay down for a bit because I was exhausted and could not function properly without a rest.

Even though I have had some weak moments in the fast, I am at a point where I am seeing some of the benefits of it and liking the changes.  Hope this second week will be better as I continue on.

Daniel Fast – Day 7: Supermarket Hell

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My daily meals were getting low so I needed to make a trip to the grocery store. My wife made an attempt to get food for meals for me as I began my fast but when I would look at the label, I would see words like yeast extract, egg, or the big perpetrator; sugar.

My trip to the grocery store was hell. Not because it was crowded or anything bad happened. It was hell because of two things cost and trying to find items I can eat. Every item I would find that would be in the health food section or anything labeled “vegetarian” would have items that I can’t eat. I would find myself being frustrated trying to find something to eat throughout the week. By the time I got ready to check out, it was floored by the cost of everything that would barely last me a week.

I understand why so many people get frustrated when they try to eat healthy because even when something is labeled health it has “sugar” in it. The cost to eat healthy is also ridiculous. I remember an episode on the Biggest Loser where a contestant told Bob Harper that to eat health was difficult for her family when you can get a whole pizza for $5. Bob said during his aside that he cannot compete with a $5 pizza but what he can do is show the results of a healthy lifestyle. With tax reform, health care reform being hot political topics, I think we need to have food reform to make sure people can eat healthy and make it affordable.