I came across this Fasting Guide last year from Bro. Bo Sanchez, he’s been my favourite mentor for the last 4 years. Initially, I was interested to learn how to invest in the Philippine Stock Market and improve my finances so I joined Truly Rich Club . The Club is not all about money and finances, it also incorporate spiritual abundance. The concept is pretty unique and amazing. According to Bro. Bo, he get bashed my some religious people because they find it very controversial – mixing money and God.But it’s all making sense to me now.It’s way better this way- gaining financial wealth and spiritual abundance at the same time.
As a Filipino, I was brought up in a very religious family. My auntie is a nun and my uncle is a monk. I used to be a choir in our church and I usually spend my Holy Week with all church activities but when I live abroad, it was so different. I still go to church but that was it it feels strange initially then I got used to it. I felt that I was drifting away.
But now, I’m very glad that I found a new community through Club Filipino Tauranga. I’ve meet people from the Light of Jesus Family and started our Feast Video here in Tauranga.
So this Holy Week, I thought of sharing this.
Blessing #1:
Fasting Brings You Closer to God When you fast, you’re telling God that He’s more important than food. So instead of eating, you spend it in prayer, reading Scripture, writing your journal, before the Blessed Sacrament, reading Spiritual books… It declares that you’re dead serious about pursuing Him because you’re crazy enough to say No to something so basic as food. If you can say No to a very basic need, what else can you not do for the Lord? You also gain discipline—something crucial for any type of success in the world. By learning to say No to small things, you’re able to say Yes to bigger things. Friends, there are many, many blessings when we fast. But at the end of the day, God Himself is the greatest blessing of your fast. Remember: If after you fasted, you experienced miracles and healing, but you didn’t grow closer to God—then your fasting would have been a failure.
Blessing #2:
Fasting Unites You With The Poor Every time I fast, I remind myself that this is the daily experience of 12% of the world’s population. Not because they’re fasting. But because they’re poor. 740 million people will sleep tonight hungry. And out of those 740 hungry people, 30,000 will die of starvation. Half of those 30,000 will be children. Fasting shouldn’t just make me more spiritual. Fasting shouldn’t just open me up for more blessings and miracles. Fasting should also move me to love the poor in a more passionate way. When I fast, I’m also committing my life to end their hunger and poverty. After our 7-Day Prayer and Fasting, we should be more resolved as a people to love the poor of the Lord in whatever way we can.
Blessing #3:
Fasting Opens You To God’s Power Years ago, I met an elderly man who was suffering from emphysema. I noticed the symptoms. Even if we walked for just a few meters, I saw him catching his breath. “Because of smoking?” I asked him gently. “I stopped twenty years ago,” he said, “so partly, yes. But also because of my lazy breathing.” I raised my eyebrow. It was the first time I heard of such a thing. He knew I didn’t understand, so he went on, “My doctor isn’t your normal doc- tor. He’s an expert in alternative medicine. So he says that all these years, my breathing has been very shallow.” After our conversation, I did some research. Obviously, it NEVER said that shal- low breathing causes emphysema. But I learned one thing: It’s very important to regularly take deep breaths. Through regular aerobic exercise. Through breath- ing exercises. Through meditation that uses breathing. And just by your usual morning stretches and inhaling a few times. Deep breathing removes the toxins from your lungs. It also releases tension which affects your health. Think about it. Just like you and me, this man had oxygen all around him 24 hours day. But he smoked, clogging his lungs so that it can’t absorb 20% of what he was inhaling. And to top it off, he breathed in a lazy way, decreasing again his oxygen intake. Friends, that’s what happens with God’s Power. God’s power is all over us, around us, above us, beneath us, and inside us. But we do exactly the same thing: We clog our spiritual lungs and we’re lazy when we breathe in God’s power in our lives. But Fasting is like “Deep Breathing”. When you pray and fast, you’re inhaling a greater amount of God’s power into your life. Fasting isn’t a bribe. “Lord, I’m fasting, so you better give me what I’m asking for!” That’s not how it works. When you fast, God doesn’t change. You do. You become more expectant, more open, more sensitive, more attentive. So when you fast, you can pray for something specific in your life. • wisdom for an important decision you need to make; • freedom from a particular bondage; • physical healing; • family restoration; • financial blessing; • any miracle that you need 7
Blessing #4:
Fasting Cleanses Your Body God wants us to take care of our physical bodies. One way of caring for it is by fasting. By relieving the body from the hard work of digestion, it focuses its energies on getting rid of the toxins we’ve piled up in our system from all the wrong food we’ve eaten. All the gunk, the chemicals, the stuff that shouldn’t be in our bodies in the first place. These toxins weaken our immune system and makes us more susceptible to disease. Your body, after three days of fasting, will also burn up and decompose diseased, damaged cells in your body. What a beautiful way to purge the bad! If you fast, you’ll do some “house cleaning” for your own body, removing the toxins and diseased cells naturally—while blessing your soul at the same time. However, let me warn you: fasting isn’t a weight reduction program. If you want to lose weight permanently, you need to change from an unhealthy diet to a healthy diet permanently. A 5-day diet won’t work. A lifetime change of diet, yes. So I repeat: Fasting isn’t the answer to a permanent weight loss.
Blessing #5:
Fasting Empowers Our Ministry In the Bible, people fasted before they started their ministry or before a big change in their ministry. Moses did it. Elijah did it. Daniel did it. Esther did it. And Jesus did it. So fasting will release God’s power in our ministry. Pray for the following:
Day 1: Pray that we become disciplers that disciple one million Jesus-Followers.
Day 2: Pray that we receive God’s healing for our marriages and families;
Day 3: Pray that we receive God’s freedom from all addictions that steal our destiny;
Day 4: Pray that we grow in financial abundance; That we become faithful tithers; That we grow in our commitment to love the poor.
Day 5: Pray for the special intention of your local Feast
I pray that you’ll find a community locally to nourish you spiritually. Check if there’s a local feast near you. Click this link to find out. http://www.lightfam.com/index.php/the-feast
If you want the full fasting guide in PDF form, please click the link below .http://www.lightfam.com/index.php/component/k2/item/194-fasting-manual
