The 40-Day Sugar Fast: Where Physical Detox Meets Spiritual Transformation (A Daily Devotional Journey to Stop Fixating on Food and Fix Your Eyes on Jesus)

by Wendy Speake

If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: “This much, O God, I want you.”1

“He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:9)—yes, even with Himself.

Jesus wants our undivided, unadulterated affection. He wants us to love Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, and all our strength (Mark 12:30). All of us. Everything. Every last molecule crying out for more of Him. And when we beg Jesus to lead us to that place of longing, He will gladly satisfy us with the very best He has to offer—Himself.

What would you be willing to give up in order to gain the powerful presence of God in your life?

Fasting is merely denying yourself something temporal and ordinary in order to experience the One who is eternally extraordinary.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).

Fasting from physical food increases one’s spiritual hunger, and that’s the hunger that leads not only to a transformed body but also to a transformed life. When we empty ourselves and ask Him to fill us, He does. When we are at our weakest, His strength is most evident. When we don’t know what we’re doing, He does it all. When God sets us free from the strongholds in our lives, we’re free to experience His strong hold.

Transformation isn’t automatic—you have to put God’s Word into practice.