Oasis Covenant Fellowship Blog

A Fast for Waters that do not Fail- by John Piper

Part 1

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Part 2

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Fasting for the Father’s Reward- by John Piper

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Fasting for the Kings Coming- by John Piper

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Fasting for the Safety of the Little Ones- bt John Piper

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Man Shall Not Live by Bread Alone- by John Piper

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When the Bridegroom is taken away, They will fast- With new wineskins- by John Piper.

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Whether you fast 3 days or 40 it is important to break your fast slowly.  The longer the fast, the more adjustment your body will need to get back to normal.  On a long fast, you can really harm your body by jumping back to your normal diet.  Your body’s digestive system has been dormant for the duration of your fast and needs to work back up to digesting food again. The key is to gradually over days, introduce your body back to solid food.

Some things to remember are :

• Do not over eat.
• Eat slowly
• Chew your food well so that there is less to digest.
• Eat only 3 meals.
• Work back into eating fatty foods

Things to eat when breaking a fast

• Fresh Leafy Salad with little or no dressing.
• Popcorn
• Yogurt
• Oatmeal

Graduate to

• A pasta or bean soup
• Rice
• Bananas

After this intoduce a Vegetable Sandwich with some cheese.

If all goes well, go back to normal eating with caution. Your body will let you know if you are moving too quickly. If your tummy becomes upset, go back a step.

I ran into this by accident , listening on my Ipod. A series on fasting by John Piper. I wanted to pass it on to you.

Prayer, Fasting, and the Course of History

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The enemy would like nothing less than to see you fail your fast. Your body will not act normally when you fast. There are side effects when you fast. Knowledge to some things that can occur can prevent you from fear and thinking you are not supposed to fast.

Some negatives that may happen when you fast

• Headache ( first 10 days)
• Backache/ kidney pain (day 3 to day 7)
• White pasty tongue and bad breath ( first 15 days) Have Mints
• fatigue (first 10 days)
• Lightheadedness or dizziness (on and off the entire time)
• Hunger (on and off the entire time)
• Sleeplessness ( After 5 days)
• Nausea (first 10 days)
• loss of weight

You may have one of these, none, or many of them. Your body is working out toxins, so the first 10 days are the worst. I personally had the backache, Fatigue (first 5 days) pasty tongue,  hunger first 3 days, Day 11, Day 20 and day 30. Mostly it was a desire to eat, not actual hunger. I did have sleeplessness after day 10. I had a burst of energy and did not need as much sleep. I would awake in the night and just use that time to pray. I was lightheaded occasionally.

Other things that may happen.

• Some melancholy and grieving of your sin
• Extra energy
• Heightened senses ( physical as well as spiritual)
• Glowing appearance
• God to reveal himself in ways he never has before.

In our 40 day fast, God met with us in very special ways. Gifts came out that were not normally present. We also went through times of grief over our sin.

Laura

In the Morning

Fruit Juice a mixture of any of these fruits and 1 TBLS of Psyllium per person

• apples
• pineapple (gives alot of juice)
• Cantalope
• strawberries (can do frozen)
• Pears
• grapes
• Kiwi
• Blueberries ( can do frozen)
• Watermellon
• Honeydew melon
• Peaches

Sometimes I will add a little orange juice, but limit it because of the acid can upset your stomach.

About Psyllium- put psyllium in last. and drink immediately. It gels up and is nasty if you wait. I think you risk choking as well once it has gelled up.  Also the flavored kind is nasty in my opinion

Between Morning and Evening

• Vegetable Broth- we usually only do this in the beginning of our fast as we get tired of it quickly

Bring a pot of water to a boil

Cut up carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes, celery,

Add Cale or Spinach leaves and spices but no salt or sugar

Bring all to a boil, strain and drink. It is yummy at first, but later you may not desire this

• Water ( we sometimes will add a small amount of juice or maple syrup)
• Herbal decaffienated Tea ( sometimes add a bit of maple syrup)

Evening

Carrot Based Vegetable Juice ( it takes about 6 carrots per person to make a carrot base) Below are good combinations

• Carrot, apple, with cale, green leaf lettuce, spinach, or celery
• Carrot, cantelope, apple, with green above
• Carrot, garlic, with greens above

In my jucier you can add apples, cantalope and pineapple with skins on them

Note: Sweet Potato Juice was recommended to us. Let me tell you, it was the nastiest stuff and I do not recommend it

Later: Side Effects and What to Expect.