The first time I fasted more than a couple days at a time, I did it with my mother. I was in my early twenties. We decided to eat homemade bread throughout the week and eat what we liked during the weekend. We both were heavy smokers at the time and we decided to cut down half of the cigarettes intake. If you are a heavy smoker you will understand how delighted we were, when we found it an easy task. Now I realised if we were only were as keen to give up smoking all together, I believe it would have been just as easy. Because God truly blessed us for fasting the way we did. We didn’t ask God for the gift to cut down smoking. God just gave us the ability to do it. We stopped the fast after doing it for two or three weeks. Six months later it was Christmas and we decided to indulge and smoke as many cigarettes as we wanted. Once we did that we could no longer cut down our smoking.

I have fasted off and on since then, but never to the same extent as I did when I was younger. Until over a month ago. I have been on medication for a couple of decades and the side effect of those medication was extreme hunger all the time. So I always feared fasting any more than two days at a time. The thing is I have had no need for the medication for a very long time, but the hunger remain. I was reading a book about a women that Jesus was telling her that He wanted her to fast, because He wanted to give her certain graces. And it was bread and water fast. I was drawn to do it, but I was also very nervous about it.

Once again good wholesome bread during the week but I have allowed myself to have one dandelion tea and a healthy drink full of victims a day. I am on this fast for a week and weekends, I eat almost what I like. One of the miracles I am experiencing this time, once again without asking God for it, is that I am not continually hungry like I was before. And I eat only a small amount. And only one meal a day. God is full of surprises. I am offering my fast and prayers up for different things, I didn’t ask God to take away the hunger. I simply just didn’t think to do so. But what I am noticing God is giving me other favours that I haven’t been asking for either. I feel for one thing my prayers are great deal stronger. Which is something many people will tell you will happen while fasting. God does give you great rewards for fasting if it is truly done for His Sake.