Episode 13 Transcript
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Welcome to your daily bread with co hosts, Abbie Stasior and Hannah Calhoun. We're here to be your weekly source of spiritual nourishment, guiding you to find food freedom in a deeper connection with Christ. As we explore the intersection of faith and nutrition, these bite sized episodes will help you heal your relationship with food and your body through practical advice, biblical wisdom, and heartfelt encouragement.
And as a disclaimer, we are not pastors, but passionate registered dietitians and sisters in Christ, offering our insights to support you on this faith filled journey to a healthier, more fulfilling life. Join us by taking a seat at our table as we break bread and allow God in to break the chains of diet culture.
Abbie: Hello, hello y'all. Today we are going to be talking about how to approach a religious fast. We're going to be talking about why we fast, the different types of fasts that there are available to us, some kind of tips, do's and don'ts, um, and If you have any questions after this episode, like, please send us a DM.
Like, this is a very nuanced topic, and obviously we're trying to keep our episodes brief, so please message us with your questions, and we are happy to do follow up episode, Q& A, and, um, just make sure that you all are equipped to enter a religious fast in a non diet way. So first, I'm going to read a couple of verses from Matthew chapter four, where Jesus is tested in the wilderness.
Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. So Hannah, I would just be curious to hear, like, what is your experience or your thoughts on religious fasting? Yeah,
Hannah: so obviously. I know like what religious fasting is, but I have actually never done a food fast because it has always felt weird to me.
Even when I was younger, before I was in, like, you know, the nutrition dietetic world, the eating disorder world, it always felt like, oh, yeah, if you're going to do a food fest, you might as well cut out sugar, or you might as well, like, make it kind of like a diet. That's, that has always been, like, where my brain goes, so I have never done a religious food fest, ever.
Abbie: Yeah, honestly, um, I hadn't either before my most recent experience, so I talked about this on Our Instagram account, and I actually did a liquid fast for 10 days recently, and this was my first time doing a real food fast, and I was very wary about it, so that's why we wanted to do this episode now, because we know a lot of churches are doing prayer and fasting, like, around the start of the year, and, um, this just comes up a lot, and clearly, like, because Jesus fasted, we are called to be fasting as well, and to loop this into our spiritual practice, we But I think it's, it can be very much a slippery slope of like, is this turning into a diet?
Are we making this an idol? Are we focusing on losing weight? What is our why behind fasting? So we really wanted to equip y'all with all of that. Because when I was prompted to do this religious fast, I, I was shocked. Because I was like, Lord, you know, my relationship with food, you know, my history. And it was right around the holidays when I was feeling gross bloated, like I was out of my routine.
So there was a part of me that was like, Is this from God? Like, are you sure? Or is this a knee jerk reaction? Like I'm just wanting to fast because I feel so gross right now. So that's why I prayed on it for about two weeks after I didn't go right into it.
And I really prayed on it and I waited for confirmation from God. And you know, God definitely speaks to me very strongly through scripture. He speaks to me through signs. So I made sure that I was getting confirmation from multiple, multiple different avenues to really hear from God. taking several days for solitude and silence to hear from him.
Um, I talked with some spiritual directors about this, like, hey, this is what I'm hearing. What do you think? Like, can you confirm? Like people that are, have been walking with the Lord for 40 plus years. to do a liquid fast, I just seemed very extreme and kind of random given my relationship with food. And like what I do for a living is a non diet dietitian. I was like, is this contradictory? Is this like the enemy? Because yes, God will meet you there with fasting and he'll meet you there profoundly, but the enemy can also meet you there as well.
So I just wasn't sure, like, is this like the enemy, you know, kind of coming in? But. it was very, very spirit led. And what the Lord showed me was that I wasn't fasting for myself specifically for me. I was fasting for, for a family member and to pray and fast for. their salvation and for them to come to the Lord.
Um, I have been changed profoundly by my relationship with God. My life looks completely different since being saved and really having a relationship with God. Now I grew up Catholic, but now I really have a relationship with Jesus. So, Of course, I want that for my family members. I, you know, I see so many of them that are feeling unsettled or financially stressed or, um, just bound by different addictions and things.
Insecurity, lack of confidence, lack of purpose, all of those things, and all of that could be solved with. With Jesus and feeling his peace and his presence and having that relationship. So that's really what, what I was praying for and what the Lord was showing me was Abby, you've done enough for right now in the physical world, this is now a spiritual battle, and I need you to step in as a liaison because this person is far from the Lord is far from me. I need you to step in and be, be in the gap to help in the spiritual realm, really fight this battle.
So these, you know, past two weeks, I was. I feel like I was going to battle and that's what made me more, more motivated to, to stick with it. And that's why it didn't feel like a diet because my purpose, my why behind doing it, it was not for me. It was not in vain. It was not to not to lose weight. It was.
It was for this family member and it was to pray and fast. And I also did a lot of research on it too. I subscribed to the ARMA course. I, we can link it up in the show notes too, but the armor course by pastor Manny Orango, he's one of the pastors with social Dallas. I love him. He's great. So I listened to his whole three plus hour course on, on fasting.
And that, that was really helpful to make sure that I knew like the different reasons for fasting and, and other tips and things like that. Um, so if you are considering fasting, Um, here are some several reasons why people fast. The first one is for mourning. And we see this all over the Bible that people fast because they're mourning.
People can also fast, um, to lead them towards repentance or to repent. You can also fast for spiritual preparation, for preparing for something. Um, and I think this is where Jesus was. In Matthew four that we read, I mean, he had just been baptized in Matthew three. And he was getting ready for his ministry.
So he fasted 40 days and 40 nights, and then the spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted. And then he started his ministry. So clearly he was fasting for spiritual preparation. You can also fast to hear from God and have divine direction. So that might've been what Jesus was praying and fasting for as well.
Um, you can pray and fast for personal transformation and edification. You can fast to break sinful strongholds. Again, to like hear from God, have divine direction, fast for miracles. I think that's probably what we hear of the most it's praying for the miracle healing, , and just, , for miracles.
And then you can also fast for, for unity or. corporate fasting as well. Um, and we are definitely called too fast. I mean, in Matthew six, 16 to 18, it says when you fast, so Jesus is already assuming that we are going, going to be fasting. So there's,, there's so many different reasons. And none of those reasons just want to repeat are for losing weight or anything that one of the questions I had to ask myself was, am I okay with this fast?
If I do not lose any weight during it and I had to really sit with that for days, like, am I okay with that? Because it's not the point. And yeah, I got to a place where I'm like, yes, because the goal would, you know, really to have this family member. Become closer to the Lord and I want to be with them in heaven.
I want to know I I want to know that they're saved I want to know that they have a relationship with Jesus because it's been so transformative for me and It really helped to humble me and keep my eyes on on God now I chose and felt led to do a liquid fast specifically, and I'll go into like what I, what I consumed.
First I was thinking I would do a Daniel fast. So there's several different types of fasts. So first is like an absolute or spiritual natural fast, which is when you basically, you literally have nothing. Like you don't even have water. That is very rare. I don't think really anybody should be doing that.
Uh, then there's a complete fast, which is just water. liquid fast, which is where you can have different things. Like I was having a lot of protein, uh, protein powders and shakes and smoothies, pureed soups, applesauce, yogurt, uh, bone broth, tea. I was putting collagen peptides in everything and I was very cognizant.
To make sure that I was getting a variety of nutrients, variety of different sources of nutrients. And I was hitting my protein goal every day. Like I kind of have a protein goal in general for myself, like anywhere from like 75 to a hundred grams of protein. So I was always in that range, which made me feel nourished and helped, you know, to kind of curb any cravings, help to keep my blood sugar stable.
And. , I felt nourished. I really did. So I was relying a lot on different protein powders and shakes and smoothies, um, and a lot of pureed soups. Like I had like chicken noodle soup that had noodles in it, or, or, you know, chicken and rice soup, and there were chunks of chicken in there sometimes.
So like, I wasn't legalistic about it, which made me feel better from like a non diet dietitian standpoint. It's like, yes, I'm like, the majority of my stuff was liquids, but , It was okay to have some chunks in there. So I think if you're doing this, you kind of need to check yourself too. If you're not letting yourself have any of that, it's like, why is that?
And I even went in with the intention of doing it for 14 days, but ended up only doing 10 days. Cause I just felt in my spirit. I was just like, Okay. It is done. I did what I needed to do. I handled what I needed to handle in the spiritual realm. And when you're doing stuff in the spiritual realm, you might not see any fruit from that right away.
You might not see any change in the physical world, but you have no idea what's going on in the spiritual realm. And one thing that God kind of prompted me to think about during the fast was, are you okay with not seeing like this family members, like salvation and them coming to the Lord? Are you okay if it happens?
And your prayer is answered without you seeing it. Mm. And I had to sit on that for a bit because at first I was like, Hey, I'm doing all this, you know, I'm doing the things. Of course I want to see it. And like, of course, like the sooner it happens, the longer that this person is going to be walking with the Lord.
And like, I can enjoy talking with them about it and we can bond over scripture and Jesus and things like that. Like, of course I want that as soon as possible, but Hey, it might happen at the end of their life and I might already be gone. Am I okay with that? And ultimately. My answer was yes. And I'll be honest at first it was no God, of course I want to see it, but then it was like, it's not about me.
It's not about seeing it. I need to trust that it will happen. And it was really cool because I actually got confirmation that it, that it will happen. Praise God. Literally praise God. It was, it was so cool. Um, so yeah, I felt like I was able to like meet my nutritional needs. And there were a couple of times, like the first couple of days, that I was body checking myself, and I just immediately was like, oh, flip that around, like, let's not, like, I avoided, like, looking in mirrors mostly, I wore a lot of, like, loose fitting clothes, and it's natural to have those thoughts, but we don't have to indulge in those thoughts, and we can redirect them, so I was like, this is a time to pray, so I think body checking is super normal.
But I was like, Oh, let's refer back to God. Yeah, redirect back to read. Exactly. Exactly. Um, you can also do like a partial fast, like the Daniel fast, which is where I think you just have like a whole fresh vegetables. You don't really have anything processed and you don't have any animal products. So you're not having like meat or a lot of like, Animal product protein.
And at first I was like, okay, I'll just do a partial fast. I'll just do a Daniel fast. But for me, I just didn't sit right in my spirit when I prayed on that. It just felt like it wasn't enough to do what I needed to do in the spiritual realm, knowing that this family member is like so far from, from God.
So that's why the liquid fast spiritually made sense. And so when you're approaching like what to fast, obviously make sure that it's spirit led and it has to be meaningful to you. If it's not meaningful to you, it's not going to be meaningful to God. The point of praying and fasting is to get closer to God and to pray better prayers.
So you need to fast whatever is stopping you from having more time with God. And so that might be doing a soul fast. Something that's not food related and Hannah and I would 100 percent recommend this if you are someone that has an eating disorder, has an active eating disorder, um, in, so soon in recovery, or just feels like they have a lot of disordered eating habits, um, and maybe doesn't have a diagnosed eating disorder, but just knows that they would be doing this for the wrong reasons, hoping to lose weight, making, making this an idol, like not making it about God, I would recommend a soul fast.
So giving up social media for a bit. Fasting social media, fasting makeup, fasting entertainment, you know, stopping Netflix, for example.
Hannah: Or like secular music, like that's another thing that, you know, yeah, different, different things that are not food that you can fast that, that, you know, again, spirit led prey on it and then make sure it's something meaningful to you that will bring you closer to God and something that will be difficult, because it, it.
It shouldn't feel easy, you know, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Back
Abbie: to God. Right. It should, it should feel like a challenge. It should feel like a sacrifice. And we sacrifice because God sacrificed his life for us. Jesus sacrificed his life for us. So yeah, I would definitely recommend a soul fast, especially if you have never fasted before.
I think it's also important to remember to that like restrictions lead to benches and it was very hard for me to come out, out of it.
And I kind of thought like I would be okay but Um, no, I definitely also, I was going through like a lot emotionally too, and like getting close to my cycle. So it was just like a lot towards the past too. So I definitely like, you know, eight past the point of fullness, um, a couple of times after now, I feel like I'm like back into a groove, but yeah, like it's, it's still very difficult, even if you are doing it all for, for the right reasons.
And you, also someone said this to me before going into the fast, like one of my spiritual directors, you have to remember that like your physical body and your soul are separate. So you might not be feeding your physical body as much as you normally do with real food, but you're feeding yourself spiritually.
So you know that you're not quite doing the praying and fasting thing the way God intended it if you are doing the fasting part, but you're not doing the praying part. Fasting is a form of prayer. So you have to be doing the spiritual elements. Like if you are fasting social media or you are fasting secular music or entertainment, that time that that stuff would be taking up in your life.
If you're fasting makeup, the time that it would take for you to do your makeup, that is time that you should be instead praying and turning to God. So if you're not doing that aspect and actually getting closer to God. You're not doing it right. And I would say that you probably shouldn't, you might not be in a place where you're ready to pray and fast, or you might need some extra accountability, always make sure you have accountability, always make sure you have prayer partners.
Like I was not doing this alone. I had people checking in with me. Um, I definitely felt super supportive. I also want to direct y'all to, I'm not going to read it all the way through, but first Samuel. Chapter one versus one through 20 is the story of Hannah and her becoming pregnant. Um, she had been struggling with infertility for so long and it wasn't until she prayed and fasted that she then prayed a different prayer.
I'll just say that one prayer that she had. She ended up saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servants misery and remember me and not forget your servant, but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life. And no razor will ever be used on his head.
Um, so she said, if you give me a son, I'm going to give him back to you. And she wasn't able to pray that prayer until she was like, so desperate for God. And praying and fasting and fasting out of like mourning for struggling with infertility and being barren. Then she got pregnant and she was obedient to that.
She gave him back to the Lord. So praying and fasting unlocks. It's like, it's just a totally different, like you just have so many profound encounters with God. And he really does meet you there profoundly in such a different way. And when I was doing, I just felt such a closeness with Jesus. He was pointing me to so many different points in scripture and everything was just making sense, but like more than I've ever experienced before, it was really such a beautiful spiritual experience for me.
Um, I really did feel like Hannah, like he gave me different prayers to pray that I could tell were like unlocking things in the spiritual realm that I wouldn't have done or God wouldn't have been able to like released me without, without doing this. So there might be a blessing that God is waiting to release until you pray a specific prayer and you might not hear that specific prayer, pray that scripture until you pray and fast and.
And do this form of prayer.
Hannah: I appreciate you, Abbey, like, on your insight on this, and I've just been soaking it up just as much as the listeners, because this is insightful for me as well. Um, and Yeah, you touched on so many good things on how to engage appropriately with a spiritual, religious fast and not make it about the physical body and dieting and losing weight and making it, um, you know, something that, that you're doing in vain, but for God to bring you closer to God, um, just everything that you mentioned is just so valuable and I'm so glad that you had this experience and that you shared it with us today.
Abbie: Yay. Thank you, Hannah. I, I appreciate that. And I think 10, 14 days, 21 days can be really intimidating. So maybe if you're listening to this right now, like maybe just start small. Start with one to three days. Start with just one day. You know, start like maybe you stop at lunch and you fast dinner and then you don't eat until lunch the next day or something like that.
Um, or maybe just fast just during your quiet time. Like I'm not going to do anything else. I'm going to do my quiet time and then have coffee after. So start small and God will meet you there and you can build up more kind of like a tolerance for it as well. And just know Hannah and I are in the DMs ready to answer your questions about this.
Um, And I even got a text from someone at my church this morning that was like, Hey, I'm thinking about doing a fast. I'm nervous if I'm going to be doing it for the wrong reasons. What do you think? So her and I were able to go back and forth to just know we are ready to support you as well and help you discern and point in the right direction.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of your daily bread. We hope you found inspiration and practical guidance to nourish your body and soul. Remember the journey to a healthier relationship with food and a deeper connection with Christ is ongoing and we're here to support you every step of the way.
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As we conclude today's episode, we encourage you to take what resonated with you into your quiet time with God, allow God to reveal to you any changes that you can make for his glory, trusting that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. Stay tuned for our next episode where we'll continue to explore how God's word helps us heal our relationship with food in our bodies Until then may you find both physical and spiritual nourishment and may you be filled with his peace and joy.
God bless
