The Lord's Table II Testimony: Delores Liesner

God drew me to this course and prepared my heart for both the Bible Study and the fasting experience. I had fasted single days with specific purpose before, but as I contemplated a longer fast, I became stricken and felt unable to even do the single day - the enemy was at work. After seeking the Lord for some time, a desire to fully commit myself (body as well as soul) to Him began to arise. It was not a 'wonder if I can do this', but rather an assurance from the Lord that 'I will help you do this' - and He has. My family and friends know my weaknesses and know I could never do this of myself. To anyone considering this course I would say do not look to your own strength - look to the Lord. This has been a time of mountain-top blessing where the Word has become richer than before and I've felt better physically than I thought possible. I now know that when God's power is in control of me, I will do far more than I'd thought possible. I know I will no longer 'fear' a longer fast or think I cannot do that because I have the evidence that God was with me, strengthened me, enabled me, for 20 days! I will not deny that I am excited to get a great start on losing some of the weight that needs to go - but I do emphasize that I did not do the fast as a 'diet' but as a submission to God's power. I felt the need to be cleansed - body and spirit to give God control. I felt that I was not a good witness to be telling people that God wanted to bless and strengthen every area of their lives, when they could visibly see that God did not have control of all of me. I felt shameful that someone might think God could not do that for me or for them. The Bible Study has confirmed for me what scripture teaches - that God wants me to be fat spiritually, not physically, and that God does have the power to subdue my natural instinctive obsessions. I want my body as well as my spirit to continue to be a picture of God's controlling power. Contrary to past experiences with 'dieting' for the purpose of overcoming my (now revealed sinful) obsession with some foods, the process through Setting Captives Free was not painful or restrictive for me but freeing! I feel like chains have fallen off - I am free and I am lighter - no longer dragging around so much evidence of sin. I am grateful God also led me prior to the fast to make a commitment for a 90 day 'training period' to eat no processed food, as that will help me to transition to the healthy food He created for my body/His temple. I am grateful to those who designed this class, for submitting their body to God. It is evident this teaching was and is a labor of love and a the fruit of personal experience.

As to what would be helpful, the only things I can think of are possible thoughts ahead for questions like these (although I should have realized it would come) so I could prepare beforehand. The other is possibly a supplement of recipes for during and after the fast - perhaps from those who have been in the course. The ones given were good and removed the concern that the fast might be close to bread and water :) - and having the stocks (which I found less greasy tasting than broths) and as much vegetable juice as I could really balanced my concern about possible effect of too much sugar from juices and smoothies. It turned out, as usual, that any thoughts of concerns over doing a 20 day fast were mis-information or fear from the enemy which were thoroughly routed as the Word of God took hold of my mind instead of what I would eat next. Again, I praise God for the impact of Setting Captives Free in my life.

As I wrote in the previous question, God prepared me for the experience as one of total cleansing physically and spiritually. I had only one low day which followed not drinking sufficient liquids, and not taking my supplements, so I would encourage participants to remain attuned that the fast does not neglect that our body needs the nutrients from vitamins and minerals and liquids. The challenges were a few naysayers - (Is that healthy? What kind of diet is that?) Next time I will be prepared with a different answer as to why I could not perhaps join them for a meal. I did share the spiritual reasons behind what I was doing, and both gave a respectful response). Another was balancing the fruit juices and smoothies - I found I could not tolerate banannas, and that I liked Emeril's stock lighter, bette tasting and more refreshing than broth, and I have a Jack LaLanne juicer which works so great for carrot juice to blend with apple, orange, or pineapple. The last few days I found myself longing for food as I cooked for my husband - but amazed to realize it was the favorite vegetable soup smell that drew me and not the dessert. That alone shows me the benefits were both spiritual and physical - because I do feel cleansed and lighter and overall more attuned to God's call on every area of my life. I especially appreciate the specificity of the Bible Study - from the first day I felt that I was dining - feasting - at God's table and getting filled. My mind did not dwell on what I was "doing" (fasting) or what I was not having.

Benefits I derived were a powerful time of love and closeness with the Lord, a building up of my faith of what the Lord can and will and wants to do with me (me!), more love and understanding for others, a desire for healthy food, and yes I lost some weight which is further evidence of God's loving touch to begin the healing of one of my final frontiers of resistance! An additional benefit were my prayer supporters. I had several people family and friends praying for me throughout the study, and receiving the daily answers to keep me accountable. They were encouraging and understanding and I feel closer to them than I did before - maybe because now they know more about me than I wish they did - maybe because God helped me remove the veil that I can be more honest with them and they will help me continue to be accountable.