I really enjoy eating. There is just something about the smell of good food that awakens a joy from deep within and like a magnet I am instantly drawn to the source for a nibble. Over the years however, my body has changed and that wonderful teenage bottomless pit suddenly resulted in more feminine curves. My lifestyle also changed: less running around like a hooligan and more sitting in front of a desk working. With all these changes came some genetic health obstacles also (low blood pressure, low sugar levels, low iron levels) that resulted in a more controlled and regulated diet. So to avoid those extremely dramatic fainting episodes I learned to listen to my body rather than my cravings and became selective in what I eat. Being healthy and feeling good became my lifestyle. Then Global happened…
My entire Global Challenge journey has been based on trusting God to sustain my body. I no longer had control over what or when I ate and since the first week ‘please prevent me from passing out’ became part of my daily prayer. But God is faithful and He sustained me through every day (even survivor!). Despite the carb-only diet and me dropping two pant sizes, I have never had a theatrical fainting episode.
Honestly, I thought this was a major spiritual breakthrough for me. I mean trusting God with staying conscious?? That’s pretty next level, right? Apparently not…
Fasting…
This spiritual discipline has never been a big feature in my life and I only practiced it corporately when my church requested it for a day (luckily no more than once a year). I never considered that God would ask me to do it and with my health conditions I really wasn’t listening. Sometimes God has to speak through other people to get the message through.
With our team preparing for the ‘Holy Land’, we decided to have a chain fast for our time there: each day a different team member would fast and at midnight the fast would be broken with communion with the next faster. I was excited about the concept but nervous about my role in it. But God is faithful and it turned out to be a great blessing. This inspired many others to fast on their own through the year for different periods of time but I once again never heard God ask the same of me. The team decided to do the same chain fast here in Thailand and once again I was willing but very much aware of the heat and physical labour that lay ahead.
As with all things, you cannot remain stagnant. You have to grow. And so the request came through:
Dear Gillori,
Please fast for 3 days.
You are interceding for someone.
Here are your prayer points for each day.
This is important.
Enjoy.
Love God
(Yes, God sometimes sends mental letters. This is completely normal.)
What an amazing experience!!! The days flew by and I never felt the urge to eat. My prayers felt more powerful and I experienced His provision on a cellular level like never before. By day 3 I felt weaker but not at all close to fainting. Because God is an absolute romantic, He organised that my fast be broken with a surprise dinner the men in our team organised for the ladies. They escorted us to our seats, served us and DID THE DISHES!!!! They even put on some movies and made popcorn and departed with a last ‘good night, ladies’. God is good.
During this time I learned what fasting is really about: It is not to refrain from eating (that would just be starving yourself). It is to be unable to eat because of a desperate burden to pray for something specific. It is to give up what we have the right to enjoy. It is the expression of self-humbling in seeking God’s mercy.
I believe that we highly underestimate the power and importance of fasting as a spiritual discipline. It is something that I would like to grow in as I pursue God more. When I think of giving up something that I enjoy out of obedience, I can only say this: Lord, I want YOU more…
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