Has anyone honestly felt like they were blessed by fasting?

[creekster]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I was thinking TD's avatar is obscene, and was going to lodge a complaint with Waters. I think there's a subtext.

I'd say this speaks volumes.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by jay santos

SU, through his CG polls, is on record for not being 100% hetero and for fulfilling ALL his sexual fantasies.

Speaking of subtext, are those Trojans in his avatar?

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

Speaking of subtext, are those Trojans in his avatar?

They are Greek phalanxes. The Greeks won, remember?

[ute4ever]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

Do you feel similarly about prayer? You could say the same thing about prayer. What is the point praying for people in the fires once the fires have burned? Is manna going to fall from heaven?

By fasting and praying for those who had lost their homes, the purpose was so the spirit could touch the heart of the individual and help him to better understand what he could do for the victims?

When a person says, "X is sick, please pray for him," he is not asking you to ask God to heal X; rather he is inviting you to ask God what you can personally do for X?

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by ute4ever

By fasting and praying for those who had lost their homes, the purpose was so the spirit could touch the heart of the individual and help him to better understand what he could do for the victims?

When a person says, "X is sick, please pray for him," he is not asking you to ask God to heal X; rather he is inviting you to ask God what you can personally do for X?

Sorry. Are you asking me these things? Or are you stating them?

if you are asking me, then I would say that you are half right.

If you are stating them, then it is my personal opinion that prayer is also to ask directly for something....heal me, do this, grant me this favor, help a brother out, comfort those victims...it is also definitely to help us internally to know God's will for us. But I strongly believe one of the purposes of prayer is to ask for things--as long as they are in accordance with God's will..not just to ask to know God's will itself.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

They are Greek phalanxes. The Greeks won, remember?

My Greek is rusty. I am having trouble with the declensions.

[BlueHair]

I understand going without food and then donating that money to the poor. That is a kind gesture.

The idea that an empty stomach somehow draws us nearer to God seems silly to me. Skipping a few meals doesn't make us humble. Especially when you have a full refrigerator waiting when you are done fasting. Humility may be learned from hardship, but voluntarily missing two meals doesn't qualify as a true hardship, in my opinion.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by grapevine

The person that fasted every sunday on mission. White handbook monthly fast generally sufficant and never go beyond 24 hours.

Exactly. No wonder ute4ever's investigators never showed up. In a strange twist, his over fasting actually condemned them to eternity outside of communion with Deity.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by BlueHair

I understand going without food and then donating that money to the poor. That is a kind gesture.

The idea that an empty stomach somehow draws us nearer to God seems silly to me. Skipping a few meals doesn't make us humble. Especially when you have a full refrigerator waiting when you are done fasting. Humility may be learned from hardship, but voluntarily missing two meals doesn't qualify as a true hardship, in my opinion.

I suppose you just don't get it.

Skipping meals doesn't make one humble. Of course, and nobody ever alleged it did.

Depending on your personal nutritional reserves, skipping a few meals will make you hungry, and if you use that hunger to turn you inward, then the fast can do you personally some good. It's not supposed to qualify as a hardship, and it's ludicrous for you to imply such.

I draw it closer to workout analogies. If I warm up before intervals, I do so to warm up the cardiovascular system. Once it's properly revved up, I can force it to do some work, including hard intervals, which will improve the machine.

Medically it is good to clean out the engine by lack of food, and you can feel pangs of hunger by skipping a few meals, especially if you continue in your daily routine. So the key is to use this modest hunger to remind yourself that you do not live by bread alone. [it is not comparable to somebody truly hungry and our fasts are not intended to mock the truly hungry].

Your comparison and analogy is downright silly.

[creekster]

Originally Posted by BlueHair

I understand going without food and then donating that money to the poor. That is a kind gesture.

The idea that an empty stomach somehow draws us nearer to God seems silly to me. Skipping a few meals doesn't make us humble. Especially when you have a full refrigerator waiting when you are done fasting. Humility may be learned from hardship, but voluntarily missing two meals doesn't qualify as a true hardship, in my opinion.

If you had no food it would be called starving, not fasting. Fasting is easier, I think, if you have food than if you don't.