With all your heart, might, mind and strength

I have had a great deal on my plate lately, but it has all been very, very good.  I have learned incredible things about people who have sought the Lord, and not in vain.  I have a stronger desire in my heart than ever before to seek after these things.  These things, these gifts and profound blessings; they are truly all of good report and praiseworthy.

I have learned a thing or two by hanging around righteous people.  Their righteousness is not self attained.  No self-help seminar in the world will bring you to the place of righteousness. You really have to unburden yourself from the things that matter very little to gain the things that matter the most. You absolutely have to cast all your burdens upon the Lord to attain the greatest blessings from Jesus Christ.  He makes it not only quite easy, but absolutely available if we are of the desire to lay at his feet all that burdens us and seek for His help. And there is no doubt about it, you have to want whatever it is you want with all your heart, might, mind and strength.  Your desire for this blessing has to overcome your desire for all else.

How does one go about gathering up all their strength and provide the necessary focus to achieve what they want?

I have a dear friend who is a life coach.  She assists the people that come into her office to learn to study things out in their mind, and hopefully get them to develop the skill to connect those things that they think they want with their heart's approval.  It is absolutely astounding how powerful it is to get focused and stay focused on a desire. I have taken her class several times.  I keep coming back to the same place in my heart every time: it is a matter of intense prayer and supplication to the Lord regarding our desires so he knows we are serious.  We have to get focused.  Once we have proven ourselves through our dedication, the answers seem to manifest themselves.

How have I shown this dedication to reach my desires?  By fasting.  But how did I fast?  What are some of the other ways you can fast without going without food and water entirely?  And how can I know that my fast is acceptable to the Lord?

We go about like blind guides so often.  Go to the Lord and ask him to teach you how YOU would best be benefitted by a fast, and what kind and how long would He have you fast to attain the desire of your heart?

I have quite a number of friends that have received this personal and steady assistance on a day to day basis.  Some of them have been instructed to have a very small meal at the end of the day.  Others have done a juice fast, while others have taken to supply themselves with scripture that they feast upon all the day long, reflecting upon the greatness of Jesus Christ, while eating very sparingly, making eating more of a necessity by just a small meal than anything that clutters up their day and their mind.

It is difficult to focus.  Just ask anyone today.  It requires the ability to control your thoughts.  Even when you can control them, you still get distracted by habits of thinking, by distractions of every kind.  How distracted would you like to be when you sit down for an audience with Christ?

Imagine preparing for an audience with Christ himself.  What would you do?  Would you dress yourself in the nicest attire you had?  Would you be prepared to speak with him and discuss your deepest life experiences?  Would you be prepared to listen to Him as he asked you deep and probing questions?  Would you be pleased to be in his presence?  Would you sit at his feet and bathe them in your tears?  Would you petition Him for our great country and our continued freedom to worship as we please?  Would you beg him for your the preservation of your family, your health, or your very life if need be?

My experience with fasting is that it was not ever intended to inflict misery on a single soul, but to bring them into a state of joy.  We can experience this joy if we focus the act of fasting on a greater desire to be one with He whom this entire practice was designed.  If we want Christ more than we want air, more than anything else that this world could ever possible give us, then we will find that fasting will provide ample grounds for us to reach to him in all our extremities and find ourselves the benefactor of many great and marvelous blessings.  And in so doing, we will have revealed much to ourselves, we will become more tender hearted, we will learn truth about ourselves and have a connection with God which will provide for us a blessing which truly, we will not have the ability to contain.

I have read plenty of books on fasting, and they have encouraged me that there are great a wonderful results to be had from fasting.  Isaiah is by far the most eloquent of all those in the Old Testament that give a detailed description of the progressive blessings of fasting.  Just go to Isaiah 58 and start on verse 6.  There are 13 detailed blessings.

I salute you for pursuing this avenue.  I can promise from my own experience you will not be left wanting in the balance if you put all you have into learning how to fast the way the Lord would have you fast.  He is always one to keep his promises. and He absolutely knows us perfectly.

Healing in His Wings

Jesus is the healer of all.  He tells us often of His divine role and position in the healing of all mankind.  He speaks of the healing in his wings.  He instructs us that if we will come unto him, He will heal us; He will give us rest.

I have wondered how very seriously I took His entreaty to come to Him and He would welcome me in as a mother hen did when she gathered her chicks?[1]  Did I really believe I could come into His presence, did I honestly believe that He would be the one to heal me?

I have been indoctrinated plenty by the western medical society I have dwelt in.  I have been carted off to the hospital a time or two.  Was I prepared to trust the words of the Master and Great Creator? Was I willing to put aside the notions and worldly applications?  Was I willing to relinquish my reaching hand to the arm of flesh? Was I ready or desirous enough to trust in God, not my doctor, or a therapist, or herbs and healthy eating, but in Christ himself.

I was not certain, but at least I was being honest with my feelings of concern. Honesty with our feelings make their way to the surface when we fast.  There is no veil to your feelings.  Fasting helps in the process because it weakens the flesh, and thereby strengthens the spirit within.[2]  I needed that strength.  I wanted it desperately.  I was willing to fast to receive it.

In my desire to grow closer to the Savior and to be filled with His love, peace, joy, and the healing promised from him, fasting became the tool to remedy the distance between me and my Beloved.  My quest became as an unquenchable thirst. 

I found hope in reading of others who had communed with the Lord regarding the fast and its mighty power.

Fasting is the starving out of self.  It may not always be by food-abstinence.  But it is an absolute essential of progress in the life with Me.[3]

Another friend shared with me an experience from her inquiry to the Lord regarding the fast.

Instead of believing the phrase, “Give until it hurts”, how much better is the idea of “give until you rejoice”? The same is true of the fast.  If your body cannot go without food, or if you cannot hit that feeling of rejoicing by going without food, then it is time to look at other options.  Even if a person fasts without food and struggles and never hits the rejoicing stage, the offering is accepted but lacks power to change.

This principle is true in every phase of life.  In school we were conditioned to do acceptable work rather than powerful work and so many people have carried this concept into every aspect of their life.

The key to power in a fast is not the suffering, but the rejoicing!  And rejoicing only comes through the worship of the Savior when fasting.  Thus food deprivation can work—it is an option—but so are millions of other offerings.[4]

Fasting began to take on even greater proportions as I realized that not only was I giving up my selfish desires, but that I was going towards rejoicing.  How thrilled I became from the prospect, and the resulting effects of fasting.  Not only could I fast often, but in so many other ways I had not know were possible.

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[1] 3 Nephi 10:5.

[2] Denver Snuffer, The Second Comforter, Millcreek Press, Salt Lake City, Ut., 2006, pg. 106.

[3] A.J. Russell, God at Eventide, Dodd Mead and Company, New York, 1950, pg. 76.

[4] Private conversation with Elaine Davies, March, 2011.

To Loose the Bands of Wickedness

I have outwardly neglected a serious sharing of my study of fasting, but I have good reason, and hopefully it will have been worth the wait.

The third promised blessing of the fast is to loose the bands of wickedness.

One of the most powerful things that holds us from our progress is bondage.  In the scriptures there are a number of references that refers to that bondage, such as cords, bands, and chains. There is also slavery, yoke and captivity.  All of these kinds of bondage can be seen in old patterns or addictive behavior.

Not surprisingly, whenever we feel the need to change our lives and bring the Lord into the accomplishment of our tasks, we find that the effort is more often met with frustration and failure.  How many times have you desired a blessing and with great resolve decided to forge forward, only to feel like the best laid plans of mice and men were like your best intentions: like the garbage, they were meant to be carried out. Making a new start is imperative in breaking the bands of wickedness.[1]

One of the crucial keys in the formula for being relieved of the captivity of Satan and his minions is fasting.  Fasting breaks the steady rhythm of repetition caused by addictions.  That is a wonderful statement, but how is this achieved?

I ran across a fascinating piece of information that gives scientific proof why feasting on the word of the Lord and fasting from the world makes it possible to break the bonds that strangle us, and can absolutely guarantee that liberty.

I want to thank Tina Peterson for her timely contribution to this content.  She made a rather strong statement when she indicated at a class on scripture study that. . . “The battle today, between Babylon and Zion, is being waged between the synapses of our brains.” Synapses are how our brains process messages. They are crucial to the biological computation of perception and thought.

Tina explained that in this information age when messages, images, and information are coming at us almost faster than we can receive them, our brains are creating new neural pathways to accommodate the input. The first time we see an image on a screen–like a blog page, a news feed, texts, or Facebook – our brain creates a new neural pathway to process that image. It is the same with new sounds or any stimuli to the senses as well as pornography.

Input always travels the path of least resistance. The path is formed from the first exposure. The second time we see the new image, it will travel the same route. And before long, the new neural pathway has been stimulated enough to “desire” of itself continued activation. A habit is born.  An addiction is instilled.  (It does not only come from a visual enticement.  But it is definitely bolstered by a visual that makes a connection to a physical draw.)

Then, when the brain is not currently occupied, we long for that image, or in other words, we long to continue to make that connection.  (It might have started with a flaxen cord, but it literally can turn into a chain.[2]) That is why we constantly check our phones or email. That is why, when we have a free moment, we click onto a favorite blog, check facebook, and tweets, or any other source of input we frequent. Without realizing it, we have begun to crave these places of input, hunger for them, to the point where they can surreptitiously dominate our time.

Tina said the only way to counterbalance this is with ancient and modern scripture. We must expose our brains repeatedly to the image or sound of God’s words. We must literally begin to feast upon the word. That is where God’s Spirit lives. It is where His mind and will can rise out of the texts we read or the conversations we share, and filter into our lives, allowing revelation to move through us.  It provides a literal pathway of light.[3]

Satan knows the physiology of the brain. He knows if he can encourage overstimulation through an overload of mundane or technical information, he can increase the odds that we will not seek more spiritual sources for input. Not only scripture study, but anything that is lovely, virtuous, or praiseworthy, or of good report.  For these are all things that our spirits will feast upon and break the chains of that which will not satisfy.

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[1] Luke 9:37-42

[2] 2 Nephi 26:22 And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.

[3] Recently I was involved in publishing a work called Discoveries in Chiasmus.  The studies included indicate a positive connection between the chiastic structure in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and the physical alteration made in the body through the transmission of light.

Malnutrition and starving for a taste of the real food.

I have been away from my blog posts for a while.  But every day in my life is a piece of the education I need to teach me about the love of my Savior and the power of the fast.  Through this education, I find myself looking at everything through the eyes of fasting and the blessings promised through the action and focus on the giver of all good gifts, even Jesus Christ.

I spent a week in Paradise (just south of Logan, Utah).  Walks in the rolling hills, birds singing in massive symphonies, literal babbling brooks, trips into Logan to eat at Subway, the removal of 2 pieces of metal in a back tire, oatmeal in all its glory, and best of all, communion around the sacred table of the Willis family; I was the recipient of every blessing possible.  Given to watch the growth and progression of every member of this loving family, I spent the majority of my time in the kitchen, helping to prepare the meals for this little army.  The greatest event and energy was the gathering of the family at meal time.

Feeding 13 people 3 times a day is a feat I did not sign up for, which makes me only an infrequent participant, and certainly only a qualified observer.  This kind of daily provisional responsibility fell upon parents who were obviously more qualified than I for a task this size.

The daily food gave much to the sustenance of the family, but the most valuable nutrition was not prepared over the gas stove.  Every child capable of helping became responsible for preparation of a meal for the day; clean up became the responsibility of a different child.  All came to the table providing a part of their heart, and sharing their skills, gifts, and contribution according to the family chore chart.

I participated at times with my own brand of contribution to the meals, which were sufficient and full of nutrition, but I wanted more color and flavor than the daily fare.  Apples, raisins, and cinnamon I added to the large pot of oatmeal.  Salsa received mangoes, pizza got 3 kinds of cheese, and the pasta primavera would receive as many wonderful vegetables available in the spring from the grocery.

Sitting at the table each meal provided an opportunity to give thanks to the God who provided this feast.  All were invited to participate in the prayer on the food.  The opening of the prayer was offered by designation, and someone was also invited to close the prayer, but all were invited to add their voice in the middle of the prayers.  Songs of gratitude, words almost unintelligible from a wee 5 year old son, tentative words from budding teenagers; all were a part of the prayer of thanksgiving.

What does all this have to do with fasting?  I thought of the immense blessings that were mine by sitting at this table.  There wasn't an open space at the large table, yet it was obvious that there would always be space made available for any stranger who needed a place to seat and receive nourishment. I felt as the prayers were offered on the food that the Savior provided for us that he would certainly come to the table providing an even greater feast than we had prepared for ourselves.  We were all recognizing Him in our petitions for the meal.  The invitation to have Christ join us was offered in earnest by all who prayed before the beginning of partaking of the food.

Isn't this what anyone would seek for in the mental preparation of the fast? Thinking of Christ the entire time the meal was being prepared offered a way for me to realize that I was indeed desirous of the addition of the Sower of the Seed, the Provider of Providence, indeed, the author and finisher of my faith to come and join me at this meal, yes, each precious moment was an occasion for a certain communal sacrament.  It felt like a sacred meal in a sacred place.  I felt as if I were in a most sacred space.

Fasting has become an everyday occurrence now for me.  I look at the food I am eating, which is not always something relegated to something purchased at a market.  The food of words, of holy writ has fed many a massive crowd.  Although we did not have 5,000 at our table, it was a miracle nonetheless. We definitely had our own form of manna from heaven.  We feasted on the word.  We pondered upon Christ as we worked out in the open.

I believe I am learning something so great and magnificence by desiring to understand the fast.  The food portion that we leave behind is minuscule compared to the feast we are supplied when we invite the Savior into our lives.  It is a feast without description.  Words cannot be spoken or written to explain it.

He feeds me

I gave myself a great deal of food for thought from the last blog post.  I revisited the dinner with Jesus and the less desirable. I thought a great deal of the Savior telling the quizzical ‘religious’ leaders of his day about the need to fast only when the Bridegroom was absent.  I pondered and tried to imagine what it was like for this meal that Christ was having with the outcasts.  I tried to envision the landscape, the lay of the home, the table, even the food being served. I pondered upon fasting and feasting, Pharisees and prostitutes, Sadducees and criminals.  I was thinking of the common man who was invited to sit down and eat with Christ. Amazing how instructive a meaty thought can be.

I decided to ask the Lord if he would like me to fast so that I could sit down and let Him feed me.  The answer was an emphatic, YES.

I wasn’t interested in fast food, a boxed lunch, or even dinner at the Ritz.  I was imagining what it would be like to really sit at the feet of the Savior and partake of the words of eternal life. No wonder Mary wasn’t interested in getting up and being busy when she was sitting in the ultimate classroom.

I wasn’t interested in ABC food either (Already Been Chewed).  As much as I have loved my Sunday School teachers, as well as very educated friends, I wanted the whole truth, and I wanted it directly from the loving Creator of this world, my beloved Savior.

I was actually stunned that I was looking at something that has been in my face for so long.  How had I totally missed the message.  As always, it was a very simple and obvious message.  Christ is the answer to every question.  Inviting Him into our lives is the solution to every problem and the answer to every dream.

I love getting out of the stinking thinking box, especially when I realize that I have been desperately holding on to false notions and foolish traditions.  After standing up and dusting myself off (since I have been crammed into such a tight space for such a long time regarding this issue), I revel in the feeling.  It mirrors much of what Dorothy went through when she visited the Land of Oz.  She went out unconscious and came back a much enlightened young woman. She definitely had new perspective. 

Now, I am no longer a young woman, but I feel much enlightenment.  I feel such gratitude from the experience of even a short fast.  I realized many awakenings that released me from heavy burdens I actually did not know I was carrying around.  I was able to be released from bondage to an adversary that has kept me blind, deaf, and certainly dumb.  The Lord has given me new eyes to see and strength to stand.  I feel like a new person.  I have a renewed confidence in my ability to seek the Lord and his response to my needs. And to think I can experience this precious and marvelous feeling by inviting Him to my table, into my prayers, and most wonderfully, into my heart. Oh, the blessings of the fast are indeed immeasurable.

The Fast: Being in the presence of Jesus Christ

I like to do word searches in the scriptures.  It adds so much more meaning to scriptures study. I spent a great deal of time pulling out the different situations where fasting is mentioned.  I believe the greatest light is shed when Christ is studied in a fasting situation.  Not only his remarkable 40 fast, (which we can cover later), but also those people in a situation where they are feasting with Christ.

And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.
 

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?


When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.


And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.


We learn immediately that fasting is to be in the presence of Christ. Christ goes on to explain some very clear doctrine in the renewal of the body, which is compared to an old garment and wine bottles.

But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.


No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.


And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles. Mark 2:15-22

We also learn that fasting provides healing for those in need.  Not only is the inside—the spirit being reborn and sanctified—is made new, but also the outside. Christ is the dear and glorious physician.  He has and always will be the ultimate Healer.

We can see so clearly that fasting is something that brings us closer and closer into His holy presence.  We are enlightened and blessed immeasurably through the association as we endeavor to draw closer to Christ.  Christ tells us himself that we cannot fast when he is with us, so the conclusion is that we fast to connect with Him. Oh, blessed day when we are fasting and feel His power, His love, and his holy presence near.