This wasn’t the intended glorious sequel to my first slobbery SmashLetter.
BUT, just this morning, Holy Spirit gave my fleshy parts a little pinch in the form of Inbox internal conviction. And during an introspective look in The Mirror (1) I didn't like the spiritual manhandles I saw, nor the current lack of Holy Momentum.
The irony that follows, of course, is that the end result was me sitting in a padded chair for nearly 16 hours straight – not pumping weights, but gallons of coffee, Cheeto's (the puffy ones) and Reese's Pieces – while banging out 3000+ words on: fasting.
It's fine.
Walk with Him long enough and you quickly find out that GOD’s most incredible inspirations often come in the form of interruptions (2) – and I’ve learned to just let ‘em ride.
And, in the off chance GOD's most recent gut punch about the spiritual spare tire I'd been carrying around lately benefits others – I felt it best to get it all written down and shoved online.
FINISH STRONG.
Craig Cooney – a global prophetic voice that I admire from afar, and someone you should follow, now – put out a solid word yesterday that I believe, is both timely for the current times and timeless for the generations. Which, in my opinion, is a pretty solid marker for having origin in Holy Spirit AND recognizing a servant that’s been Marked, if you know what I mean.
One of the things I really like about this word he deposited in my Inbox is that it’s not just about the virtues of finishing strong – which is, and always will be, advice I give to Smash on any final leg, of any race he’s literally or proverbially running.
Underlying the course and scope of the post is the obligation we each have to maintain holy momentum now, to stay abundantly fruitful through, next season. An excerpt:
How you end one season determines the level of favor you carry into the next.
The enemy knows this.
You may find unusual attacks and opposition as you near the finish line of this year.
Misunderstandings and accusations. Temptations and enticements.
Don’t give them your energy or attention.
Walk in purity. Guard your heart.
Protect your mind.
Stand on God’s Word. Speak truth.
Remain unshakeable.
FINISH STRONG.
Of course, while the word (in its entirety) that GOD used to provoke this SmashLetter is about running through the finish line of the current year (3) – we KNOW that neither GOD’s timing nor His methods are bound, nor confined by Gregorian calendar.
It’s possible we humans might could place too much emphasis on the boundaries of month, day, year – but, let us not forget HE is the One Who established the rhythm and cycles of EVERYTHING when He first set ALL THINGS in perpetual rotation in the Universe – and in His Word, He routinely stresses the importance of season, session, and periods of service.
So, whether you’re on the annual or in the perpetual; whether you’re finishing something or JUST starting something (4) – we all need to apply the Eternal Call to FINISH STRONG to wherever we may be in any process:
…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-3
It’s a REALLY good word whether you’re at the proverbial 2-minute warning or it’s just halftime: keeping your eyes on Jesus and getting proactive against distractions, hindrances, and the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy is THE best practice for finishing strong into your best possible Outcome and His intended Output.
And, in my personal experience with GOD: greater Output usually requires putting something lesser out, first.
So, after some serious consideration and prayer – I’ve determined that for me to be able to finish strong, I need to cut out something or some things out.
With the prophet’s words, how you end one season determines the level of favor you carry into the next burned onto my brain AND Sharpied on a Post-It note of prominence at my desk, I’m asking – how do I make sure nothing is left on the table in by the end of the year?
And before I could stop myself from speaking, I hear the words coming out my mouth:
I’m going to do a 30 day fast.
Ugh. Great.
Holy Spirit Override just caused my mouth to commit me to a month in GOD’s meat grinder.
Fine.
Fast, what?
No Food, No Problem. Until it was a problem.
Cutting out a meal or two or twelve is a good first place to start. While others have gone much farther and deeper than I ever have – I would consider myself an avid faster of food over the last several years.
It all started with wanting to hear GOD, better. Maybe you can relate. At the time, I was surrounded by people that all claimed to receive Messages and Guidance on the regular, and I thought at the time, I was being restricted from their level of encounters.
I somehow stumbled upon fasting. For there to be greater Fruit to bear, I initially thought that while I kept me from putting things in my mouth – He would be putting a lot more in me, in return.
But each time I’ve pushed back the plate for a few days at a time, either in response to a Word or on a regular monthly cycle – I discovered the benefit usually took the form of Him taking something He didn’t want in me, out of me.
This did result in less of me, standing between Him and me. He dealt with walls, sins, emotional wounds, fear, bitterness, wrong expectations, and insecure first reactions that had been both, obstructing my Holy Spirit antenna, per se AND harming my relationship with others.
There also ended up being a lot less of me – literally. I dropped 6 pant sizes.
Four years and nearly 40 pounds – that I really didn’t have available to give up in the first place – later, while I know that the condition of my heart and mind have definitely improved; I’m actually pretty concerned that my body has taken a pretty serious beating.
Just two nights ago, midway through a three-day fast from food, I collapsed upstairs during a midnight checking on a sleeping Smash. I returned to consciousness in his doorway, on the floor – a couple limbs actually shaking a bit. While this time (5), it could be anything – it was concerning enough for me to break off the fast and recalibrate my body to calories, a day early.
And in honor of, and mutual submission to, my wife and her expressed concerns for my long-term – both of which, will bear incredible fruit for the even longer term (6) – if I’m going to be pushing back anything in the future, I’m now going to have to abstain from alternative things.
BUT, if running the race well through the end – finishing strong – means throwing off potential hindrances before the finish line, what’s a brother to do with less than 60 days left in the year AND having already uttered an obligatory (7) intention for abstention?
And then it hit me. You can fast from ANYTHING. That’s true. I do believe you should fast something significant in the natural for anything significant to happen in the supernatural.
What that means, is to have the intended effect, it needs to cost you something and/or aim you at:
Cleaner hands
Purer heart
D. All the above
So, to cast off hindrances AND run my race well between now and enternity – I announced to my wife this morning that I was going to try something new: No Watch November.
Not so Fast.
Obviously, the name of my new NOvember pursuit is a play on No Shave November – a nearly-dead trend with charitable origins that in a way, was a kind of fast unto itself, from proactive facial manscaping for the entire month of November. It's not a thing anymore.
Personally, I think you don’t hear about it, or see guys doing it in these modern times because:
It unintentionally ruined the long-envisioned aesthetic for family pictures at Thanksgiving, which wives had planned to use for the Christmas Cards – which guys, if you don’t already know, are everything
Like everything else culture does, it was way overdone with little benefit to others
Like other vogue personal decisions over the years that expects others to respect (8): it became an unassailable excuse for either poor behavior or poor hygiene, or both – not to mention the bain of bosses and HR associates everywhere
The inevitable lack of sex
But can you really call abstaining from personal hygiene – or, more generally: anything that requires no effort and actually increases convenience (let alone, unkempt a word used to describe its ultimate outcome) – a fast?
I mean I could fast from regular lawncare or even bathing regularly, but my HOA and my wife would be respectively serving me proper notice in the end.
Fast and the Fruitful
In my humble opinion, fasting is supposed to be like working out. It can feel terrible, while you're in it. Mile 7 of 10 can be the hardest. Squats SUCK. No pain, no gain.
THIS is one of the reasons Jesus kept His disciples from it, initially in Mark 2:21-22. He knew some rigorous disciplines up front might make them fall away early.
BUT the Fruit is why he didn't preclude them from it, when He said up front in Mark 2:20,
"...then, they will fast..." [emphasis mine].
In my other humbly submitted opinion: I believe fasting is proactive abstaining, that if done right: is supposed to feel like adult circumcision somewhere in the process.
Like working out and cutting things away: one way or another, you leave a big hunk of flesh behind – that was slowing you down anyway – and cross over the finish line, better. Always remember, GOD loves a cheerful giver!
BUT. IS. IT. WORTH. IT.
I personally believe fasting is one of THE most fruitful spiritual disciplines there is – the Fruit. OH the Fruit. It changes your life. Changes your family's trajectory.
You work in holiness. You leave curse, lack, foolishness, fools, and repeating errors behind.
But again, Change is hard. See above.
But the change; OH THE CHANGE is SO WORTH IT.
OK, last humble opinion: GOD wants to bless you. But, in His Holiness and Wisdom and Ultimate Father Insight from Infinite-Foot-View: He can't. Not because He can't do something. GOD can do anything. But like Meatloaf to Lorraine Crosby: He won't do THAT.
What do I mean?
Realize that GOD's blessing brings multiplication. Multiplying your current would exponentially increase your present good and your lingering bad. GOD can see a lot further down than we can. If that bad gets any bigger, it'll kill you.
So, cut it out, fast. And, FAST!
As for my No Watch November, with the exception of NFL football with my wife (9), for the next 30 days I am abstaining from watching anything on the TV that isn’t church, clicking anything in Youtube that isn’t a five-fold something for the LORD, and telling Alexa to STOP with the recommendations she thinks are interesting or newsworthy.
It won't be easy.
There's A LOT of clickbait on youtube that's worked before and I'll need to guard myself from lingering during timeouts and between quarters. BUT, there will be Fruit.
That is MY personal plan for casting off hindrances, maintaining momentum, and perhaps enhancing my sensitivity to GOD’s Voice.
Not Messing Around November
Then, in the commute back/forth from the kitchen this morning – I booted up the Worship Song that’s been on repeat in my mind the last couple days, (10) and then I believe I heard Holy Spirit say,
"As goes November, so goes everything else."
I don’t know what that means. That's all He said.
But, now, 17 hours into the creation of this thing, the implication I’m taking away is:
Whatever virtuous momentum I pick up in November will be carried into December, and possibly beyond.
It’s also possible anything less than my best becomes my millstone for the next year.
Realizing NOW, as I’m typing this – all of that is actually in the prophetic word:
You’re not only ending one year – you are setting yourself up for [the next one].
And THAT is either for the good or for the bad.
It’s up to me?!
Big OOF.
So, key take away: not acting in November, is NOT an option.
Alternative No No’s for November
So, since none of us want to mess around; what follows is some available options to fast from for the next 30 days, in case you wanted to also kick hindrances to the curb, crotch punch the enemy (11), and run strong into and through the end of the year:
No Thang November
Just pick anything. No chocolate for 30 days is legit. No dessert. No beer. No scrolling. These are awesome. Just choose and don’t compromise. For example: abstaining from food and doing liquids only is a profoundly DEEP fast. But, thinking you’re abiding when you’re blending your steak-and-fries at dinner time, really isn’t. Fast for keeps.
No Lunch November
Classic fast. Pick a meal, abstain from eating it. Read the Bible and/or Pray during that already blocked out time in your day, instead. Repeat 30x. You. Will. Be. Forever. Changed.
No Smoke November
Tough to get up and down stairs, let alone finish a footrace of any kind, if you can’t breathe. This is your sign.
No No Whip November
I DARE YOU to stop stopping at Starbucks for 30 days. If you work 3rd shift or have a bonafide caffeine requirement, like me, you don’t have to quit coffee. Just do 30 days of a pour-over at home and carry a thermos. You want double yay from Yahweh? Do the ULTIMATE end around on the devil and stick it to the spirit of poverty, too: take the resulting $240 you saved in November by NOT adding skim milk to caffeine-laden hot water and give it all to Charity Water in December to help them meet EOY needs.
No Nacho Noviembre
This is actually personal to us – we pulled a Quickbooks report to discover that we were on pace to spend over TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS at our local Mexican restaurant in 2023. While it’s a small town and there’s not many other options in town to eat out – so what we spend disproportionately with them is probably less than what most people spend annually on eating out in general – it was still a brain melting experience. We called a household fast on Mexican, until December. BUT, take this experience from our lives and run with it – what’s something you spend a lot of time and/or money on each month? Can you hit pause for a month? Hashtag: BLESSED.
No Booty November
Paul advises married couples on properly abstaining with discretion and caution in 1 Corinthians 7. I believe the fact he calls this specific fasting option out means there must be something ah-mazing that’s available on the other side IF properly applied. I don’t know, I’ve never done it. My wife is HOT. If you’re single and you have been way too willing to mingle (if you know what I mean) then, committing to no nocturnal emissions in November could seriously help you break that detrimental lifestyle along with getting rid of some demonic attachments, you probably didn’t know were there.
No Bougie November
Who are you trying to impress with your dress anyway? Keeping the gold on the shelf for 30 days will better reveal the Gold he’s already got in you – just waiting to be brought to light. Get your real Proletariat on: you and your friends take a Friday night off from trying so hard to be seen, and help others in need feel known: women’s shelter, foster home, homeless shelter. You know what that ACTUALLY is? Widows, orphans, sojourners. GOD looks out specifically, for them AND for those that take care of them.
No meat no sweet no bread no spread November.
This is my personal take on the Daniel fast. Name says it all. It’s A LOT harder than you think. It’s also my FAVORITE. SO much good from this one. CAREFULLY CONSIDER that what you’ll be abstaining from during this fast is MOST of what will be on the Thanksgiving table – and how it may impact your host(s) or family in the process.
No Contra November
Up-down-up-down-left-right-left-right-B-A-B-A-select-start will have to wait 30 days. Use the time you would have spent videogaming to learn GOD’s cheat codes for real life by reading 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles. It’s one of my all-time favorite chunks of the Bible for its conventional ‘what not to do’ – reiterating basic cause and effect by highlighting the good and bad decision-making by the Kings of Israel.
No Facesmash November
You don’t need to stop eating ANYTHING if you just want to feel 40 pounds lighter. Delete all the social apps for a month. EVERYONE that I know that has done it, always talks about how much better their life is, after.
So, why now?! Why NOvember?
I get that it’s REALLY counterintuitive to abstain from anything during the Holiday season – food, family, festive, fasting, and fa la la la la la la la laaaaaaa.
I mean, that’s how it’s supposed to be, RIGHT?! I do understand that this is an outside the box, call to action. I think the current times demand it. SO DOES YOUR POTENTIAL.
It’s also feels odd to have GOD ask us to break normal religious rhythm. It may be in the back of your mind that we’re actually less than 60 days from the Church’s traditional fasting season. After New Year’s is over, there’ll be a lot of built-in emphasis and a call to start the new year off right by fasting from something. THERES A LOT OF THAT. 21 day fasts in January are quite prevalent. I’ll be joining in that, too.
BUT, that’s 3 months from NOW.
And if as goes November, so goes everything else IS in fact, the Word of the LORD, it might be too late, by then.
What I really get the sense of is that GOD is looking for someone willing to run through the finish line, not just to the finish line. (12)
Remember, the Kingdom is inherently counter-intuitive to culture. So, why wouldn’t He ask for a fast during a month known for feasting?
How hard we finish 2023 may have a role in determining how far and how high we get to go in 2024.
Personally, a BIG part of me believes He is looking for people who want to go next levels in Relationship with Him without Him having to ask for it. (13)
THIS coincides with my personal opinion on fasting: some fasts we’re called to do; all the rest we do because we were called.
Therefore, as for me and my house: this isn’t just a word for 2023 with 2024 waiting in the wings. I’m planning on starting a new annual rhythm: saying NO to something significant every NOvember; for even greater momentum heading into the next year.
Because next year is always a year of consequence. (14) And, it’s coming.
GOD said: as goes November, so goes everything else. As far as it depends on us, we will run like that’s true, and FINISH STRONG.
Will you say YES, to saying NO, in NOvember?
NoTHANG November. SmashLetters. Copyright © 2023 SmashLetters. All Rights Reserved.
One more thing
You just read that GOD has had BIG PLANS for you since time began - and wants to see you live them out through the Finish Line of Eternity. If you don't yet know Jesus as Savior - please take just a few moments to read what He did for you and made available for you to start living the life He's dreamed for you, since the beginning of time.
Footnotes
Click annotation number to go back to where you left off.
1. That would be, Jesus.
2. Woman with issue of blood. Woman at Samaritan Well. Beggar at Gate Beautiful.
3. There’s a HUGE difference between running toward a finish line and running through a finish line. Only one of them has the next year in mind. Which one are you?
4. Go you! Seriously.
5. Second time in two years, actually. You’ll find this is going to be a recurring theme throughout the blog: learning the hard way after not listening the first time.
6. 1 Peter 3:7 – “honor your wife….so that NO THANG will hinder your prayers” [slang and emphasis, MINE]. If there was nothing hindering your prayers - where would you be, right now? SO, why aren't you doing the dishes???
7. If you don’t already, you need to know that GOD does collect on debts
8. Looking at you, gender identity
9. Even though GOD says to keep your fasting to yourselves, you MUST know that your fast impacts your loved ones, as well. Wisdom is consulting with them first, on how to minimize that impact – especially the youngin’s – otherwise, they’ll resent your sacrifice and possibly overdo it on the hindrances, later
10. I LOVE it when that happens; it usually means someTHANG good is in the queue. I’ve learned that hearing first requires aligning the rest of me to whatever GOD is doing, now. Anytime a random song pops into my mind - it's on repeat until He does His thing.
11. The modern day loin-crushing from Deuteronomy 33:11. GOD judges your enemies harshly. Sometimes He can't, because you're still too close to them.
12. Read between the lines: HE IS THE FINISH LINE.
13. If my wife doesn’t need to ask me to show her I love her, why does my GOD?
14. They all are, y’all
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