Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe

But as for me, when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.
~Psalm 35:13

I fast at least one day a week, Wednesday. I have been practicing this for over a year, but I used to do it some years ago also. Now I don't sit around in sackcloth and ashes as you see pictured here, but it is a time that I try to cleanse my body and my soul and prepare to receive what the Lord wishes to give to me. I have always felt better physically and closer to my Lord spiritually when I fast regularly like this, but I admit it is a bit harder while caring for and homeschooling a child to seek the Lord in silence and with intensity and without any interruption. However, there have been times when I grabbed two bowls for our granola breakfast and the Princess reminded that today is my fasting day.

Years ago I became interested in fasting and all aspects of it. I began slowly just fasting a day for some time and building to fast for fourteen days which has been the longest one I have done so far. I think the thing that drew me into fasting years ago was mostly the physical aspects and I have come to believe the Lord knows how to coax me on to the path He has prepared for me. I have learned so much through seeking the Lord while fasting: I hear Him clearer. I have been given gifts. I have asked for signs and have been given them.

Over a year ago my husband lost his job before Christmas and was out of work for the very first time in his life. It was a scary time for us. I began fasting once a week and sometimes for a week or more after the holidays. I was fasting for two reasons, one was to eat less, which resulted in me losing nearly fifteen pounds and lowering our grocery budget, and the other was to ask the Lord to provide a job for my husband. I also asked for a sign so we would know which job should more than one become available. It was months before my sign came, but the next week he was offered a job for which he had not even applied and it was the job of which my Lord told me about when right after he was layed off.

When I fast and seek the Lord, I feel I am truly walking with Him. However, fasting is a hardship also. Fasting makes some aspects of life more difficult, as we all tend to socialize the most when eating. Because fasting is a part of my lifestyle, it does not bother me in the least for people to eat right in front of me while I am fasting, but it does seem to make some of them uncomfortable.

When I fast, I do seek the Lord for some thing I desire which only He can provide, but I also pray for healing for several people. During such prayers I feel their hurts: physical, emotional, and even spiritual. Sometimes my Lord will deliver the person immediately and others over time--It is amazing either way! I believe that this is my ministry at this time. So, while I don't wear sackcloth and ashes on the outside, I try to come before the Lord with a humble heart deserving of nothing but woe yet yearning to walk the path He has set before me.

My Lord, may my day of fasting never be something of vanity nor may it draw attention to me, but may it honor You. Thank you for answering my prayers and healing others of their hurts.