Mood:  not sure

I started to fast today. You know, the Biblical form of fasting where you deprive yourself of food. I haven't fasted a lot in my Christian life. Only a few times. Nor have a studied a lot about it. So I am by far not an expert.

I have, also, heard about other forms of fasting other than fasting from food. Sometimes there are other things that are important to you that mean more to you than food. Some people fast from TV, some folks fast from talking on the phone, I decided to also fast from playing any type of computer game today. Instead, when I thought about playing a video game, I would pray instead.

So, I was going to fast from food and from playing on the computer. I had good intentions and I started out well. Until, before I knew it, Sarah stopped and got McDonalds on her way home from therapy with our two youngest. I was two bites into the chicken sandwich before I remembered. Ah, well, I plan to make fasting a regular priority in my life, so, hopefully, I will remember. But I still had the computer game fast. I have managed to keep up with that.

It's amazing how, when you try to honor God, God will bless you as well, Today has been a wonderful time of prayer. The funny thing is, although I have been praying for the things that started the fast in the first place, those things have not been the priority.

God has brought many things to mind to pray for. My family. Our Compassion International children. A friend from Florida who is going through a particularly difficult time with her special needs child. Those have all been things that God has led me to pray for. It's really been a special time.

Not only has God led me to pray for specific things, but he has led me to some great devotional and thought provoking writings. Things for me to reflect on and think about. Things that go along with the things that I have been praying about.

God has been doing a lot of that lately. He's been teaching me to be discerning and to listen for his voice. I talked about it on the TOS Homeschool Crew forum a little bit the other day. There were several times that day that I began to comment about specific things on the forum when it was almost like God placed His hand over my hands. It was very clear that I wasn't to write those posts. It's a very humbling thing when God does that to you.

God still hasn't given me a specific answer to some of the prayer items that led me to fast today, but I know He will. If I must fast another day I then so be it. I like being led by the Holy Spirit. I mentioned that it was humbling, but in a way it is very refreshing as well.

How about you? Have you fasted before? Has God given you discernment in areas of your life? It's a special time. Pray about what God would have you to do. If it's not fasting it may be something else. I can tell you that times like these are special. 

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