Day of Prayer /03/03/03

I received an e-mail from a friend informing me of a move to make March 3, 2003 a day of prayer and fasting. The reason behind the date is that in scripture, the number three represents the Holy Trinity.

The other reason is the state of affairs our country is in right now. We can take the day and pray for our country and any other prayer concerns we may have.

It is also suggested that we fast if we would like. I think for some it may sound extreme, but I will share something with you.

I have fasted before with my prayer group. We rarely do it, but have when loved ones have had cancer. What we did was sun-up to sun-down, no food, only water. Every time we thought of eating we offered up prayers. It is a very simple thing to do and many prayers were offered on those days.

We also came away realizing how fortunate we are to have food at our fingertips!

I am going to give it a whirl. WIll you join me in praying for our country and other concerns? Spread the word!

Anyone in here interested in joining me in prayer and fasting on 3/3/3?

7:00am - 7:00pm only food, and you offer up prayers when you think of food!

I think the idea of prayer is great, but will have to compromise on the fasting, due to my diabetes. Being Catholic, I might consider abstaining from eating meat as a compromise. I think the day of prayer is an excellent idea, and the date chosen is perfect for it.
Thanks for sharing that. I will pass it on to my other email friends and also post it at work and in our church bulletin.

I am going for it ladies. Today is the day I am fasting and praying. It's only 8:42am and I am already hungry. Whenever I think of food, I will offer up a prayer. There's gonna be a whole lot of praying going on!

I'm praying for you that you'll make it Dotsie

Seriously -- I do pray for our world -- that cooler heads will prevail and our egos don't blow us all up!

And I pray for the innocents in this world -- the children and animals that have no say in any of it. For the earth itself -- for what we have done to it in order to have this powerful nation of ours. For the people living in poverty or under the thumb of a zealous dictatorship.

and mostly I pray that God will forgive us all

I think fasting is a great thing. If you have diabetes or other reasons that you can't fast from food, then fast from something else. Like radio, tv, chocolate(i know this is asking alot!

I like doing this for a week at a time. It makes us focus on what matters.

Teri, how do you do this for a week? When do you eat and not eat?

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which means that Catholics all over the world will begin fasting and abstaining on a regular basis. This does not mean that they will quit eating altogether. It means they will eat one main meal and a light meal as needed through the day for strength. They will abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, and Fridays during the Lenten season. Also many of them will "give up" other pleasures in their life for that short period, whether that be sweets, a habit (smoking, drinking, tv) or whatever they treasure. Some will give money and time to charitable causes. Some will simply try to do something extra special for someone each day during this time of reflection and penitence. It is good for the soul and for the psyche.

This is also the period of the Baha'i 19-day fast (the Baha'i calendar is 19 months of 19 days, with a few days left over. So this is a month of fasting). The fast is from sunrise to sundown, and between that time, there's no eating, drinking, gum chewing, or anything. I've been doing this for years. It's a wonderful time for reflection and growth.
It's gotten easier over the years too. I learned to eat rib-sticking foods in the pre-dawn hours, like oatmeal and potatoes left over from the previous night. The worst thing for me is getting tired in the afternoon, and getting cold. Now though I've quit caffeine completely, so getting tired isn't much of an issue any more.
In the early years, I used to pig out at night, but soon found that to be counter productive. Now I drink lots of water, and am satisfied with less food.
And I've learned not to enter a grocery store during the daylight hours of the fast!