Christians, what is the longest time God has called you to fast, and how did you feel during the fast?
819248
Fasting, when taken as a sacred vow*, must be approached in a methodical and gradual manner. Here's my personal experience for the last couple of years, which may or may not apply to you:\n\nIdeally, you start with a 24-hour Fast [dusk to dusk] that you do every so often until you can regularize it to coincide with the consecration of each Sabbath, i.e., once a week. The method that I used to "ease" myself into this routine was, first of all, to reduce my daily food intake from three meals to two meals only.\n\nThen you slowly work your way up to a two-day Fast; then the next round you try to make it a three-day Fast; and so on, until you are able to extend your fasting for much longer periods of time.  Personally I saw to it that each Fast would always end after the end of Sabbath [Saturday night], at which point one would relish a 'Thanksgiving' meal.\n\nSIDE EFFECTS: By the third day of your Fast you may begin to feel some metabollic changes: being light on your feet; feeling dizzy, light-headed, and even hallucinate at times. But your body metabolism will normalize once you get past this stage should you decide to proceed further. Another side effect is that you will also emit a certain body odor which are the toxins being expelled by your system during the Fast.\n\nIt is HIGHLY ADVISABLE to drink lots of FRESH WATER throughout the day and night while you Fast in order to avoid dehydration and also to help with your bowel movement. You may substitute water intake with other liquid drinks that will help replenish your spent calories. In other words, Fasting can be done using the Liquid Diet parameters, i.e., NO SOLID FOODS at all.\n\nSo far I have only made it to a seven-day Fast that culminated on my last birthday --the day that I baptized myself into The Brotherhood. That was quite a Thanksgiving meal I truly enjoyed.\n\nPeace be with you!
1143531
I love Ramadan. :D I can't wait till it comes, so I can fast again. I end up feeling so pure in mind and body after fasting :)
194122
I feel a little arrogant answering this question-- God has given me the gift of grace so all things I do are solely by his power... I feel the most memorable thing I have done is buy a young woman a bus ticket, she wasn't asking for it, she was trying to negotiate with the greyhound guy how to get a ticket to get home, her's was stolen, I was blessed enough to have just enough money in my wallet to buy her some help getting home, she cried\nIt was just paying forward all the things god and my family and friends and even strangers have done for me
772260
God bless you Ben, and thank you for sharing.  I have have a Christian for 27 years.  I asked Jesus into my heart, the day my father died in 1979.  He died 6 days before Christmas and 9 days before my 20th birthday.  You definitely are in my prayers.  May God bless you as you continue to seek and learn of God.\n\n\nRobin
1155374
I've gone through something similar and it really just comes down to focusing on God. Even if it means fasting and praying for a day or two, just try and tune everyone out but Him. You could even try explaining to those around you that you appreciate their input, but that is important and you need to spend some time in prayer and ask that they kind of..cool it for awhile if they are shoving in your face or anything like that. Just focus and listen to what he has to say. I will be praying for you! God bless!!!
761808
Psalm 66:18 says that "if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me."  That could be one reason. Another thing that can help you to focus is to fast. That does not have to be no food or water but can just be to eat fruit or eat lightly. It makes a difference on how you can think with what you eat. That is one reason that Jesus fasted so long before He was tempted.\nOne other thing is that praying does not have to be a "chore"....it is talking to a friend. If you had a friend with you all the time...you would have no problem "remembering" to talk to him right? Jesus IS with you all the time. We are to thank Him for EVERYTHING...and pray without ceasing. If He were standing right by you that would not be too hard...right? He is!
786214
I was a passenger in my car going down the interstate. My husband was driving bad and I complained a few times. Finally I asked "why is it that just because you are the man, you always drive us? Why don't you just pull over and let me drive." \n\nHe agreed and pulled off at an exit and we changed at the gas station. I had only been driving a few minutes when I got this voice in my head that said "pull over and let Charley drive." I excused it as my own weird thinking and kept going. I then heard it again "Pull over and let Charley DRIVE" . \n\nBy then, I knew God (or his angels) were telling me this. I became upset about it because I thought I was being taught a lesson of submission which I didn't want to learn. I argued with God in my head. A third time, I heard "PULL OVER AND LET CHARLEY DRIVE." \n\nAt that point, I asked my husband "where should I pull over because I don't know why, but God is telling me to let you drive?"\n\nCharley said to just pull to the top of the ramp and we would switch out there. We did so and he pulled back onto the ramp. but no sooner than we got up to speed, we had to stop in the middle of the interstate. There had been a major collision. We sat for about 3 hours and watched news hellicopters, life line, and all kinds of emergency vehicles ahead of us by like a mile. When we finally got through we saw a 3 car collision had happened and they were mangled. There had been deaths. \n\nI knew right away it hadn't been about submitting to my husband at all, but about God or his angels letting me know of the danger ahead. I ws sure glad that I had been prayed up and reading the bible or I may have missed his voice.
717881
To answer a question number one\nI have fasted for seven days having nothing but water.  I was able to eat a normal meal on my second day of eating.  I stopped my fast by drinking a glass of juice, and I think I had a bowl of soup.  By the second day I was able to eat normally.  \nTo answer your second question\nI believe we be more difficult to to keep your faith as it were, if you were buried underground, or in a submarine deep under the water.\nThird question\nI am a very positive person.  As I have lived as a street person for over a year at one point in my life.  So I turned it into a camping trip.  I also was in a wheelchair at one point in my life.  I was told I may never walk.  In a desperate situation I think that I would be positive longer than some of the other people that I may be trapped with because of these experiences in my life.\nQuestion number four\ndepending on the type of emergency if I were trapped say in an earthquake, the first thing I would ask my rescuers is to know where my wife is?  If I were trapped in a situation where I was alone(without my wife) I think I would simply say thank you.
127928
O.K., I love to tell this.\n\nWhen I became a Christian, I could no longer tolerate my unsaved, drinking, running around husband.\n\nI prayed, "God, please, give me a Christian husband instead."\n\nI knew God doesn't like divorce, so I didn't have any idea what He would do.\n\nYa ready?\n\nHe saved my husband. God is great all the time.
666276
Oh boy, I happened to have a few. My first one was when I was about eight or nine. I was very best friends with Mary. Well, Mary's family had to go to church every single Sunday. This one particular Sunday I had the worst case of gas I have ever felt!! And of course, you can probably guess the rest, but I'll tell anyways. During a prayer; there was dead silence, you could have heard a pin drop, I let one go, and as you know pews in a church are made out of wood. That makes it echo like you wouldn't believe! Well, the whole church turned around and looked right at me, my best friend Mary, and her sister who were trying so hard not to laugh,it was obvious who did it. The Mom was horrified and kept telling us to shhh, but every time she did, we'd laugh harder. Very embarrassing...\nAnother brilliant move was; at a party. A grown up party as I seen it, I was 17 and the average age at this party was hmm..around 21 or so, so I felt like a big girl!! Well, everyone was out on the deck. I was drunk (when wasn't I?) and wanted to go out on the deck with all the "big girls". So what did I do? The doors going out to the deck were glass, I thought the door was open, everyone was looking although to this day I don't know why, and I, looking cool with my beer, smiling, walked smack dab into that window falling on my bum, making everyone laugh hysterically! Another very embarrassing. But before I go, I have to tell you ONE more. THis time I was a bit older, working at a bar helping out with my college funds. I was about 26, it was busy, PLUS this bar had two sliding glass doors going out to the deck in this bar. Now, I was carrying food, and about 15 beer on one tray. I knew everyone was looking at me, seeing if I would drop a beer. I knew I wouldn't as I was a good bartender, but little did I know, that my boss changed the door that was open, and closed that one, but opened the other one. Needless to say, she was just yelling out to me to "be carefu......." when SMACK! The tray I was carrying got pushed into ME, the beer all fell, the food was smushed right into my clothes, and the bar was packed!!! It took all of my being not to run out and never ever come back, but I knew I couldn't do that. So, I just left for a minute, trying to clean up my clothes, and just carried on. I then looked to make sure what sliding door was open and which wasn't. Everyone was still kinda snickering, so I told them "ok..laugh and get it out of your system!!" Which they did, but whenever I waited on them, they would all say things like "oh boy, look out...here she comes again"..I didn't live that one down for YEARS! So, there ya go. THREE embarrassing moments, not just one! Thanks for asking! lol.\nGOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS!!
683893
You took the words right out of my mouth. I am about to split myself. Like you I feel blessed to encourage others but it's like you get slapped in the face for it. It stings after a while.  I hate to get rattled up but you can't help it. So you need and iron backbone to stay focused on God in this forum. Stay on it if it's God's will since you have a link here to help others. It's better to leave the 99 and go after the one. Wait, there may be one Saul that you may lead to a Paul for God's glory through your blessed link.
545609
First off don't be discouraged at all of the hateful responses you'll see posted. They just haven't see God's love yet. Pray for them.\n\nAs for me, to make it brief because it's kind of long, I was instantly healed physically from the damage that alcohol abuse done to me. I was never interested in God or the whole "religious" thing until one day I went to my cousins church and they prayed for me and I was delivered in an instant! It was truly a miracle. Ever since then (June 9th, 2002) I haven't had a sip of alcohol and have completely devoted my entire life to serving Him. I cannot fully express the joy I have experienced in these almost four years of walking with Jesus. But I know I still have a lot of work to do for Him.  God Bless You amanda2008 God be with you.
258311
Are you muslim, catholic or what?\n\nAs a muslim who fasts for a month every year, I can tell you that we certainly do see visions and neither do we talk to God (SWT). We talk to God (SWT) through prayer, but that's with nearly all religions.\n\nMaybe your religion requires you to fast in the extremes and that is why people have hallucinations?\n\nMuslims eat heartily before dawn and then fast until the sun sets, at which time they eat heartily again. So we're not really starving the whole day since we already ate so much. \n\nWhen Ramadan (The month we fast, it's in the lunar/Islamic  calendar) is in the winter, it's a breeze to do it, but during the summer, which I haven't experienced yet in Canada, it does get quite long. We can break our fast, of course, if we are about to die or something. \n\nFasting is meant to make you appreciate the things that you have in life and to feel sympathy for the poor. It is a time to reflect upon the many evils other people have to go through. It is a time to to be thankful to Allah (SWT) for giving you what you have.\n\nFasting is not meant to give you medical problems. If you're pregnant, sick, or travelling (there are more reaons than this), then you don't need to fast in Islam, but you have to make-up for it if you were travelling or if you had your period.\n\nSo yeah, you should have directed your question to the religion you are talking about becuase a lot of religions require followers to fast.
781418
I cannot answer your question, but wanted to share an anectdote that may make it easier for you next time you fast. For a few months I did a raw food diet (~ 80%) and it was very easy with no headache or other unpleasant symptoms at all to fast. The supposition was amongst we raw foodists that the body had the chance to catch up all along & so didn't have any extra to "dump" into the blood when the fast started.\n\nExcellent question!\n\n;-)
450242
Yes! During our praise and worship (I was leading) my stomach felt so much pain I couldn't bear it, I thought I should stop singing, then the Spirit of God told me that somebody is feeling the same. I think it's called "Word of knowledge", correct me if i'm wrong please. But then I told the congregation that one person is suffering from great abdominal pain, and then one lady approached the front and our Pastor prayed for her. She told us that she had been suffering the pain for a month and doctors cannot tell what is it.  She received healing from then on.
600254
I talk to God as if he were a friend talking a walk with me. I start off kinda formal and then get friendly and casual. "Dear God/Lord, Please do this or that if it's what you know is best, but if not....or how can I reach so and so and help him...oh, I know I can show them that passage in the Bible. Cool, thanks for bringing that to my mind." \n\nSometimes I get a revelation during the conversation. Yes I said conversation. I don't think of it as me talking to God, but us having a conversation with each other. Cuz if you aren't planning on listening to him, then you are wasting your time.\n\nOthers I may not hear or feel the answer right away. It may take days, weeks, months or years. Sometimes the answer doesn't come in a feeling or revelation but in the form of an action from someone else....certain circumstances will show me why God did what he did or why he led me in a certain direction.\n\nGod Bless you\nby the way: I am a Christian and I thank God for sending His son to die for us in my prayers too.\n\nP.S. I pray silently if I'm in public or around others. If I by myself, I talk out loud a lot. I really like to pray when I am walking alone or driving.
932814
I was run over by a car when I was 11 years old.  I was completely pinned under the car.  I could not move at all.  I had my life go before my eyes as I watched the tire proceed to come towards my head.  The tire would have run over my head.  I had nothing left so I cried out for Jesus to save me.  Jesus did save me under that car.  I was moved even though I could not move.   All that I suffered were 3rd degree scrapes.  I nearly had a whole through my cheek.  At the hospital the doctor had to pick stones out of my face.  I walked away and my wounds healed in 3 months.  I barely have a scar today.  I have just enough of a scar to remind me that Jesus saved me.\n\nI have also seen the child of a family friend who fell out of a tree and got caught by his neck between two branches.  This kid died in that tree.  He was pronounced as being dead for more than 20 minutes at the scene.  He was dead when they took him out of the tree.  It was prayer by his mother (a Christian) to Jesus  that resurrected him.  This kid did have brain damage.  But the last that I heard he was learning how to walk again and he was getting high 90's in school.  I have talked with him about his miracle.  His name is Michael.\n\nDoctors say that if you are braindead for more than 12 minutes you will be a vegetable even if they can revive your body.