Fasting. For many, it's the equivalent of the F-word. The last thing you want to hear, because eating is awesome and even just the thought of skipping meals may bring on small feelings of panic and dread. However, Jesus said his disciples would fast (Mark 2:20). Because God is a loving Father, I believe everything He tells us to do is not only for his glory, but also for our benefit. Recently, I have noticed an uptick in hearing about fasting in the mainstream. Chris Martin, lead singer for Coldplay, says he just drinks water and doesn't eat food on Sundays. He first tried it to help his health but stuck with it because he found he could sing better and generally experienced more gratefulness in his life with the practice. Famous technologist and entrepreneur Kevin Rose recently released a fasting app called Zero, he fasts primarily for physical and mental benefit. Intermittent Fasting (only eating between certain time frames) has become a fad in the health an...
I woke up one Fall morning in 2006, and noticed that my wrist hurt. "Oh well," I thought, "Must have just slept on it wrong- it'll be fine tomorrow." Tomorrow came and it wasn't fine. In fact, over the following week or two it got worse and worse. Soon I could no longer do everyday tasks like picking up my backpack to go to class, dribble a basketball, or do push-ups without pain. I started trying to do everything with my left hand instead and then I noticed my left wrist beginning to hurt as well. At some point in this process, I became determined that God was going to heal me. I had read in the Bible that God heals, and I decided it was for me. The book of James says that if anyone is sick they should call the elders of the church to pray for them and anoint them with oil that they might be healed, (see James 5:13-16) so I went to an elder in my church and asked him to pray for me. He did break out some oil and pray sincerely for my healing, but I w...