Achieving Permanent Weight Loss WITHOUT Exercise!

Prayer and Fasting

It isn’t very tough for me to think back to the last time I participated in one of these activities, though sadly, that is not the case for most people today.

Take a cross-section of any population and you will find that the vast majority of those in your demographic sample tend toward self-reliance.

Though I can argue from a Christian standpoint that prayer and fasting are the two most powerful tools we have been given for improving ourselves and our circumstances, there are some who would outright disagree with me due to their unbelief and others who though they claim to have faith are too impatient to ride out the storms of life while God’s plan takes shape.  Prayer and fasting can be applied not only in achieving your weight loss goals, but also in many other areas of life where you are seeking growth.

In Matthew 17:20-21, the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to his disciples about why they could not exorcize a particular demon from an afflicted man, even though they called upon His name.  The disciples ask Him for an explanation and He tells them:

Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye shall have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

If these two activities were so mentioned by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, then they surely deserve closer attention and examination by us.  What we see from this quote is that even the Lord who is God in the flesh makes use of prayer and fasting to further His purposes.

Heartfelt prayer and self-imposed fasting both require a great degree of faith in order to be kept up for a significant duration, but when we persevere with either practice, the benefits become readily obvious.  Each of these pursuits warrants scrutiny of both their proper application in our lives and the advantages of adopting their practice.

Prayer is the great psychiatric tool of God.  I would be interested in knowing the number of people in North America who make regular trips to a psychiatric office to lay down on a stranger’s couch, spill all their emotional garbage on the floor and expect that their therapist will be able to help them solve all their problems.

When making a decision on whether or not to visit a shrink, let’s not forget that they have problems too; most likely some of the same problems we are asking them to solve for us.  Rather than waste my time talking to a fellow human who can do nothing to fix my personal situation and is likely mired in all of the same insecurities that plague me from time to time, I prefer to reveal my most heartfelt hopes, dreams and problems to the one source I know can help me.

Prayer is the conduit God gave us for unloading all our cares and worries in this life.  God specifically tells us not to worry.  All we are asked to do is tell Him our innermost doubts, fears and feelings and He promises to give us what we need to get through our trials in this life.  Pay attention when anyone is genuinely expressing hope for a particular outcome or situation to turn in their favour and regardless of their belief or unbelief they will usually say something to the effect of “Oh God, I hope this happens for me”.

I like to question non-believers about who they think they are referring to when they say “Oh God” because hey, if you don’t believe in Him, then don’t use His name ok?  Prayer and hope are synonymous, the only difference being that hope is the term non-believers use to remove all mention of God from their lives.  There would be a lot less strife in the world if more people were willing to trust in the power of prayer and be a little more patient when waiting for results.

Just like prayer can be an effective tool in our lives, so can fasting.  Fasting is not only useful in achieving a specific weight loss goal.  The very act of participating in fasting draws us closer to God and increases our reliance on Him.  It is amazing how diametrically opposite the concept of fasting is to the super-sized overindulgent food industry that exists today.  I used to wonder who made up the rule that we should eat three times a day at breakfast, lunch and supper.

There’s no food cop forcing food down our throats every day, but the majority of the population feel obliged to eat three square meals a day because everyone else is doing it.  Portion sizes keep getting bigger and so do our waistlines.  I encourage you to try fasting for a couple of days and experience the true feeling of hunger.  When we remove our daily source of sustenance, we are forced to rely on other sources of strength, such as calling on God to sustain us.  The Lord Jesus Christ said Himself when refusing the devil’s temptations in Matthew 4:4:

It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

I am currently applying the biblical practices of prayer and fasting to many different situations in my life.  Some deal with employment, others deal with weight loss and still others with relationships.  I continue in each case to plead with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring my desires to fulfillment, if it is His will.  What I try to keep in mind is to be accepting of whatever outcome arises in any given situation because I would rather that His will be done than mine.

I know in my heart that God knows what is best for all of us.  I am satisfied as you also should be with making use of the tools of prayer and fasting to communicate with Him and with knowing that I am forming an ever closer relationship with the only counsellor who is able to help me through my doubts and insecurities.  Apply the power of prayer and fasting through faith in your life today and reap the rewards that are sure to follow.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Faith. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Prayer and Fasting”

1. November issue of “Pop Goes the Gospel” Blog Carnival « A View from the Nest on November 2nd, 2008 12:55 am

   [...] Watkinson presents Prayer and Fasting posted at SaveYourSweat.com Blog, saying, “How prayer and fasting can change your [...]



2. pinkblocks - personal power and self help » Blog Carnival on Personal Power November 1, 2008 on November 2nd, 2008 11:45 am

   [...] prayer and fasting can change your life. Trevor Watkinson presents Prayer and Fasting posted at SaveYourSweat.com [...]



3. Fresh Wind Ministries, Int´l » November Blog Carnival on November 14th, 2008 1:13 pm

   [...] Watkinson presents Prayer and Fasting posted at SaveYourSweat.com [...]

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