Re: Fasting For The Lord I have asked my doctor about fasting and was told that since I am diabetic it was not a good idea for me to do so. I want to fast to clear my mind of things however and I just don’t know how to do so. I have tried denying myself some things I enjoy but I guess that doesn’t seem the same as when I used to fast “for real” before I developed diabetes. Can you suggest anything to me that might help me?
If you’re taking insulin or any other drug for your diabetes, you should follow your doctor’s advice. That said, a year ago [note: Jack originally wrote this in 2013] I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Rather than resign myself to a life of medication, I brought it under control through a combination of prayer, modified fasting, and exercise. It’s not the same as dieting, in that I’m not trying to lose weight. In fact, after the effects of diabetes I needed to gain some weight, especially muscle weight.
In the beginning, it felt like a “real” fast because I was voluntarily depriving myself of many of my favorite foods. But after a while, it became clear that through my fasting the Lord was changing my tastes so that I now desire the foods that are good for me and reject those that aren’t. It took five months, but now I can control the diabetes without any medication.
This is the same kind of fasting that Daniel spoke of in Daniel 2:12 and Daniel 10:2-3, in that it’s a voluntary abstinence from certain foods. I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for, but I do know it’s a kind of fasting suitable for diabetics.