Friday, December 9, 2011

A Woman’s Guide to Fasting by Lisa E. Nelson



Fasting has become a thing of the past in many churches, though it is gaining more exposure in recent years. It is almost as if some people have begun to rediscover fasting. Fasting is giving up something good to focus the time spent on whatever is being given up on God. Usually when people are fasting, they are giving up food for a specific period of time. If someone decides to fast weekly, it is usually just one day a week. At times, people will feel called by God to fast for a few days, a week, or even up to 40 days, which is generally the longest one should fast.
Fasting is not something that should be taken lightly. Some people choose to make fasting a regular part of their lives to deepen their walk with God, others do it at specific times in their life. But fasting is often a time when God works on us as individuals, not just us fasting when seeking God to move in big ways.
This book not only gives women the reasons for fasting, it gives a clear picture of how to fast and even what one might expect when fasting. While one may not experience much physically other than hunger pains when taking part in a one day fast, the body goes through a very different process when doing a 3 day to a 40 day fast. One should not only understand what the body is doing and why certain things will happen around certain days, one should also know how to prepare for a fast and how to come off a fast. For instance, coming off a long fast, even just a week, one should not immediately go eat a hamburger. This book does a great job explaining what should and should not be done when starting an ending a fast, not to mention what to do during a fast.
While I have only had a limited experience in fasting, this book answered a lot of questions I had previously had and explained things more clearly in regards to fasting. It also gave me some practical ideas to implement when I previously thought I couldn’t fast for various reasons.
I received this book free from Bethany House for the purpose of this review.

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