Satisfying hungry hearts - scriptures for your sugar fast

Welcome to our 2nd Annual 40 Day Sugar Fast! This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it - and expectant that God's Holy Spirit is going to use these 40 days to draw us into deeper intimacy and dependency upon Himself! I've received so many private messages from women who are desperate to lose weight, and you may, but the weight we really want to drop is the heavy burden of captivity, holding us back and holding us down. Shackled to sugar and shame. Held in bondage to anything is an awful way to live - unless we are bond as bondservant to the One who made us to crave HIM. Being held in bondage to anyone or anything other than Christ gives me a gut ache - both a physical and emotional gut ache.

Since last year's sugar fast I've been overcome with a holy hunger, a hankering for Him. And apparently I'm not alone in this, since nearly 5,000 women have signed up to join me on this year's Sugar Fast.

[Tweet ""Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied." (Matthew 5:6)"]

Still I forget sometimes, and look for satisfaction in all the wrong places. But I truly do want more of Jesus and less of the stuff that promises to satisfy me this side of glory. Though we take our craving hearts to the pantry, to the freezer, to our secret stash of chocolate covered almonds, to ease our anxiousness or loneliness, I know down to my core what we truly need.

And you do too.

This 40 Day Sugar Fast is all about fixing our eyes on the prize again. Remembering, the only One who can ever truly satisfy.

[Tweet "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)"]

We are a generation of hungry women. Hungry wives and moms and grandmas too. We're hungry for righteousness. We're hungry for joy in our hearts. We're hungry for peace and kindness in our homes. We are hungry women with hungry hearts, and we know that nothing has yet satisfied us the way that Christ can.

And so, during the next 40 days, we must do more than simply illuminate sugar from our diets; we must replace those refined sugars with the refining power of God's Word. Exchanging our sweets for the sweetest fare, the satisfying and sustaining One.

The goal isn't simply to stop eating what is wrong, but to start eating what is right. The Bread of Life! 

[Tweet "Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. (Ezekiel 3:3)"]

Consume His Word, and may you find it sweet and sustaining. Consume His Word and then use it like a battle ax when the enemy tempts you - just as He did Christ during His 40 days of fasting in the desert. "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'' Consume His Word, instead of everything else that your sweet tooth craves! Consume His Word, then pray it back to Him. "Fill me with your Word, may it be sweet to my mouth, O Lord. Satisfy me in the morning with your unfailing love, that I may sing for JOY and be glad all my days." Consume His Word.

Feast as you fast!

My sweet friend, Asheritah, author of the blog One Thing Alone, has created an incredible resource to help us through the days ahead. Sign up to get this free gift here!

Over the course of the next 40 days, we're focusing our hearts not on what we're giving up, but on the bread of life that came to earth to satisfy every deep hunger. Turn to Him, with each and every hunger pang!

"...using your bodily hunger pangs to remind you to cultivate your spiritual hunger for God. In other words, let your hunger pangs become like church bells calling you to prayer. Whenever you’re hungry for food say to yourself something like, “Jesus, you are my sweetness and sustenance. Your name is like honey on my lips. Your words are the manna that I hunger for.” (Bill Gaultiere, July 23, 2006)

We don't want to simply renounce sugar without replacing our dependency on what was made to satisfy every longing heart. Let's taste and see that He is good, together! If you would like to receive more encouragement during our 40 Day Sugar Fast, sign up here. Or join our private Facebook group to dig further.

[Tweet "Let's replace those refined sugars with the refining power of God's Word. And exchange our sweets for the sweetest fare."]

One more resource to help you pray God's Word. Beth Moore's, aptly titled book, Praying God's Word has an entire chapter dedicated to overcoming strongholds such as sugar addiction. This book is truly a mighty weapon to wield when the enemy attacks in the days ahead.