Resetting Our Body, Soul, and Spirit Through Fasting
Fasting is a powerful tool…
It allows our bodies to totally reset, turning over new cells at a much faster rate than when we’re eating and digesting. Fasting is also a powerful tool when it comes to emotional healing and soul wounds as well.
This week, we’ve provided 2 incredibly powerful video lessons on fasting. The first, is by Dr. Tony Jimenez, MD. This video is from our 2018 HealingStrong conference and he was one of the favorite speakers of the whole event! Be sure to watch until the end for a special surprise!
LESSON OBJECTIVES & KEY CONCEPTS
- Understand the Science of Fasting
- Understand the benefits of various types of fasting
- Examine Fasting and Spirituality and What the Bible Says About Fasting
DISCUSSION POINTS
- What are 5 benefits to fasting? Modulates immune system, clears detox pathways, mental clarity, suppresses tumor growth, improves metabolism and oxygenates cells, healthy weight maintenance
- How does fasting impact our Spiritual health and what are some fasting examples in the Bible? It increases our HUNGER for God! (God, I desire you above all else!) Examples found in Daniel and Ezra
- Our soul wounds can go deep and impact our overall health. Fasting helps bring awareness to the deeper issues and resolve through prayer, resolution and healing.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS/ACTION STEPS:
- Why would we consider doing a fast?
- How can fasting impact your overall being – body, soul and spirit?
- Is fasting a tool to use for wellness? If so, how can you begin to make steps to incorporate fasting into your own health plan?
The next video, is by Dr. Anja Sonst. Dr. Anja has greatly contributed to our HealingStrong@Home curriculum which is available for our group leaders!
Interested in learning more or contemplating starting your own HealingStrong group? Click HERE to learn more about group leadership
A couple more of our favorite resources on fasting
- The Fasting Mimicking Diet written by Dr. Valter Longo
- The Science of Fasting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sBMl4SU8eU
- Resource center to go to to fast: https://www.healthpromoting.com/water-fasting
- A Hunger for God written by John Piper
- Practicing the Power written by by Sam Storms
Right now, our group that meets on Monday Mornings is doing something really special – we’re walking through the story of Esther which involved, you guessed it, fasting!
Fasting in Scripture:
HealingStrong stresses the importance of healing into wholeness (body, soul and spirit) and one discipline that helps support this is fasting. The scriptures highlight several examples of fasting to consider:
- The Daniel Fast is a type of fasting based on the experience of the prophet Daniel. It is a partial fast, restricting all but water and vegetables. After Daniel’s fast, he encouraged a comparison of him and his men, and the men who ate the King’s foods. Daniel’s crew looked stronger and healthier than the others.
- The Esther Fast was a dry fast, where they ate no food or water for 3 days, as Esther requested her Jewish brothers and sisters to petition the Lord’s intervention as she was going to approach the king, in an attempt to save the nation of Israel. She was seeking wisdom for His timing, His direction and trusting Him for the outcome. Esther said: I will go to the king, and if I perish, I perish. Esther 4:16 We encourage you to watch this short video about the book of Esther. The outcome is a great example of God’s providence. This week, the Feast of Purim is being celebrated to honor the events that happened during Esther and Mordecai’s plan to save the Jewish nation.
- Finally, fasting is a way for us to reset our body’s metabolism. It is also protective during cancer treatments to use fasting prior to any kind of IV type of treatment. Dr. Valter Longo of the University of Southern California has published many studies on the power of fasting. We encourage you to watch one of our favorite videos here: The Science of Fasting.
We hope you’ll join us on Monday Morning as we walk through Esther together in the coming weeks!
**You can easily join in on Mondays by going to healingstrong.org/refresh and click “join on zoom”
Have You Listened to our I AM HealingStrong Podcast?
New episodes are waiting for you! Every Monday we have a new speaker discussing their journey on our I AM HealingStrong Podcast, hosted by Jim Mann and Ally Powell. These are incredible stories of hope, courage, change and most importantly, they are a testament to the healing and life-transforming power of God.
We’ve had amazing guest speakers and cancer thrivers like; Chris Wark, Bailey O’Brian, singer song-writer Tim Timmons, Ally Powell, Jim Mann and our latest episode features the CEO and Founder of HealingStrong, Suzy Griswold.
If you’re in need of encouragement to keep going, we can’t recommend these stories enough! Download and listen today on your favorite podcast platform!
