Why Fast? | Benefits of Fasting

Ready to trade comfort for clarity? We’re kicking off the year with a 21-day journey that goes beyond skipping meals and straight into a deeper pursuit of God. Fasting without prayer is just a diet; fasting with prayer, scripture, and generosity becomes a spiritual reset that reshapes your days, your decisions, and your desires.

We share real stories and useful steps. Tabatha talks about fasting through a cancer battle and why walking into chemo in a fasted state (think autophagy and immune reset) paired with steady prayer brought strength and focus. Ken opens up about years of weekly fasting while launching a church and why he loves the benefits, even when his flesh complains. Together, we map out practical paths—sunrise-to-sunset, one-meal-a-day, Daniel-style—along with a rhythm that actually works: plan meals before day one, schedule prayer and scripture, reduce digital noise, and let hunger cues trigger time with God.

Isaiah 58 gives us the blueprint: a fast that breaks yokes, feeds the hungry, and ushers in healing and light. We press into that promise with simple, doable actions—reallocate time and food money to serve, forgive quickly, invite accountability, and make this a family practice. Kids can give up one favorite thing, couples can align their plans, and singles can thrive with a strong check‑in partner. If you slip, adjust without quitting. Finish by reassessing what returns to your life and what stays on the altar, then extend the momentum with our six‑month challenge: build your calendar around church, daily time in the Word, and a steady, prayerful pace.

Join us for 21 days, then decide what you never want to pick back up. Subscribe for new Thursday episodes, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and if you need a church home, join our live Sunday service at 9:45 AM EST on YouTube. Leave a review and tell us: what are you laying on the altar this year?

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Transcript

Fasting Is More Than A Diet

Ken Claytor 0:00

Fasting without prayer is nothing but a diet. So the the the most important part of your fasting time is not just what you're refraining, it's the spiritual things that you're adding. It's the increase of your prayer, it's the increase of taking care of the poor. It's the increase of spending time in the word of God. That's probably the most important part of the fast. Don't get it twisted. Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome to Doing Life of Ken and Tabitha. We want to start off by just saying happy, happy new year. Um, 2026 is going to be a very, very special year. And uh hopefully we can unfold some things and unpack some things this year in our podcast that's gonna bring a lot of value to your life. Um, but sweetheart, what is your what is your hope this year for our audience? What do you hope that this podcast does in people's lives?

Tabatha Claytor 0:48

I hope that they grow. Yeah. I hope that this is a place where they can come to and get fed and be encouraged, inspired to not just do the right thing, but to do the God thing.

Why We Start With 21 Days

Ken Claytor 0:59

Yeah. And so this year, we just have a plan, guys, to bless you guys really good every Thursday. We're gonna be releasing, you know, fresh content, new content. Of course, this is first and foremost a marriage and relationship podcast, but it's also a personal growth podcast. So we're gonna go out and through, you know, in between marriage stuff, relationship stuff, financial stuff, faith stuff, Bible stuff, growth stuff. And our hope is that we can help you grow closer to God and also closer to the people that God has placed in your life. And so we want to start this off with the bang. You know, every year we start our year with 21 days of prayer and fasting. And I think out of the last 24 years walking with God, we have probably done this. How many years do you think?

Tabatha Claytor 1:41

Twenty-four.

Ken Claytor 1:43

Oh, you think 24? No, I know I missed a couple years. You did? Yeah, I missed a couple years.

Tabatha Claytor 1:47

I'm gonna say if you did, I did, but I don't remember ever missing a January where we didn't fast.

Ken Claytor 1:52

No, I remember specifically feeling like, oh, well, I don't want to be legalistic with it, and like I have to do this every January. And my flesh just it taught me.

Tabatha Claytor 2:01

I might have fasted anyway, and you can't.

Tabatha’s First Fast And Zeal

Ken Claytor 2:02

No uh uh, you didn't fast. You didn't fast, you don't even remember. But no, I said, Well, this is a principle, it's not a law, and that's true. Uh-huh. Like nobody has to fast. Fasting is not like what you have to do, but it's what you get to do. Right. But I remember after I took that year off, I felt like something was missing. And so since then, over the last 15, 20 years, we haven't missed it. We haven't missed a beat. So let's just say out of the last 24 years, I've fasted at least 22 Januaries out of 24. I'll just say that. Okay. So we're going to call this episode why fasting, how to do it effect how to do it, and then how to do it effectively. And so um uh I don't know. Tell me a little bit about do you remember your first fast?

Tabatha Claytor 2:42

I do, and but I don't think you know what my first fast is. No. My first fast was um, it was still we were we were very we were new believers. I was a new believer. And um I was working in Oxenhill, Maryland, and we were going to a church right in, were we in, it was Arlington, Virginia. We lived in Arlington, Virginia, and we went to this Baptist church, right? Um, right there, like we could walk to church, and they had a fast, and I was so excited to do, like I had never heard of fasting before, and I was so excited to do it, right? And so I went home Sunday and prepared Monday all through the week. I fat I was fasting, and I was so proud of myself. And I got to church on Sunday and realized that I I jumped the gun. The the fast didn't start yet, and it was a three-week fast. So I fasted for four weeks. Oh wow. Uh yeah, and it because I was so excited. No one, no one started yet. They were just telling us to get prepared.

Ken Claytor 3:45

But here's the deal that goes along with your personality. I know. You're over the top and you're always ready to do good, and you're looking to do spiritual things.

SPEAKER_05 3:54

Yeah.

Ken Claytor 3:55

That's the opposite for a lot of people. They usually are instead of doing three weeks, they'd have done one week and did it halfway. You're gonna do four weeks and jump the gun and be excited about it. Right. But you know, that's interesting. You're right. I don't remember that. Yeah, because that was before I got serious about God. So you went to church and you joined a church without me.

Tabatha Claytor 4:13

I didn't know better.

Ken Claytor 4:14

Yeah, you joined a church without me and just went to church one day and just joined it. And I was a Christian atheist, so I was going to church occasionally, but still kind of living halfway in the world, halfway saying I believed in God. And um, so you went to church. Oh, in Arlington and started. Okay. So no, I wasn't on it yet. So wow. So you've been fasting longer than me.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

I see.

What A Biblical Fast Really Is

Ken Claytor 4:35

You fast well, maybe fasted me into the kingdom. I don't know. I don't know. Who knows? Can you just tell us what is a fast then? Just define it. Let's say now, so what we know about our audience is some of you all are brand new to faith, some of you all um are just checking us out, and some of you all have been saved for a long time, and maybe you you're expert fast, but there's just something about always like going back to the foundations. So let's just start from the beginning. This is a new year, okay? And this is what I believe. This is gonna be your best year ever if it's your best year spiritually. Let me say it again. This is gonna be your best year ever if it's your best year spiritually. And one of the ways that we've made sure that our years start off right is by taking the first 21 days as kind of like a first fruit offering and saying, God, I'm gonna give you the first part of my year. And when when the first is blessed, we believe the rest is going to be blessed.

Tabatha Claytor 5:25

It's another way to seek first the kingdom of God and all of these other things will be added to you.

Ken Claytor 5:29

Yeah. So what is a fast?

Tabatha Claytor 5:31

A fast, I think a technical, technically a fast is um uh withstaining from food, like not eating food. Um, and so um biblically, the fast is that we fast and we pray. If you just fast and you don't pray, that's a diet, right? We're just gonna lose some weight. Um, but when we fast and pray, it becomes a spiritual tool. It's a spiritual weapon. And fasting draws us closer to God. The Bible says, draw close to me and I will draw close to you. Fasting is a way that we can lay down our natural desires to pick up God's heavenly desires. Um, you know, for me, I love to fast because it allows me to kind of, ooh, you know, get all of the cobwebs out of my mind. Sometimes we're so drawn into, you know, our favorite um YouTube program, our favorite, you know, whatever we watch on TV at night. Um some of us read books and we do all of this stuff, some of us have activities. Um, but when you can just kind of lay down when you fast and pray, lay down some of those other things, exchange your activities for prayer time. Wow, it's really draws you closer to God.

Ken Claytor 6:46

Two things I want to highlight out of that. Number one is that fasting without prayer is nothing but a diet. So the the the most important part of your fasting time is not just what you're refraining, it's the spiritual things that you're adding. It's the increase of your prayer, it's the increase of taking care of the poor, it's the increase of spending time in the Word of God. That's probably the most important part of the fast. Don't get it twisted. But the second part I wanted to highlight is that you said that you love to fast.

Tabatha Claytor 7:16

I do.

Ken Claytor 7:17

Yeah. Uh um, now I can't say that. I don't like to fast. I like the benefits of fasting. But it's not like when a fast comes, I'm like, oh yes, this is what I've been wanting to do.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Yeah.

Ken Claytor 7:26

Yeah. To talk to me. So you do you really love to fast, like all of you? Like you said. I mean, uh-huh.

Tabatha Claytor 7:32

Yeah, it sounds weird. It sounds super spiritual. Um, I do. I love to fast because I love the results um of fasting. And so, you know, it is complicated sometimes and it doesn't feel good in my flesh, you know, especially if I lay down coffee. Lord help me. That is just that's challenging. The first week that I do that, that's challenging.

Ken Claytor 7:53

I would actually tell people to go after those things that you really feel addicted to, like you can't put down. Those things have a strong, could possibly have a stronghold on you. And for me, I would go after those things first.

Authority Over Cravings And Habits

Tabatha Claytor 8:05

And I've done those things, and and it's one of the reasons why this is an example of why I would say I love it, because I've laid down coffee before because I'm one of those people like I I would say I have an addictive personality, not to speak bad stuff on myself. But if I like it, I'll just keep doing it and doing it and doing it, you know. Um, so with coffee, I have laid, I've started a fast in January and I say, okay, I'm not gonna do coffee. And then I didn't pick it up for three more years. And then I did it again. I started drinking it, and then I I laid down. And then I didn't pick it up for another year, you know? And so sometimes I'll do three months, six months, but a fast, if I if I don't fast, I don't even realize that some things have a stronghold on me.

Ken Claytor 8:47

But the part I like about that is that you are letting your body know who has authority. Absolutely. So you don't want coffee to have its authority because it's not even that coffee's bad. Right. Matter of fact, coffee has great health benefits for some. However, you want to you want to know that you're in control. Absolutely. And what fasting does, it's saying, it's saying that nothing else is in control more than the Holy Spirit and what I choose. So I'm in authority over this. Absolutely. So chocolate is not in control, fried foods are not in control, eating out is not in control, whatever else alcohol is not in control, I'm in control under the authority of Christ.

Fasting Through Cancer And Autophagy

Tabatha Claytor 9:24

It really allows you to practice discipline, yeah, but also your dominion and authority that you have over your body. So when a cancer diagnosis came my way, no, I am in control of this. I come against that cancer. And I fasted and prayed, you know, through uh the cancer battle until, you know, we're we've overcome them four years cancer free. But any sickness, any disease.

Ken Claytor 9:47

I do want to unpack that for a minute. And maybe I don't want to stay there, but I do want people to know that when you were going through chemotherapy, what was it, once a week at least? Yeah, you would go in fasting.

Tabatha Claytor 9:57

I did.

Ken Claytor 9:58

So you would fast three days and on your in your chemotherapy, you would go into it fasting. Yes. Just very quickly, why?

Tabatha Claytor 10:06

Um, I did that because now if you you can research and you can go and Google, um, there's so many benefits to fasting. And I love that about the Lord because he tells us to fast and to pray. But when we fast and pray, when we lay down foods, our body gets triggered into, they call it autophagy autophagy, I think I'm saying that right, where your body goes into cell repair and it begins to heal itself because it's not working on digesting food. And so, with that principle, um, I just read some research and books and things like that of people who went into chemotherapy in a fasted state while their body was in a state of repair and recovery. And so it allowed um chemotherapy kind of um goes at your cells and destroys your cells, but it actually is supposed to strengthen, you know, your immune system in your cells so that when the chemotherapy comes in, it allows it to just it, your your your healthy cells are strengthened and the cancerous cells are not. And then it allows the chemotherapy to to kind of attack those cells and isolate those cells.

Ken Claytor 11:11

And what's the name of that word so they can look it up? And they can look at it. Autophagy. Autophagy. Yeah. Yeah, you can chat GPT that and check it out for yourself. But and so fasting has natural benefits. And isn't there something as well that when you're fasted, you actually give your body doesn't your cells like replace themselves every so often? Yeah, that's what autophagy is. And it actually helps your whole body rebuild.

Natural And Spiritual Benefits Combined

Tabatha Claytor 11:34

Absolutely. That's research says that after three days of fasting, um, 72 hours of fasting, that your entire immune system resets. And so if you're having problem problems with sickness and you know, something that you just can't over try, just maybe try a water fast for three days. You know, I'm not a doctor. Research this, ask your doctor and all of that stuff. But um, you know, you might want to try that fast and pray. It made a world of difference in my life.

Ken Claytor 12:01

I just think that's so amazing that God has set the system up to when you do it his way, there's a natural benefit in your health and in your body. But then there's a real spiritual benefit. And sometimes we lean one way or another. You know, matter of fact, when you go give blood, they would say, Well, fast, come in on a fasted state. There's certain benefits. But then on the spiritual side, man, we've just seen, I mean, I I remember when we first launched our church, I fasted every Monday for about two years. Um, just believing God, you know, just getting my spirit right for what he was asking us to do. Yes. To come out of the business world to start a church. And there's just been many times in my life where I say, I'm believing God for something. And it's not that my fasting gets his attention, it just helps my spirit be sensitive to he who is a spirit. Absolutely. And it helps discipline and crucify my flesh so that my faith can be strong. So it's really for me.

Tabatha Claytor 12:54

That's why I love fasting, because I find that when I'm fasted, I'm more sensitive. It's just like I'm more alert to the Holy Spirit and what he is doing. I typically fast on Sunday mornings. I'll just, you know, just kind of drink water, black coffee on a Sunday morning because we pray for so many people. So many people are healed, so many people are delivered. You know, the Bible, Jesus tells his disciples when they couldn't cast out a demon from someone who was, you know, um demonically um possessed, um, they asked him why. He said, Well, this one comes out only by prayer and fasting. And so I find myself like on Sunday mornings, and even when I'm going into ministry, I typically go in fasted because I just want to be, I just want to access that power. I want to access um the Holy Spirit in a way that none of my flesh is involved in it.

Power, Deliverance, And Sensitivity

Ken Claytor 13:44

And what do you think that scripture meant? I uh people reference that a lot. Like this con comes out by nothing but prayer and fast. What did that mean to you?

Tabatha Claytor 13:52

Um, to me, it meant that there are, you know, it just I didn't even, you know, I don't really even think about it too deeply, but just that prayer, okay, I'm going to pray and fast. That means that um I'm just going to seek God, I'm going to seek the Holy Spirit, and it's not my power. It this has nothing to do with me. It's the authority of the name of Jesus and it's the power of the Holy Ghost. And so to me, if Jesus said this comes only by out only by prayer and fasting, well, I'm going to pray and fast. Okay. And whatever comes my way, I'm going to be able to handle it.

Ken Claytor 14:26

I I like to make this uh differentiating statement because some people feel like, well, if I'm going to go into deliverance and ministry and cast out a demon, I need to pray and fast as a qualifying for that to happen. And I don't believe that that's what Jesus meant. I believe he meant that when you fast and pray, it will cause you to be in such alignment with God that those demons will come out. Amen. Meaning that it's not like, oh, I gotta go do this in order to do that. Right. Well, there's times where you ain't fasting and praying, but you need to cast out a demon. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? So it's not a qualifying thing to me. He's just saying that this kind right here, you're gonna have to have your faith on point. Yeah, you're gonna have to be really walking in the spirit. So I I like looking at it both ways.

Practical Ways To Fast For 21 Days

Tabatha Claytor 15:06

I love what you said because Jesus, he would come on the scene and demons would call out his name. Demons yelled out because you know, they knew him, they they knew who he was. And I think that was because of the fasting and praying. That was the kind of lifestyle that he led. And I think if we live that lifestyle, we can get the same results.

Kids, Media Limits, And Family Fasts

Ken Claytor 15:27

So, hey guys, we would just love to invite you on in to a time of fasting and praying with us. Of course, we're gonna start this on Monday, which I think is January the 5th, and we're gonna start 21 days of prayer and fasting. If you've never fasted before, jump in with us. You don't have to jump in the deep end, you can jump into the the shallow end of the pool and just you know, fast from something. Maybe it's coffee, maybe it's um sweets and chips, maybe it's um um a six to six fast, sun-up to sun-down fast, maybe it's a partial fast, uh, maybe it's more like a Daniel fast where it's um fruits and vegetables, and vegetables. I mean, there's so many different fasts that you can do. I think the key is is to not try to fast like somebody else is fasting, but figure out what God is leading you to do. You know, when we do 21 days of prayer, honestly, it gets long. It gets long for me. And I'm like, so every week I'll switch it. So I might start off the first week and I'll just fast from breakfast. Then the second week, I might do a six to six fast, meaning that I'm not gonna I'm gonna eat before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. And then I might do um a one meal a day fast or something like that. Um you know, some people can do the whole 21 days, yeah. No food in prayer. I mean, no food at all. Um, I haven't done that myself. I I I've had other people that have done it. Absolutely. Um I've done three days water only. But what I'm saying is that this is not a law. This is not what we have to do. You want to pick something, and I wouldn't pick something that's just super easy either. I would pick something that could be a little bit challenging, but once again, it's it's more about what you're putting into yourself. It's more about the word and spiritual things and right relationships and serving and living out the word of God than it is even what you're refraining from. Absolutely. But I would invite you to come join us. Take this 21-day journey with us.

Tabatha Claytor 17:12

Yeah. I would say, I mean, if you've never fasted before and you know you're you're that person, you're like, mm, this is gonna be hard because you like all the junk food and you like all that stuff, you might just want to ease your way into it. Set yourself up for success. And the first week, just eat regular, but cut out all of your junk food, all fried foods, you know. Maybe you only eat food from the house. The second week, eat only maybe fruits and vegetables, or you know, and then the third week, you know, you can do maybe liquids, you know, for um break, you know, one meal you replace it with wet liquids. So there's other ways that you can ease yourself into it.

Ken Claytor 17:47

Right, right. So I want to go back to my first statement. So I said I don't like fasting. It's because my flesh wants what it wants when it wants it. I mean, my flesh never, ever wants to put down breakfast. It never wants to put down my little comfort food at the end of the day, you know. But it doesn't matter what my flesh wants. Um, I'm not gonna give my flesh everything that it wants. Um, I believe that the training is for the reigning. And there are times that God will train your spirit by calling a fast just for things that you should have dominion over later on. And so even though when I say I don't like it, I don't mean like I don't like it, like I'm not gonna do it. I'm just like, I'm never like I guess I want to normalize it. You know what I'm saying? Because, you know, you're you're so good at it and so spiritual with it, but then there's other people it's like, man, I can't stand to see this time coming. But that don't mean you shouldn't do it.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Yeah.

Ken Claytor 18:38

That don't mean it's not God's will for you. That don't mean you shouldn't live a fasted life. We've been created to do difficult things and hard things and things that we don't want to do, but we know it's good for us.

SPEAKER_05 18:49

Absolutely.

Ken Claytor 18:50

And so I'll fall into that crowd. So, yes, I have chosen to like this time. Yeah, I've chosen to like this time because it sets the spiritual pace for my year and also for my life. It's very important to me.

Real Benefits: Clarity, Peace, Breakthrough

Tabatha Claytor 19:02

It's so good. Yeah, yeah. I think of it, you know, I think of it as kind of like um a little, you know, battlefield, like a it's it's a way for me to fight the good fight of faith.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Right.

Tabatha Claytor 19:12

And I don't know, I just always like to fight the fight of faith because I know that I win.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Right.

Tabatha Claytor 19:17

And so this is a time where we enjoy it. We get the kids involved. Yeah, even when the kids were say two, three, four, you know, we gave them one thing. You know, at one time it was like pizza. One of our kids pat fasted from pizza, one of our kids fasted from ice cream, you know, like we give them their thing and they fast from it. And when we break the fast, we would always have a feast of Thanksgiving and celebration to break the fast, and then we would have their favorite thing again. Um, there are ways that you know we can get involved with this and enjoy it.

Ken Claytor 19:49

So, did our kids always fast with this?

Tabatha Claytor 19:51

Um, I don't think so. Not uh, I think they always fasted something. There was always one thing.

Ken Claytor 19:57

But we didn't make them do it, though. Yeah, we didn't make them. Them do it. But because this is our life and this is what we're doing, and they're part of our church, they want to do it. Right. And so they didn't fast like maybe we would fast, but they would give up something. Right. And um one thing that we always do, I think that we've always done is usually for the whole 21 days, we don't have TV. And that is a big deal for our kids.

Tabatha Claytor 20:22

It is a big deal.

Isaiah 58: The Fast God Chose

Ken Claytor 20:23

You know what I'm saying? We've always done that. We've always done that. So here's a borderplay thing. For us, most of the time, we don't do social media, we don't do TV, we don't do um junk food, like snacks, da da da da da. Okay. So that's like the baseline right there. And then everything else is like on top of that. Yeah. But right there, those three things alone changes everything. It does. You would be amazed of how much more time you have, how much more clarity of thought and mind you have, and even how it's even affecting the kids. They come home at three o'clock, four o'clock from school, and before they thought, like everything is a big rush. All of a sudden you realize how much time they do have. You take away media, you take away, you know, phones and things like that.

Tabatha Claytor 21:00

Well, we've even watched Chris Christian um TV and like movies and things like that.

Ken Claytor 21:05

Watch Christian stuff.

Tabatha Claytor 21:06

On like the weekends and we have family time. We've sat down and watched, you know, old Christian movies. Um you remember the last movie we watched? And um, I think it was like this year, like the last January, uh, we sat down and watched um with Kirk Cameron um Left Behind. And there was this scene, and it's first of all, it's old, right? And our kids are like, what in the world? What is this, right?

Ken Claytor 21:32

We didn't want to do it.

Tabatha Claytor 21:33

But they got so into it. And there's this scene where they show the guy who is the antichrist and it kind of flashes with he becomes like a skeleton and dark and whatever. And these kids they jumped out their shoes, running out the roof.

Ken Claytor 21:47

It's like the best.

Tabatha Claytor 21:48

It was the best.

Ken Claytor 21:49

It's the best. Y'all gotta check out that movie if you haven't watched it, Left Behind, part one, part two, check it out.

Tabatha Claytor 21:54

Put your kids through torture. No, make them. That's a really good movie. Yeah, yeah.

Ken Claytor 21:59

Give me some benefits of fasting.

Common Hindrances And How To Plan

Tabatha Claytor 22:02

Benefits of fasting. I think um relationship with God, um, drawing close to God, um, being able to hear his voice more clearly. Um, whenever I need an answer for something, maybe I'm confused, don't know what to do, I will fast. And I find that, you know, I get answers in that in fasting. Um, I think it allows me to uh as far as my joy walk, whenever I'm fasting, it's like the edge comes off. Where um maybe the kids would do something and I'd be like, ah, you know, it I would be tempted. The things that I would be tempted to kind of like be antsy about and snap at people about, driving in the car, okay? If you if you guys have followed us for any amount of time, you've heard our stories about the car, right? And driving and stuff like that. Um, driving in the car, I don't get irritated. You should fast follow the blessing, Lord. Bless them, praise the Lord. You know, because it gives I have this peace, I have this patience where it takes the edge off. Like things just aren't that serious. Um, so I don't know, those are some of my benefits.

Ken Claytor 23:07

Yeah, here's some um deeper intimacy with God. You know, fasting quiets the noise so you can draw near to God, um, clarity and guidance for decisions. God often speaks and directs and set apart times of prayer and fasting. Um, humility, repentance, a heart reset. Um, fasting is a way to humble ourselves, turn from sin, realign our heart. Those are benefits. Spiritual victory, um, spiritual power and victory over resistance. Um, I think fasting gives us, just like what we talked about, the demons, it kind of aligns us to be able to walk in a spiritual authority and power. And I would also say a benefit is breakthrough in compassion and action. The fast God chose, um, it breaks chains, it um uh helps with helping the unjust, um unjustices be made right and generosity. Matter of fact, in Isaiah 58 it says this is not this the kind of fast that I've chosen to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and to break every yoke. It is not is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide for the poor wanderer with shelter? When you see the naked, clothe them, and turn not away from your own flesh and blood, and then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will spring forth speedily, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard, and then you will call, and the Lord will answer, you will cry for help, and he will say, Here am I. And so Isaiah 58, six through nine, for me is kind of the most loaded verses about fasting and the benefits of fasting. What sticks out to you from that?

Tabatha Claytor 24:43

Everything. I love it all. Um, I I I think that the it's all good. The thing that sticks out the most to me is he says, you know, that you will be healed, um, that our bodies will be healed um through fasting.

Ken Claytor 24:57

And speeding will your healing will spring forth speedily.

Tabatha Claytor 25:00

Yes, yes. And that has been something that I have used in my lifetime now. Overcoming cancer. Um, it is, yeah, it's yeah, it's a tool.

Adjust But Don’t Quit

Ken Claytor 25:10

I like what it says to break every yoke. So the yoke of addiction, the yoke of oppression, the yoke of bondage. Um, I I think you have a justifiable expectation that when you fast and pray, that yokes will be destroyed. Um, the yoke was a harness that held the mules together. And so you don't want to be yoked to cigarettes, you don't want to be yoked to alcohol, you want to be yoked to pornography. We declare that the fast breaks the yoke. Um, I love it that the the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. That means that the increased manifested presence of God should be yours. So as you fast and pray, when you walk in a room, you should think that God got my back and he's right behind me. The glory of the Lord is my rear word. When I step into the boardroom, the glory of God steps in with me.

Tabatha Claytor 25:55

Yeah, because it says that your righteousness will go before you.

Ken Claytor 25:58

Yeah.

Tabatha Claytor 25:58

And so anytime you have, you know, you stepping into the boardroom, anytime you have big meetings and you're believing God for answers, the you know, your righteousness can go before you.

Make This Your Best Spiritual Year

Ken Claytor 26:07

Yeah. I think there's a promise that uh um there will be a nearness to God that you will call and he'll say, Here I am. To me, that's powerful, that you can fast and pray. And when it seemed like it was difficult for you to hear from God in one season, all of a sudden his voice becomes clear. It kind of becomes like tuned in to the frequency of God. So now you'll say, Hey God, I need this, and he'll say, Hey, over here, over, or here I am. It's almost like a very present um help of the Lord. And so the time of fasting and prayer according to scripture. So I will go into this time, standing on Isaiah, and like, hey God, this is what you promised in your word for a season of fasting over this 21 days. I want healing to spring forth speedily, the yokes to be broken, the glory of the Lord to be my rear word, et cetera, et cetera.

Tabatha Claytor 26:53

Yes. So good.

Ken Claytor 26:56

And so uh what are hindrances? Like to me, so because I've been fasting now, let's just say 22 out of the last 24 years, I know the benefits, and I might not even be able to t articulate all of the benefits. But for the person who's watching and listening, that what are the common like hindrances of why people don't fast and and what do you do with those?

Tabatha Claytor 27:18

I think that it fasting is similar to like dieting and and doing so many other things that we want to do. We say, Oh, well, I'll start on Monday. Oh, I miss it this time. Oh, I'll start on, and it's always I will, I will, yeah, because so many things get out get in the way. And I think fasting, it's something that you have to be intentional about. You have to plan for this. You have to plan your meals. If you're gonna fast and only eat fruits and vegetables, you have to plan that be or else you're gonna eat the first bag of chips that you see. Yeah.

Ken Claytor 27:47

Time out right there. So it's it's Thursday, y'all. It's Thursday, okay? And we got till Monday. Right. So the next three, four days, you should be really meal prepping and thinking about you shouldn't wait till Sunday night, like, oh, I'm getting I'm gonna fast tomorrow. Right. It's probably not gonna be very successful the first week doing it that way.

The Six-Month Challenge And Daily Habits

Tabatha Claytor 28:03

So you have to be intentional about it. You have to plan. And I would say another hindrance is you um plan too much. You know, you just say, well, I'm just gonna go all 21 days and I'm and I'm gonna drink only water. If you've done that before, fine, do it. But if you've never done it before, you're probably setting yourself up to fail. You know, and so you're gonna get started, and after six hours, you're gonna eat the candy bar, you're gonna drink the soda, you're gonna do all of those things. So be wise.

Ken Claytor 28:34

There's two things with that. If you do mess up, don't get into condemnation and then quit the rest of the fast. Get back on the saddle. Right. Get back on the horse. It's okay. Okay. Um, secondarily, oh, what was I gonna say? It just slipped my mind. Come back. Um, yeah, don't quit. All right. Number one. What else will go right there? Can you read my mind?

Tabatha Claytor 28:54

I I I can't read your mind. I wish I could.

Ken Claytor 28:57

Yeah, it would be that would be cool sometimes, I guess.

Tabatha Claytor 29:02

Maybe not.

Ken Claytor 29:04

Um oh man, I was thinking about okay, hindrance. So for me, a big hindrance would be like people don't know how hard that could be. And like if they're new to fasting, like, oh, I got this, I'm gonna go into this, and and they don't understand how challenging it is and they quit. Yeah. So it's somewhere I was thinking around the same thing. It's the people who they start off for three days then they quit, or they start off for four days and they quit. Yes. Here's the thing about fasting the first three, four, five days is the hardest. Then your body adjusts and it becomes easier. So I always tell people, adjust but don't quit. You know what I'm saying? All right, so let's say that you just started the fast and your body is shaking, and by day four, and you're having cold sweats and you, you know, you're having a coffee withdrawal. All right, my hope is that you'll be able to get through it to the other side. But if you have to go have a little sip of coffee, all right, do that, but then get right back on it. You know what I'm saying? Like adjust, but don't quit. Right. Does that make sense? Because I just want to help people have success. Yeah. I don't want people to go out there and get beat up by the devil and think, you know, oh man, I'm not gonna do that. No, don't do that.

Tabatha Claytor 30:11

You can't, and there's no condemnation. I remember the first fast that we did uh that I did, I remember I told you about, and and I did it a week early, but I went on the fast and I it was maybe like day two, three, and I just habitly there was like uh some candy sitting on the on my desk that I usually just pick up and pop it in my mouth. And I just picked up and pop it in my mouth, and I'm chewing and chewing, and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm eating. Like this is a good thing. You know, and I literally spit it out of my mouth. You don't have to go that far, you know. But I did you I mean, but things happen, you know. It it that doesn't mean that, oh, now you've fasted for no reason. No, there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ, and so we're just going to get it right, keep moving forward.

Ken Claytor 30:52

This is what I want you to know. This is gonna be your best year ever, if it's your best year spiritually.

SPEAKER_05 30:57

Yeah.

Ten Keys For An Effective Fast

Accountability, Singles, And Families

Put Vices On The Altar For 21 Days

Ken Claytor 30:57

But to get something different, you have to do something different. The epitome of stupidity is to do the same thing, but expect different results. If you want to go far in God, it's gonna require an investment that will take you far. You will only reap what you sow. Whatever man soweth, that shall he also reap. The scripture says, if you sow to your flesh, you are from your flesh reap destruction and corruption. If you sow to your sow to your spirit, you will reap life and peace. And so you have to make up your mind right now what kind of harvest you want, and then start sowing in that direction. This will be your best year ever if it's your best year spiritually. Okay. I want to encourage you to take the six-month challenge. I always talk to people about six months can change seasons in your life. Many times people start with God in January, but by February, I don't believe in resolutions because they're based in emotion. But there's something about a new year's goal that is inspired by the Holy Spirit where you choose to do it God's way more than your way, and you say, I'm gonna do this for six months. I encourage you, take a six-month challenge. From January to June, you will go from winter to summer if you don't quit. So set yourself today, tomorrow. Get out a notebook, get out a journal, start to um write down what is my vision for this year? What are my goals this year? Where do I want to be in God this year? Don't do like 15 things. Maybe come up with like three, four, maybe five things that you're saying that I'm gonna, these are the things that I'm gonna master this year. And the number one thing is to put God first. Come on, and to and take a six-month challenge. And over the next six months, do this. Go to church as much as you possibly can. And instead of saying, I'm gonna go to church if I got time, say no. Sundays belong to God and I'm gonna plan my life around the house of God. Get things in your church that are important, like a conference, um, like women's meetings, small groups, and say, I'm gonna plan my life around those things. There's too many people say, Well, I can't do this and I can't do that because you got your life plan first. What you want to do is plan spiritual things first. Plan your life. I'm talking from experience, y'all. All right. Then what do you want to do? You want to spend time with God and his word every single day. Through the fast, after the fast, take six months. Spend time with God every day. Give him at least first 15 minutes, five minutes in the word, five minutes in prayer, five minutes in worship. Um, if you can do 30 minutes, do 30 minutes. I'm talking about um replace some of the secular for the sacred, okay? So turn down media, turn down TV, and turn up podcasts, turn up, listen to his word, feed your spirit. The one way you do, starve, starve one, feed the other, starve your flesh, feed your spirit. That's how you become spiritually strong. Not just for one month, six months, okay? But we're gonna start off with 21 days. 21 days. You say 21 days is gonna be long. It's gonna feel long to your flesh, so let's just do it seven days right now. So, what I want you to do is go hard for God for the next seven days, starting on Monday, and then do it another seven days, and then do it another seven days. You're gonna get to 21 days. At the end of 21 days, I want you to reassess your life and say, what do I want to bring back into my life and what am I gonna leave on the altar? Unfortunately, what people do is that they fast for 21 days from Krispy Kreme and coffee, but then on day 21, they buy a dozen of donuts and they drink three cups of coffee, and then they feel sick, they're nauseous, but they make themselves go back to who they used to be. See, part of the fast is at the end of the fast, come off slow and then reevaluate and say, what things do I want to add back into my life, and what things do I want to leave on the altar? And so 21 days can change your life if you just take it day by day, week by week, and then say for the next six months, I'm gonna stay committed to some things. And so I don't know, I I had written down some things I want to go over. I want you to just, you know, jump in whenever you feel. I got like 10 ways to make sure your fasting time is like super effective. Uh, number one, clarify your purpose, write it down. I am fasting for this, okay? Let it shape your prayers and what you say no to. Number two, choose the right kind of fast for the season. Full fast, sunset to sunrise to sunset, skipping one meal a day, consider medication, health benefits, responsibility. Number three, pair fasting with scheduled prayer and scripture. Okay, put it on the calendar, morning, midday, evening, pre-pick passages. Number four, keep it private and humble, guard against performing. You're not trying to keep up with the Joneses on your fast. Right. Fast for the father's eyes, not man's applause. Number five, replace food with feeding. When you're hungry, it should be a trigger that says, Let me get into the word. Number six, add mercy and generosity. Relocate time and food money to serve and also give. Fasting moves towards justice and it unlocks the blessing. Number seven, confess and realign quickly. Use the fast to repent of sin, forgive others, and make amends where needed. Number eight, set boundaries for digital noise, reduce social media, news, entertainment, make your spirit hungry for God. Number nine, invite accountability. Tell one trusted person or your spouse what you're doing so that they can stand with you. And number 10, expose expect both resistance and grace. Early days can feel weak or distracted. Press through, look for small breakthroughs, write them down, celebrate the grace of God.

Tabatha Claytor 36:23

Yes.

Ken Claytor 36:23

Anything sticks out?

Share Testimonies And Join Services

Tabatha Claytor 36:25

On the note of accountability, if you have a family, um, husband and wife, talk to each other. You know, you might want to do the same or you might want to do different. We usually do different fast. And sometimes I'll do the same because I don't want to cook two different meals, you know, for myself and for you. Um, and then also again, get your children involved. Talk to your teenagers, talk to your young adults, talk to your, you know, even your little kids. There's ways that they can participate. And let's make this a family um sacrifice, a fam, something that we're doing for God as a family. And then if you are single, make sure that accountability is everything because you can talk to one another, encourage one another, and uh it's it'll help you be successful.

Ken Claytor 37:07

And then if you have any other vices, let's say that you are a smoker or a drinker, why don't you take 21 days and put those things on the altar? Even if you're that person that says, well, it's permissible for me to drink, it's permissible, but maybe it's not wise for you. Maybe it's actually hindering something that's in your life. And everything that you get from alcohol, you can actually get from the presence of God. Why don't you just give yourself a chance to do it another way? Um, do it a godly way. And so I would just encourage you to take the next 21 days and test yourself and say no to pornography, no to smoking, no to gambling, no to alcohol, no to anything else that's not bringing you close to Jesus. And at the end of 21 days, evaluate your life and see do you even need those things in your life anymore? But I just feel like this is gonna be this 21 days is gonna be the best fast you've ever had for some of you all. And some of you all are new to this thing, and I want you to share with us your testimony. We're gonna journey with you. You know, this is doing life with Ken and Tabitha, meaning that we don't want this to be a monologue, we want it to be a dialogue. So please email us, text us, um, uh uh in the comments, uh uh just write write to us. Let us know what you're getting out of this season of fasting and prayer so that we can stand with you. And if you do not have a place to worship, we invite you to join us online every Sunday, 9 45 Eastern Standard Time. Um, you know, you can find our website in the show notes, but if you go to a live church and go over to the YouTube page, um we have a live service with worship and teaching, and we have a community of people that are doing life together over there. And if you're in between churches or you don't have a church home, come worship with us. This 21 Days is going to be amazing.

Tabatha Claytor 38:47

Absolutely. Yeah, I wanted to give a shout out to New Jersey and New York. Um, I've been seeing a lot of New Jersey and New York in our um on our Sunday services. So um love you guys. Come on down and visit.

Ken Claytor 38:59

All right, we love you guys, and uh we're out of time for today. Of course, we drop a new episode. If you are new to our podcast, make sure you hit the subscribe button so that you can be the first to get the content when it's released. Of course, if you need a place to worship, come worship with us. Also, if you go to our website at Ken and Tabither.com, man, we got a marriage boot camps. We got a new book that we just released called Butterfly Love that I think would bless you tremendously. Um, also, we have all kinds of merch and other things that would be bring benefit to your walk with God and your walk inside of your relationship. So jump over to the website if you would like to check out those products. And we'll see you on next Thursday. We love you guys. That's right. Peace.