There’s something special about the number forty, and there’s something special about fasting. Put the two together and you have the opportunity to experience not only a physical hunger but a spiritual hunger as well! Whether you’re fasting from sugar, social media, shopping, grains, alcohol, or all food until noon each day, this resource will help you stay focused on the transforming work of Christ in your life.
Author Rick Warren pointed out the power of forty days in the introduction to his book The Purpose Driven Life:
The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spiritually significant time period.
Use this journal to chronicle your own forty-day journey to transformation. Christlikeness is part of the sanctification process and deserves your full attention. When you’re distracted by any number of things, fasting clears away distractions, giving you the focused time you need to be sanctified by God’s Word (see John 17:17). Every entry in the journal begins with a place to record the Scripture you’re meditating on that day. If you’re using this book as a companion to The 40-Day Sugar Fast or The 40-Day Social Media Fast, then you’ll already have a verse to jot down.
From there, communicate back to the Lord; tell Him what His Word and His Spirit are speaking into your life. Record the times you are tempted to turn to the things of this world instead of turning to the One who made the world. As you fast from distractions, intentionally grow your devotion to God.
Exchange your hunger for whatever it is you are fasting from for a holy hunger! Consume more of Christ and His Word, and let His abundant love transform you over the course of the next forty days!
* Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? exp. ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), 12.