“Preparing your heart and home to enter into the sanctuary of prayer and fasting with the least amount of distractions.”
Set Worthy Goals
It’s always a good idea to have a destination in mind before embarking on a trip and fasting is a journey in every sense of the word. As I have said before, never look at stillness as inactivity. There will be much inner activity during a fast and goals are a great way to measure how things are going.
How to know what goals to set is all about asking yourself the right questions. The very fact that you are reading this article means there is something within seeking for change. Ask yourself, how did you get here? What is it your heart is seeking? Don't worry about being wise or deep, just write down simple reasons why you are here. If you have tried it all and are desperate to lose weight then a great goal is to control your eating. If you are here because you feel far from God, then your goal is to establish a new lifestyle that maintains intimacy with God.
Write them down, keep them short, one sentence each, and try to only have one to five goals, no more, that way the fast stays focused and clear. Keep your goals personal between you and God. There is good reason for this which will become more obvious as you continue.
Your family will need to know what you are planning to do. Explain, do not ask for permission. Do not feel guilty about taking this time; trust me when I say that they will be the benefactors of your fast. If they are not happy, you can tell them that instead of going away for a few weeks spending about $2,000 you decided to do this at home. That may help. It will also communicate just how determined you are.
Your spouse may need to take up the slack, doing a little extra so you can have time alone. Don't feel bad, this will not hurt them at all, in fact it will be healthy. Remember, this may be about breaking some co-dependency. For some of you, doing something this independent will not be easy, especially if you are not feeling the warmth of their approval. Here is something for free; co-dependency is not love, just another form of self-centeredness.
Create a sacred space. This includes both a time and place. The place may be a small, seldom used room, the time, maybe after supper or some other free space. This is your time. Do not let anything rob you of it. Your family will take that space only as seriously as you do. There will always be some pressing something that will come up. Well, this is the time to exercise discipline, we can all use a little more of that, and less busyness.
As best as you can, clear the next weeks you are planning to fast.
You will have your whole life to do things. Besides as I have said, fasting is doing something very powerful. If you do have to go to a birthday party try to have a week of fasting under your belt first. The hunger will be gone and you will be in the fasting state, making it easier to resist temptation.
We have become such a soft society but you can do this. Just think, you have all these wonderful tools at your fingertips, more than the many that have gone before you. You do not have to walk to the nearest desert; the Spirit of God can deal with you right in your own home. Besides, many people feel as if their hearts have become spiritual deserts. If you decide to have a fasting retreat in your own home, get ready for the rivers of living water.
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