The benefits of fasting and prayer in recovery

Introduction

Fasting and prayer can both be powerful tools in our arsenal for overcoming our addictions and maintaining a sober lifestyle with balanced mental health. Most people know about prayer, but some are unfamiliar with fasting. Fasting is essentially abstaining from eating and/or drinking for a period of time with a specific intention. While I’m not the most experienced with fasting, I have a lot of experience with prayer so hope that my insight helps someone out there to strengthen their recovery journey.

First, let’s look at prayer a bit more in depth, then consider fasting for a bit. May the force be with you!

Prayer

Prayer is essentially an act of humility where we speak with a Higher Power of our understanding. Many times, people see prayer as a means of asking for one or more things we would like to see materialize in our lives. However, this is just one type of prayer, and depending on how it’s done it can blur the line of treating our Higher Power as a wish-granting genie.

There are other forms of prayer that are just as useful to nourishing our spirit and helping us with the trials of life. These include singing or stating affirmations of praise to the Most High, coming to the Lord with our grievances and mourning, praying for the dead, reading a passage of scripture in reverence to the Lord (I like Psalms 23 and 91), expressing gratitude and thanksgiving, seeking forgiveness for ourselves and others, and confessions of our sins. A note on the last one is that even though God knows all of our sins, confessing our sins to the Lord freshens our mind to the fact that what we’ve done is out of line with God’s perfect Will for how He wants us to act, and acts a reminder for us to do better going forward.

The Bible talks about praying in your “secret place”. This can be anywhere that you feel a certain degree of peace, serenity, and deeper connection with God. For me, that’s my bedroom and the outside patio. If your fortunate enough to live close to a nature spot that isn’t too crowded, I think that would also make for a good secret place. Just make it regular, and as time goes on that place will begin to feel more auspicious when you pray there.

Additionally, after a while you might get the gift of praying in tongues. The first time I prayed in tongues, it forceably came out of my mouth and I couldn’t control it. Now, the tongue the Lord provided me is a prayer channel I can activate during pretty much any time I’m praying. It speaks directly to the Lord in a way that only He can fully understand. It’s certainly a mystery of spiritual existence, but many can attest to the fact that it does exist.

Finally, you may want to consider prayer accessories like a mat, special garmets or clothes, and especially prayer oils or candles. Prayer oil makes your aroma sweet before the Lord and it shows your commitment to seeking a serious life of prayer. It’s not as commonly spoken about in our modern society as it was in the past, but it can definitely deepen the experience of your prayer life.

Prayer is a conversation between you and a Higher Power of your own understanding. Over time, as you continue to seek contact with your Higher Power, it can make overcoming your addictions significantly easier.

Fasting

Not counting intermittent, I only have about a year or two of fasting experience, and it’s been a rough road at that. But it’s definitely something that has made my recovery and spiritual life a lot more fulfilling.

Basically, you want to abstain from eating and maybe drinking for a certain period of time. I’ve never done a drinking fast, but want to at some point when I feel called to it.

There are many different types of fasts that you can try out. As mentioned previously, intermittent fasting is a popular type of fast where you only eat for a certain window during the day, usually about 4-8 hours, and refrain from eating for the rest of the day. Another popular fast is from sun up to sun down. Additionally, the Buddhists typically fast by eating from the time they wake until noon, and then refraining for the rest of the day.

Aside from the time window, there’s also the time horizon. Popular fasting horizons are for one day, three days, 7 days*, 21 days*, or 40 days*(not recommended for beginners). Unless doing intermittent fasting, it’s suggested that beginners start with a 1 or 3 day fast.

You can also fast from certain types of foods. The Orthodox church has several fasts throughout the year where they refrain from eating meat, dairy, and other food products.

When fasting, you may experience times where you want to break your fast early. It’s not recommended because often the biggest benefit arrives right at the end of the fast, but if you do don’t feel bad about yourself. Even some time fasting is a step in the right direction for your next attempt.

When we aren’t focused on nourishing our bodies with food and drink, we can spend more time nourishing our minds, emotions, and spirits with things that can help us along life’s journey and the road to recovery.

Conclusion

If you’ve ever been to a recovery meeting, you know the emphasis that’s placed on prayer. Prayer and fasting can really help you to navigate the tricky parts of life and figure out some of the causes of your addiction that otherwise you wouldn’t have even acknowledged.

Good luck on your journey, and if you found this article interesting I hope you’ll subscribe to our free newsletter at faithworks.beehiiv.com/subscribe or share this article with a friend.

Until next time