40 Day Fast Update

Current Fasting Update

40 Day Fast Attempt

A while back I told you that I was going to attempt a 40 Day Fast. Today, I need to give you an update. I will write an update here, but you can also watch my video here in this post, it might give a little more detail. I find that some people prefer written posts, some prefer videos, so I will provide each.

Last Monday was Day 18 of the fast. I woke up feeling great! I had felt great each of the 18 mornings of the 18 days.

Trip to the City

I live on the outskirts of Davao City, Philippines. I needed to go pay my house rent, so I set out to catch a ride into the main part of the city.

As I was walking, I saw another fellow walking, some distance ahead of me. He was an American like I am. I could tell that he was walking rather slow, so I picked up the pace, I wanted to meet him and talk. When I did catch up, we talked for about 30 minutes, got to know each other, and discovered that we live in the same neighborhood.

30 Minutes in the Sun

We wound up talking for about 30 minutes, and we were standing outside under the hot, hot sun. There was a shady area just 10 feet away or so, but we didn’t even think of moving over there to continue our discussion.

Being in an 18-day fasted state, being out in that hot sun, I think, was not good for me.

Our Conversation ended

We wrapped up our conversation. My new friend went along his way, but I was not feeling very good, so I sent over into the shade. It was at that point that I decided to forego my trip to the City, I had a couple days left to pay the rent anyway.

Instead, I decided to go back home. I was feeling pretty bad. When I got home, I laid down and slept for a while. After that, I decided that I really needed to eat something, I did not have a choice. I really was not hungry, but just feeling poorly.

A Small Salad

I ate a very small salad, about 1/3 the size of what I would normally eat. That really filled me up, and I was full for the rest of the day.

Next morning, I decided to continue eating, and I ate small amounts of food through Thursday of last week. After 6 PM Thursday, I started fasting again, and have had no issues.

Religious Aspects of the Fast

I don’t consider it a failure to have had to stop after 18 days. I did what my body told me to do, and 18 days of fasting is very good for me, so that is not a failure.

On the religious side, I still feel good about doing 18 days. I feel that I had the will and the heart in wanting to do it. If God had wanted me to continue He would not have sent me those signals. I feel that God was telling me that I am doing fine, and I don’t have to do a 40 day fast.

Future Long Fasts

I feel that in the future it is unlikely that I will attempt fasts longer than 10 days. A 10 day fast is a very good fast, and I feel very comfortable doing 10 consecutive days of fasting.

Will the day ever come when I will attempt a fast longer than 10 days? Perhaps, but it is not in the plans at this time. We will see.

So, the 40-day fast did not go forward! But, I am back on fasting now. In fact, I am more than halfway into day 4 of my current fast. I am thinking I will go for 10 days this time, but we will just see how it goes!