Get closer to God’s Spirit by putting down your flesh. It is called fasting and it’s a wonderful way to press in to our Lord for breakthrough and change. Steward a few of your minutes with your Charisma Podcast Network hosts Andrea and Ann Marie and the Fruit of the Vine podcast while they discuss the who, what, when, where, why and how of fasting.

 Leave your flesh’s old ways behind using one of the most tremendous and powerful weapons God has ever given us, fasting. Fasting is not merely eating a bit less, choosing a salad or a smaller meal. It is a specific bypassing of meals and beverages over a set period of time. That period can be anywhere from three hours or twelve hours up to two days, three days, a full seven-day week or more. Forty-day fasts like Jesus did are always called forth by God, so it is prudent to seek Him in prayer to plan any fast longer than the usual few days.

When planning your fast, give yourself a few days at least for prepping. This will include tapering off your caffeine intake, your media diet and your sleep patterns. If you happen not to taper your caffeine you run a higher risk for large headaches under any sort of “cold turkey” abrupt stoppage of caffeine. And keep in mind that caffeine is in many of our favorite beverages each day, not least coffee and iced tea among many others.

Go forth confidently in planning the time you will spend with God in prayer and stilling your heart and spirit, knowing that the first thing our Lord Jesus did after His baptism was fast in the desert. He instituted fasting and as with all of God’s blessing delivered to us through Jesus’ blood, we can embrace fasting right now today, joyfully expecting the vibrant opportunity to humble ourselves, quiet our souls and hear whatever our Father longs to share with us.