# HOW DO I FAST?

Fasting is something we all know about, but not genuinely practice every day.   So... when we come to fasting I think we have a lot of questions in our minds.

With the 40 days of worship for South Africa being run in South Africa, I saw that they also suggested fasting from 1 October 2017 to 9 November 2017.  And suddenly a lot of questions came to mind about fasting.  So... I looked for answers and just want to share this with you.  Dr Bill Bright has great answers on this!!  I have made it more compact and tried to keep it as short as possible!  I would encourage you STRONGLY though to read the full article here:

https://www.cru.org/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/fasting/7-steps-to-fasting.2.html

BEGINNING YOUR FAST

1.     Why are you fasting?

ü Establish why you are fasting.    It could be for guidance, to renew your spirit, for problem solving, for your country – like we are doing with the 40 days of worship for South Africa.  Be specific in your goal!!

2.     Committing to fasting

ü How long will you fast?  

ü You can fast for: one meal, a full day, a week, several weeks or forty days

ü Fasting could be:  only water, water and fruit juice

ü Plan on how much time and when you will spend time to pray and read the Bible. 

3.     Get ready – spiritually

ü Confessing sins is of the utmost importance!!!!!!  Unconfessed sin will block your prayers!!!

ü Ask God to help you and jot down all your sins

ü Confess every sin and accept God’s forgiveness.  See this link for more about confessing sins https://babsgeldenhuys.blogspot.com/2017/09/confess-my-sins.html

ü Ask people whom you have sinned against to forgive you – as the Holy Spirit leads you

ü Forgive those that has hurt you

ü Forgive yourself

ü Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit

ü Give your life to Jesus Christ

ü Tell God how wonderful He is.

ü Don’t underestimate satan.  He would try to hold you back!

 

4.     Get ready – physically

ü Please consult your doctor if you use chronic medication or have a chronic illness.

ü Don’t rush into fasting.

ü Eat smaller meals before starting to fast.  Cut high fat and sugars.

ü Two days before starting to fast:  eat only raw fruit and vegetables.

DURING YOUR FAST

1.     Physical stuff

ü Don’t drink drugs or homeopathic medication.  But… please ask your doctor first!!!

ü Don’t be as active as before

ü Cut the exercises

ü Rest as much as possible

ü You might be impatient, irritated and anxious

ü On the second day you may feel hunger pains and dizziness.  You might get headaches from caffeine and sugar withdrawal as well as feel weak, tired or experience sleeplessness.

ü The first 3 days is the worst!

ü If you have hunger pains, just increase liquids

2.     Get a schedule

ü MORNING:

·  Begin with praise and worship

·  Read the Bible

·  Invite God to use you.  Be His arms and legs here on earth.

·  Pray for His vision in your life

·  Pray together with your spouse and kids – if possible

ü AFTERNOON

·  Pray and read Bible

·  Take a prayer walk (short distance)

·  Pray for your country, unsaved people, your family, special needs

ü EVENING

·  Seek God’s face in alone time

·  Meet together with others that are also fasting

·  Cut TV and focus on God.  Cutting TV can also be fasting.

·  Read Bible with your family and pray together rather than watching TV.

ü SUGGESTED DIETARY ROUTINE BY DR JULIO C. RUIBAL

·  5-8 am:  Fruit juices – freshly squeezed/blended and diluted with 50 % water if fruit is acidic.  Great fruits is:  apple, pear, grapefruit, papaya, watermelons

·  10:30 to noon:  Fresh vegetable juice made from lettuce, celery and carrots – equal parts

·  2:30 pm to 4 pm:  Herb tea with honey.

·  6pm to 8:30 pm:  Broth made from boiled potatoes, celery and carrots.  Boil for half an hour, pour water in container and drink water.

3.     Juice fasting?

ü Fruit juice will lower hunger pains

ü Use this:  watermelon, lemons, grapes, apples, cabbage, beetroot, carrots, celery, leafy green vegetables or make a warm broth in winter

ü Avoid caffeine!!!

 

ENDING YOUR FAST

1.     Do not rush into ending it!

Ø Do not eat solid foods immediately!!!!

Ø Break you fast with something like watermelon

Ø Add the following:

I   Day one:  Raw salad

I   Day two:  baked or boiled potato with no butter or seasoning

I   Day three: Steamed vegetable

I   Day four:  eat your normal food, but try to keep to soup and fresh fruit

 May your fasting be a blessing to you and may God be next to you all the way!!

PS.  If you would like to receive more prayers or articles about handling emotional trauma, please fill in your e-mail adress at the bottom of this article (follow by e mail).   Articles about emotional trauma will start in 2018... or maybe earlier. 😃 You can opt out at any time!!  

#HOW TO ANOINT SOMEONE

Anointing is something we don't often do.  Yet, there is so much power in it!

I have read the Bible so many times, yet I have never seen the part about anointing the sick, as it stands in James 5.

Scripture:  James 5:

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

Please do not let the above sentence refrain you from anointing someone.  It is not only the elders of the church that can anoint.  Jesus said that we must be His disciples here on earth.  And if you are His disciple, you can and must anoint someone!

WHO CAN BE ANOINTED?

Any person can be anointed!  It is not necessary for the person to be sick.  If someone is going through a bad time you can anoint them.  If you feel lead by the Holy Spirit you can anoint them.  I think we need to anoint each other very regularly.  Remember, anointing is also a blessing.

It is important for a husband to anoint his children and his spouse.  I think this is crucial for all!   Why not anoint your spouse, children, and grandchildren on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, when they are about to do something big or when they have lost their work?

And if your husband does not anoint you and the kids and is not into this whole anointing thing?  Then ask him if you can anoint him and pray for him.  If he does not want to do that, do it when he is sleeping!!

HOW DO I ANOINT SOMEONE?

Buy a small container of anointing oil with a sweet smell.  The smell must remind the person who is anointed that the Holy Spirit is ever oh so present!  You can also use olive oil or normal cooking oil if you cannot afford anointing oil.  The oil is not going to make the difference, but the heart that you are doing this with is!

 If possible, memorize James 5 and quote it before you anoint.  You can also write it down on a piece of paper and just read it before you anoint and pray for a person.

  

 ANOINTING

Put some oil from the container on your thumb or forefinger.  Then place the finger on the person's forehead.   Just say:  "I anoint you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

Take the person's hand after the anointing, or place your hand on their forehead or shoulder and pray for them.  Be specific in your prayers for this person but also thank God for changes that are happening in this person's life, as if they have already happened.  (This is faith in action.)  Also, pray that all glory will go to God for any results!

 It is as easy as that!  So please, let us start to anoint one another in the Name of Jesus!  What a difference this can make in someone's life!

Be blessed!

#HOW DO I PRAY?

Before I start just let me make it clear - I am not an expert on prayer!!  I'm just a normal person loving an extraordinary God!!  I have suffered to pray because it felt to me that no one ever taught me how to pray.   And this is only my opinion and my advice on prayer.  May God lead you on your own special road with prayer!!! 

Talking to people, I have realized that people have a lot of questions regarding prayer.  So… I’m just going to touch on a few.

I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PRAY     

For some reason people think that they don’t know the perfect words and the perfect phrases.  They think they have to use mighty and powerful words to pray.  They believe a prayer has to sound like a poem, and they just cannot do that.

This is not what prayer is all about.  Prayer is just talking to God, like He is your best Friend!   If you are going to talk to your best friend, will you say something like?

Oh dearest, most wonderful, more precious than words Paula?

No, you would not say that.  You’ll probably say something like:  Morning Paula, how are you?

But… we are now talking to God, the Creator of heaven, earth and the cosmos. So, you could most probably start with something like:

Dear Father

Or… like I do:

Dearest Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit.

There is no right or wrong way!!  But… you have to have respect for God, so the way you start your prayer is important.

EXAMPLE:

Let’s say you are praying about your finances.  If it was me, this would probably be an example of the prayer I would be praying (just in short)

Dearest Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit

Thank You for a wonderful morning and that You have protected me through the night.  I love you very much.

Lord, I want to pray for my finances today.  You know how hectic my finances are, that I do not know where my money is going to.  Please help me to sort my finances out!  Please help me to start to make a budget and to spend my money wisely. You know that we do not have a lot of groceries left.  Please Lord stretch our groceries and our money till the end of the month!  I place this money problem in Your hand my King, because only You are able to sort it out for me.  I ask everything in the Name of Jesus!  Amen

So?  Was that difficult?  No!!!  Not at all!!  You just talked to God and poured your heart out!!  Prayer is not difficult.  Prayer is just talking to your best, and only TRUE FRIEND in the universe!!!!  And, prayer is to be like a child.  If a child prays and want a bicycle they would probably say something like this:

Jesus, can I please have that red bicycle I saw in the window for my birthday?  It is the coolest bike ever! I promise I will drive very carefully with it!

So, prayer is also a little like a child praying – so honest, open and without pretention!!

If you look at Matthew 6, where Jesus taught about prayer, you would also see that the prayer was plain and simple:

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)

…”Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.”……

It was a plain and simple prayer.  There was no big and poetic words, just normal words that you will speak in daily life.  So… here is the good news:  if you can talk to a friend, you can pray!!!!!!  May this simple explanation help you to feel more comfortable in your prayer life and to just be childlike and honest before God!!  God is pleased with an open and honest prayer!!!

I AM SHY TO PRAY IN FRONT OF OTHERS

Well, that is one I also suffered with.  I was so scared to pray in front of people, because… what would they think about my prayer?  Would they like it or think it is no good???   It numbed me with fear and got me to a place where I did not want to pray in front of people.  But then I realized the following:

I AM NOT PRAYING FOR THE PEOPLE!!!!  I AM PRAYING TO GOD!!!!!!

So… I do not care if people like my prayer anymore.  I don’t even think about what people would think anymore.  I just talk to my BEST FRIEND and just tell Him what I think!!  If people do not like my prayer, it is their problem!  If they do not like the way I’m talking to God and my simple childlike words, it’s their problem!  I’m not praying to them!  I’m praying to God.  I only want to please God and not people.  And God does not look at fancy words, poetic words or fancy phrases your adding to make your prayer more powerful to people.  No!  God only looks at your heart, your intensions and your openness and honesty of heart!!!!  I’m not saying that poetic praying is wrong!  If this is your way of praying, great for you!!  But… prayer is only simple words spoken to you BEST FRIEND EVER!

I hope this has helped you a little bit on your road to prayer!  Now you have no excuse for not praying anywhere.  Just become quiet before your BEST FRIEND and just talk to Him about anything that is bothering you – finances, South Africa, your spouse being nasty to you, your kids and their problems.  Just tell Him how you feel in your heart!!    Just tell Him everything!!  He will always listen - especially in times that you feel He is not listening!!!

REMEMBER:  JESUS IS ONLY A WHISPER AWAY!!!

Ps.  Please fill in your name and e-mail address at the top of the page to receive articles as they are published.  You can opt out at any time.  In 2018 more articles for emotional health and support will be published.

# HOW DO I CONFESS MY SINS?

 Confession of sins is very important and the best place to start.

TIME

Stand up a little earlier than normal in the morning and become still before God.  Or if you are a night owl, make a definite time to spend time with God.  It is important to set aside time for prayer every day!

HOW DO I CONFESS MY SINS?

Honesty is of the utmost importance between you and God!!!  Ask God to reveal any unconfessed sins or things that are wrong in your life.  No matter how big or small the sin is!  If it comes to mind, confess it to God immediately.

• Confess a  sin or thing that is wrong in your life.

•  Ask God to forgive you in the Name of Jesus
• 
  
•  Ask God to help others whom you have sinned against to forgive you
• 
  
•  Ask God to help you to forgive yourself for doing wrong things 
• 
  
•  Ask God to cleanse you through the blood of Jesus
• 
  
•  Ask God to fill you with the fruit of the Spirit.
• 
  
•  Thank God for cleansing and purifying you!
• 
  
• Then ask God to reveal more sins in your life so that you can repent them to and get cleansed and purified by God!

Now remember that God has washed away your sins.  He has removed it from you as far as the east is from the west!!   Be thankful and grateful and SIN NO MORE!!!!!

If dark thoughts cross your mind throughout  the day, immediately confess them to God and bring it to the light!!!  Example of this:  you are buying groceries and want to buy something with your husband's money for your child without telling your husband about it.  Don’t do it!!  Confess it to God immediately!  Then either phone your husband to ask him if you can buy it for your child or rather leave it altogether.

Honesty and transparency is of the utmost importance before God.  You cannot hide anything from God.  He knows everything!!  But… it is important for YOU to tell God everything so that it can come to the light!  Once something is in the light, it can never go back to the darkness!!!!!

Be blessed!

40 DAYS OF WORSHIP CALENDER FOR PRAYER

Hi there!

A few people has asked me what they can pray about.  Here is a calender that I set up with a few ideas for the 40 days of worhsip for South Africa.  I will expand on them each day on the blog.  I hope this help a little bit.  Please, do not feel pressurised to pray according to this calender.  Pray for whatever God is placing on your heart!!!!

Go to the calender by clicking this link:


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m3AKTef6pSZeipGpc1KyV8n9b-J2yUp_EPfc33IVC-E/edit?usp=sharing

Please feel free to share with everyone or comment if you want to add something.  You can also write in Afrikaans.  I'm just saying everything in English so that more people can understand it!

Blessings!

Ps.  Please fill in your name and e-mail address at the top of the page to receive articles as they are published.  

INTRODUCING 40 DAYS OF WORSHIP FOR SOUTH AFRICA

CALLING ALL CHILDREN OF GOD

From 24 September to 3 November 2017 a 40 day of worship for South Africa will be held in Cape Town.  All South Africans are called upon to unite under this 40 days of worship for South Africa right there where you are!!!

Francis Lira, a missionary from Brazil, initiated the call to worship in response to prophetic visions he had in 2012 and 2015. He believe that the fire of God’s glory will ignite in Cape Town and spread throughout South Africa, through Africa and on to all nations.  Please watch the video at: https://www.facebook.com/40daysofworship/videos/1954464428125251/

Also go to their Facebook page:  40 days of worship.

WHAT IS WORSHIP?

Worship is to honour with extravagant love and extreme submission (Webster's Dictionary, 1828).

Yes, worship is songs and praising God, but it is far more than that. Most of the worship in Bible times was done away from the temple.  Worship is also sharing with one another, helping each other and even just listening to God’s voice.

HOW CAN WE PARTICIPATE IN THE 40 DAYS OF WORSHIP?

Part of the 40 days of worship for South Africa is to get out of our comfort zones.  It is time that we, as the body of Christ, show God that we are not ashamed of Him and that we will, publicly, proclaim His Name.  No, we are not Pharisees! We just want to openly declare and honour God with extravagant love and extreme submission!!! 

SO… HOW CAN WE DO THIS?

·         PERSONAL

o   Confess your sins.  Become very quiet before the Lord and listen to His prompting.  Then ask Him to fill you with the fruit of the Spirit!

o   Confess things that you have done wrong against others and they have done wrong against you and forgive them in the Name of Jesus.

o   Forgive yourself for things you have done wrong in the Name of Jesus.

o   Ask God to wash you with His blood and to cleanse and purify you.

·         PRAYER, ETC.

o   Open and close with a prayer at your business or work

o   Talk too and pray for people in a shopping mall, at your local butchery, the beach, on a mountain, just where you are. 

o   If someone is tired and weary, stop everything, talk to the person and pray for them – right there in public!!

o   Become still before God and LISTEN to what He is saying! 

o   Read from the Bible for your family in the evening, after you have eaten, and pray together.  Remember:  The family that prays together, stays together!

o   Go over to your neighbour’s house if they are going through a tough time and pray for them!

o   Pray with your family in the morning before you all leave for school and work

o   Spend more time in prayer and Bible study

o   Listen to and sing spiritual songs!

·         HELP PEOPLE!

o   Carry a plastic bag for an older lady to her car.

o   Help someone that does not have food!

o   Do you have a skill that someone need for free?  Example:  you are a mechanic and there is a family of five whose car has broken down and they do not have money to pay.  Fix the car for free!!!!

o   You can just make a cup of coffee for someone who has been in an accident right in front of your offices.

o   There is so many opportunities if you just start to look around you!!!!

(This is my adaptation as to what I think people can do – just a few suggestions.)

It is time that we, as the body of Christ, stand up and show people that God is the answer!!  Please join in this wonderful event, do your part for people around you and be the hands and the feet of Jesus right where you are!!!!

Be blessed in the Name of Jesus!

PS.  If you would like to receive more prayers or articles about handling emotional trauma, please fill in your e-mail adress at the bottom of this article (follow by e mail).   Articles about emotional trauma will start in 2018... or maybe earlier. 😃 You can opt out at any time!!