My 40 Day Fast from Political News

The following post was written by Nichole Perreault and first appeared on her blog on October 16, 2013, under the title "My Political News Addiction is Killing Me." 


My political news addiction is killing me. Well, at least it's killing my joy.

I guess I’ve kind of known this for a while but it took a 40 day fast to expose the damage. As a junkie – political news junkie, just to clarify – I needed time away from the drugs (i.e., political news websites and cable news) to remember what life was like without them.

When our church observed a time of fasting and prayer to coincide with the Impact Connecticut 40 Days of Worship, I felt God prompting me to give up political news. I was so relieved – He didn’t say chocolate or television or baseball! Just political news. I actually wondered if I heard Him correctly, but time and again I heard the same answer: give up political news.

So with Syria in crisis and the budget battle looming, I logged off of my favorite poli-news sites, cold turkey. However, after a few days, I realized that political news is everywhere: on local television, on cable television, in magazines, on the radio, on the web, Facebook and Twitter. I can’t even turn on the Disney channel without Michelle Obama lecturing me about exercise. (If I wanted to be exercising, would I be watching Disney channel?) Maybe that’s not exactly political news, but I can’t see her or hear her without thinking about politics so she was off limits. Period.

Ultimately, I found that to keep my fast, I needed to avoid news and politics in every shape and form. So for most of September and half of October, that’s exactly what I did. Now I can spot (and scroll past) a political meme on Facebook without reading a single word of the post!

One night while channel surfing, I stumbled upon a tease for the nightly news: “Will the government reach a deal before midnight to avoid shutdown? Find out at 11.” My jaw almost hit the floor. What?! Shutdown?! Tonight?! That’s how out of touch I was.

Except for that one brief moment of shock and curiosity, I felt only relief – I didn’t have to go there. Didn’t have to listen to all the spin and arguments and back-biting. Didn’t have to let their mess ruin my day. And why should I? After all, in 40 days not much has changed. The Middle East is still a mess. U.S. immigration will continue to be a disaster for the unforeseeable future. And politicians in Congress and the White House continue to fight over how to spend (or not spend) our money.

Seems that life goes on whether I'm getting all hot and bothered or not.

How liberating it is to know that the world still spins when we are sleeping – or watching I Love Lucy reruns instead of the morning news.

A little perspective is always good. But God used this fast to do so much more than give me perspective.

Years of watching and listening to the vitriol, contention, angst and even well-intentioned debate that permeates our news cycles, had invaded my heart like a bitter poison. As the fast wore on, I felt the poison seeping out of me, washing away. It was like an acrimony detox without the withdrawals. I relaxed. I relinquished my defensive position and felt the heavy armor melting away.

As my heart began to soften, I realized that my addiction, as addictions generally do, increased my misery rather than alleviated it; and the steady diet of hostility had made me…well…cranky. And cranky people don’t listen well. They don’t take in new information well. And even if they’re right, cranky people aren’t very gracious.

But God is. Gracious, I mean. Always. And He convicted me in the gentlest of ways. In love, He showed me myself. His mercy brought me to genuine tears of sorrow. Sorrow for the bad attitude I had been harboring and most of all, sorrow for the way I had allowed that attitude to keep me from loving others well.

Sure, I have plenty of family and friends with whom I differ politically and I love them. Always, always, I have known that we can agree to disagree, but still, somehow, there was a small part of my heart that I wouldn’t give to them…or let them enter. I was on guard.

Why? At least in part, because I hate being misunderstood. More than almost anything else in the world, I hate being misunderstood. Which means that if you think I’m a bigot or a woman-hater (even though I am a woman) or a Bible thumper or a racist, I will be overcome with an almost irrepressible urge to defend, explain and validate myself. Sure, in part, that’s because I’m prideful and want your approval, but at the deepest level, I want to be understood because I want to be known.

Isn’t that what we all desire…to be known…to be truly, completely and thoroughly known?

But if I’m so busy trying to make sure you understand me, how will I ever really get to know you?

So I am laying down my idol of being understood by others. After all, God is the only One who truly knows us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. To search for understanding in anyone else is idolatry, plain and simple.

It’s not so much that God has changed my values or my principles or my opinion of how government and society should operate. I can’t even say I plan to vote differently. But He has changed my heart as only He can, because He knows me. He knows when I sit and when I rise, He perceives my thoughts from afar, He discerns my going out and my lying down, He is familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue He knows it completely. He hems me in behind and before. He has laid his hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (Psalm 139)

Crazy

The following was submitted by Tom Schuck near the end of the 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting.

On October 4, the prayer was "Lord may I follow your commands even if they seem crazy".  After many years of following the Lord, I have come to accept that His commands, that is the "ENDS," have always been undeniably the best for me and for my family.  So much so, that now, whenever He says go, I am pretty much completely resigned to complete obedience.

I did make it clear that His ENDS are never crazy, but His process, the MEANS, often have have my head spinning.  Even though I will obey with complete obedience, because I know the outcome will be perfect, I often find myself thinking "this is crazy" when it comes to the process that I am going through.

Did I really need to experience THAT?  Do I really need to be experiencing this now?  Is this experience forever, for a very long time, for a season, or until You have manipulated all the circumstances for me to walk into the next phase?

I am surprised how often God did tell people the exact future, and indeed He has revealed some startling aspects of our exact future.  But we, like they, want more than knowing what is going to happen, we want to know HOW.

In my 40 days, I have seen more clearly that anxiety is less about what and much more about HOW.  God could clearly speak to us about a detail in our lives, through his word, Spirit and counselors, and then we discount THAT outcome because all possible processes to reach that outcome are CRAZY.  We didn't doubt God's power to do what He said, we doubted that He could come up with any possibility that we had not thought of to achieve it.

Our response to God seems to be:  I'll do anything you ask me to do, as long you let me figure out the best way to do it.

Our new response needs to be:  I'll do anything you ask me to to do, and I will do it the way that you are asking me, forgive me if it seems crazy.


Tom attends Wintonbury with his wife, Margy, and their two adult sons. While retired from work due to a disability, Tom is an active and faithful servant of the Lord. 

Reflections on Day 25

The following was written and submitted by Nancy Morganweck on Day 25 of the 40 Days.

Good thing we have more days to come......

So why 40 days?? Could it be because some of us still haven't gotten to the real purpose?  Oh sure we read the scripture and meditations and we pray for the God-sized opportunities, and revival in CT and perhaps we are attending some of the 40 Days of Worship events.........but have we really changed?  Have we really had an encounter with The Living God?  Have we really done what we have been instructed to do by our God?  Have we turned from our fasting 'things' and turned to God in those times?  Have we taken that time and turned to the Word?  Have we taken that time and prayed?  Or have we just 'found other things' to do, other things to read on the computer instead of Facebook/blogs/commentaries?  Other things to do instead of sports, cell phones and television?  Are we just in truth turning to another 'idol' instead of the One we truly love and worship in our hearts.  Yes we love God, yes we love Jesus, yes we love The Holy Spirit, BUT do our lives and actions show/display this truth?  Do our actions show God that we love Him? 

As I encountered my time with God this morning, I was repenting of my lack of 100% commitment.  'Oh Lord, forgive me for not seeking you enough'....'Lord, forgive me for not praying enough - there are so many needs'....'Lord, forgive me, you know I don't feel well'.......'Lord, forgive me for giving in to temptation'....'Lord, forgive me, I am too tired at night to read your word and it is so much easier to do something on this mindless computer or watch/listen to a mindless show on television.'  

Even if I justify it in my mind, 'We all need down time, time to relax...'...I still did not do what you want......to turn to you. But I did yesterday, or a couple of days ago.......that is like saying to our children "Well I gave you water & fed you food yesterday, you should be good with that".........NO, that is just not good enough, that is unacceptable, that is not life giving, that is NOT truth.  The truth is we need God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit all day just like we need food & water.  But it is more than that, sin/idols are preventing us from going deeper and until we walk in obedience, and die to our fleshy things, we will not have the fullness of His spirit, the fullness of His blessings, the fullness of Him. Even if I am too tired to read, or too tired to pray, am I too tired just to be WITH YOU Lord? Oh how sad is that.  How awful is that. Oh Lord, thank you for breaking my heart again and allowing me to see yours...that you just want to love us, be with us. 

Could it be that as we have just passed this mid point that God is trying to narrow down, and pinpoint more specifically His purposes in this 40 days for each of us individually?  Could it be that He is focusing on "Therefore, I urge you, brother, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship."  Romans 12:1 

Our 'spiritual act of worship' - did you catch that....we are worshiping God in these 40 Days as we offer our tired minds & bodies, our rebellious/defiant self centered fleshy selves as 'living sacrifices' - - sacrifice means pain, discomfort - the dictionary says slaughtering - wow - intense word - but it means 'killing' our fleshly desires and seeking to walk in the fullness of the spirit.  Basically, toughing it out, disciplining ourselves, denying ourselves- relying on Him every minute. 

I think we need 40 days because it is a long time.  I can make it through a week or two or even three, because there is 'a light at the end of the tunnel', but a month +, that is more difficult. That is where the 'rubber hits the road' and we see what we are really made of.  We see our sin/idol more specifically, we see our commitment to our God or lack of commitment to God, we see His loving kindness and tremendous grace and mercy, saying 'Come to me', allow me to strengthen you, fill you, meet you, be with you.  Allow me to help you, heal you, change you, discipline you, teach you...allow me to love you with everything that I AM. 

I for one, am not willing to give up on this journey, I am not willing to accept the choices I have made and allow them to define/rule me.  I am not willing to receive less than God's best for me.  I am not willing to allow my flesh/idol/sin to rule/enslave me.  I want the fullness of His spirit, I want the freedom that only He can give, I want to be obedient, I want to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, I want all the blessings He has for me and my family, I want to redeem the time for the days are evil, I want Him to say 'Well done, my good and faithful servant'. 

What about you?  Are you with me?  Is this journey you are on worth offering yourself as a living sacrifice, for Him?  I hope so......my prayer for all of us is that we remember  His ultimate sacrifice in laying down His life for us, willingly.

Led by the Spirit for His Glory -Nancy Morganweck

Nancy is a wife, homeschooling mother of three and devoted daughter of our King. She and attends Wintonbury with her family and serves in a variety of ministries such as SELAH Homeschool Group, Faith Quest and the Clothes Closet, just to name a few. 

The View From the Cross

The following was submitted by a member of our Wintonbury family, Mary Ann Burnham:

When the Forty Days of Worship began several weeks ago, I was involved in a study with my mentor of "The Bondage Breaker" by Neil Anderson.  We had actually began the study in late winter but detoured to another activity for a season.  The day that the Forty Days began we sat down to review Chapter 2 in "The Bondage Breaker".  When I reached the last part of the chapter, I was deeply convicted by the words I read.  I also felt a strong sense that I should share the ideas of Neil Anderson as he interpreted the message from Matthew 16.  If you have read this book or others by Neil Anderson, you already know of his passion to help believers be free in Christ.  I have taken the liberty to compact the most convicting of his words from pages 38 to 42 (paperback edition). The underlined words are my emphasis.  I would encourage anyone who has access to "The Bondage Breaker" to read the chapter in its entirety.

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.  For what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angles, and will then recompense every man according to his deeds."  Matthew 16:24-27

Neil Anderson's comment:  "This passage [above] is the central message of all four Gospels.  I call the absence of understanding this message 'the great omission.' In writing Rivers of Revival (Regal Books) with Dr. Elmer Towns, I came to the conclusion that self-sufficiency is the number one dam that is holding back the rivers of revival.  We are trying to do God's work in our way with our resources, and we can't.  The following six guidelines from Jesus' statement constitute the view from the cross.  They are the foundational guidelines for those who want to be free from the bondage of the world system and the devil who inspires it.  Stay within the light of the cross, and you will successfully find your way in this dark world.”

Anderson’s Six Guidelines condensed & paraphrased by Mary Ann:

1.  Deny Yourself

Denying yourself is not the same as self-denial.  The ultimate purpose of self-denial is self-promotion.  To deny ourselves is to deny self-rule.  The flesh scrambles to the throne and struggles to be God.  Until we deny ourselves that which was never meant to be ours - the role of being God in our lives - we will never be at peace with ourselves or with God, and we will never be free.  We were not designed to function independent of God, nor was our soul designed to function as master.  When you deny yourself, you invite God to take the throne of your life.

2.  Pick Up Your Cross Daily

The cross we are to pick up on a daily basis is not our own cross but Christ's cross.  His cross provides forgiveness from what we have done and deliverance from what we were. We are forgiven because He died in our place; we are delivered because we died with Him. We are both justified and positionally sanctified as a result of the cross.  To pick up the cross daily means to acknowledge every day that we belong to God.

3.  Follow Christ

Seeking to overcome self by self-effort is a hopeless struggle.  Self will never cast out self, because an independent self, which is motivated by the flesh, still wants to be god.  We must follow Christ by being led by the Holy Spirit: down the path of death to the old nature we had in Adam, into the new nature we now have in Christ.  This may sound like a dismal path to walk, but I assure you that it is not.  It is a tremendous experience to be known by the Great Shepherd and to follow Him as His sheep.  Only when we are dependent on Him and intent on following Christ are we complete and free to prove that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).

4.  Sacrifice the Lower life to Gain the Higher Life

If you want to save your natural life (that is, find your identity and sense of worth in positions, titles, accomplishments and possessions, and seek only worldly well-being), you will lose it.  At best you can only possess these things of temporal value for a few years (alas, these things tend to possess US), only to lose everything for eternity. In all your efforts to possess these earthly treasures, you will fail to gain all that can be yours in Christ. But shoot for the next world, and God will throw in the benefits of knowing Him now.

5.  Sacrifice the Pleasure of Things to Gain the Pleasure of Life

What material possession, what amount of money, what position or title would you exchange for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?  For some reason we want to be happy as animals rather than be blessed as children of God.  The fruit of the spirit is possible only as we abide in Christ. Jesus discussed this very conflict with two of His closest friends, Martha and Mary.  Martha was "worried and bothered about so many things", while Mary centered her attention on Jesus and His words.  Martha's tendency was to love things and use people but Jesus indicated that Mary had chosen "the good part" by loving people and using things.  We have won a degree of victory over self when we have learned to love God and others.

6. Sacrifice the Temporal to Gain the Eternal

The greatest sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to postpone rewards.  It is far better to know that we are the children of God than to gain something in this world which we will eventually lose.  Even if following Christ results in hardships in this life, He will make it right in eternity.  The message of this fallen world is to inflate the ego while denying God the opportunity to take His rightful place as Lord.  Let us instead choose God's work His way.

Praying that your journey during these 40 days takes you to a new understanding of God and His will.

~Mary Ann Burnham

Mary Ann, a retired school teacher and avid quilter, is an active part of Wintonbury, serving in various ministries including teaching Sunday School and leading the Quilter's Group. 

Closeness and Intimacy with the Lord

These comments come from David Paul who is the chairman of the Board of Elders at Wintonbury Church (posted by Dave Blough):

First of all, I can honestly say that this 40 days of prayer and fasting have been wonderful for me personally. I have been able to fast successfully from what I needed to avoid during this time except for a couple of occasions when I unfortunately gave in.  Otherwise, by the grace of God, this has been one of the clearest stretches for me.  It all actually started earlier on June 1^st when the Lord convicted me and it has been a great time of closeness and intimacy with the Lord during this period, especially during the past 20 days and I praise Him greatly for that. I pray that each one of us is experiencing God in a special way at this time. Amen!

Speaking To My Heart

These comments come from Dave LeBlond who is an elder at Wintonbury Church (posted by Dave Blough):

The discipline of fasting and praying has been invigorating for my relationship with the Lord – He has been speaking to my heart. This has deepened my intimacy with God.

At first I was taken aback and feeling somewhat selfish that I was hearing things about my life, my personality, etc. I prayed, Lord please give me direction about the opportunities for Wintonbury and for Connecticut. Help me have a heart for our church and for the cities and towns in our state, and for the 6 opportunities. But as I continue to pray, day after day, I realized that He had to do more adjusting in my heart and attitudes before I could be fully useful to Him in hearing about the opportunities we’re facing. I need to slow down. I need to listen. I need to ignore those knee-jerk reactions that would tempt me to respond in the flesh, not in the Spirit. As a matter of fact, on day 2, He showed me a specific reason behind some of my behaviors that I’ve wondered about for over 30 years – somewhat of a personality breakthrough. I could not have known that if I had not taken the time to meet with Him and listen. I so much appreciate the intimacy and I’m so grateful for how He cares for me so personally.

He has been moving me to be more alert for needs around me – to see people and situations through His eyes. To ask questions, like “Lord, how should I handle this situation?”, “What do You have for me to do here?” and “How do You want me to represent You here?”

And as He continues to work on me, He is giving me direction on my place in the body – the bigger picture of how we as a body should respond to the needs facing us – the opportunities and the need for the gospel to be brought alive all across Connecticut.   

If you relate to what has been happening with me, I encourage you to continue to listen, continue to meet with Him. I’m seeing in my own life that beautiful promise in James 4:8 that if I draw near to God, He’ll draw near to me. As Curt Brey pointed out, God’s always been there – it’s me who needs to show up.

Let’s let Him speak to us, guide us. He’s moving among us, in us and through us. I see evidence of it the blog posts, new songs, and in what He’s doing in many of you. And, what about last Thursday night?  Wow! 

Remember, we are His body. He trusts us to do His work. And we all have a unique part to play. We need to be listening to hear His Holy Spirit for direction. It’s so beautiful to see God working. I really love the song that Brother Marichal and the Citadel choir sang to us/with us Thursday night “I love you, you need me…I can’t live without you…I won’t harm you, with the words of my mouth…you’re important to me, etc.” what a beautiful picture of the body being together, staying together and recognizing “on purpose” how important we are to each other.

We want to hear from God – not just what we “think” we should hear or even what we “expect” to hear, but exactly what “His” plan is for us. The 6 opportunities are just that, opportunities. It’s about how we proceed or “not”, as we talked about at Lakeside. These opportunities are the direction we believe the Lord is leading us. But 1 or 6 or 60 opportunities are useless without His direction. Unless the Lord builds the house, we build in in vain – Psalm 127:1.

Let’s worship Him by presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice, pleasing to Him…Romans 12:1-2. Let’s keep listening – I’m talking to myself, here!

Increased Spiritual Activity

These comments come from Brett Carlson who is an elder at Wintonbury Church (posted by Andre):

Making a commitment to the Lord to “fast and pray” for the 40 day season (and by God’s grace alone, keeping that commitment daily) I have noticed INCREASED spiritual activity in my life. As you possibly are aware, I have a passion for prayer and that discipline has been fruitful over the last 12 years; adding the “fasting” element is taking me to a new place.

The spiritual activity I am sensing from the enemy is very real (In-my-face stuff, accusations, spiritual finger pointing, brief episodes of feeling hopeless, without direction and it goes on and on). God is in control and He is reigning even though my “feelings” which are irrelevant, mean nothing. Truth is truth and I will leave it at that.

Over the last few months (through prayer and asking for deeper insight from Him) the Lord has alerted me to share some “concerns / possible direction” with the body. As circumstances and people present themselves, in God’s timing, I have shared this concern.

This is a good concern, this is a powerful concern and I believe it has stirred up the attention of the enemy. If I stop sharing, he, the enemy wins. If I continue to share he loses and his kingdom will be impacted greatly over time. Amen.

For those of you reading this 40 Days of prayer and fasting highlight this season, I am experiencing the same spiritual attack as back 12 years ago (I shared the details with all of you at Easter this past March) as I drove to the Stonington Clinic when I needed some help. Accusations, in my face, belittling comments, just downright evil from the depths of hell are real. I was going through a season of my life where the Lord was re-equipping me for Kingdom use then (praise the Lord as some buds are budding I think) and here we are again.

As the INCREASED spiritual activity just described is from the enemy, the Good News is that the Lord has been increasing His spiritual activity as well.

Having a “heightened awareness of what is really happening and a keener sense of discernment is truly a gift from above. As the days go on and the awareness of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed all over the state of Connecticut, the battle will go on.

Some of you are aware of this activity and we need to pray earnestly for each other and the leaders of these involved churches each day. On one occasion this week, my wife Tammy prayed over me and God granted me relief from this oppression. Just yesterday, my brother David Paul prayed with me after our men’s group in my office and my brother David Blough prayed with me and for me over the phone. Prayer is the key, my friends; please pray as if our lives depend on it and in reality our “spiritual lives” do depend on prayer.

Be “Pre-Prayered”.

  

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. ~Deuteronomy 31:6