"The context of fasting is prayer. It should conform to the same conditions as prayer: unostentatious quietness before God, arising out of gratitude, expressing thanksgiving, grounded in faith, as a means of spiritual growth." -CLARENCE B. BASS The first question people ask me is why I am fasting. The answer is ultimately spiritual growth. We live in a time and place where we are surrounded by gross excess. We eat when we aren't even hungry, we rush from activity to activity, and we fill our lives with a disgusting amount of STUFF. Fasting forces you to slow down, seek Him, rely on Him and I guarantee that after an extended fast you will be better able to recognize true hunger! "16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." ESV (Mt 6:16–18). Jesus told us fasting is supposed to be done in secret and I am shouting it from the rooftops. My reason has always been education. Fasting is amazing. There is so much joy to be found in this discipline and it can be a time of rapid growth and cleansing spiritually and physically but no one ever talks about it. We hear that you should fast, God expects you to fast and a couple of days for the average person wont do any harm but an extended fast SHOULD NEVER BE ATTEMPTED WITHOUT A DOCTOR AND A VAST AMOUNT OF EDUCATION. When I was 18 I started attending Dallas Christian College (my second home that I love) and I remember a lecture where a professor talked about fasting and how it was expected. My first fast, shortly after that lesson, was a four day dry fast. I went four days with no food AND NO WATER. I remember on the fourth day crawling to find a cracker in the kitchen. It was a bit scary. I have done several more short four to seven day water only fasts since then and last summer I did my first juice fast. It was only eight days but I realized I had much more energy and could go for a longer period of time with juice. Water only leaves me pretty comatose but juice let me function. Make no mistake though, it is still one of the hardest things I have ever done. And to be honest, I drank about 8 to 16 ounces of juice every 2 or 3 days. If I had a job I would have probably had to drink a whole lot more. So I am writing this blog to educate people about the things your body will go through on an extended fast. Also to hold myself accountable and record my spiritual struggles and hopefully growth.