Felt like Dying!

Fasting is to go without food and drink voluntarily for a certain period of time.  Sounds crazy right?  Well, that was my opinion when I first started fasting.  At the age of 8 my parents start to have us fast.  Being the oldest in my family, I was the first of my siblings to join my parents in fasting on fast Sunday.  It began with a prayer.   A prayer to dedicate our fast to a specific cause or for a specific reason.  At this point, I was doing good. 

As the day went on, my insides began to yell and throw a tantrum.  I was beginning to think that this whole "fasting" thing was a new way for my parents to torture me.  It didn't help that I had to watch my brothers eat ALL day long....Or so it seemed.  Death was upon the horizon for me.

I continued to wither away, laying on the couch, waiting to break our fast.  As I laid on the couch I kept my handy bag of potato chips clutched in my grasp till the time I could partake of them.  Luckily, the time FINALLY came!  My mom and dad told me it was time.  As they spoke I pictured a ray of heavenly light beaming down and a chorus of "ah's" rang within my ears.  It was time!  We broke our fast with a prayer and then I ripped apart the bag of chips and chowed down.

Reflecting back upon this experience I know what it was I was missing.  I wasn't focused on the reason we were fasting.  When we fast with purpose, we are able to put aside our carnal needs for a greater need or desire.  A more righteous desire we want from our Heavenly Father.  "Fasting, coupled with mighty prayer, is powerful. It can fill our minds with the revelations of the Spirit. It can strengthen us against times of temptation" (Joseph B. Wirthlin).  Someone once told me "fasting without a purpose is just stupid starvation."  Allow yourself to be spiritually fed when you fast by fasting with a specific purpose.  I can promise you that the Lord will hear your prayers and enlighten your mind.  It works!  Try it!