I Did a 3-Day Fast, This Is What Happened

6.17.2024

By: Shariah James

I recently did a 3 day fast, which was big for me because before the fast I couldn’t fathom “not eating” for even 1-2 days. So, when God called me to a 3-day fast, I was nervous, but it also made sense. Leading up to the fast, I was seeing videos about a watermelon juice fast (where all you would do is drink watermelon juice), an Esther fast (3 days with only water), and my mom had gone on an extensive fast where she only drank water and herbal tea for 14 days. I had thought about doing a fast a couple of times because of this but didn’t know where to start. I also didn’t want to commit to a fast, then break it. Nevertheless, over the span of a couple days of me having these thoughts, my mom told me that Father (God) told her I needed to go on a 3-day fast. So, I decided to rip the bandaid off and just do it.

What I did:

After praying about what my fast should consist of, I combined all the fast I had been seeing together. I only drank watermelon juice, water and herbal tea (with honey). I would also eat watermelon chunks, since it is the same thing as the watermelon juice. I thought I was going to be so hungry over the next few days but actually, the opposite happened, I was sustained.

What Sustained Me:

During this fast, I learned very quickly that I had to be intentional with my time and energy. Mainly because I didn’t know how much energy I would have left and I didn’t want this fast to be a “diet”, I wanted it to be an intentional spiritual encounter. My thought process was “If God is calling me to this fast, then there is something He wants to say to me”. So, I put myself in position to hear from Him and I did! I watched sermons, read devotionals and read my Bible. I journaled throughout the whole fast which helped keep me grounded and motivated. Journaling also helped keep me accountable because I would write what was put on my heart to read/watch then I would go back and highlight it after I did it. I also used the journal as a point of reference so that I wouldn’t forget what God had said to me after the fast was over. Ultimately though, it was God’s grace that sustained me. Think of the fast as a boat, I’m sitting in the boat, but God is rowing the boat. That’s what God’s grace did for me – got me to where I needed to go during this fast.

3 Critical Things I Learned:

1. Eating is something done out of habit, not hunger. Because I wouldn’t go a normal day without missing a meal, I thought I was going to starve on this fast, but I actually felt full a lot of the time. This is when I learned that the fast was more so about breaking unhealthy habits by telling myself no (discipline), rather than giving into temptation (which presented itself as occasional hunger, co-workers bringing me candy, people going out to eat, etc.).

2.  I cannot let my emotions lead my actions. During a fast, life still happens. No matter what happened during my day-to-day life, I couldn’t let my feelings control my actions. The fast still had to be intentional, no matter how I felt. I believe this skill set of focus was made very clear to me during my fast because it will affect every area of success in my life.

3.  Temptation will come after the fast. In Matthew 4 Jesus goes on a 40 day fast, then is hungry. After he was hungry, the devil tried to tempt Him. Jesus used The Word against the devil and the devil fled. This taught me two things: the tempter will try to tempt me after my fast, stripping me from all the things I have learned, and it is my responsibility to use scripture when this happens so that it doesn’t work.

I gained so much during this fast, I am still downloading. One of the things this fast gave me though was a reset on intentionality and focus. This fast also let me know that the job isn’t done, even though the fast is. I have to live a fasted life – keeping myself in God’s word and practicing healthy habits, focusing on the tasks He gave me. If you are thinking of starting a fast, I hope this helps!

XO,

The Kléi