Jesus invites you to a
Special Banquet
dedicated to bless your life…
Get Spiritually and Physically Rejuvenated in a Way You’ve Never Experienced Before…
Join KerygmaFamily. com’s
7-Day Prayer and Fasting Banquet
This Holy Week!
One day, a man lost his wife from a lingering disease.
Totally depressed and unwilling to live without his wife by his side, the widower decides to end it all. One morning, he left a suicide note, and went up the mountains. His plan was to starve to death. He would only allow himself to drink from the mountain streams, nothing else.More…
After a couple of weeks, the man noticed something. Though he had lost weight, he was not dying. On the contrary, he never felt healthier and stronger. Many ailments he suffered for years simply disappeared.
After a month, the man went down the mountain looking years younger. He eventually got married again and started a new family.
Go Up the Mountain
Friends, fasting has incredible physical benefits. But it has even greater spiritual benefits and the story above is a great analogy of what happens to our souls.
When you fast, you also go up the “mountain of prayer” and drink only from the “streams of living water.” When you do that, you cleanse your soul of toxins and actually become stronger. And you’ll go down that mountain spiritually rejuvenated.
Friends, I’m inviting you to join me in a Seven-Day Prayer and Fasting Banquet.
Here’s our mission for this fast: We want to grow closer to God and receive all that He wants to give to us. So starting Holy Monday all the way to Black Saturday, as an entire Kerygma Family, we want to empty ourselves from lesser things so that God can fill our lives with greater things.
I’m excited and can’t wait to begin!
Our Two Main Goals
First, the Seven-Day Prayer and Fasting Banquet will jumpstart your prayer life.
You will experience a spiritual revival.
Aside from this first goal of spiritual renewal, you can also pray for something specific: (1) wisdom for an important decision you need to make; (2) freedom from a particular bondage; (3) a miracle that you need.
Believe that you will receive God’s blessings as you open yourself through prayer and fasting.
Second, I know it’ll jumpstart the KerygmaFamily. com’s ministry.
In the Bible, people fasted before they started their ministry or before embarking on a major change. Moses did it. Elijah did it. And Jesus did it.
Because KerygmaFamily. com’s ministry is expanding its territories by leaps and bounds, we need to pray for a greater release of His power. We need God’s anointing for the many new things we’re doing: We’re holding a weekly Feast; we’re using more radio and TV channels; we’re creating new radio and video programs; we’re expanding our internet ministry; we’re building small communities in Australia and the US; we’re launching a new children’s magazine… oh, the list is endless!
Yes, the Seven-Day Prayer and Fasting Banquet will jumpstart
KerygmaFamily. com’s mission – and I foresee more miracles in our ministry.
The Singular Message of Fasting:
“God Is Your Most Important Hunger”
When you fast, you’re telling God that He’s more important than food. So instead of eating, you spend it in prayer, reading Scripture, writing your journal, meditating before the Blessed Sacrament, reading spiritual books…It declares that you’re dead serious about pursuing Him because you’re crazy enough to say no to something so basic as food.
The Other Spiritual Benefits:
Openness to Do Crazy Things for the Lord
If you can say no to a very basic need, what else can you not do for the Lord? You also gain discipline – something crucial for any type of success in the world. By learning to say no to small things, you’re able to say yes to bigger things.
The Other Great Benefit of Fasting:
Physical Health
God wants us to take care of our physical bodies.
One way of caring for it is by fasting. By relieving the body from the hard work of digestion, it focuses its energies on getting rid of the toxins we’ve piled up in our system from all the wrong food we’ve eaten – the gunk, the chemicals, the stuff that shouldn’t be in our bodies in the first place. These toxins weaken our immune system and make us more susceptible to disease.
Your body, after three days of fasting, will also burn up and decompose diseased, damaged cells in your body. What a beautiful way to purge the bad!
If you fast, you’ll do some “house cleaning” for your own body, removing the toxins and diseased cells naturally – while blessing your soul at the same time.
Nope, It’s Not a Diet to Lose Weight
If you want to lose weight permanently, you need to change from an unhealthy diet to a healthy diet for good. A seven-day or a 14-day or a 30-day diet won’t work. You need a lifetime change of diet! So fasting isn’t the answer to your weight problem but it may be a good start.
Having said that, it’s good to lose some extra weight. After Holy Week,
I’m excited to fit into some of my old clothes again.
The Seven Steps for
Our Seven Days of Prayer
and Fasting Banquet
Step #1
Write Your Prayer and Fasting Intentions
Put it in writing: “I want to grow closer to God.”
Write down also any other intention you want to happen in your life. Let me repeat what I shared earlier: It could be (1) wisdom for an important decision you need to make; (2) freedom from a particular bondage; or (3) a miracle that you need.
____________ _________ _________ _________ _______
____________ _________ _________ _________ _______
____________ _________ _________ _________ _______
____________ _________ _________ _________ _______
If you haven’t done so, write down your dreams.
Make a vision statement for your life and present this to the Lord.
Step #2
Choose What Kind of Fast You’ll Do
There are some people who can’t fast.
To name a few: Extremely thin individuals; those suffering from anorexia or bulimia; persons with tumors, bleeding ulcers, cancer, blood diseases and heart disease; pregnant and nursing mothers; individual taking insulin because of diabetes; and those suffering from hyperglycemia.
For the rest of you who are unsure, I strongly urge you to ask your doctor before you fast.
If you can abstain from food, here are types of fasts you can choose from. Pray which one you should take.
1. Water Fast
I tried a “water only” fast for five days – and it’s great but can be too exhausting for some people. In a “water only” fast, toxins are released too abruptly and may be too hard on the body. Jesus fasted for 40 days with a “water only” fast.
2. Juice Fast
This, I believe, is the best kind of fast from a physical health perspective. You only drink vegetable and fruit juices to aid in flushing out all toxins and regenerate your body. As much as possible, get real vegetables and fruits that you mash and shred in juicers. (This is a small kitchen gadget that you can buy.) What kind of vegetable and fruits should you juice? The best are fresh carrots, celery, lettuce, beet, grape, etc. Get a good juicing book from the bookstore and look under “fasting.” As a second option, you may use pre-packaged juices that you buy from the store, but it should be 100% juice – no added sugar.
3. Bread-and-Water Fast
I know many people who like this fast. They drink water and eat bread the whole day, nothing else. (Uh, not raisin bread and donuts, I’m sure.) In the Bible, Daniel fasted this way.
4. One-Meal-a-Day Fast
I’ve met people who miss breakfast, lunch, and just eat at 5 p.m. for dinner – and they do that for the 40 days of Lent. As in any fast, it’s important to take lots of liquids during the entire day so as not to get dehydrated.
5. Small-Meals Fast
Others still eat three meals a day but just lessen the portions of these meals and avoid eating snacks.
Friend, it’s really up to you.
Pray to God what kind of fast He wants you to take.
From a spiritual perspective, your inner attitude is more important than what kind of fast you choose.
Step #3
Prepare for Your Seven-Day Fast
If you’ll do any of the first two kinds of fasting above (water fast or juice fast), I strongly recommend that you prepare for it well. Start eating a softer diet three days before you begin your fast. Stop eating meat and focus more on fruits and vegetables. Reduce your sugar intake so you
won’t crave for it during the fast. Lessen the quantity of your meals and drink at least 10 glasses of water every day. Tip: Upon waking up, drink two glasses of water and then drink a half-glass or a glass every hour after that.
Step #4
Begin Your Fast
The first two or three days of your fast will be the most difficult. You will feel hungry. Some people have headaches (perhaps withdrawal effects of not having sugar and caffeine), feel dizzy, have bad breath and bad odor. That’s the toxins coming out.
On Day Three or Day Four, you begin to feel better as your body finally shifts to cleansing mode and stops complaining. You no longer feel as hungry as before.
From Day Four to Day Seven, you’ll feel stronger and more alert.
I cannot emphasize this enough: Each day, drink 10 glasses of water.
Throughout your seven days of fasting, many people can maintain their regular schedule of work and household chores. Others, however, need a lighter schedule. Listen to your body. You can take moderate walks as your exercise.
Step #5
Grow Closer to God
This is the main reason why you fast.
So instead of eating meals and snacks, pray.
Read spiritual books. Write your journal. Adore before the Blessed Sacrament. Attend Mass more often. Go to confession.
Also, bring before the Lord your personal vision and the things that you want to happen to your life. Read this list each day.
Pray also for the intentions of the KerygmaFamily. com.
Here they are:
By 2008, we shall bless 8,000 people, helping them live abundant lives in Jesus.
- That the weekly Feast in Manila will bless 8,000 people.
- That the weekly Feast will be exported to seven other cities of the country and the world via video.
- For a daily TV show on a public channel and 20 cable companies in the Philippines.
- For our daily radio show to be on 20 radio stations in the country.
- That our internet TV shows bless 8,000 viewers each day around the world.
- For a 24/7 counseling ministry and support groups for various special needs.
- For a healing and intercession ministry, praying 24/7 for others.
- For a youth ministry that gives retreats and recollections to schools.
- For a kids ministry that helps our children grow closer to God.
- That our kids magazine, Mustard, would bless thousands of children.
- For new chapters in Seattle, Vancouver, Sydney and Melbourne.
- For an anointed You Have the Power Kerygma Conference in November 2007.
- For 20,000 registered members in KerygmaFamily. com.
- And other big Dreams…
- That we may have a property big enough for our weekly Feasts.
- For the Anawim ministry to have private enterprises as partners.
- That we may be able to partner with Gawad Kalinga to help in microfinance.
Step #6
Break Your Fast
Take three days to adjust to real food.
For example, if you did a juice fast, then break it by eating salads and fruits on the first day, add toasted bread on the second day, and add a small amount of steamed fish on the third day. No oils, dairy products and meats during the adjustment period.
Your stomach is much smaller now so stop before you feel full.
I strongly recommend that you rethink your lifelong diet at this time.
Many have quit smoking after having fasted. Many have experienced deep spiritual changes because of a fast. That’s my prayer for you.
Step #7
Adopt the Best Stuff into a Permanent Lifestyle
There are some things in the fast that I do as a lifestyle. They’re too good to limit only to seven days a year so I do them every day.
Like spending each day with prayer, journaling and spiritual reading.
Like reading my vision statement each morning.
Like drinking lots of water every day.
And drinking vegetable and fresh fruit juices, and eating more salads.
And not eating meat and focusing on fish for my protein needs.
Bless your body and bless your soul.
Have a great Seven-Day Prayer and Fasting Banquet, my dear
KerygmaFamily.
You will be blessed.
I’d like to join the Seven-Day Prayer and Fasting Banquet this Holy Week. Count me in! I will grow closer to God, pray for my personal intentions and those of the KerygmaFamily.
