At the commencement of the 30 day-fast we did earlier on in 2011, I didn’t really have many expectations. I had just intended to do the fast because it was a spiritual activity that I knew needed to be done though I was lacking much wisdom about the purposes and benefits of fasting. As the days went by however, by the grace of God, I began to procure more wisdom concerning fasting and life in general.

Part of the reason why I’ve obtained so much wisdom during those few weeks is because I spent most of my free time seeking his face. Because of the fast, I’ve come to realize that wisdom isn’t something we should rely solely on prayer for, rather we must also set time aside to read and study the Word in order to guarantee the opening of our eyes. Prior to the start of the fast, I had read a book titled A Young Woman After God’s Own Heart, and in one of the chapters the author mentioned that “just like a plant whose roots are unseen, we too must seek God’s face behind the public scene” - which meant cutting down the hours spent communicating with others or time spent hanging out with friends in replacement with God.

I took that piece of advice to heart and began to focus most of my attention and time disciplining myself. Fasting for a period of 30 days I knew if I denied myself to fervently seek God’s face everyday even if it meant getting minimum hours of sleep to pray by all means by the time the fast ended I would have developed the habit of seeking God’s face on a daily basis.

There have been times where I’ve been tempted, times where I felt weak, and times where I felt irritable but those moments have made me sensitive to God and the Holy Spirit. In the past whenever I fasted, I would often complain when I was hungry but now by the grace of God I’ve been able to minimize my complaining and rather focus more on Him. Because the flesh is willing but the body is weak, we must always ask Him to strengthen us whenever we face the difficulties and temptations. I believe Christianity is all about stepping out of our comfort zone. Sometimes we may feel lazy, tired, and hungry but we have to deny ourselves and seek Him at all times anyways. He must increase as we decrease!

Having this opportunity to fast and get to the point where I desired God more than food has helped to shed off my carnal nature and realize the importance of fasting. I thank God for the life of Bishop Dag Heward-Mills because now I’m not at the same level spiritually that I was prior to the fast. I believe that God sees the desires of our hearts and He will provide us with the grace to endure and see the breakthroughs we need come to pass but we mustn’t give up (Philippians 3:14)!