Happy Fasting!

Hello! Today, I want to talk to you about God’s design. God’s design for us mentally, emotionally, biologically, and spiritually. In an earlier post this week, I touched upon God’s design when I talked about Genesis and all that God created, how he created us in His image with “things that are unseen” (those things we call atoms). You can find that post under DNA Intelligence on my blog https://goddesign.org/post/dna-intelligence/.

What comes to mind when you think of the scripture in Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness …” Do you see us designed by God in human bodily form? Is that what first pops into your mind as “His image”? Do you see a spirit or orb of light pop up in your mind as “His image”? Or possibly a combination of both? What do you see when you think of His (God’s) image?

Have you noticed the scripture says, “make man in Our image” (in the plural)? Have you ever thought about what “our image” meant? Why did God say, “Let Us make man in Our image”? Who is the “Our”? He talks about “Our” more than once in the Bible. He also says in Genesis 3:22, “And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.'” We are the only creature that was created in the image and likeness of God.

When the “Our” finally stood out to me (when I actually slowed down and thought about what I was reading), I thought, “Our”? Ok, that’s strange. My first thought was, what was there before all of us humans and other creatures? Possibly Angels? But we are not made like Angels. We’re made like God. Then I started thinking the only thing that makes sense is that “Our” is God the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. The trinity of God. But before I shared this with you, I did do some homework! I found that the early church did come to a conclusion that “Our” is the trinity, and you can read more about that here in a short read on GodQuestions.org https://www.gotquestions.org/let-Us-make-man-in-Our-image.html.

When I think about God, I think about God the Father as “creator,” God the Son (Jesus) as human form, and God the Holy Spirit (spirit form). When I think about us humans, we can procreate, we are in human form (obviously), and we have a spirit that can be in union with God through the Holy Spirit part of God.

Think about thoughts, emotions, and feelings. What is “His image” with emotions and feelings? Or with thoughts? Do you wonder how you were designed by God and how to optimally think and feel? Do you wonder what you were designed to DO according to His design? If we are created in “His image,” then we share His purpose. Where do we fit into His purpose specifically? Have you ever asked yourself this question?

No matter what’s going on. No matter what mess you’re in. If you’re in a world of mess like I was, he gave us a handbook (the one and only original blueprint) to get you out of that mess. The Bible. That blueprint teaches us life, healing, direction, and so much deeper understanding for those that really hear and see what it says. I’m not an expert, but what has been brought to my eyes and ears so far has been like receiving perfectly timed messages that brought instant clarity. Almost like the message was handwritten for me at that moment. How cool is that? I know this can happen to you too. Many people have shared with me that they experience that same cool experience when they really stop and open their Bible to read it.

Today I’d like to talk specifically about fasting. My husband and I are doing a twice-a-week 24-hour fast. It started at the beginning of January when the Pastor challenged us to pick some type of fast for the month of January. But as with everything I do, I like to research it! So I researched all types of fasts and, of course, their benefits.

There are so many benefits to fasting. I’d like to share some of the ones I found so far and why we should be “Happy Fasting!” and not gloomy fasting, as Matthew puts it in Matthew 6:16-18.

Matthew 6:16-18 (AMP)

“And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head [as you normally would to groom your hair] and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by people, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

Let’s talk about the benefits of fasting for the body. The more I learn about fasting, the more it seems that God designed our bodies to reset and repair when we fast. Depending on the length of the fast different things happen. Now I’m not a dietician, so if there are special circumstances where you cannot do a fast, definitely listen to your doctor. But I do want to share what I found to be fascinating about fasting and how God designed our bodies to reset, renew, repair, and align with him if we go into a fast with the right intentions.

Here is a general hourly breakdown of what happens in the body. You’ll find slight variations in time for when each of these processes begins depending on where you’re reading.

• 4-8 Hours: Blood Sugar Drops
• 12 Hours: Growth Hormone Increases (food burned, the healing process begins, digestive system begins to rest, insulin falling)
• 16 Hours: Fat Burning Begins (good time to do a workout to boost fat burning)
• 18-20 Hours: Growth Hormone Increases, Ketones are Released
• 24 Hours: Autophagy Begins (detox begins, and the body starts to eat bad cells slowly, brain cleaning)
• 36 Hours: Autophagy Increases 300%
• 48 Hours: Cellular Regeneration Starts (inflammation goes down)
• 72 Hours: Autophagy Peaks (maximum healing state, immune system boosted)

Think about mental clarity at work or when solving complex problems. Mix in a little fasting, praying, and long walks in the fresh air (preferably warm fresh air!), and you have a recipe for super production! Or the benefits to the cells and the cellular cleanup with so many inflammatory issues, autoimmune issues, and cancers, and the list of bodily issues can go on and on. How wonderful that our bodies are designed to reset and repair when in the absence of food that puts a tremendous load due to the “digestion process.”

Let’s talk about the benefits of fasting spiritually. Fasting can be a way to intentionally go into union and physically honor God for that fast period. You’re intentionally giving up something that you love to do. It doesn’t always have to be food related, either. If you want to fast for God, but medically it’s not doable, what else would be a sacrifice for you to go without for a period of time?

Prayer + Fasting is mentioned so many times in the Bible. I highly doubt that’s by chance. Galatians 5:16-18 talks about walking in the Spirit, not flesh.

Galatians 5:16-18

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are lead by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Our flesh is battling against our spirit, and the spirit is battling against the flesh.

Satan adds to the battle all the more. So not only do you have to control the flesh so that it doesn’t control you, but you also have to contend with Satan and his schemes. I mention many times in my book “Hidden Battles” how I would have such a hard time doing what I wanted to do deep down and ultimately would not do the things I wanted to do (my spirit). I would do the opposite. I lost this battle over and over and over again with my flesh, and I could not understand why. For me (and I would guess many others that are also unknowing), it wasn’t as simple as my own mind being disobedient. I was under severe demonic oppression. Telling myself to do or not do something was not going to be enough. Read this story from the scripture I found. It was jaw-dropping for me after all that I had experienced. It’s about Jesus healing a boy from a demon after the disciples had failed to be able to do so (this same story can also be found in Mark 9: 14-29). Take a look at Jesus’ prescription in this situation.

Matthew 17: 14-21 (NKJV)

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

I prayed and prayed to be freed from whatever was in me for so long. It wasn’t till my encounter with Jesus that He Himself set me free from all these things that were holding me down. I didn’t really believe I could be saved before that encounter. I didn’t have the Faith of a mustard seed. I had much doubt as to if I was worthy after all my messes. But this story says there are times that the prescription for your troubles requires more than Faith – Prayer + Fasting.

Fasting is a form of worship. You’re sacrificing (although minimal in the grand scheme of everything) something important to you or that you love – for God. It helps us realign ourselves and our lives to God. Fasting on something important to us, like food or even technology usage (ouch on this one for me), that we place as important gives us time to focus distraction-free on a more intentioned relationship with God.