Difference between Spiritual Fasting and Intermittent Fasting:
SPIRITUAL FAST
During a Spiritual Fast, your focus is on God and gaining a closer personal relationship with Him. Fasting is God’s design. Setting aside something the body enjoys, helps you to gain discipline whether doing a spiritual or intermittent fast. Joel 2:12 talks about sacrificing our appetite to draw closer to God. It’s not just missing a meal. It’s about seeking and drawing closer to God.
Fasting breaks food addictions, it gives the body time to consume old junk and clean up cells. It’s about starving the flesh and feeding the spirit. It decreases lust and fleshly desires. As you fast for spiritual reasons, the Spirit will control you and not your body (I Cor 9:27)
Seven (7) Key Principles of Spiritual Fasting 1. Fasting should be regular Matt 6:16
2. Spiritual fasting should be focused. The following are reasons for fasting:
Ministry preparation Matt 4:1
To seek God's Wisdom/Guidance; for major decisions Acts 14:23 Jud 20:26
Fasting for Grief, heaviness/burden Neh 1:3-4; Sam 1:12: 31:13 (people lose appetite when there is loss or grieving)
Fasting for repentance and return to God Jonah 3:5
To seek deliverance or protection 2 Chron 20:1-4; Esther
To humble ourselves before God Ezra 8:22
To express concern of the work of God Neh 1:1-4
To minister to the needs of others, to loose the band of wickedness Is 58:1-7
To overcome temptations Matt 4:1
To express love and worship for God Luke 2:36-38
3. Fasting Requires A Clear Plan
How long?
What are you fasting from? What things are pulling you away from God?
Spiritual Fasting should NOT be considered “A Diet Plan”
4. Spiritual Fasting should be coupled with prayer and intimate time with God
5. Fasting creates self-control Gal 5:22
If you can deny yourself food cravings, you can train your body to deny any pleasure
6. Fasting can lead to a Spiritual breakthrough
7. Fasting improves our prayer life Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah Dan 9:3-4
1Sam 14:24-30 - Fasting should not be done when imposed for false motives (under a curse)
INTERMITTENT FAST
Intermittent Fasting & Schedule
Intermittent fasting is an eating plan that switches between fasting and eating on a regular schedule. Research shows that intermittent fasting is a way to manage your weight and prevent — or even reverse — some forms of disease.
Intermittent fasting focuses on when to eat.
There are several different ways to do intermittent fasting, but they are all based on choosing regular time periods to eat and fast. For instance, you might try eating only during an eight-hour period each day and fast for the remainder. Or you might choose to eat only one meal a day two days a week. There are many different intermittent fasting schedules.
The best fasting schedules:
16:8
This is where you fast for 16 hours, and you have an 8-hour eating window. This is really great for the average person. It’s best to only have 2 meals in your fasting window.
You can even do an 18:6 schedule following the same fasting window.
20:4
With this fasting schedule, you fast for 20 hours, and your eating window is 4 hours. This schedule has even more fasting benefits for your brain, heart, repair, and anti-aging.
OMAD
OMAD means you only eat one meal a day. Many people do this with fantastic success, and it has even more intermittent fasting benefits than the 20:4 fasting schedule. Some people may even need to do one meal a day every other day.
With all of these different fasting schedules, you can also add periodic prolonged fasting. This is where you fast a little longer (48-72 hours), maybe every two weeks or once a month. This is just the icing on the cake. A few more things to keep in mind while doing intermittent fasting:
• It’s easiest to do intermittent fasting daily
• Look at the purpose of doing it (weight, or health)
Intermittent fasting guide:
Start out with 3 meals a day with no snacking (add fat to the meal)
Next, don’t eat unless you’re hungry (go as long as you can without eating
Slowly let your body adapt to 2 meals and then 1 meal a day
Let your body tell you when to eat, adding fat when necessary
Make sure you’re getting the nutrients you need
Select the schedule that is best for you!!!
Let me know if you try either one and how it goes!